Please Join Us by Catherine McKenzie REVIEW

 Please Join Us

by Catherine McKenzie

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Blurb

At thirty-nine, Nicole Mueller’s life is on the rocks. Her once brilliant law career is falling apart. She and her husband, Dan, are soon to be forced out of the apartment they love. After a warning from her firm’s senior partners, she receives an invitation from an exclusive women’s networking group, Panthera Leo. Membership is anonymous, but every member is a successful professional. It sounds like the perfect solution to help Nicole revive her career. So, despite Dan’s concerns that the group might be a cult, Nicole signs up for their retreat in Colorado.

Once there, she meets the other women who will make up her Pride. A CEO, an actress, a finance whiz, a congresswoman: Nicole can’t believe her luck. The founders of Panthera Leo are equally as impressive. They explain the group’s core philosophy: they’re a girl’s club in a boy’s club world.

Nicole is all in. And when she gets home, she soon sees dividends. Her new network quickly provides her with clients that help her relaunch her career, and a great new apartment too. The favors she has to provide in return seem benign. But then she’s called to the congresswoman’s apartment late at night where she’s pressed into helping her cover up a crime. And suddenly, Dan’s concerns that something more sinister is at play seem all too relevant. Can Nicole extricate herself from the group before it’s too late? Or will joining Panthera Leo be the biggest mistake of her life?

Expected Publication Day: August 23, 2022

Review

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for a free copy if this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I would describe this book as "Mean Girls cult edition." The characters are completely unlikeable, even the nice one who we're supposed to like is annoying. The side characters just fell flat for me. There was absolutely no one in this book I actually cared about.

I liked how relentless the women of the pride were. They always seemed to be two steps ahead with every problem anticipated. I feel like this is also why the ending wrapped up too quickly to be pleasing. Here we have these incredibly smart and hooked up women who created a plan that required so much careful planning and timing they were somehow outsmarted as soon as our main character realizes there's a problem. The entire solution happens in a very small portion of the book without the main character facing any issues that weren't solved immediately. I felt this book was missing the excitement. It was a fine read, just not one that put me on the edge of my seat.

With all that said, I have to admit I was genuinely entertained. The storyline was interesting enough where I wanted to watch things play out despite having a pretty clear idea of what was going to happen. This book is definitely worth the read, what it lacks in suspense it makes up for in entertainment.