For years, rumors have swirled about an exclusive, women-only social club where the elite tastemakers of NYC meet. Journalist Jillian Beckley decides she's going to break in. With her career in freefall, Jillian needs a juicy scoop, and she has a personal interest in bringing these women down. But the deeper she gets into this new world—where billionaire girlbosses mingle with occult-obsessed Bohemians—the more Jillian learns that bad things happen to those who dare to question the club's motives or giggle at its outlandish rituals.
A Special Place for Women was an outrageously entertaining novel. It was a fun ride watching Jillian be sucked into the world of female empowerment and watch as an outsider trying to get into the closed ranks, even after she’s joined the club for real. This novel does not hold any punches and exposes the way people often misuse their power while thinking they’re doing so for the right reasons. This narrative definitely straddled the line between expose and satire and it worked astoundingly well ... What struck me the most was Hankin’s writing style. It has this certain kind of bluntness to it that makes you feel like a serial killer is after you with an axe and you can never tell whether they are going to use the dull or the razor-sharp edge of it to knock you out cold. This might not sound like a charming writing style, but it fit the theme and overall vibe of the book so well ... enticing ... Showing the dark underbelly of the 'women support women' movement and what it takes to get to the top, A Special Place for Women is an atmospheric, sharp read, perfect for fans of Celeste Ng and Taylor Jenkins Reid.
[An] utterly addictive tale ... The forthright and witty narrative creates an intimacy with Jillian that will make the reader feel as though a good friend is telling one of her bizarre and drawn-out stories. Highly recommended for the Sex and the City audience.
[T]he reader may wonder if the novel is an overwrought sendup of the #girlboss culture that lauds female billionaires ... But then, halfway through A Special Place for Women, a creative twist makes these events delightfully complex. This is where Hankin shows her range as a writer: The book you think you’re reading turns into something else entirely ... Admirably, the class analysis in A Special Place for Women is more finely tuned than most novels with an outsider-masquerading-as-an-insider storyline ... a slow burn that’s ultimately fun, fresh and entirely worthwhile.
