This book was truly written for the shopgirls. As someone who worked in fashion retail for many years, I found the work environment incredibly realistic. There’s a good mix of coworkers—some nice, some not so nice—along with part-timers and lifers. Little details, like closing out your cash register at the end of a shift, meeting sales goals, and earning commission, were spot on. I also appreciated how well it captured the time period. Some books set in the past fail to transport you there, but Shopgirls absolutely did. I was in the ’80s, and I loved it. While I felt there could have been a bit more plot action, I enjoyed getting to know Zippy and watching her learn to navigate the world. This was my first book by this author but I plan to read Mary Jane next.

I had very much enjoyed this author's previous book "Mary Jane" so decided to try this one. It takes place in the 1980s in San Francisco as a young woman is trying to find herself. Zippy works in the Petite dresses section of a high-end clothing store, although she barely has enough nice outfits to wear herself. She sometimes borrows things from her roommate Raquel- her best friend. They both dream about their best lives, writing down their goals for jobs, boyfriends, and husbands, and even follow diets together. Her mother unexpectedly conceived her in a hallway during a one-night stand years ago, and Zippy has never met or spoken with her real biological father.

Sadly, this was a disappointment in comparison to her previous effort. Even though I'm a senior citizen I'm capable of appreciating and enjoying the growing pains of a still developing life, but this somehow read like a young adult/rom com seriously lacking in depth. I found myself reading other books for satisfaction around this one. My favorite and most interesting parts of the book involved the clothing store getting really busy and Zippy literally zipping around the multi-level store to procure what her clients needed- such as shoes, underwear, different sizes & colors- etc. The parts that made me roll my eyes were ridiculous stuff like making (and playing with) paper dolls of fellow employees during down times and kneeling to pray in the changing rooms with a kind but wacky co-worker. I was interested enough to finish the book, but this was a mediocre read.

Thank you to the publisher Mariner Books who provided an advance reader copy via NetGalley.

Blau’s sophomore novel SHOPGIRLS features 19-year old Zippy, who works at the department store I. Magnin in San Franciso in 1985. This is a coming of age novel, as Zippy learns how to live on her own out of the shadow of her mother and her stepdad and figures out her career and have a relationship (although that’s a bit slapdash).

This novel felt very breezy with little substance. It seemed like Blau aged up Mary Jane from her debut novel. Zippy is pretty naive in some ways, but a prodigy in others. Much of the novel takes place at the department store with many “shopgirls” introduced. They all go by Miss So-and-So. A lot of characters but they do get some differentiation. Zippy’s roommate Raquel is Zippy’s mentor, and quite a bit of time is spent on whether they can eat that day. They switch between eating days and non-eating days.

There are some elements that Zippy deals with (like her suddenly-appearing father and the guy she meets) that seem very rushed. I thought MARY JANE was a much better novel, and this one disappointed me.

➕ I really liked the chemistry among all the shopgirls. It felt like a very realistic working environment - sometimes supportive, sometimes pretty vicious.

➖ I wanted more 1985 vibes. At many times, this felt like it took place in the 1960s or before. And then there was a reference to Bill Cosby that seemed very much from the 2010s or 2020s.
➖ This novel felt rushed. So many strands felt incomplete or needed to be fleshed out more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an Advance Reader Copy in exchange for an honest review.

It publishes May 6, 2025.

Thank you to Mariner Books for an early electronic copy via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Zippy is a nineteen-year-old looking to make choices for herself in life. Scoring a job in the coveted I.Magnin's in San Francisco mid 1980's, she's about as happy with her life as she can be. She loves clothes and helping customers pick out the perfect outfit in the petites section, clothes that she herself cannot afford. She also dreams of becoming a buyer for the vaunted department store.

Zippy was mostly raised by a single mom without knowing her father. When he makes an appearance, it doesn't feel organic. It feels more like a vehicle to bring in another topic that was all-consuming in that time frame and just didn't hit right. It needed to be introduced earlier on or given more weight. It was glossed over and that didn't work for me.

Things I loved about this book was the timeframe, location, and descriptions of clothing circa mid-80's, references to TV shows and nightclubs. While most of the time was spent in I. Magnin's, conflict with Zippy's mom felt genuine. It's hard to tell a parent you want more in your life than what your parent's chose. A life to choose what makes you happy is the theme of Shopgirls.

An upbeat story of That Girl set in the 80's instead of 60's.

Shopgirls was such a fun, frolicking book. The 80s department store vibe was such a pleasure, I damned myself for not being old enough to have worked there. What a fun era I missed! Some of the characters, like Raquel, Miss Lena, Zippy’s parents, and especially Zippy, were so vibrant and positive, I wanted to put them in my pocket and have them do life with me. What could go wrong? The underlying message of following your own path to success hit just right and the plot delivered it to us through the beautiful change in Zippy. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I liked this one a lot. Zippy was such a real person and she wanted to make a better life for herself. I enjoyed her day to day and wanted more about her dad. A super quick read but it made me feel good.

While I loved Blau's first book Maryanne, this one fell flat for me. Set in the 1980's in San Francisco, it follows the life of nineteen year old Zippy, a sales associate at I. Magnin. The setting and the timing were what appealed when I requested the ARC, but I just didn't relate to or feel for the characters.

Reading Shopgirls by Jessica Anya Blau felt like I was authentically revisiting the 1980s. Set in San Francisco, the story follows Zippy a 19 year old who, as someone who grew up in this time period, felt both authentic and relatable to me. Zippy grew up in a one bedroom apartment with her mother and her mom’s boyfriend but is now living with her best friend. Zippy’s background contrasts with the upscale world of I. Magnin where she is the youngest sale girl at San Francisco’s finest department store.

I admired Zippy’s determination to succeed in her job and could relate to piecing together outfits from the Salvation Army to match the professional image of the store. This detail made her feel incredibly real to me. Throughout the story, we witness Zippy’s personal growth, and her journey is filled with advice from the many women in her life like her mother, best friend, and colleagues. She’s such a likable character that I couldn’t help but root for her the entire time.

The small nods to iconic 1980s culture were a delightful touch. From the stress over the cost of long-distance phone calls to day planners and the thrill of Thursday night must-see TV, it all added to the atmosphere. I found these moments accurate and memories of navigating rent payments, embracing independence, dating, and enjoying nights out, all felt true to the decade.

The story itself is an easy read, but it leaves an impact. At its core, Shopgirls is a feel good story that delved into the challenges of young adulthood in the 1980s.

Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

I went into this book wanting to love it, but I just couldn’t get into it. It moved too slowly and couldn’t hold my interest. This was a DNF for me.

* slice of life
*80’s
*set in San Francisco

I went into this ready to love it - the 80‘s, the historical I. Magnin store, and San Francisco? So ready.

I found the MC insipid and annoying, the setting was dull (one of the only ways that I was able to recognize that it took place in the 80’s was the issue of the long distance call cost), and it never fully captured my interest.

Other readers will hopefully find more to love within these pages.



*Thank you to Mariner Books and NetGalley for the DRC

I was a big fan of Mary Jane, but I was quite disappointed with this one. It read like YA. Certain parts felt very juvenile. The 80s nostalgia was fun.

Slow read I wanted to love this story but it was a slow burn and fell flat as to I kept trying to keep up

Shopgirls was such an entertaining look at 1980s San Francisco through the eyes of a young adult woman. A bit of a coming of age tale as she finds her place in the world. The book was heavier than I expected too.

I loved Mary Jane by Blau, so I was pretty sure I would enjoy her new book Shopgirls. It was an easy story to get into and found it nostalgic with the 80's time set. While the story moved easily, was quite comcial and the characters were all fun to get to know, I found the middle to be a little slow and was losing interest half-way through. I kept waiting for something big to happen and wait for Zippy to stand up for herself a little bit.

After the initial pages, I found myself not connecting with the story or characters, so I decided to pass on this book. Did not finish

I loved Mary Jane so much and was super excited to read this new book. Sadly, I didn’t find it anywhere near as engaging. I liked Zippy - found her very likeable, but had trouble feeling immersed in the world and the book felt very slow as a result.

This one hurts, I fully expected this to be a 5 star read, I’ve read this authors previous novels and loved them. She really knows how to capture the nostalgia of the 70’s and 80’s. Her writing style is excellent, I feel like her characters are flawed but likeable which is how I feel most people are when I’m at my most optimistic.
When I read the synopsis I was so excited for this, 1980’s, retail store, California.
Zippy is a 19 year old retail clerk (shop girl) at an upscale department store in a mall. Set in San Francisco this is the early days of the AIDS epidemic. Zippy is natural at sales and that creates tension with some of the other sales girls. It’s really hard to sum up this novel as there’s not really a plot point, this is just a few months time in a young girls life in the 80’s. A novel does not need to have a huge plot point but I felt like this needed more. I did not get the same enjoyment that I had from her previous novels. This was a quick read and if you’re a Gen x er or just interested in that time period this was a fun book,
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review this book.

Thank you NetGalley and Mariner Books for allowing me to read this early.The 1970's-centric Mary Jane author returns with another nostalgic story, this time revolving around the 1985 San Francisco shopping scene. It's a quick read with a satisfying ending.

Shopgirls by Jessica Anya Blau is set in the 1980s and features nineteen-year-old Zippy, the greenest and youngest salesgirl at I. Magnin, the exclusive department store in San Francisco. I wanted to like this book more than I did. Can’t quite put my finger on it—very likely it’s that I’m not the intended demographic.

Zippy was a likeable underdog whose primary asset was ambition and a willingness to learn. With no logical way to go to college, she aimed for an exclusive job where she would be exposed to fashion and “class.” Her hunger for success was rooted in the fact that she lived in a one-bedroom apartment above a liquor store with her mother and her mother’s nutty boyfriend. And, though she didn’t get that college degree, she got quite an education at I. Magnin.

Themes of friendship, fashion, found family, and the zeitgeist of 1985 shape the novel, which leaned toward being a coming-of-age story.
Thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for an advance review copy.

This is a fun look into the life of a shopgirl set in San Francisco in the 1980s. Zippy (her real name) works at upscale department store I. Magnin in the Petite Dresses department. She loves her job, even though some of her co-workers are downers and she has begun to get negative customer comments. When her stepdad comes out on the wrong end of a power saw, Zippy has to consider changing jobs in order to make more money to be able to help her mother and stepdad with their medical expenses. At the same time, Zippy’s biological father has (finally!) reached out to her, wanting to meet up. Her experiences on this end hold a big surprise.

Zippy is an adorable character and I loved how the book was set in the 80s, with appropriate pop culture and fashion references. One reviewer criticized the book for not taking seriously enough some of the issues of the day, like AIDS, and I get her point, but I didn’t feel the lack in what was included. What this book is is a mostly lighthearted look into someone’s life who is happy with her job and whose ambition it is to someday make buyer for a department store, not to rule the world. It’s not a book that hits hard. To me, it succeeds in being what it purports to be, an upbeat story of a sweet young girl who is trying to make the most of the hand she has been dealt. I will recommend it to all of my friends as a “cute” story that is well worth the read.

Much thanks to NetGalley and Mariner Books for allowing me early access to this e-ARC.