At the center of the story if a sexual assault cover-up. It was disturbing to read out the situation - a softball coach abusing campers.
The story focuses more on the politics and the cover-up of the entire situation and all parties involved.
Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for access to this eARC.

Open Bar had all the ingredients for a powerful story with timely themes, multiple points of view, and a serious look at sexual misconduct and institutional failure. I appreciated what the book was trying to do, and the subject matter definitely matters.

That said, I personally had a tough time getting into it. The characters didn’t grab me right away, and it took a while for the story to really take shape. Once it did, I was more invested, but it wasn’t a quick or easy read for me.

Overall, I respect the message and the intent. It just didn’t fully connect for me the way I hoped it would.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

Open Bar is a book about all the things that can (and probably do) happen when a sexual assault scandal comes to light. Dan Schorr is a sexual misconduct investigator, and it shows. A lot of the infuriating things that happened after the #metoo are showcased in this book in a fictional setting, and I would hazard a guess that Schorr has used some of his real life experience in writing specific scenarios.

The book has several characters with their own POVs, and all are characters that in one way or another want to do the right thing but have real life complicating the straight path there. It is an interesting look into what can complicate people doing the right thing.

My main grievances with this book was suspending disbelief when it came to the political game. I have worked professionally in politics for over 10 years in the US and elsewhere and I just cannot see the strategic choices being made the way they are. The characters are loose cannons, who despite their professional prowess, make emotional-based decisions that don’t seem real. There are some characters who complicate things but mostly it’s like they’re operating in a world where only the characters mentioned in the book exist. Politics is juggling many interests, at the same time, and making strategic choices to find the path forward. I have a hard time seeing a real-life scenario being played out this way or this publicly.

With that being said, I still think this book can be an interesting read for those who are interested in these types of social issues and who like to rage read a little.

Thanks to SparkPress, NetGalley and the author for allowing me to read this advance e-copy and for the opportunity to leave an honest review.

sadly realistic in how people have their own agendas when it comes to things like this. and more sad because of how that agenda is never to look after or do best for the victims. all of this murky novel felt so desperately close to how horrid life is for many people suffering under the hands of abuse. and why oh why is it seen as lesser than, separate or somehow not as serious. sadly i think sexism has a huge part to play but this isn't my soapbox moment so i will try to step down and just review!
this book did feel like we got a bigger look into the political and cover up side rather than the story which was still an interesting view point.]
its a book about the cover up, and loooong cover up of sex abuse at a university. and our three characters off ways in to three view points coming at this scandal.
there are so dark people but also some good people and the many challenges they face to even try and do the right thing. along the way this is often halted or morally bankrupt people divert it. and there always complexities to what people head in the game is at each turn. and you definitely see and are reminded that you cant rely on people to discuss, listen or come round to see the error of way or their ways. some people really wont.
its quite a sad reminder of how little people actually care about victims and its almost still always the case of saving face or protecting brands, people, careers.
an interesting and different read for me for sure. i don't usually delve into the story from this angle.

** spoiler alert ** thanks to netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

i'd like to give this a 3.5. i feel like this focused more on politics than anything about the scandal itself - of 300+ pages, i think maybe 50 of them actually went into the misconduct and its coverup. while this isn't a bad thing, i think this would be more in line for someone who likes to read political fiction. it's hard for me to consider this a "thriller" - not all that much really happened.

it also definitely finished with some loose ends (and maybe that was intentional) - like did C&R successfully and properly investigate, or was getting coach rob behind bars all they bothered to do?

i didn't find any of the characters particularly enthralling in a way that made me want to root for them - i actually found Evina to be pretty insufferable and hard to sympathize with, constantly making every conversation about herself and sitting there whining. with that being said, i do actually LIKE when characters aren't easy to root for, because they end up actually feeling more human & realistic, so i didn't actually dislike the main characters.

the only thing i think i would change is how much information the reader gets "handed" - maybe it's my own preference, but i felt like there were a number of sentences & paragraphs that kind of...overexplained things that i think most readers would be able to infer? for example, "Rick started with a mock question as he stroked his goatee with no one else but Troy in the room." i never wondered if anyone else was in the room, because the scene had already been set up that just Troy and Rick were in a conference room preparing for an interview. another example: "there was relief to know that this attempt to frame her--because that's what it was--would now disappear."i already knew it was framing her...just some examples of things that i felt didn't need to be totally spelled out.

all this being said, i think that people who enjoy political fiction will enjoy this! i just would not advertise it as a thriller!

I'll be honest, Open Bar really wasn't anything like I expected. The synopsis talks about this scandal and the fallout, etc but in reality, it felt like the scandal aspect took a backseat and the book was actually more about the politics involved in covering it up. That actually could be a very interesting book in itself, but unfortunately, for me it just fell flat. There were so many different characters to keep track of that it made it hard to actually get into the story. There was so much going on and it just seemed to miss the mark.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

I’m sorry I can not give feedback on this read because it’s a tough subject so I can read it I didn’t know that it had that subject in there sorry