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The Assistants
A wry and astute debut about a young Manhattanite whose embezzlement scam turns her into an unlikely advocate for the leagues of overeducated and underpaid assistants across the city.
Tina Fontana is the hapless but brazen thirty-year-old executive assistant to Robert Barlow, the all-powerful and commanding CEO of Titan Corp., a multinational media conglomerate. She’s excellent at her job and beloved by her famous boss—but after six years of making his reservations for restaurants she’d never get into on her own and pouring his drinks from bottles that cost more than her rent, she’s bored, broke, and just a bit over it all.
When a technical error with Robert’s travel-and-expenses report presents Tina with the opportunity to pay off the entire balance of her student loan debt with what would essentially be pocket change for her boss, she struggles with the decision: She’s always played by the rules. But it’s such a relatively small amount of money for the Titan Corporation—and for her it would be a life-changer . . .
The Assistants speaks directly to a new generation of women who feel stuck and unable to get ahead playing by the rules. It will appeal to all of those who have ever asked themselves, “How is it that after all these years, we are still assistants?”
Tina Fontana is the hapless but brazen thirty-year-old executive assistant to Robert Barlow, the all-powerful and commanding CEO of Titan Corp., a multinational media conglomerate. She’s excellent at her job and beloved by her famous boss—but after six years of making his reservations for restaurants she’d never get into on her own and pouring his drinks from bottles that cost more than her rent, she’s bored, broke, and just a bit over it all.
When a technical error with Robert’s travel-and-expenses report presents Tina with the opportunity to pay off the entire balance of her student loan debt with what would essentially be pocket change for her boss, she struggles with the decision: She’s always played by the rules. But it’s such a relatively small amount of money for the Titan Corporation—and for her it would be a life-changer . . .
The Assistants speaks directly to a new generation of women who feel stuck and unable to get ahead playing by the rules. It will appeal to all of those who have ever asked themselves, “How is it that after all these years, we are still assistants?”
288 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2016
About the author
Camille Perri
3 books317 followersCamille Perri is the author of The Assistants and When Katie Met Cassidy. She has worked as a books editor for Cosmopolitan and Esquire. She has also been a ghostwriter of young adult novels and a reference librarian. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from New York University and a master of library science degree from Queens College.
From https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/au...
From https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/au...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,192 reviews
June 1, 2016
A fun read with a compelling premise. Assistants for a major corporation pad their bosses expense reports to pay off their student loans. But the book is so rushed! And the logistics of the premise kind of fall apart as more people get involved. And then the plot explodes. Ooof. Everything becomes too convenient. Well worth reading. Again, lots of fun. But it's not as well realized a novel as it could be.
August 12, 2021
I want to give this book to a baby boomer and watch their brain rage-explode as they read it. because it's hard to say which characters are painted as having more entitlement: the rich, sneaky, white male baby boomers who make money in shady ways, or the assistants below them who make 30-40k a year after having put themselves through college with thousands upon thousands of dollars in loans. We are supposed to empathize with the assistants. I wound up rolling my eyes at both groups throughout most of the book.
The main character is kind of bland, the other characters are kind of stereotypical, and while I actually really do sympathize with the plight of those with student loans (as somebody who will be paying hers off for the bulk of her working life), I just could not scrounge up a damn to give about anybody in this book.
The main character is kind of bland, the other characters are kind of stereotypical, and while I actually really do sympathize with the plight of those with student loans (as somebody who will be paying hers off for the bulk of her working life), I just could not scrounge up a damn to give about anybody in this book.
June 25, 2016
As a society, we love rooting for David over Goliath, for the underdog to get their day, for people we perceive to be unethical or just plain evil to get their comeuppance. But what if we knew the underdog wasn't entirely virtuous or correct—would we still root for them, because we think their foe is worse?
I always marvel when a writer can make readers root for, or sympathize with, characters who aren't entirely on the up-and-up. It's the hallmark of shows like Dexter or even The Sopranos , that you'd rather the bad people not get caught even if they deserve to. Despite the fact that this is her debut novel, Camille Perri demonstrates this skill very well in The Assistants .
"All important men have assistants. That's the first principle I want you to remember. Do important women also have assistants? Yes, of course. But men rule the world. Still. That's the second principle I want you to remember. Men still rule the world. Not because this is some feminist manifesto, but because it's a simple fact essential to how this all started."
Tina Fontana is 30 years old, and the assistant to Robert Barlow, a media mogul who is CEO of Titan Corporation. (Think a Texan, slightly-less-odious Rupert Murdoch.) Robert trusts Tina implicitly, and she's great at her job, solving problems, schmoozing those who want things from her boss he's not willing to give, making reservations, and corralling the staff. She knows she's smarter than her day-to-day tasks prove, and she certainly is worth more than her meager salary, but she feels integral. For an assistant.
One day, she stumbles on an accounting error related to one of Robert's expense reports, an error that presents her with a tidy sum of money. This money would be enough to pay off her student loans, and allow her to perhaps pay her phone bill and eat dinner at a restaurant. Given Titan's finances, this would be just a drop in the bucket. Would anyone even notice anyway?
Once her ethical lapse is discovered, Tina finds herself helping another assistant within the company eliminate her debt. But while she knows she was wrong, and she'd just like to put it all behind her, as more people get involved, Tina realizes her life is changing. Suddenly she's not the mild-mannered assistant who slices limes perfectly for Robert's cocktails. Suddenly she's at the forefront of a movement she unwittingly started, one attempting to bring equity where there never has been before. But it can't work, can it?
While obviously the plot of The Assistants is far-fetched (I'd imagine), it's a really enjoyable read. We know inherently Tina and her crew are committing crimes, and we know their good fortune can't last forever, but we want it to. Perri does a great job unfurling Tina's ethical and emotional dilemmas, but she's careful not to paint Robert as too much of an ogre either. This book definitely taps into some very relevant themes in today's world, including gender inequity and student loan debt.
This really was good fun, and a tremendously entertaining, quick read. If you're the type of person who roots for the "bad guys," you might enjoy this book. I definitely did.
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
I always marvel when a writer can make readers root for, or sympathize with, characters who aren't entirely on the up-and-up. It's the hallmark of shows like Dexter or even The Sopranos , that you'd rather the bad people not get caught even if they deserve to. Despite the fact that this is her debut novel, Camille Perri demonstrates this skill very well in The Assistants .
"All important men have assistants. That's the first principle I want you to remember. Do important women also have assistants? Yes, of course. But men rule the world. Still. That's the second principle I want you to remember. Men still rule the world. Not because this is some feminist manifesto, but because it's a simple fact essential to how this all started."
Tina Fontana is 30 years old, and the assistant to Robert Barlow, a media mogul who is CEO of Titan Corporation. (Think a Texan, slightly-less-odious Rupert Murdoch.) Robert trusts Tina implicitly, and she's great at her job, solving problems, schmoozing those who want things from her boss he's not willing to give, making reservations, and corralling the staff. She knows she's smarter than her day-to-day tasks prove, and she certainly is worth more than her meager salary, but she feels integral. For an assistant.
One day, she stumbles on an accounting error related to one of Robert's expense reports, an error that presents her with a tidy sum of money. This money would be enough to pay off her student loans, and allow her to perhaps pay her phone bill and eat dinner at a restaurant. Given Titan's finances, this would be just a drop in the bucket. Would anyone even notice anyway?
Once her ethical lapse is discovered, Tina finds herself helping another assistant within the company eliminate her debt. But while she knows she was wrong, and she'd just like to put it all behind her, as more people get involved, Tina realizes her life is changing. Suddenly she's not the mild-mannered assistant who slices limes perfectly for Robert's cocktails. Suddenly she's at the forefront of a movement she unwittingly started, one attempting to bring equity where there never has been before. But it can't work, can it?
While obviously the plot of The Assistants is far-fetched (I'd imagine), it's a really enjoyable read. We know inherently Tina and her crew are committing crimes, and we know their good fortune can't last forever, but we want it to. Perri does a great job unfurling Tina's ethical and emotional dilemmas, but she's careful not to paint Robert as too much of an ogre either. This book definitely taps into some very relevant themes in today's world, including gender inequity and student loan debt.
This really was good fun, and a tremendously entertaining, quick read. If you're the type of person who roots for the "bad guys," you might enjoy this book. I definitely did.
See all of my reviews at http://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blo....
August 7, 2017
I'm not a friend to this book. Proceed with caution.
What I Liked
1. A compelling premise. Sticking it to the man by embezzling funds to cover student loan debts. Mine's threw the roof and I could understand the desperation to clear such a heavy albatross over one's head.
2. I won this book in a giveaway.
What I Disliked
1. Writing. Flat, in need of editing (Ironic considering its author's an Esquire editor), and boring. Dialogue's minimal, dis-enabling readers to grasp characterization further. More so, I had trouble distinguishing timelines. Seasons? Days? Missed opportunities.
2. Bland characters. You create a good premise with bland characters. I can dig a good story with unlikable characters. But, when both is bad, you lose me. I had no one to root for in this story, despite understanding desperation and student debt.
3. Tina, the main character, is 30 years old, but reads 21. I would not believe her to be her age at all. She does idiotic things, I wouldn't expect a thirty-something to do, like have someone squat in their house. Besides, why is she still an assistant after six years?
4. The plot, while promising, reads as a three-episode arc of a bad Aaron Spelling show. Will the Feds catch Brenda, Kelly, and Donna in the act? Will Donna finally do the deed with Kevin (Tina's boyfriend)?
5. Plot holes galore. One example: Tina's hinted at being a Lesbian; yet, she conveniently gets Kevin, an unbelievably hot guy (Trust. It's mentioned every time he appears), who she would never hooked up with realistically.
6. New York City's the setting. But, without a few choice descriptions, you'd wouldn't know. How do you fail to make a great city a character in itself. Gentrification. Hipsters. Class struggle. Weak attempts at something real without substance.
7. For a book lasting 279 pages, I needed more than four days to get through it. RED ALERT!
8. Pop cultural references swallowed more time than deserved. We get it. You know things. But, they date your book and come off as smug. Your winks at hipness belies a lack of coolness.
9. Her crime is hand-waved by it's neat-as-a-bow ending. Maybe it's a tale about college-educated white girls getting away with their crimes (Yes. They say so numerous time). By the end, I failed to care.
10. Where's the humor? For a story advertising wry humor, I counted one laugh and I cannot remember why I snickered.
11. Did I mention the author's an editor? Go figure.
Final Thoughts
Editors and writers work best as separate entities. Sometimes, meshing the two roles hurt readers. Do not bother unless you enjoy hate reading.
Verdict : 1/5 Cups of bland coffee, no sugar and no milk.
*I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway*
What I Liked
1. A compelling premise. Sticking it to the man by embezzling funds to cover student loan debts. Mine's threw the roof and I could understand the desperation to clear such a heavy albatross over one's head.
2. I won this book in a giveaway.
What I Disliked
1. Writing. Flat, in need of editing (Ironic considering its author's an Esquire editor), and boring. Dialogue's minimal, dis-enabling readers to grasp characterization further. More so, I had trouble distinguishing timelines. Seasons? Days? Missed opportunities.
2. Bland characters. You create a good premise with bland characters. I can dig a good story with unlikable characters. But, when both is bad, you lose me. I had no one to root for in this story, despite understanding desperation and student debt.
3. Tina, the main character, is 30 years old, but reads 21. I would not believe her to be her age at all. She does idiotic things, I wouldn't expect a thirty-something to do, like have someone squat in their house. Besides, why is she still an assistant after six years?
4. The plot, while promising, reads as a three-episode arc of a bad Aaron Spelling show. Will the Feds catch Brenda, Kelly, and Donna in the act? Will Donna finally do the deed with Kevin (Tina's boyfriend)?
5. Plot holes galore. One example: Tina's hinted at being a Lesbian; yet, she conveniently gets Kevin, an unbelievably hot guy (Trust. It's mentioned every time he appears), who she would never hooked up with realistically.
6. New York City's the setting. But, without a few choice descriptions, you'd wouldn't know. How do you fail to make a great city a character in itself. Gentrification. Hipsters. Class struggle. Weak attempts at something real without substance.
7. For a book lasting 279 pages, I needed more than four days to get through it. RED ALERT!
8. Pop cultural references swallowed more time than deserved. We get it. You know things. But, they date your book and come off as smug. Your winks at hipness belies a lack of coolness.
9. Her crime is hand-waved by it's neat-as-a-bow ending. Maybe it's a tale about college-educated white girls getting away with their crimes (Yes. They say so numerous time). By the end, I failed to care.
10. Where's the humor? For a story advertising wry humor, I counted one laugh and I cannot remember why I snickered.
11. Did I mention the author's an editor? Go figure.
Final Thoughts
Editors and writers work best as separate entities. Sometimes, meshing the two roles hurt readers. Do not bother unless you enjoy hate reading.
Verdict : 1/5 Cups of bland coffee, no sugar and no milk.
*I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway*
February 4, 2018
Anyone who pays attention to my reviews knows that I'm constantly whining about how difficult it is to find light entertainment that's not jam-packed with eye-rollingly bad qualities, such as horrible characters who we're somehow meant to root for, predictable plots, painful attempts at humor, and writing that's just no good at the sentence level (or any other level, for that matter). Fortunately, The Assistants contains none of these qualities! I was hoping for something light, fun, and fast-moving after my lengthy immersion in Americanah, and this novel delivered in a big way. Its main character, Tina, is smart but hilariously self-deprecating, and she made me laugh out loud many times. We get to know other characters to varying degrees, and somehow all of them, particularly Tina's apartment-crashing roommate Emily, avoid becoming the stereotypes you might expect to find in a book like The Assistants. The plot was intriguing, unpredictable, and morally complex. Not everything worked—Tina's relationship with her boyfriend was the least convincing thing about the novel, and could have been eliminated altogether—but on the whole The Assistants was just what I was looking for, and I tore through it in two days. Part of my 2018 reading project is to get caught up on current authors and decide whose careers are worth following and whose aren't; I'm happy to conclude that Camille Perri falls firmly into the first category.
April 7, 2017
Paperback releases 5/2 - giveaway on my blog https://www.facebook.com/suzyapproved...
June 21, 2016
Nope. That's all I have to say about this not funny at all book about a bunch of assistants who steal from their company because their bosses make a lot more money than they do. The book prologue starts off and you know that something happened but in the end that Tina and her friends end up looking like folk heroes. I guess it was that whole steal from the rich to benefit themselves thing going on.
The main character Tina Fontana is an assistant to the most powerful man in media, Robert Barlow. Tina is 30, drowning in student loan debt, and after a chance mix-up with her boss's expense report, she is provided a check to pay for an expense that ended up getting written off. When she realizes the check could pay off her student loan debt Tina is haunted by what she should do and of course picks the option where she can pay off her debt. However, Tina is not as careful as she thought, and soon she picks up a partner in crime who wants her student loan debt paid off too. And then someone else finds out, and the whole thing snowballs.
I never got a handle on Tina at all through this whole book. She does idiotic things throughout the entire book and in the end seems to be doing what she does in order to show her boss Robert that she can be his equal. One character mentions her daddy issues with Robert, and there is an element of that going on. She wants this character to be proud of her for whatever reason. There are whole paragraphs devoted to Tina hating to get Robert and his company drinks and having to cut the limes. She hopes one day to get a drink with him and someone else cuts the limes.
You can't see me rolling my eyes but believe me I am. Look I have a boss, actually I have four bosses. If I stole money from my agency my ass would be fired and I would be prosecuted for stealing. That's all she wrote. Me trying to plead well I wanted to be treated equally and hey pay off my debt isn't going to cut it with anyone. I feel like this whole book was written so backwards I don't even know where to begin with it. I don't talk about privilege a lot, but Tina and her friends though they don't see it are swimming in privilege. Tina has a heck of a lot of options and just chooses to ignore them. Same thing with other people in this book. And even though there is acknowledgement by Tina that no one made her and her friends sign paperwork for student loans, they are still upset with the whole idea that yes you have to make payments on your debt. And it's not fair that her boss can get expenses for new golf clubs written off when if she pays off her debt, that means she can move to a new apartment, go out to eat more often, and even mentions taking expensive cab drives like spoiled rich girls do.
There is not a lot of there with Tina though. The whole book just sets up how she was able to do what she does and her really pathetic justifications don't sell me at all. And then in the end the author tries to throw out something about Tina's boss so I guess she could justify doing what she did? Once again this book was not very well conceived. I feel like there was a ton of stuff cut out. I just needed to have more interaction with Tina where we actually get to see her. Instead she felt like a faceless person the whole book.
Secondary characters like Tina's new best friend Emily, her boyfriend Kevin, and others don't fare well either. No one made an impression on me at all. Emily and others at Titan (where they all work as assistants) all seem to have huge student loan debt and all are angry that their bosses make so much more money than they do. I definitely believe in equal pay for equal work, but it seems like none of these assistants have ever asked for a pay raise, promotion, or applied for other jobs. They just stick with the jobs they are in now, and hate everything that their job requires them to do.
The plot was pretty laughable. Everything gets handwaved away in the end, so there's no need to really put much thought into following things.
The writing wasn't that great. I felt like there was no dialogue really. With first person points of view books, I need to see more character interaction. Tina just seems to be inner-voicing most of the book and it was aggravating. Because of this, we don't really get to "see" other characters. There is a lot of pop culture lines here and there, and it didn't endear the book to me at all. Just made me groan some more.
The flow was terrible. I have no idea what the timeline was since this book seemed to start in spring/summer and somehow I think things ended in fall/winter. I don't know. The only visual clue we get is that Tina and Kevin go apple picking when the weather turns. I think since most of the book is Tina and her angst that the whole book just dragged. It's only 279 pages though it felt much longer to me as I read it.
The setting of New York is not used at all. Most of the book takes place in Tina's apartment. Her apartment which is a hazard, made me annoyed, because even after her student loan debt goes bye bye, there's no reason for Tina to stay there. Her apartment has rats and an ever growing water balloon in the ceiling that Tina is afraid will pop one day. I am sure there is some symbolism there with the balloon, Tina's secrets, etc. but I don't care to look for it.
The ending tied things up way too neatly and as I said again, laughably in my opinion. Cause God knows in this day and age, when you steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from a huge company and you are not rich, you totally get away with it.
The main character Tina Fontana is an assistant to the most powerful man in media, Robert Barlow. Tina is 30, drowning in student loan debt, and after a chance mix-up with her boss's expense report, she is provided a check to pay for an expense that ended up getting written off. When she realizes the check could pay off her student loan debt Tina is haunted by what she should do and of course picks the option where she can pay off her debt. However, Tina is not as careful as she thought, and soon she picks up a partner in crime who wants her student loan debt paid off too. And then someone else finds out, and the whole thing snowballs.
I never got a handle on Tina at all through this whole book. She does idiotic things throughout the entire book and in the end seems to be doing what she does in order to show her boss Robert that she can be his equal. One character mentions her daddy issues with Robert, and there is an element of that going on. She wants this character to be proud of her for whatever reason. There are whole paragraphs devoted to Tina hating to get Robert and his company drinks and having to cut the limes. She hopes one day to get a drink with him and someone else cuts the limes.
You can't see me rolling my eyes but believe me I am. Look I have a boss, actually I have four bosses. If I stole money from my agency my ass would be fired and I would be prosecuted for stealing. That's all she wrote. Me trying to plead well I wanted to be treated equally and hey pay off my debt isn't going to cut it with anyone. I feel like this whole book was written so backwards I don't even know where to begin with it. I don't talk about privilege a lot, but Tina and her friends though they don't see it are swimming in privilege. Tina has a heck of a lot of options and just chooses to ignore them. Same thing with other people in this book. And even though there is acknowledgement by Tina that no one made her and her friends sign paperwork for student loans, they are still upset with the whole idea that yes you have to make payments on your debt. And it's not fair that her boss can get expenses for new golf clubs written off when if she pays off her debt, that means she can move to a new apartment, go out to eat more often, and even mentions taking expensive cab drives like spoiled rich girls do.
There is not a lot of there with Tina though. The whole book just sets up how she was able to do what she does and her really pathetic justifications don't sell me at all. And then in the end the author tries to throw out something about Tina's boss so I guess she could justify doing what she did? Once again this book was not very well conceived. I feel like there was a ton of stuff cut out. I just needed to have more interaction with Tina where we actually get to see her. Instead she felt like a faceless person the whole book.
Secondary characters like Tina's new best friend Emily, her boyfriend Kevin, and others don't fare well either. No one made an impression on me at all. Emily and others at Titan (where they all work as assistants) all seem to have huge student loan debt and all are angry that their bosses make so much more money than they do. I definitely believe in equal pay for equal work, but it seems like none of these assistants have ever asked for a pay raise, promotion, or applied for other jobs. They just stick with the jobs they are in now, and hate everything that their job requires them to do.
The plot was pretty laughable. Everything gets handwaved away in the end, so there's no need to really put much thought into following things.
The writing wasn't that great. I felt like there was no dialogue really. With first person points of view books, I need to see more character interaction. Tina just seems to be inner-voicing most of the book and it was aggravating. Because of this, we don't really get to "see" other characters. There is a lot of pop culture lines here and there, and it didn't endear the book to me at all. Just made me groan some more.
The flow was terrible. I have no idea what the timeline was since this book seemed to start in spring/summer and somehow I think things ended in fall/winter. I don't know. The only visual clue we get is that Tina and Kevin go apple picking when the weather turns. I think since most of the book is Tina and her angst that the whole book just dragged. It's only 279 pages though it felt much longer to me as I read it.
The setting of New York is not used at all. Most of the book takes place in Tina's apartment. Her apartment which is a hazard, made me annoyed, because even after her student loan debt goes bye bye, there's no reason for Tina to stay there. Her apartment has rats and an ever growing water balloon in the ceiling that Tina is afraid will pop one day. I am sure there is some symbolism there with the balloon, Tina's secrets, etc. but I don't care to look for it.
The ending tied things up way too neatly and as I said again, laughably in my opinion. Cause God knows in this day and age, when you steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from a huge company and you are not rich, you totally get away with it.
March 29, 2016
(3.5) At age 30, Tina Fontana has been a PA to media mogul Robert Barlow for six years. He’s worth millions; she lives in a tiny Brooklyn apartment. She’s not the only young woman who can’t seem to progress beyond an assistant’s salary and struggles to keep up with her student loan repayments. One day a mix-up in refunding expenses lands her with a check for $19,147. If she cashes it she can pay off her debts once and for all, and no one at Titan Corporation will be any the wiser. Except for Emily Johnson from the 43rd floor, who twigs to what Tina has done and wants her own five-figure loans paid off…
This is a fun and undemanding read that will probably primarily appeal to young women. I would particularly recommend it to readers of Friendship by Emily Gould and A Window Opens by Elisabeth Egan. Tina, a second-generation Sicilian-American, is a sharp, no-nonsense protagonist who kept making me laugh. Her romance with Kevin was a little bit clichéd, but didn’t detract much from the story.
Favorite lines: “How was this my life? I was supposed to be an island. Hell is other people. Hell is other people!” & “We were all defined by whom we assisted.”
This is a fun and undemanding read that will probably primarily appeal to young women. I would particularly recommend it to readers of Friendship by Emily Gould and A Window Opens by Elisabeth Egan. Tina, a second-generation Sicilian-American, is a sharp, no-nonsense protagonist who kept making me laugh. Her romance with Kevin was a little bit clichéd, but didn’t detract much from the story.
Favorite lines: “How was this my life? I was supposed to be an island. Hell is other people. Hell is other people!” & “We were all defined by whom we assisted.”
April 16, 2018
Ich hab irgendwie das Gefühl, dass die Autorin einen Groll gegen das männliche Geschlecht hegt. Einige Stellen in diesem Buch waren beinahe richtig sexistisch. Ich verstehe die Intention hinter diesem Buch, ich bin für Feminismus. Aber nicht, wenn das bedeutet in die andere Richtung zu hetzen.
October 27, 2019
I’ve had a copy of The Assistants by Camille Perri that I bought over a year ago and haven’t had a chance to read yet. Lately I just feel a bit burnt out with heavier reads that I’ve had and student loans and feeling down that I haven’t made enough progress on my dissertation. So, I was sitting in bed getting ready for my first vacation of 2019, and this book felt like a beacon from my bookshelves telling me to drop everything on my schedule and read it.
It was the best pick-me-up! I found it to be funny in that not-taking-itself-too-seriously-way, relatable in the themes it touched on, and edgy in the social commentary that underlay a fun contemporary fiction novel with a dash of romance. I loved it!
Where do I begin? Tina really resonated with me, and I felt connected to her instantly. She is a 30 year-old assistant to one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. She holds access to his calendar, his credit cards, his entire life. And, she makes about $40,000 per year in New York City. Tina can’t afford to pay off her student loans. She can’t afford to save to buy her own place. She can’t afford the cocktails her boss serves regularly to the higher-level colleagues that Tina is forced to cut the limes for.
And one thing I loved about Tina was her self-awareness. As Tina points out, she is actually one of the lucky ones. She has a job and a paycheck and benefits. She might not make enough to move out of where she is or get recognized in her male-dominated workforce, but she is lucky to have her degree even with the loans, and to have her job even with the debt.
Tina’s running commentary on the men in her workplace made me laugh. She knew who her boss was calling for based on the tone of his voice, for instance. I found Tina so easy to relate to in part because she actually does like her job. She sees the good parts of her boss Robert Barlow. The ways in which he has a code of ethics he abides to that feels at times old-fashioned. The way he never yells at her. Not even once, despite his reputation externally. Richard could have been a villain, but Perri wrote him as a character I actually liked, even though I saw some obvious problems with him.
The part where Tina makes the move—the one that kicks off the whole chain of events in this novel—was so expertly written. Because I could complete understand the way it would feel having that check, knowing it was a nominal sum (literal pocket change) to her boss, but one that would change her life. Looking at it, day in and out. Knowing it was yours to take if you wanted. Knowing the panic I’d feel if I did take it.
I enjoyed the other characters involved in the scheme too. They were so fun, and they were almost caricatures in how diverse they were. But that worked, in my opinion. They were each so different but were experiencing they same set back in life. They represented so many millennial women, trying to make it after our generation was dealt a bad hand. Trying to be loyal to a company that treats them poorly. Trying to remember how lucky they are even when they can’t afford groceries one week.
I also loved Tina’s romance in this book. I don’t want to say too much about it, but I found it fun and refreshing! A connection amidst the madness Tina landed in.
And finally, I want to briefly comment on how this fun, laugh-out-loud book also resonated with me on so many levels. Themes of how women are still treated and compensated, despite the progress we’ve made. Themes of socioeconomic status and the opportunities that are and aren’t available. Themes of how even with doing everything right, sometimes you aren’t taken seriously because of your race, gender, accent, or where you went to college.
I loved this book! I want to leave with a quote that sums up much of the deep social commentary that this book had:
“Our country is failing to live up to its promise of opportunity and fairness. It used to be true that if you went to college and you worked hard, you could count on having a decent middle-class life - but that's just not true anymore. Economic and political changes that have occurred over the past three decades have made the middle-class American dream for today's twenty- and thirtysomethings far less possible than it was for their parents' generation. It's not that we're lazy, that we have no work ethic, or that we have outrageous spending habits. It's that we've been screwed.”
It was the best pick-me-up! I found it to be funny in that not-taking-itself-too-seriously-way, relatable in the themes it touched on, and edgy in the social commentary that underlay a fun contemporary fiction novel with a dash of romance. I loved it!
Where do I begin? Tina really resonated with me, and I felt connected to her instantly. She is a 30 year-old assistant to one of the richest and most powerful men in the world. She holds access to his calendar, his credit cards, his entire life. And, she makes about $40,000 per year in New York City. Tina can’t afford to pay off her student loans. She can’t afford to save to buy her own place. She can’t afford the cocktails her boss serves regularly to the higher-level colleagues that Tina is forced to cut the limes for.
And one thing I loved about Tina was her self-awareness. As Tina points out, she is actually one of the lucky ones. She has a job and a paycheck and benefits. She might not make enough to move out of where she is or get recognized in her male-dominated workforce, but she is lucky to have her degree even with the loans, and to have her job even with the debt.
Tina’s running commentary on the men in her workplace made me laugh. She knew who her boss was calling for based on the tone of his voice, for instance. I found Tina so easy to relate to in part because she actually does like her job. She sees the good parts of her boss Robert Barlow. The ways in which he has a code of ethics he abides to that feels at times old-fashioned. The way he never yells at her. Not even once, despite his reputation externally. Richard could have been a villain, but Perri wrote him as a character I actually liked, even though I saw some obvious problems with him.
The part where Tina makes the move—the one that kicks off the whole chain of events in this novel—was so expertly written. Because I could complete understand the way it would feel having that check, knowing it was a nominal sum (literal pocket change) to her boss, but one that would change her life. Looking at it, day in and out. Knowing it was yours to take if you wanted. Knowing the panic I’d feel if I did take it.
I enjoyed the other characters involved in the scheme too. They were so fun, and they were almost caricatures in how diverse they were. But that worked, in my opinion. They were each so different but were experiencing they same set back in life. They represented so many millennial women, trying to make it after our generation was dealt a bad hand. Trying to be loyal to a company that treats them poorly. Trying to remember how lucky they are even when they can’t afford groceries one week.
I also loved Tina’s romance in this book. I don’t want to say too much about it, but I found it fun and refreshing! A connection amidst the madness Tina landed in.
And finally, I want to briefly comment on how this fun, laugh-out-loud book also resonated with me on so many levels. Themes of how women are still treated and compensated, despite the progress we’ve made. Themes of socioeconomic status and the opportunities that are and aren’t available. Themes of how even with doing everything right, sometimes you aren’t taken seriously because of your race, gender, accent, or where you went to college.
I loved this book! I want to leave with a quote that sums up much of the deep social commentary that this book had:
“Our country is failing to live up to its promise of opportunity and fairness. It used to be true that if you went to college and you worked hard, you could count on having a decent middle-class life - but that's just not true anymore. Economic and political changes that have occurred over the past three decades have made the middle-class American dream for today's twenty- and thirtysomethings far less possible than it was for their parents' generation. It's not that we're lazy, that we have no work ethic, or that we have outrageous spending habits. It's that we've been screwed.”
March 16, 2017
2.5/5
This book was just so-so. The writing wasn’t great and the characters were a bit flat. I also didn’t find the resolution to be very satisfying. If I hadn’t been listening to this on audiobook, I probably would have DNF’d it.
The Good
* The story itself is kind of fun. I could picture it as a movie. Sort of like a Devil Wears Prada type of thing.
The Bad
* The writing was not good.
* Tina and the rest of the characters were very flat. Especially Tina’s boyfriend, Kevin. I never understood how or why they got together.
* I absolutely hated the audiobook narrator’s voice.
This book was just so-so. The writing wasn’t great and the characters were a bit flat. I also didn’t find the resolution to be very satisfying. If I hadn’t been listening to this on audiobook, I probably would have DNF’d it.
The Good
* The story itself is kind of fun. I could picture it as a movie. Sort of like a Devil Wears Prada type of thing.
The Bad
* The writing was not good.
* Tina and the rest of the characters were very flat. Especially Tina’s boyfriend, Kevin. I never understood how or why they got together.
* I absolutely hated the audiobook narrator’s voice.
May 25, 2016
I’ll admit I only read this book because I work as an assistant and thought this book might be somewhat entertaining. I was looking forward to some fellow feeling and possible bonding with fictional characters. Sadly none of this happened.
Tina Fontana is a New Yorker of Italian heritage. She has a degree in English and, for the executive assistant to the CEO of a billion-dollar corporation, is surprisingly spineless! By accident she embezzles $20k from the company to pay off her student loan and is almost immediately caught by another assistant. But she’s not in trouble; her colleague wants in and before you know it, Tina is being bullied into “helping” more and more assistants with their crushing debt problems.
The blurb states this book is full of “wry humour”. Where is it?!
I think the point of the book is to show how women, supporting their (male) multi-million dollar bosses every single day at work and yet still making less than $50k a year suddenly rise up and take what’s coming to them. Possibly the book was inspired by the true life case of Joyti De-Laurey (look it up) but whilst some people had a grudging admiration for De-Laurey it’s hard to feel anything but exasperation for Tina and her air-headed cohorts.
Yes, the wealth these men display is obscene but Tina has been an assistant for 6 years by the time the novel starts and at no point has she apparently even tried to find a better job or request a decent pay raise. Instead she whines endlessly about her terrible apartment, lack of social life and her guilt. And her apparently terrible boss doesn't seem all that bad when you compare him to some real life CEOs. It's very very hard to feel sorry for our "heroine" when all you want to do is bitch-slap her into next week.
Tina Fontana is a New Yorker of Italian heritage. She has a degree in English and, for the executive assistant to the CEO of a billion-dollar corporation, is surprisingly spineless! By accident she embezzles $20k from the company to pay off her student loan and is almost immediately caught by another assistant. But she’s not in trouble; her colleague wants in and before you know it, Tina is being bullied into “helping” more and more assistants with their crushing debt problems.
The blurb states this book is full of “wry humour”. Where is it?!
I think the point of the book is to show how women, supporting their (male) multi-million dollar bosses every single day at work and yet still making less than $50k a year suddenly rise up and take what’s coming to them. Possibly the book was inspired by the true life case of Joyti De-Laurey (look it up) but whilst some people had a grudging admiration for De-Laurey it’s hard to feel anything but exasperation for Tina and her air-headed cohorts.
Yes, the wealth these men display is obscene but Tina has been an assistant for 6 years by the time the novel starts and at no point has she apparently even tried to find a better job or request a decent pay raise. Instead she whines endlessly about her terrible apartment, lack of social life and her guilt. And her apparently terrible boss doesn't seem all that bad when you compare him to some real life CEOs. It's very very hard to feel sorry for our "heroine" when all you want to do is bitch-slap her into next week.
February 17, 2020
Great concept, however executed in a fairly bland manner.
I wasn't at all worried for the characters whilst reading this and didn't take much of a liking to them in the first instance.
I wasn't at all worried for the characters whilst reading this and didn't take much of a liking to them in the first instance.
October 12, 2020
At the gym I go to a few mornings a week I hear rush hour radio DJs talk. It’s a man and a woman and they banter, mostly about celebrities, sometimes about current events. They’re going for humor and insight but they’re so uninformed and witless that I’m surprised that anyone listens to them.
The Assistants is like a book version of them.
The plot is predicable and the writing amateurish. Few paragraphs lack at least one cliché, and those are the ones with uninspired pop culture references. There is not one original or memorable sentence in it. It’s as vapid as its characters, who fall into doing a good—though wildly implausible—thing through embezzlement at the large media corporation they work for. The main character, Tina, writes with the passé slang of a teenager (“Don’t even”) despite being thirty and having a degree in literature. There’s an obvious incipient lesbian theme that remains unexplored to a degree that you wonder if the author herself is even aware of it. (“She removed the silk scarf that had been modestly wrapped around her ample chest, and for a split second I felt my eyes bulge out like Bugs Bunny’s,” the Tina says.)
Every few pages had such dumb mistakes that it takes you out of what little plot there is. It’s 2015 and the computer mouse for the assistant of a major media corporation’s CEO still has a trackball? Really?
My copy of The Assistants was an uncorrected proof, but I doubt much will change between that version and the one that will be out in May. Besides, no amount of editing could save this book. It’s structure is too weak. I finish books I start, but with this one I kept hoping someone would change the station.
April 2, 2016
Tina is an assistant to a high-powered media mogul, and one day accidentally ends up with a check that is just enough to pay off her student loans. Her moment of weakness spirals into a full-on Robin Hood pyramid scheme, unbelievable in a summer movie/ Sex and the City kind of way. I picture her played as whoever this decade's Anne Hathaway is, slightly naive, hard-working, a bit bumbling.
Of course if you take it at face value, she is embezzling funds and we are supposed to give her an out because her boss is the epitome of corporate greed and the 1%. I found my mind conflicted between laughing it off and taking it with the grain of salt it all seemed intended and feeling horrified at condoning fraud. In other words, I as the reader seemed to have more second thoughts than the main character, and I'm not sure how realistic this is. All along, I was more interested in the nipple-bubble in Tina's ceiling than in her moneymaking scheme. Would it burst? Oh the tension!
I was provided a review copy of this book by the publisher through Penguin's First Reads program, via Netgalley.
Of course if you take it at face value, she is embezzling funds and we are supposed to give her an out because her boss is the epitome of corporate greed and the 1%. I found my mind conflicted between laughing it off and taking it with the grain of salt it all seemed intended and feeling horrified at condoning fraud. In other words, I as the reader seemed to have more second thoughts than the main character, and I'm not sure how realistic this is. All along, I was more interested in the nipple-bubble in Tina's ceiling than in her moneymaking scheme. Would it burst? Oh the tension!
I was provided a review copy of this book by the publisher through Penguin's First Reads program, via Netgalley.
August 10, 2018
This was a good, quick, and entertaining read. In fact, it was so entertaining that it would make for an excellent movie or mini series as it seemed like a hybrid of "Girls", "Two Broke Girls", and "Confessions of a Shopaholic".
As much as this is an entertaining read, there is some hidden depth to it. I wouldn't go too far because I honestly didn't sympathize with the main characters or feel bad for them due to their actions. Some of that depth is addressed with the difficulty in climbing the professional ladder in this current age even with a postsecondary education. Postsecondary education is a VERY large privilege and does introduce many more opportunities (often with a higher wage), however; it often isn't necessarily as high as you would expect and many people come away from that postsecondary education with a large amount of debt. It's a difficult concept and a difficult discussion because many people will have varying opinions, but I did enjoy that it was acknowledged and involved in this story.
Now, with that being said, do not get me wrong...there were certainly moments that I felt my eyebrows go up due to some character's choices and the unrealistically minor consequences that they faced. This novel was a combination of being realistic and massively unrealistic. I understand, stories are works of fiction and are not always meant to be seen as realistic. Well good, because sometimes this novel was laughingly unrealistic.
I do not believe that this kind of scheme would last this long nor do I believe the ending is even remotely a possible result of this crime. I'm really holding myself back because I don't want to spoil the ending but no, no, that would not happen. At any time. In any universe.
I am interested in reading more of Camille Perri's novels in the future, especially as her recent release, "When Katie Met Cassidy" has been getting quite the acclaims.
As much as this is an entertaining read, there is some hidden depth to it. I wouldn't go too far because I honestly didn't sympathize with the main characters or feel bad for them due to their actions. Some of that depth is addressed with the difficulty in climbing the professional ladder in this current age even with a postsecondary education. Postsecondary education is a VERY large privilege and does introduce many more opportunities (often with a higher wage), however; it often isn't necessarily as high as you would expect and many people come away from that postsecondary education with a large amount of debt. It's a difficult concept and a difficult discussion because many people will have varying opinions, but I did enjoy that it was acknowledged and involved in this story.
Now, with that being said, do not get me wrong...there were certainly moments that I felt my eyebrows go up due to some character's choices and the unrealistically minor consequences that they faced. This novel was a combination of being realistic and massively unrealistic. I understand, stories are works of fiction and are not always meant to be seen as realistic. Well good, because sometimes this novel was laughingly unrealistic.
I do not believe that this kind of scheme would last this long nor do I believe the ending is even remotely a possible result of this crime. I'm really holding myself back because I don't want to spoil the ending but no, no, that would not happen. At any time. In any universe.
I am interested in reading more of Camille Perri's novels in the future, especially as her recent release, "When Katie Met Cassidy" has been getting quite the acclaims.
August 18, 2016
I. Can’t. Go. On.
I like a good scoundrel as much as the next, but I can’t get past these entitled and insipid characters, their constant whining and underdog mentality. Beyond the ridiculous plot and cardboard-cut-out characters, the writing is appalling. Judge for yourself:
Kevin’s dark hair looked so thick and healthy beneath the restaurant’s fine lighting that it took all the self-control I had to not reach out and run my fingers through it. I wondered what he washed with. Certainly not the no-frills brand I used. This had to be some sulfate-and-paraben-free stuff they didn’t even carry at Duane Reade. And his teeth were so white and clean, and perfectly straight. I could have watched him eat for hours.
Are you kidding me with this book? My grocery list contains better writing.
I like a good scoundrel as much as the next, but I can’t get past these entitled and insipid characters, their constant whining and underdog mentality. Beyond the ridiculous plot and cardboard-cut-out characters, the writing is appalling. Judge for yourself:
Kevin’s dark hair looked so thick and healthy beneath the restaurant’s fine lighting that it took all the self-control I had to not reach out and run my fingers through it. I wondered what he washed with. Certainly not the no-frills brand I used. This had to be some sulfate-and-paraben-free stuff they didn’t even carry at Duane Reade. And his teeth were so white and clean, and perfectly straight. I could have watched him eat for hours.
Are you kidding me with this book? My grocery list contains better writing.
January 24, 2016
I really hate to give an ARC a poor review, but I just could not get into this book. Normally, I love me a good financial story and some corporate wrongdoing but I found each and every one of the main characters, with the exception of the "bad guy" completely unlikeable.
March 2, 2017
“This was not a lifestyle that suited me. I am in no way an adrenaline-seeker. I’m much more of an irritable bowel syndrome kind of gal, really.”
In The Assistants, Tina Fontana works for the CEO of a mega media conglomerate—nine satellite TV networks, 175 cable channels, forty book imprints, forty TV stations, and a movie studio. Her boss, billionaire Robert, expenses everything and pays for nothing, while 30-year-old Tina is drowning in a student loan debt. When she pays with her own credit card to buy out the entire first class of an airplane for Robert, who has to deign to fly commercial instead of his normal mode of flying on a private jet, the expense is comped but she gets a check for the total—almost the exact amount she owes on her student debt. When she decides to cash the check and gets away with it, but is later found out by Emily in accounts, another assistant swamped in student loans, she’s blackmailed into helping Emily to cover her own butt. This spirals out of control, to hilarious effect.
Author Camille Perri could have made Robert a one-sided villain and Tina a snarky and embittered underpaid worker, but she didn’t. It’s a statement about the haves and have nots—the wealthy pay nothing—including taxes—while the poor are dinged for every penny. All the main characters are well-rounded—flawed but likeable.
The novel is funny and fast-paced and fun.
For more of my reviews, please visit: http://theresaalan.net/blog/
In The Assistants, Tina Fontana works for the CEO of a mega media conglomerate—nine satellite TV networks, 175 cable channels, forty book imprints, forty TV stations, and a movie studio. Her boss, billionaire Robert, expenses everything and pays for nothing, while 30-year-old Tina is drowning in a student loan debt. When she pays with her own credit card to buy out the entire first class of an airplane for Robert, who has to deign to fly commercial instead of his normal mode of flying on a private jet, the expense is comped but she gets a check for the total—almost the exact amount she owes on her student debt. When she decides to cash the check and gets away with it, but is later found out by Emily in accounts, another assistant swamped in student loans, she’s blackmailed into helping Emily to cover her own butt. This spirals out of control, to hilarious effect.
Author Camille Perri could have made Robert a one-sided villain and Tina a snarky and embittered underpaid worker, but she didn’t. It’s a statement about the haves and have nots—the wealthy pay nothing—including taxes—while the poor are dinged for every penny. All the main characters are well-rounded—flawed but likeable.
The novel is funny and fast-paced and fun.
For more of my reviews, please visit: http://theresaalan.net/blog/
September 4, 2016
I have been going through withdrawal from Caprice Crane's books, but I've found something to fill the void, and then some...
When I first met Camille Perri at an author event and heard her talking about her debut novel, I knew it was something I had to read. Camille is effervescent and hilarious, making her audience feel like they're her close friends and she's sharing an inside joke. While she's like that in person, her personality translates well into her writing style. Her dialogue and narrative are snarky and witty, her characters are practically jumping off the pages, and her plot is fresh and original, while managing to surprise throughout the story.
I loved The Assistants and only have good things to say about it. Tina, while flawed as every realistic character should be, is a remarkable and memorable heroine. Her friends and foils are entertaining and I enjoyed her interactions with them. I could even relate to her in some ways, regardless of our ten-year age gap. The descriptions bring the story to life but don't take away from it in any way.
I definitely recommend The Assistants to anyone who wants a light and humorous read with pages that you can't stop turning!
While I've heard about a movie in the works, I'm hoping the producers and casting directors will come here for casting inspiration.
Tina: Anna Kendrick (if she's not available, Kate Mara is an equally good choice)
Emily: Brooklyn Decker
Robert: Treat Williams
Margie: Dale Soules
Ginger: Deborah Ann Woll
Kevin: Max Greenfield
When I first met Camille Perri at an author event and heard her talking about her debut novel, I knew it was something I had to read. Camille is effervescent and hilarious, making her audience feel like they're her close friends and she's sharing an inside joke. While she's like that in person, her personality translates well into her writing style. Her dialogue and narrative are snarky and witty, her characters are practically jumping off the pages, and her plot is fresh and original, while managing to surprise throughout the story.
I loved The Assistants and only have good things to say about it. Tina, while flawed as every realistic character should be, is a remarkable and memorable heroine. Her friends and foils are entertaining and I enjoyed her interactions with them. I could even relate to her in some ways, regardless of our ten-year age gap. The descriptions bring the story to life but don't take away from it in any way.
I definitely recommend The Assistants to anyone who wants a light and humorous read with pages that you can't stop turning!
While I've heard about a movie in the works, I'm hoping the producers and casting directors will come here for casting inspiration.
Tina: Anna Kendrick (if she's not available, Kate Mara is an equally good choice)
Emily: Brooklyn Decker
Robert: Treat Williams
Margie: Dale Soules
Ginger: Deborah Ann Woll
Kevin: Max Greenfield
June 10, 2016
Review originally posted at
All Books Considered: 2 STARS
At least this was a very quick read (trying to be positive, here) . . . that being said, it wasn't really an enjoyable one. Where do I start? In theory, Tina Fontana sort of fancied herself as a robin-hood type figure -- stealing from her day job to pay off student loan debt of women "assistants" but, in reality, she was kind of a bumbling and sad figure. I just found it highly unbelievable that she would just decide to cash a check she shouldn't have for $20,000 and pay off her own debt and then she would continue to go along with such a scheme. We are supposed to feel sympathetic for her and the others with student loan debt because they can't get ahead making so little as assistants in Manhattan with so much debt, but it still just felt wrong to me. There were also all sorts of 80s and 90s pop culture references thrown in (I guess for good measure?) that seemed out of place. Oh and don't get me started on Tina's "romance" -- totally unnecessary and added nothing to the story.
After trying The Big Rewind and Copygirl in the past year before this one, I give up -- I promise you that I will not read any more books about millennials struggling in New York. It's just too much to bear.
At least this was a very quick read (trying to be positive, here) . . . that being said, it wasn't really an enjoyable one. Where do I start? In theory, Tina Fontana sort of fancied herself as a robin-hood type figure -- stealing from her day job to pay off student loan debt of women "assistants" but, in reality, she was kind of a bumbling and sad figure. I just found it highly unbelievable that she would just decide to cash a check she shouldn't have for $20,000 and pay off her own debt and then she would continue to go along with such a scheme. We are supposed to feel sympathetic for her and the others with student loan debt because they can't get ahead making so little as assistants in Manhattan with so much debt, but it still just felt wrong to me. There were also all sorts of 80s and 90s pop culture references thrown in (I guess for good measure?) that seemed out of place. Oh and don't get me started on Tina's "romance" -- totally unnecessary and added nothing to the story.
After trying The Big Rewind and Copygirl in the past year before this one, I give up -- I promise you that I will not read any more books about millennials struggling in New York. It's just too much to bear.
Later that night, the guilt really hit hard the way it tends to do when the distractions of the day all fall away and you're finally left alone with yourself. Until this point--rational or not--using Titan's money to pay off my student-loan debt felt like something that happened to me more than something I'd done. But this was deliberate.
July 26, 2016
Audio version-4.5 I liked it. For some it might be fluff a' la Devil Wears Prada-but taking place in the media industry. I found it to be very entertaining. Smart one-liners, varied characters and engaging story. It might not be literary fiction-but I found it to be a highly pleasurable listen.
November 3, 2016
I guess I wasn't in the target millennial audience but there was not much to like here. Thin plot, simplistic writing, unlikable characters (other than the poor sap of a bf the MC had), no tension, drama, originality or substance.
Maybe it was supposed to be satire but it wasn't entertaining or funny and I couldn't find anything redeeming about anyone here. Knowingly steal money, call it accidental or blame everyone else, go to a school you know you can't afford then whine about all the loans as you sit back on your privilege waiting for the world to give you what you think you are owed in a dead end job and do nothing to further yourself or your career. Hate your boss for working his ass off and maybe doing things just as illegal as you did even though he treats you fine and would probably have helped you out if you showed any initiative. I guess I just spent my college and work years working too hard to get where I wanted to be to feel any sympathy for these whiners who basically got away with everything.
Each stereotypical character was worse than the one before. I assume comparisons to a Robin Hood character are supposed to make it seem like they were doing good, but stealing from the rich to give the privileged but lazy is not what I'd call a charitable motive.
Maybe it was supposed to be satire but it wasn't entertaining or funny and I couldn't find anything redeeming about anyone here. Knowingly steal money, call it accidental or blame everyone else, go to a school you know you can't afford then whine about all the loans as you sit back on your privilege waiting for the world to give you what you think you are owed in a dead end job and do nothing to further yourself or your career. Hate your boss for working his ass off and maybe doing things just as illegal as you did even though he treats you fine and would probably have helped you out if you showed any initiative. I guess I just spent my college and work years working too hard to get where I wanted to be to feel any sympathy for these whiners who basically got away with everything.
Each stereotypical character was worse than the one before. I assume comparisons to a Robin Hood character are supposed to make it seem like they were doing good, but stealing from the rich to give the privileged but lazy is not what I'd call a charitable motive.
July 15, 2016
Seriously do yourself a favor and go read this book immediately. It is funny and poignant at the same time. It has great social commentary but it is not in your face. The characters are real and we all can relate to Tina Fontana in one way or another.
Plus the ending was pretty perfect.
Plus the ending was pretty perfect.
August 23, 2016
I knew within the first chapter of The Assistants that I wouldn't be impressed.
You’re probably wondering, “Erica, if you knew you weren’t going to enjoy the book, why did you keep reading it?” Great question, nonexistent commentator, let me explain.
Camille Perri's debut novel should have interested me. The story is supposed to make me feel warm and fuzzy inside for a bunch of criminals who (for whatever reason) are still assistants. Why should I feel liberated by these criminals you ask? Because I also have student debt, of course! I have joined the thousands of other twenty-somethings who survive by eating ramen off their cardboard box dining table, meanwhile scraping pennies off the ground to pay for a Starbucks latte. Why wouldn’t I resonate with these dedicated, strong-willed assistants?
To borrow a line from the esteemed Cher Horowitz, as if.
The novel surrounds the story of a broke 30-year-old (Tina) who, despite living among rats and an ever-growing water bubble in her ceiling, insists she enjoys her job as an assistant. However, when she’s given an opportunity to free herself from student loan payments for the rest of forever, she weighs the pro of being debt-free over the con of committing a felony. Because as the novel begs, who wouldn’t? The story then follows the expected turn of events when Tina is eventually caught by a coworker (gasp!), who then digs them both into deeper shit (gasp!), and eventually garners the attention of several additional coworkers (gasp!). Throw in an unnecessary subplot romance and you’ve read the whole book!
This novel has so many plot holes. Originally I thought I may have been speed-reading over key details, but then realized the novel is a money laundering memoir, disguised as a chick-lit novel for twenty-somethings. Without the plot holes, the heroines wouldn’t have won.
Here are just a few of the questions this book left me asking:
One: Why was Tina still an assistant after six years? Did she not try to find work elsewhere? Two: If she was living in such drafty conditions, why the hell is she living in Brooklyn? I don’t know much about the big apple, but if memory serves me right Brooklyn is expensive. Three: Why does she remain friends with the bitch who dug her deeper down the rabbit hole? Four: If she can throw together a fully functioning non-profit within three weeks (again I ask) why is she still an assistant? Was the title of the novel that important?
I realize not all of these questions are a result of plot holes, but the plot’s lack of legitimacy in places really bothered me. Much of the novel seemed like a cheapshot, written with little research and preparation.
I finished reading this excuse for a novel because I wanted to like it. I wanted to rally against student debt, and feel inspired by a band of women who metaphorically told Mr. Moneybags to shove it. But this book doesn’t do that, and the main character sure as hell doesn’t make me want to rally against the rich.
The Assistants is a sad attempt at bringing the nation’s student debt issue to light. The characters are shallow, subplots are left unfinished and overall, it makes us twenty-somethings seem even more lazy.
You’re probably wondering, “Erica, if you knew you weren’t going to enjoy the book, why did you keep reading it?” Great question, nonexistent commentator, let me explain.
Camille Perri's debut novel should have interested me. The story is supposed to make me feel warm and fuzzy inside for a bunch of criminals who (for whatever reason) are still assistants. Why should I feel liberated by these criminals you ask? Because I also have student debt, of course! I have joined the thousands of other twenty-somethings who survive by eating ramen off their cardboard box dining table, meanwhile scraping pennies off the ground to pay for a Starbucks latte. Why wouldn’t I resonate with these dedicated, strong-willed assistants?
To borrow a line from the esteemed Cher Horowitz, as if.
The novel surrounds the story of a broke 30-year-old (Tina) who, despite living among rats and an ever-growing water bubble in her ceiling, insists she enjoys her job as an assistant. However, when she’s given an opportunity to free herself from student loan payments for the rest of forever, she weighs the pro of being debt-free over the con of committing a felony. Because as the novel begs, who wouldn’t? The story then follows the expected turn of events when Tina is eventually caught by a coworker (gasp!), who then digs them both into deeper shit (gasp!), and eventually garners the attention of several additional coworkers (gasp!). Throw in an unnecessary subplot romance and you’ve read the whole book!
This novel has so many plot holes. Originally I thought I may have been speed-reading over key details, but then realized the novel is a money laundering memoir, disguised as a chick-lit novel for twenty-somethings. Without the plot holes, the heroines wouldn’t have won.
Here are just a few of the questions this book left me asking:
One: Why was Tina still an assistant after six years? Did she not try to find work elsewhere? Two: If she was living in such drafty conditions, why the hell is she living in Brooklyn? I don’t know much about the big apple, but if memory serves me right Brooklyn is expensive. Three: Why does she remain friends with the bitch who dug her deeper down the rabbit hole? Four: If she can throw together a fully functioning non-profit within three weeks (again I ask) why is she still an assistant? Was the title of the novel that important?
I realize not all of these questions are a result of plot holes, but the plot’s lack of legitimacy in places really bothered me. Much of the novel seemed like a cheapshot, written with little research and preparation.
I finished reading this excuse for a novel because I wanted to like it. I wanted to rally against student debt, and feel inspired by a band of women who metaphorically told Mr. Moneybags to shove it. But this book doesn’t do that, and the main character sure as hell doesn’t make me want to rally against the rich.
The Assistants is a sad attempt at bringing the nation’s student debt issue to light. The characters are shallow, subplots are left unfinished and overall, it makes us twenty-somethings seem even more lazy.
August 27, 2016
3.5 out of 5, but I'm rounding up.
With a sharp and funny voice, Camille Perri has written a Robin Hood tale for the assistant set and drilled deep into one particular stream of income inequality that resonates with, I'd wager, just about everybody who graduated from college in the last ten-fifteen years. If you've ever been an assistant to somebody who couldn't tie their shoes without you, but who made exorbitant amounts more than you - especially if you're a woman in that role, although as a guy who has been there, I think all gender orientations will find something meaningful here - then this one is worth it. And if you have college loan debt that you someday wish to pay off and have maybe considered extra-legal means of doing so... this one is also for you.
And most importantly, it's for you if you've ever dreamed about making the world better no matter where you've come from.
With a sharp and funny voice, Camille Perri has written a Robin Hood tale for the assistant set and drilled deep into one particular stream of income inequality that resonates with, I'd wager, just about everybody who graduated from college in the last ten-fifteen years. If you've ever been an assistant to somebody who couldn't tie their shoes without you, but who made exorbitant amounts more than you - especially if you're a woman in that role, although as a guy who has been there, I think all gender orientations will find something meaningful here - then this one is worth it. And if you have college loan debt that you someday wish to pay off and have maybe considered extra-legal means of doing so... this one is also for you.
And most importantly, it's for you if you've ever dreamed about making the world better no matter where you've come from.
August 20, 2016
When I began reading this, I forgot the good review and started grumbling that I don't like caper books. But then I became captivated and I thought back to my years as an assistant - in various industries, but primarily publishing - and the party I organized at the (now defunct) Top of the Sixes in NYC. The one requirement (loosely enforced) to attend was 'no window' and we assembled a large group of male and female assistants from various organizations. If only I had been able to channel that fellow-serfdom as Tina does in this book - we could have taken over the industry!
May 25, 2016
I am not sure why there is so much hype over this book. The premise could be promising, it has millennials, New York City, a Rupert Murdoch styled boss and a nice flippant tone. But......the plot is thin and not even close to clever, the characters are barely developed and hardly anything in this novel rings true except maybe Robert (he may have been the best part of the book and he is the evil emperor).
April 20, 2020
As quarantine continues on, I'm really struggling with maintaining focus for reading, especially books with heavier subjects. So, I picked up The Assistants at Julie's recommendation, and it turned out to be the right amount of lightly entertaining (with a dash of comeuppance for the 1%) for this particular time. A touch of Oceans Eight before Oceans Eight came to be.
I probably would have rated it an extra star were it not for the "handsome rich guy who laments his own privilege" romance - say, if Tina and Emily actually had gotten together instead of clarifying that it wasn't going to happen pretty much immediately, even though most characters seem to speculate on whether Tina is gay or not.
Mini soapbox moment here!: I get read as gay too sometimes, and have a lot of feelings about it that would certainly take this review off-topic to elaborate on. That being said, it would have been more satisfying if Perri as the author had showed her hand a little more about why this detail about Tina was mentioned so often in the book. This might be a breezy sort of book, but give me your thoughts about the way we read people in this culture!
I probably would have rated it an extra star were it not for the "handsome rich guy who laments his own privilege" romance - say, if Tina and Emily actually had gotten together instead of clarifying that it wasn't going to happen pretty much immediately, even though most characters seem to speculate on whether Tina is gay or not.
Mini soapbox moment here!: I get read as gay too sometimes, and have a lot of feelings about it that would certainly take this review off-topic to elaborate on. That being said, it would have been more satisfying if Perri as the author had showed her hand a little more about why this detail about Tina was mentioned so often in the book. This might be a breezy sort of book, but give me your thoughts about the way we read people in this culture!
February 5, 2017
A smart, funny book about an executive assistant in New York City who, through a technical glitch, finds herself able to pay off all of her loans from her boss' pocket change. This fateful decision sets off a chain of events beyond what she ever imagined. Clever and well-written.
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