ALA Booklist (Wed Jul 05 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

When Beth arrives in New York City in 1983, everything is new, exciting, and covered in more cockroaches then she would like. At a newspaper internship she feels she isn't quite qualified for, she meets fellow intern Edie tive New Yorker, confident, charming, and ready to take Beth under her wing in every situation, whether that's helping her explore the world of fashion, New York real estate, or even the newspaper itself. But as the summer wears on, Beth begins to wonder if Edie's guidance is worth dealing with her larger-than-life personality, which leaves no space for Beth. Rosoff's (The Great Godden, 2021) latest is an interesting examination of what we look for and what we expect from a friendship. Though the backdrop of a sinister 1980s New York seems somewhat clichéd at times, Beth's struggle to find her place in the city is timeless. A quick read that will delight readers dreaming of a New York City adventure for themselves.

Kirkus Reviews

An instant friendship between summer interns in 1983 New York veers into rough waters."I like the way you never speak before thinking," says Edie to her new best friend, Beth, who for once is able to deliver a snappy reply: "I like the way you never think before speaking." The girls, both recent high school graduates, are otherwise opposites: Beth has come to New York City from nowheresville with little money and even less self-confidence, while Edie is the epitome of Manhattan wealth and cool. They join two boys, ultracompetitive Dan and preppy Oliver, in the bustling offices of a daily newspaper. As much as Beth absorbs about journalism from this coveted post, she will learn even more from her sophisticated new friend-and roommate, after Edie rescues her from a cockroach-infested tenement downtown. Rosoff evokes an unbearably hot summer in Manhattan with sidewalk-melting intensity, not skimping on gritty period detail, conveyed in a tabloid tone from the very first page: "Muggers mugged. Junkies jacked up. Pickpockets picked pockets. Flashers flashed, rapists raped and perverts perved. Psycho bag ladies shouted obscenities at miscellaneous crazies. You could get shot just for being in the path of a bullet. AIDS knew where you lived." Beth, the granddaughter of four Holocaust victims, may be unworldly, but her sensitivity and her moral clarity give her a grounding her loose-cannon friend Edie sorely lacks. The book follows a White default.Readers who remember the 1980s will enjoy this edgy tale of lost innocence as much as new adults. (content note) (Fiction. 16-adult)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Rosoff (The Great Golden) offers a heady exploration of mental health, first love, and fierce female friendships in this atmospheric read. It’s 1983, and 17-year-old Beth has just arrived in New York City from Providence, R.I. Having broken a story revealing that her high school was denying students admission based on religion and race, she’s now spending the summer before college interning at a major N.Y.C. publication, and is both intimidated and exhilarated by the opportunity. There, she befriends fellow intern Edie, a savvy native New Yorker who takes medication for her self-described “neurotic complex.” Even as she finds her footing in her internship, Beth feels out of place (“Wrong hair, wrong shoes, wrong way of standing.... All wrong”). But Edie helps her settle into her new life and, together, the white and Jewish teens make themselves indispensable at the paper, update Beth’s limited wardrobe, and bask in the air conditioning of Edie’s family’s apartment. Everything feels like a dream until Edie begins acting strangely, prompting rapid change in their friendship. Through the girls’ intense and complicated relationship, Rosoff depicts a rousing tale that centers an ambitious yet insecure teenager learning to take control of her life and desires. Ages 14–up. Agent: Zoë Pagnamenta, Zoë Pagnamenta Agency. (May)