2022: A very engaging mystery that threw me for a loop in the last third of the book.

Originally, I was planning on my "tagline" for this review to say that this book is for fans of YOUNGER (the TV show) who thought it was too white. But the novel really took a turn in the last half of the story, and I have to say, I really don't know how to qualify it anymore. A review I read said that it was genre-bending, and that's very accurate. It's both a fun romp through the world of New York City publishing, and a confounding thriller.

Harris sets up Nella, our main character, to have a lighthearted life in New York. Sure, she's frustrated at work, and yes, she struggles with some of her tone-deaf white coworkers, but on the whole, things are pretty par for the course. When the mysterious messages land on Nella's desk, they really feel like they are coming out of nowhere. An abrupt narrator switch left me really confused for a bit, and the timeline was a little hard to follow in the audiobook (I'm just assuming that everything that happened in 2018 happened in order, but actually, I'm not sure!)

The attention to detail of the hair of all of the characters, with so many clues strung throughout, ended up being the most important subplot of the whole novel. But the interactions with Richard really didn't go anywhere or answer any questions. I also thought that Harris was making a big deal out of Nella's relationship with Owen, and kept waiting for that to turn into something, but maybe that was just a red herring for us readers.

Ultimately, it left so many unanswered questions, that I don't know if I can really recommend it in good faith. The ending felt more like a disappointed stop than an exciting cliffhanger. Maybe I just wasn't prepared for quite how Jordan Peele-like the direction of this novel was going. But I will say, I really did enjoy the first 3/4 of this book, so I'm leaving it at a 4 star rating!