Review of Sycophants

[Jodeci 007]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Sycophants" by Linda Gould.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Sycophants by Linda Gould is a fiction story that revolves around the ambitious Imogene Taylor Wittier, who had dreams of making it in the big city of New York. After graduating from Glendary College, Maryland, she would eventually find herself in New York, trying to find a balance between launching her writing career and marriage with her husband, Steve, who she supported through law school and suspected of cheating for the longest time while dealing with the pressure of failing in the eyes of her parents. Working for her former college roommate, Sarah, at her film and music recording company, Peace Enterprises, provided the perfect opportunity to fulfill her dreams. What starts as a job in public relations soon puts Imogene in the thick of things in the production of a revolutionary movie, leading us to a delicate period in the characters' lives, as failure will have grave consequences.

Told from the third-person perspective, the author expertly provides readers with full access to the feelings and thoughts of all the characters in the story, thus bringing them to life and making them easy to connect to. I found the characters very realistic, especially considering the world the author explores and the book title that refers to people pleasers. While I was attracted to Imogene's determination to make it as a film writer and her friendship with Sarah, which proved to be vital, I also noticed a lot of the characters' bootlicking, especially Imogene, backstabbing, and selfishness, which are characteristic of the movie or music industry. I thoroughly enjoyed the author's ability to highlight the characters' flaws while showing their redeeming qualities, so I had a love-hate relationship with most of them while they developed gradually.

The making of Deterrence, the politically charged movie in the story, also presented an interesting way for the author to explore the issues between the characters, and there were a lot of them, which I found exciting. Most of the characters had history, like Sarah and the actress Emily Palmer, who was also Imogene's roommate and was always at odds with Sarah. There was also the rocky relationship between Sarah and her rockstar brother, Jake, who held extremely opposing values and lost the reigns of the company to her, while the past fling between Imogene and Jake in college also presented uncertainties. Being successful at creating the movie would largely depend on working through these issues, despite their individual interests, and the suspense in these areas kept me on the edge of my seat.

Furthermore, Sycophants was an exceptionally well-edited novel since I did not come across any errors while reading. I do have a couple of complaints, however. Firstly, the book's slow pace was an issue for me, especially at the start of the story, where the author spent a lot of time on dialogue, which slowed the story down greatly and did not add much to it. Before I got to the exciting parts of the story, I had to read halfway through the book. Also, the chaos towards the end of the story was quite over the top, to the point that it got unrealistic. I will not discuss this further to avoid spoilers, but this was a dislike for me.

All things considered, I enjoyed this read. The development of the characters in the story is the main highlight for me. Even though a lot of them were quite annoying, I liked that they drew emotions from the reader. I rate this book three out of four stars. The issues I discussed made the book less than perfect and were the reasons for not awarding the maximum rating. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy coming-of-age stories and character-driven stories. If you enjoy stories that explore the entertainment and football industry, you will enjoy this book as well.

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Sycophants
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[Aisha Yakub]

I'm not sure if this is a book for me. However, I enjoyed reading your review. Great review.

[Amy Luman]

I find it interesting that Imogene had issues with so many people, but still managed to succeed. I want to know more about the relationship between Sarah and Emily.

[Christopherio]

the character in this book Imogene Taylor Wittier seems to be under a lot of pressure but still shows determination and hard work. the book is unbiased and highlights every character trait both the good and the not-so-good. it seems like it has a lot of drama so I am definitely interested.

[Uwe Neufeld]

It seams that the making of a movie is an adventurous enterprise and obviously there is a clash of personalities. Imogene is the heroine and in a way represents the author of the book.
Fine review!

[ellimctreph]

I love a good character-driven story, but the plot also sounds very interesting.