Article contributed by Jena Brown
Alex Vogel earned her place at the prestigious law firm, Klasko & Fitch. She worked her way through Harvard and understands how to balance her ambition so it doesn’t damage her personal life. All she has to do to maintain the firm’s promise of a well-balanced work life is stay away from Mergers & Acquisitions.
Easier said than done. Alex is a high achiever, and with that comes a fierce competitive streak. The other legal divisions are fine, but Alex finds herself being drawn into the fast-paced, highly lucrative, and ego-boosting division she swore she’d steer clear of. As the workload increases, she starts working all hours. Days blur into weeks but she starts seeing some impressive perks like weekend trips, access to private vacation homes, and riding in private jets. The holiday bonus check doesn’t hurt either.
Power and privilege always have a dark side. Alex notices how women in particular are pitted against each other, that the clients have expectations and demands bordering on illegal, and her silence is expected in all matters––not just ones regarding attorney/client privilege. The more she spends time in this elite world, the more her own morals begin slipping into a dangerous grey area. When she’s exposed to the grim reality that there’s a price to succeed, Alex has to decide if it’s one she’s willing to pay.
The book opens with a deposition where we seemingly meet a few of the books characters. But this document doesn’t serve as an introduction as much as it sets the tone, because who is involved in the legal skirmish is less important than the questions being asked.
From the beginning, Alex is a likeable character and it’s easy to get The Devil Wears Prada vibes from her. She has a sweet boyfriend, is ambitious, and thinks she knows how to game the system to get everything she wants in her personal and professional life. But the similarities stop when Alex gets swept into the high-stakes world of Mergers & Acquisitions, the one department she promised her boyfriend she wouldn’t try to get placed in.
It’s easy to see why Alex becomes enthralled with the glitz and glamour of the department she’s supposed to stay away from. They have perks and privilege that no other group of attorneys at the firm have. And they get paid the most. But really, it’s Alex’s competitive nature and her determination to prove she can be more than a pretty face in the male-dominated department that drives her to join.
Katz does a fantastic job blending the daily realities of working in a law firm. There’s plenty of legal focus without boring the reader, and while it isn’t as riveting as an emotional courtroom showdown, it’s a fascinating look into the world of corporate law. Another detail keeping us within the legal world is how each section opens with more excerpts from the deposition, along with legal terms and definitions. These snippets of questions and focus of terms sets the stage for what we can expect to unfold in the upcoming chapters, yet for all the clues Katz gives us, the twists and turns still end up surprising.
When it comes to the other characters, we get a mixed bag. Alex wars between having a wholesome, down to earth personality to being cut-throat ambitious. She comes across as somewhat naïve, failing to see people and events for who and what they are until it’s too late. Her ambition blinds her, and while this is understandable, it does make it harder to watch her bad choices spiral around her. Especially when as a reader, we can see those downward spirals way in advance. It takes away from some of the tension, and instead of being curious over where certain plot points are headed, we’re left with a slight taste of predictability.
There are several other female characters, but we only see them from a distance and they often fall into cliched stereotypes. There’s the quiet girl who gets taken advantage of and the attractive competition who vacillates between caring confidant to total mean girl. And then there’s the men. They are over-the-top, Wolf of Wall Street personalities that give corporate lawyers a bad name. They drink, do drugs, have meetings at strip clubs. That’s not to say they’re all bad, but even the good ones are questionable. But it’s difficult to be fully disgusted when they come across as caricatures instead of real people.
Of course, perhaps that’s all precisely the point. There are legitimate problems with power structures in the real world, specifically with how women and minorities feel the need to wear certain personas in order to get ahead. And in that sense, The Boys’ Club highlights all the ways that doors open while still remaining shut. Alex watches this happen, but still doesn’t seem to be fully aware that it’s also happening to her. Or at least, she’s in denial about it. There’s an allure to power and the negotiations we make to participate in power, to reach these positions, occurs in tiny increments. They change who we are and what we’re comfortable with in microscopic ways, leading to an amalgamation of decisions with sometimes devastating consequences. It becomes less a matter of someone knowing better, and more a problem that they stopped knowing themselves at all. And Katz takes us on this journey with impeccable precision, crawling beneath our skin and forcing our discomfort.
The Boys’ Club veers into some dark but realistic themes. It’s relevant in the #metoo era and readers should be aware that there are some themes and scenes that can be difficult to read. Anyone looking for a deep dive into a character finding their way into adulthood will enjoy the read. It’s fast-paced, intense, equally uplifting and heartbreaking. And the social themes are interesting to analyse and dissect. There’s a harsh realism entwined in every detail. From the depositions and legal terms to the almost boring depiction of gruelling work weeks, The Boys’ Club is a book with a surprising bite and once it sinks its teeth in, it won’t let go.
The Boys’ Club is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
Sweetbitter meets The Firm in this buzzy, page-turning debut novel—already optioned to Netflix—about sex and power in the halls of corporate America.
Alex Vogel has always been a high achiever who lived her life by the book—star student and athlete in high school, prelaw whiz in college, Harvard Law School degree. Accepting a dream offer at the prestigious Manhattan law firm of Klasko & Fitch, she promises her sweet and supportive longtime boyfriend that the job won’t change her. Yet Alex is seduced by the firm’s money and energy . . . and by her cocksure male colleagues, who quickly take notice of the new girl. She’s never felt so confident and powerful—even the innuendo-laced banter with clients feels fun. In the firm’s most profitable and competitive division, Mergers and Acquisitions, Alex works around the clock, racking up billable hours and entertaining clients late into the evening. While the job is punishing, it has its perks, like a weekend trip to Miami, a ride in a client’s private jet, and more expense-account meals than she can count.
But as her clients’ expectations and demands on her increase, and Alex finds herself magnetically drawn to a handsome coworker despite her loving relationship at home, she begins to question everything—including herself. She knows the corporate world isn’t black and white, and that to reach the top means playing by different rules. But who made those rules? And what if the system rigged so that women can’t win, anyway?
When something happens that reveals the dark reality of the firm, Alex comes to understand the ways women like her are told—explicitly and implicitly—how they need to behave to succeed in the workplace. Now, she can no longer stand by silently—even if doing what’s right means putting everything on the line to expose the shocking truth.
