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A review by theengineerisreading
I Hope This Finds You Well by Natalie Sue
5.0
Easily a candidate for 2024 best reads!
In this debut novel, we follow Jolene (an admin worker) as she found herself on her way to her boss' office after her petty email postscripts, that has her rants to her co-workers, she intentionally colored white to appear as a blank space was uncovered by her office rival, Caitlin. From then, came the admin decision to have her punishment in the form of sensitivity training with an IT and email restrictions - the latter turned to her favor as she realized that she can access all of the office's personal email and DMs.
Funny and achingly realistic, I sent an email request for a review copy of IHTFYW because this has been compared with Anxious People (Fredrik Backman) which is one of my best reads from 2021 and I was actually confused when I started reading this book because it seems that it will not match with Anxious People.
My first impressions died after Jolene gained the technological gift she wasn't expecting. The part where Jolene was able to access and monitor her colleagues' email and private messages in that time where a company-wide restructuring is planned, piqued my interest the most. It showed the relatable side of Jolene that, when given an opportunity to have a visibility on how things really work behind your back and how people view you, made her feel like I am her.
This entire opportunity underscored Jolene's backstory that happened back when she was in high school and experienced a tragic event that, based on my understanding, contributed a lot on how she became a socially-awkward adult trying to make ends meet.
Her entire punishment also revolved around having sensitivity sessions with Cliff, the new HR guy, whom she had instant connections and, to make it a bit exaggerated, brought colors to her otherwise monochromatic Supershops world.
Cliff and Jolene's relationship also added to how unputdownable this novel is. How they first met when she was being sanctioned and how it transitioned to a meaningful friendship.
I also want to highlight how beautifully-written this novel is. I can't believe that this is a debut novel because (this is just me being real) first published titles never read this good.
There are a lot of chapters where I am grinning while flipping the pages be it because what happened with Jolene felt familiar or the joke was really funny but there are also moments when I suddenly realized that my eyes were getting watery because I am so proud of Jolene.
This is definitely a highly-recommended debut that perfectly captured the ultimate office experience - the competition (friendly or not), the unavoidable surprise parties, the could've-been-an-email meetings, the gossips, and the connections that were made within the four corners of the workplace.
Equally humorous and heartwarming, this one deserves a five star!!
In this debut novel, we follow Jolene (an admin worker) as she found herself on her way to her boss' office after her petty email postscripts, that has her rants to her co-workers, she intentionally colored white to appear as a blank space was uncovered by her office rival, Caitlin. From then, came the admin decision to have her punishment in the form of sensitivity training with an IT and email restrictions - the latter turned to her favor as she realized that she can access all of the office's personal email and DMs.
Funny and achingly realistic, I sent an email request for a review copy of IHTFYW because this has been compared with Anxious People (Fredrik Backman) which is one of my best reads from 2021 and I was actually confused when I started reading this book because it seems that it will not match with Anxious People.
My first impressions died after Jolene gained the technological gift she wasn't expecting. The part where Jolene was able to access and monitor her colleagues' email and private messages in that time where a company-wide restructuring is planned, piqued my interest the most. It showed the relatable side of Jolene that, when given an opportunity to have a visibility on how things really work behind your back and how people view you, made her feel like I am her.
This entire opportunity underscored Jolene's backstory that happened back when she was in high school and experienced a tragic event that, based on my understanding, contributed a lot on how she became a socially-awkward adult trying to make ends meet.
Her entire punishment also revolved around having sensitivity sessions with Cliff, the new HR guy, whom she had instant connections and, to make it a bit exaggerated, brought colors to her otherwise monochromatic Supershops world.
Cliff and Jolene's relationship also added to how unputdownable this novel is. How they first met when she was being sanctioned and how it transitioned to a meaningful friendship.
I also want to highlight how beautifully-written this novel is. I can't believe that this is a debut novel because (this is just me being real) first published titles never read this good.
There are a lot of chapters where I am grinning while flipping the pages be it because what happened with Jolene felt familiar or the joke was really funny but there are also moments when I suddenly realized that my eyes were getting watery because I am so proud of Jolene.
This is definitely a highly-recommended debut that perfectly captured the ultimate office experience - the competition (friendly or not), the unavoidable surprise parties, the could've-been-an-email meetings, the gossips, and the connections that were made within the four corners of the workplace.
Equally humorous and heartwarming, this one deserves a five star!!