Book Review: The Assistants by Camille Perri

The Assistants by Camille Perri
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
Publisher: G.P. Putnam & Sons


I'm trying to get my TBR backlog dealt with as it's striking me that I've acquired quite a lot of them in my digital library (after paring down my physical library). This was one of those that I bought when it came out because it sounded just like something I'd enjoy. Alas, it was just okay for me. I'm a bit sad to say that I already found it dated and a bit trite.



I like satire but I just couldn't connect with Tina and her cohort when they turned to theft. I've had student loans & paid them off, so I get being under that pressure but I can't get on board with just raiding someone else's coffers. That's a big nope for me. I completely remember the feeling signing off on loan paperwork where the amounts you owe now don't even seem real anymore but it's still your responsibility to manage the debt you take on. Tina and Co just read as a different kind of entitled than their big boss and I thought they were all fairly awful. I don't think it's harsh to feel that college graduates have other options open to them in the instance laid out here so my sympathy was short.

I'm glad I've got one more off my list but it does make for a cautionary tale in having so many books. You may well have grown beyond it or it may be dated by the time you get around to it. Lesson learnt and I'm hoping I don't have too many more of these but I probably do. I mean to press on.

Summary:  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 . . .


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