When I first heard about "Bond Girl," by Erin Duffy, and was told that it was like "The Devil Wears Prada" for Wall Street, I just knew I had to read it! So you can imagine my excitement when I WON a copy from Chick Lit is Not Dead. After hearing all the good things about it, I couldn't wait to see what happened. And when I did, it went above and beyond my expectations!
While other girls were dreaming about being teachers and fashion designers, Alex Garrett fantasized about the day she’d get to work on a Wall Street trading floor. She pursues this dream and ends up working as an analyst at Cromwell Pierce. However, Wall Street is nothing like she experienced when she watched her father at his job. She’s subjected to misogynistic behavior from all the men surrounding her and forced to sit on a child-size folding chair labeled “Girlie,” the nickname given to her. The only woman on the desk wants nothing to do with her. And her boss tests her at every turn with ridiculous expectations and demands, such as a trip to the Bronx for a $1000 wheel of cheese. Soon enough, she starts to earn respect from her colleagues, but when the stock market goes haywire in 2008, suddenly all bets are off and it's about survival of the fittest. Alex will have to re-examine her role at Cromwell Pierce and decide if this is really something she wants to do with her life.
I cannot say enough about how much I loved “Bond Girl.” As I was reading it, I kept telling everyone I know how great it was and how I thought they should read it too. Alex Garrett is my new literary best friend. I don’t care that she’s 11 years younger; she’s so cool and down to earth that I love her anyway. I would totally be hanging out with her if we worked together. She’s such a well developed character, that it is easy to feel her emotions right along with her, whether she’s stressed out, excited or sad. The supporting characters were well written and it was easy to tell whether you should like them or hate them right away. There are some exceptions, such as her boss, Chick. He seems like a jerk at first, but he manages to surprise both Alex and myself. There was one point where I almost cried, in a good way, over something he said. As I was reading the book, I felt like Ms. Duffy had been spying on conversations with me and some of my friends. The dialogue was so natural and easygoing throughout. Really, it was just impossible to put this book down and each time I had to, I felt the way I did while waiting for new episodes of “How I Met Your Mother.” It was that longing to be caught up in the story as soon as possible. If I had a day to myself, I would have read the whole book in one sitting!
The only piece of criticism I have for Ms. Duffy is that some of the trading language went over my head. I wish she had included a glossary or footnotes, so that I could follow along even better. Needless to say, this did not take away from my enjoyment of the novel. It just shows that Ms. Duffy had a lot of experience to add to the story and I could have cared less if she made the terminology up herself! (I wouldn’t have had a clue either way.)
If I haven't sold you on this book, maybe this trailer will! I highly recommend this great piece of chick lit and I hope Ms. Duffy will continue to write, as I will continue to read her books whenever she does!
2 comments:
I loved, loved this book.
I was so lucky to be sent an ARC of "Bond Girl" and found that I could not put it down. It blew my mind to think how hard people have to work to "pay their dues" in a high powered job such as hers. It almost gives NEW meaning to the word, "Gofer." I loved this novel and cannot wait for the next one from this enormously talented author.
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