Wow, this MC was unhinged and delusional. Truly a human trainwreck.

There were moments very close to the edge where I didn't think I could go through yet another moment of her sabotaging her relationships and life but ultimately, I could not look away.

This was different and weird, in a good way. The last 10% was unexpected and satisfying. A solid ending took what was feeling like a 3.5, maybe 3.75-star rating to a very easy 4.

Disgraced and newly in the process of divorce, our main character moves to the Rockaways and begins to churn out "journalism" (clickbait) while trying to seduce her ex boyfriend and balance the tensions of family life. This book is messy. Too messy? That's for the reader to decide, but I loved the sly observations about modern journalism and the state of the world (and truth), as well as the dual-rule system for men and women in the workplace around sexual indiscretions. The personal stories of the book? Well, I cringed my way through, worried constantly about this main character whose lack of self-awareness seemed to alienate everyone around her. It does get better. I'm glad I finished. It's not a likeability thing-- I loved her voice, her ambition, and her observations, but watching the ways she sideswept other characters? I'm not sure I would have finished had I not been reviewing. In general, glad I did. Good writing, a satisfying conclusion, and a good commentary on truth in the modern world.

I think that this book’s potential and the reality are just a little bit too far apart for me.

Natasha makes a giant ethical mistake and ruins her entire life in one fell swoop. Rebuilding and trapped in a menial job that, while better than no job, does nothing for her, she decides to look back into her past and invite that past to live with her. Chaos and drama ensue. And then she writes a story that will bring her ‘good life’ back to her, and all is supposedly well?

Overall, this one was a miss for me. The story dragged, had too many characters for my liking, and I really didn’t know why half of the story was important (honestly, leave the past in the past ladies - it does not ever work out well). If it would have gone from a viral worlds-most-terrible-person direct to worlds-most-terrible-person-solves-decadeslong-mystery, it may have done more for me.

AHHHH
my two perfect 10/10 books this year have both followed a main character with a suspiciously similar job to mine fighting with her sister and falling apart in new york
we don't have time to dissect this
In her debut novel "Clickbait," Holly Baxter has written the most infuriating and delusional main character I've ever read. I'm completely obsessed. this was SO FUN. Natasha's lack of self-awareness is so funny without being overly exaggerated, and she's frustrating in a way that makes you not want to look away (as opposed to wanting to slam the book shut). the Michael Scott of the tabloid world.
also, as someone who worked at a celebrity gossip content mill in a desperate attempt to put my journalism degree to work . . . this is EERILY accurate.
obsessed. not clickbait.

I think this book had a very important message about the degradation of our news cycle and the wearing down of those who have true passion for reporting news. So much of what media is now is just simple clickbait, and I think that the parts of this book that addressed and lamented that were the most impactful for me. After reading the About the Author section and learning more about Baxter's credentials, this theme was especially salient. I'm sure there were sections of this book that were incredibly cathartic to write.

On the other side of things, I felt there were moments of this book that took away from that message. I'm all for an unlikeable narrator, but there came a point for me where Natasha had absolutely no redeeming qualities left. I felt that making the main character SO unlikeable made me less sympathetic to her plight as a reporter fighting for the sanctity of traditional, on the ground reporting. I mean, even when she was an actual reporter, she didn't seem to worry much about the sanctity of the job then...

Overall, I felt that, while the message about media was important, there were other aspects of the story that just took away from that for me. I was entertained, but I was also frustrated, and maybe that speaks to the skills of the author to create such a hard-to-love narrator without completely losing me as a reader.

If I had to describe this book in one word it would be cringy. The story follows Natahsa after she does something ethically questionable while reporting a story. This upends her life as she deals with the fallout, gets demoted to writing clickbait articles, and goes through a divorce. Natasha is an irredeemable character and I do not feel sorry for her at all. I am honestly surprised she has any friends left and the way she treats her family is appalling. She is also borderline deranged when it comes to her view of her relationships as she always thinks she is the victim. This book really lacked any depth or nuance and there was practically no character growth. It seemed like the author was trying to make some statement on the direction news organizations were heading and the treatment of women vs men in the face of controversy, but it got so bogged down by a whiney main character that I did not care. I wish it focused more on her mending of past relationships or creating new relationship but no, the focus was on some random ex she used to date that had zero interest in her. Every interaction between them was so cringy. If I was him, I would get a restraining order. The only positive for this book was that it was an easy read and I did want to keep reading to see if Natahsa would grow as a person, but she didn’t. It was like watching a train wreck.

Clickbait follows Natasha, a disgraced journalist, post the worst decision of her life. As a result of this decision, Natasha is back in New York living in a depressing apartment in the Rockaways. When her ex boyfriend moves back to NY and offers him her extra bedroom she hopes for more than just a friendship.

I received this ARC from NetGalley, thank you! This book was fantastic. Natasha is such an unlikable and selfish woman you can’t help but hope for better for her. I really loved the characters, particularly Olinka, and could not stop reading. The ending was very satisfying and really changed my view of Natasha. I found the relationship between Natasha and her sister Miriam really interesting and real. Overall, great book!

If the author was aiming to write the most negative, miserable, unlikable human of all time ever then she succeeded.

Natasha is going through it. She’s a journalist in her mid 30’s going through a divorce after lighting the fuse of her own scandal.

She moves from England back to New York to start afresh. The only problem is she doesn’t really do anything to cope with what she’s done or the fact that her marriage has ended.

I truly don’t know how to rate this book because it was very well written and I typically enjoy an unlikable character but Tasha had zero redeeming qualities for me, even by the end. I would like justice for her best friend Ellie, her sister Miri, and maybe a little grace for her mom who admittedly also wasn’t the best but maybe that was just because her oldest daughter was kind of the worst?

Razor-sharp, intelligent, finely crafted, and distinctly original. I couldn't stop reading. A remarkable debut!

Really enjoyed this one! The premise is so fun, and Baxter's voice is darkly hilarious. Readers of Monica Heisey looking for something with a slightly darker twist will eat CLICKBAIT up!

"I;m saying that most of us here are Type A people, honor roll students with big dreams. Most Likely to Succeeds. We turn up here ready to change the world. And then we get told to make paperclips."

Natasha, an up and coming investigative reporter in London and newlywed, burns her life to the ground. Through a series of events in the first few chapters, we learn she spectacularly implodes in a single instance. She returns to the NYC office, divorced, shamed, and demoted. Now, she no longer spends weeks turning out precisely investigated works of journalism. Now, she scours B beats and social media streams to write multiple pieces of clickbait for the paper. We see how the sausage is made these days in contemporary media circles--and it isn't pretty.

Natasha also has a messy mom and half sister. Boy, we really want to see her get her life together, but she is stunted by her upbringing.

Overall. This was compelling, easy to finish, not at all enjoyable. Natasha makes us cringe so hard! This was a solid four stars for me for the writing--not the enjoyability. I've heard it comparable to Dolly Alderton. I think that's likely accurate. Sharp, cunning commentary. Important. Not a feel good read!

it’s been a while since a book has made me laugh out loud, but Clickbait did it. I (selfishly) enjoyed watching Natasha’s spiral from the sidelines. However, it got to a point where she was upsetting me with how out of touch she was. I was hoping for a larger redemption arc, but alas, no character is perfect. I think that adds to the nuance of the novel, so I don’t hold it against the book. All of her encounters with Zach Miri and Ellie put a spotlight on how delusional and honestly selfish Natasha is. However, when it comes to her mom I kinda get it.

I thought this was a really good character driven novel. The plot's backstory was solid but overall it never really went anywhere. Natahsa's family and friends were well written and anchored by a dynamic protagonist.

Clickbait" by Holly Baxter was a totally engaging read and had me laughing out loud to myself in the first chapter and totally emotionally drained at the end. The protagonist Natasha is introduced as a self-aware, flawed, imperfect everywoman.

The plot itself is good, even if it starts out rather basic (newly divorced, did something embarrassing at work, kicked to new crappy apartment). She is demoted from "Real Journalism" to writing clickbait articles – and is struggling to cope. She is the kind of cynical and sarcastic modern millennial whose inner monologue can be hilarious, albeit judgy and occasionally it slips out of her mouth. At first, I liked her- she had similar stream of thought and sense of humor as myself, a woman the same age (35), who has made some pretty significant errors in life. She’s not pretending to be a good person at first, and the author isn’t downplaying her choices as bad luck that happened to a great person. Natasha is a basic woman who has screwed up and is trying to recover whatever dignity she can. She spirals into theoreticals. She fantasizes both winning scenarios (“Maybe he’d ask me if we wanted to get back together over a hard seltzer in the sand...”) and tongue-in-cheek losing ones (“Maybe the guy in the cap would stab me.”) She is self-confident in some ways yet honestly lamenting the fact that she’s drifting away from the flirtatiousness and attention of being a young woman and seeking that validation again.

As the book progresses, we learn more about how she ticks- and it becomes less funny/relatable and more concerning. Her personality seems to regress. I retreated on most of my early approvals of her. I won’t spoil it with too many details, but her character certainly has an arc.

At the beginning of the book, I enjoyed Natasha's snarky observations of the world and her experiences in London. However, it became tiring especially as the book went on and the snarkiness turned into self depreciation and a woe is me attitude. She self sabotaged her career and marriage and pushed people away whom were there to support her such as Ellie and Footsie. Of course she fell in the rankings at her job and had to take lowly assignments that bordered on absurd. However, she had a job and the financial capability to buy an apartment. She had her family even though she wad in constant competition with Miriam. Like Miriam eloquently said, she was against those who she believed had everything when she herself had nothing. She certainly treated people in an abhorrent manner as she spoke to Zach and created a fantasy world in her head. I am glad she turned her life around but I think a lot of the snarkiness could have been toned down.

Clickbait comes in strong with a sharp tongue. Our main character, Natasha, is down on her luck. She's going through a divorce. She's finding her footing after being demoted at work, forced to churn out clickbait. I felt for her - until I didn't. Natasha is not likeable. She is so incredibly self involved and deluded that at times I just wanted to SLAP her. But? I couldn't look away. Such a weird read that will stick with me.

I found this book to be a little bit boring, but it wasn't bad. I was a little confused about why a thirty-five-year-old divorcee acted like she was 80 years old and going to die alone.

I had trouble putting this book down, even though the main character was infuriating with all of her bad decisions. But, I guess that was also part of the book's fun. A very entertaining read, but you will find yourself shuddering and wincing at Natasha's bad decisions, haha. I also loved the descriptions of online media/news and NYC.

Thanks so much to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

CLICKBAIT is about a disgraced journalist who gets demoted to writing the eponymous clickbait after a sexual encounter with a source destroys her reputation and her marriage. To me, CLICKBAIT is about boundaries — between the online sphere and IRL, between people in relationships, between work and personal life — and if, or how, they are maintained.

The protagonist, Natasha Bailey, is a narcissist with delusions of grandeur, something she doesn’t quite grow out of by the end of the book. She’s certainly complex and definitely unlikeable, but I don’t think that’s a detractor. it’s interesting to spend so much time in the psyche of an incredibly selfish person and see how she rationalizes her terrible behavior.

In many ways, I found this novel to pretty accurately portray the present moment in journalism and New York, although I think the criticism of the industry is a little heavy handed and ultimately doesn’t seem to go anywhere beyond “clickbait bad, journalism dead.” Natasha also doesn’t seem to learn anything, and the last paragraph feels unearned to me.

Baxter’s writing is witty and she is great with imagery, but it’s obvious to me that the author is extremely online — not necessarily a bad thing, but it makes me wonder how well this will age with time or if readers who aren’t addicted to Twitter will “get” some of the references.

Overall, I enjoyed this and thought it was a strong debut novel!

I had high expectations for this book because I like books like this, but the problem was that it fell flat. I felt like I could have swapped out this book with others and it would be the same. I just wished there was something that made it stick out. I felt the characters and plot points were generic to the genre