Anastasia Ryan‘s "Not Bad for a Girl" follows the journey of Indiana "Ana" Aaron, a skilled coder in a male-dominated IT industry. When Ana's assertiveness earns her praise under the guise of her alter ego "Indiana," she embarks on a comical adventure of mistaken identity and workplace shenanigans. Moving at a brisk pace, the plot keeps readers engaged with its blend of humor and heartfelt moments.

Through the storyline, Ana's character undergoes significant growth as she navigates the challenges of being a woman in a professional environment that often underestimates her. Her transformation from a frustrated employee to a confident advocate for gender equality is both relatable and empowering. The supporting cast, including Ana's quirky coworkers and supportive friends, adds depth and humor to the story.

Anastasia Ryan's writing style can be described as witty and engaging, capturing workplace dynamics and the camaraderie among colleagues. The dialogue is sharp and humorous, drawing readers into Ana's world and keeping them entertained from start to finish. Ryan infuses the story with plenty of humor and wit, creating laugh-out-loud moments that range from Ana's awkward encounters with her boss to her friends' misguided attempts to help her maintain her secret identity.

Overall, "Not Bad for a Girl" is a delightful work about the challenges and triumphs of a female coder navigating a male-dominated industry. With its witty writing, endearing characters, and empowering message, Anastasia Ryan's rom-com tale is sure to leave readers laughing and inspired. Whether you're a tech enthusiast or simply enjoy a good laugh, this book is not to be missed.

Special thanks to NetGalley, Dreamscape Media, and the editorial team for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads! #NotBadforaGirl #NetGalley #LifeLongLearning

4.5 stars.

Indiana “Ana” Aaron, a talented coder and IT specialist, didn’t fit in this man’s world. Her honesty frequently got her in trouble, which saw her transferred to a remote work team. When she pointed out her boss’ mistake, to her surprise, her assertiveness was praised, because the boss thought she was a “Mr”. Thus, the alter ego “Indiana” was born, and Ana couldn’t even stop the legend to take over.

My gosh, I LOVED this rom-com! I work in IT, so I felt this book was written especially for me! I laughed out loud at the familiarity of it - sadly, a lot of the challenges Ana faced in this book really happen in real life!

Yes, it was a bit far fetched in places. But I didn’t care! I felt seen reading this. I laughed at the jokes (I even read aloud some paragraphs to my husband, who also works in IT!), I was heartbroken when Ana was, and I cheered for her till the end. I’d love to see more techie women featured in stories.

The audiobook narration was also good. It was upbeat, fun and well delivered! I reckon some of the jokes worked extra well on audio, as I chuckled out loud a few times.

Did I just find a new favourite author?!

This is a fast fun read that promotes a level of feminism that is overlooked. This is just a fun story that will have to laughing out loud. This is a unique story that warms your heart and maybe even make you do a little better.

Audio Narration was great!
Thank you for the opportunity to listen.

This was cute, lots of silly hyjinx and misunderstanding in a super fun way! I enjoyed the lighthearted ness of this book when it could have been really preachy.

It’s frustrating to me that this book has to be written in 2024 but I commend the author for doing it. Workplace misogyny is still very alive and real so I appreciate the way she brought light to the issue with a little romance on the side as well.

🌀Synopsis
When Indiana speaks up in a meeting she is moved to a fully remote position within the company. The team is rumored to be on its last leg of life but she jumps in. Surprisingly, her boss loves her work and leans on her often for tasks that she’s good at. The unfortunate part is that her boss mistakes her for a guy and she’s sure that is why he likes her and utilizes her skills.
As the whole thing plays out her boss keeps trying to meet her and she keeps avoiding it. Her coworkers and her boss’ handler, Shane, know her secret and the coworkers continue crazy ways of avoiding face to face meets. Shane catches on though and decides to befriend Indiana, the two bonding over a fish. Indiana is determined to end the misogyny but has to figure out a way to bring her gender to light after all this time.

Indiana 'Ana' is a talented coder. This book gives us a look into what it is like to be a woman in an industry dominated by men. It is tough, especially when you are better than most of the men. When Ana is working remotely she is mistaken for a man and we get to see how her life changes at work when she has male privilege. This is a fun read. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator was great for this story.

This book just didn't do it for me. The characters behaved more like high schoolers than adults, there was instalove, and the charaters weren't well developed. I did like the audio narration.

This was fun and cute. I expected to not love this as a corporate girly who is a bit techy, but I was pleasantly surprised. This is a really fun rom-com that gives you all the feels, a lot of laughs, and just a really good time. The audiobook narration is good, sometimes in romance it can be hard to be in the moment with the audiobooks, but that wasn't the case here. I really enjoyed this and would definitely recommend it.

A witty and hilarious novel about the struggles of being a woman in a male-dominated industry where our main character gets mistaken for a man because of her masculine name. Indiana Aaron is seen as an outspoken and annoying woman and never gets taken seriously by her superiors, even when she is in the right. She ends up getting transferred to a new department that has zoom meetings. She kept her camera off and didn’t speak during her meetings, but did point out a major numerical error via messaging. Her new misogynistic boss assumed she was a man and thanked “Mr. Aaron” for saving the project by pointing out the flaw and was rewarded. Indiana quickly realizes that with her new mistaken gender she gets treated differently and praised for the same things she used to get punished for and quickly gets caught in a thick web of lies and outlandish stories to protect her true identity.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! Super funny with a cute love story entangled in there too. Thank you once again to Netgalley and Dreamscape media for the ALC in exchange for my thoughts!!

I loved this book so much! The writing and narrating was top tier. The romance and banter was my favorite part for sure!

Not Bad for a Girl by Anastasia Ryan was such a great read. It's the first book of the year that I gave 5 stars!
The story follows our FMC Indiana who's working with programming and is the only woman on her new work team however, the rest of the team mistakes her for a man as they're working from home.
The book is led by a cast of strong women which also just made the book so great.
I found the book very entertaining and it made me laugh so much so I could not put it down.
The way the book was written as well as read aloud were also really great and so much better than most romance books, I had a great time.

I'm very grateful that NetGalley and Dreamscape Media gave me the opportunity to listen to this as an audio-arc.

The made up stories about the other Indiana Aaron are hilarious. It got me laughing every time it got more ridiculous and unbelievable. This book took a sensitive topic and did well with it, especially with how funny and lighthearted the story still is. Women don't just face discrimination in the tech world, but everywhere else. So I like how the author approached this. The romance part of this story is not the center stage, but I wish there was more of it.

Not Bad for a Girl by Anastasia Ryan was a great listen that was well narrated. Overall it was an easy read and 5 stars or me.

Indiana/Ana works in a male dominated industry (IT) and she is is not afraid to speak her mind. This has caused her some issues including getting passed over for a well deserved promotion and getting transferred to a failing remote team. While on this team she decided to lay low. She corrects her boss politely one time and he mistakes her for man. He relies on her and she decides to keep the rouse going. She decides to show up to a meeting in person as herself and he treats her like garbage. She continues to work hard until he tried to steal her ideas and present them as her own. She is able to seek in as herself and get the contract and does come clean to the rest of her team. They embrace her and she is able to save the day. There is also a little romance thrown in there.

Thank you NetGalley for my copy of the audiobook. All opinions are my own. #NetGalley #NotBadForAGirl #AnastasiaRyan #DreamscapeMedia

Indiana tries not to be a problem but for some odd reason, they find her one at work. They move her to a virtual team, who mistakes her for a man. All of the qualities they hated in her are taken for being awesome as a "man" and she gets stuck between needing to tell the truth and liking the accolades. Just as she's working up the courage to tell everyone her identity, she falls for one of her coworkers.
Opinion
I loved this book. It was downright funny and empowering. I kept coming back to it when distracted by real life. This book offers a fun escape from reality with much hilarity involved.
Many thanks to Net Galley and to Dreamscape Media for providing me with an ARC of this book.

I have mixed feelings about this book.
3.5 rounded to 4 stars.

I really really liked the premise but the outcome left some to be desired. The overall concept was beautiful and empowering but it dragged in the middle for such a short book.

The main character was bordering on pick me girl BUT she seemed to redeem herself. I just think her overall journey was well done but left me wanting.

The narration was good. I read physical and audio.

Thank you for the audiobook! I really enjoyed listening to this book. Indiana was a captivating character with a smart, strong, hilarious personality. Her friends really added to the storyline, no matter how ridiculous they sometimes were. I loved the main plot of this book but I also really enjoyed the other storylines of her dad, her friends, and the little romance Indiana had. 4/5, would definitely recommend this lighthearted read!

"Not Bad for a Girl" is a very funny book about a very serious subject, with a touch of romance thrown in.

Indiana Aaron ("Ana") is an excellent coder, and she loves her job. But it's hard being a woman in a male-dominated industry. She's never taken seriously, and her 4'11" stature doesn't help matters. She's routinely mistaken for an intern, even though she's worked for the company for some time and been passed up for promotion in favor of less-experienced coworkers who just happen to be male.

When she is transferred to a remote team, it gives her a new start, which at first seems like a disadvantage since she'll have to prove herself all over again. Yet when her boss assumes she's male and she gets some of the recognition she's been yearning for, she doesn't correct him right away. Eventually, her little lie of omission snowballs into an avalanche of epic proportions, thanks to the contributions of her two best friends and coworkers, who are off-the-rails funny, and their zany attempts to "help" Ana. More often than not, they simply make matters even worse. (With help like that, who needs friends?)

Workplace inequality is not a funny situation, but this story highlights the unfairness of it and of stereotyping in a way that had me laughing out loud more than once!

Thank you to Anastasia Ryan, Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for an advance review copy.

Indiana Aaron is a female coder. The story begins with her being passed over for a promotion to a male colleague. She lets her boss know what she thinks of this and gets transferred to a remote team where her new boss assumes she’s male because of her name. Indiana lets him believe she’s a male because he seems to have more respect for her(him) and offers him more work. Things escalate due to all the lies told so that he (the boss) never sees Indiana’s face.

I think the cover is slightly misleading. It looks like a cute romcom (which I felt I was requesting), but it’s barely a romance. There is a subplot romance, but it’s just sprinkled in a little bit. It is, however, being marketed as Women’s fiction.

This book is about gender and other forms of workplace discrimination. It takes a real and serious matter and sometimes makes it quirky and funny. I liked the depiction of misogyny in the workplace in this book. I think it was pretty well done. Not only was her boss a misogynist, but he was also a horrible boss and sucked at his job. The rest of her co-workers were nice and supportive, though. The way they stood up for and with her was great to see.

Unfortunately, the rest of the book was a little off. I didn’t hate it because it is sweet that everyone lets Ana be herself with no apologies. Still, her main gal friend was so annoying & the random, long-winded conversations about nothing didn’t elevate the story. I didn’t feel like any of the characters had much depth. The romantic subplot was meh; I didn’t feel any chemistry, and the father and his flame just felt like we were introducing strong female characters just for the point of it. I think it could have been established better.

Overall, this was an ok book for me. I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it. The narrator uses odd voices for some of the characters, and I thought at one point that one of the main characters was a guy from the voice used.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Casablanca, Anastasia Ryan, and Netgalley for the audio ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Indiana (aka Ana) is her company’s best coder but is always passed over for promotions, because she is outspoken and a woman. Due to speaking her mind in a meeting in front of one of the higher-up’s, she is demoted to a remote team. Her new boss assumes she is a man because of her first name and she does not bother to correct him because she is starting to get some respect.

I love how the author calls attention to the real struggles that women can have in the corporate world. Indiana needs this job and may not have made the best decision to hide her identity, but these are desperate times.

She recruits her friends and they get involved in keeping her secret and the next thing you know Indiana’s reputation takes on a whole new life! What ensues is highly entertaining!

I can tell you I have never had so many laugh out loud moments from a book than I did with this one!

Superb writing, crazy antics and good friends make this book a must read!

The narration is also excellent!

Thank you to NetGalley, Sourcebooks Casablanca and Dreamscape Media for this fantastic ARC!

This was enjoyable I liked that Ana was a badass. I wish it was a little less in your face woman are discriminated against in the tech world. The side characters were fun and overall I laughed several times. I wanted more romance between Ana and Shane. This was not very romance more women's fiction/comedy. I wanted more from the romance storyline it was the weakest part of the story. I loved Anas dad and his girlfriend and the fish Hopper!