The Nobodies

August 30, 2019

In her 30s and living with her parents, laid-off journalist Joan Dixon is willing to take any job rather than be unemployed. So, when she is offered the position of junior copywriter for the tech start-up Bloom, she jumps at the chance. Despite being more than a decade older than basically everyone there, she befriends a few colleagues, including her boss Thornton, and her coworkers Hani and Elise. It's not long, however, before she discovers a glitch in the company. Swearing them to secrecy and taking all evidence offline, Joan, Thornton, Elise, and Hani work together to sniff out the full story. Palmer (Conversations with the Fat Girl; The F Word) takes the Gen X vs. millennials story to another level in this fun novel. From learning how to work a newfangled (to her) coffeemaker, to deciphering all the acronyms, it's all Joan can do to keep up. VERDICT While some suspension of disbelief is needed, the point comes across that following your passion, regardless of the risks involved, isn't always easy, but worth it in the end. A solid read for the new adult crowd, among others.--Erin Holt, Williamson Cty. P.L., Franklin, TN

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 7, 2019
Palmer (The F Word) delivers a feel-good story about second chances in her funny and clever latest. Thirty-six-year-old out-of-work Los Angeles journalist Joan Dixon is at a crossroads after a corruption story she’s spent the last six months on failed to impress the influential Tavia Keppel, whose family owns several newspapers. When she scores a job as a junior copywriter at tech startup Bloom, she’s thrilled to get a paycheck, but feels hopelessly out of place among so many perky 20-somethings. She strikes up friendships with her manager, the kind and attractive Thornton Yu, and coworkers Elise and Hani, but her instincts tell her that the slick founders of the aggressively hip Bloom are hiding something. What does Bloom actually do? No one really knows, and Joan can’t get a straight answer, so she recruits her new friends to help her find out, discovering romance and plenty of surprises about herself along the way. Joan’s at times fumbling attempts to move forward with her life amidst crushing self-doubt will resonate, and her tentative romance with Thornton and relationships with friends and family showcase Palmer’s talent for finding magic in small moments. This is a real crowd-pleaser.