Boss Girl

by Nic Tatano

[Leah]

When I read Nic Tatano’s debut novel last year I thought it was amaaaaazing. Wing Girl even made it into my top 15 reads of 2013 and quite easily makes it into my favourite books ever. It really was THAT good. It all just clicked for me, so I was obviously very pleased to hear Nic was writing a second novel and I was even happier to receive an early copy of Boss Girl to review, because I expected more of the same from Nic – ballsy heroines, who aren’t afraid to take on men and win, characters you root for and love from page one… and while Boss Girl DID offer all of that, I can’t really say I was sold on the premise of the novel. I thought it was a bit icky, actually.

It says a lot about an author’s writing when I can easily find the premise of a novel icky, but still overall enjoy the book, and this is what happened here. The premise made me feel really grossed out, because I am a girl who likes her novels simple. I like my heroine to meet her hero and for there to be a happy ever after. I do not like a heroine who freely sleeps around with men a) younger than her and b) who her best friends have also slept with. It’s hicky. It’s gross. It made my head explode, if I’m honest, all these women sharing around these men as if they were prime cuts of meat (which they were). I totally understand where Nic was coming from with the plot – after all, it’s what men have done for decades, but it’s the sort of thing where if a man/men does it, it’s OK (well, not OK, but it’s acceptable) and if a woman/women do it, then they’re promiscous and easy. That’s how life is, and that’s how women are seen if they do what Sydney and co do and I just honestly didn’t like it.

I’ll be honest, I would have loved the novel way more if it had less of the bed hopping and more of the initial premise of younger men paired on the news with older women. I just thought it sort of lost its high horse when all the women were sleeping with all the men. But apart from that, it was a fantastic premise and I do love how Nic (A MAN!!!!) gives us strong, independent women who aren’t afraid to go for what they want (and, kudos, Sydney did go for what she wanted…). I loved that the females were all sticking up for themselves, and banding together, I just so wished it had been on something other than men being treated as playthings. I just couldn’t get away from that, I so wanted to adore this novel as much as Wing Girl – and I would have, if I didn’t feel a bit offended on behalf of the men (believe it or not). Some of these men sounded so decent – especially Shawn, and Scott wasn’t so bad, I’ll be honest, there were a great cast of characters and I have to admit I did enjoy the courtroom battle, it was fun to see Sydney and all her friends tearing the opposition to shreds.

There were moments to savour, Sydney is actually a fantastic narrator, and I adored her friends Rica, Jillian, and Neely. They were just as ballsy, just as outspoken as Belinda and co in Wing Girl – we even had some fugeddaboutit’s which are always awesome and I ALWAYS try to say it in a New York accent, even though I am RUBBISH at accents. Nic Tatano is a fantastic writer, it amazes me so much that this man can tap into the head of a woman and write the kind of women characters that make me cheer loudly for, the type that many female Chick Lit authors just can’t seem to grasp. (Gemma Burgess also writes kick-ass female characters if you like kick-ass female characters like I do.) Boss Girl had an interesting premise, that will no doubt be a massive hit with some people, it just doesn’t sit well with my sensibilities. Apart from that, though, I did enjoy it and I love that Nic has used his newsroom background to give us a look into that business, it’s super fascinating. I was rather thrilled to see that Nic will have another new book out this year called It Girl and I will eagerly await it, because he is an amazing writer, and I can’t say that enough. It’s just the premise wasn’t for me.