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At Naysay Inc., rising star Megan’s job is to whisper negative thoughts straight into the minds of clients in the Real World. It’s all in a day’s dirty work in Naysayland, the parallel reality where your negativity is manufactured and self-doubt is a commodity.
But when she is assigned to sabotage a romance between lifestyle influencer Lily and author Jasper, Megan’s carefully constructed reality begins to unravel. The project teams her with Ben, the smug but cute whisperer in the next cubicle. As they work to tear down Lily and Jasper’s situationship, Megan and Ben are catching feelings for each other. And it’s making them lose their negative edge.
As their empathy grows, and they start rooting for the relationship they’re tasked with destroying, dreaded HR is sniffing around. Now they’re facing a choice: keep crushing dreams for a paycheck, or risk everything for their own fairy tale. Who knew professional pessimists could be such hopeless romantics? (Synopsis courtesy of Amazon.)
I've always enjoyed Liz and Lisa's books and their surreal stories are my favorites. So I'm glad they went that route again with The Naysayers. If you ever wondered about the voice in your head telling you negative things and making you doubt yourself, Liz and Lisa have created a world where the inhabitants are the reason for that voice.
I love books (and movies) where a different but somehow parallel world is created. Naysayland was very interesting and well thought out. A lot of this novel had a Good Place vibe, but it also made me think of Severance, based on what people have told me about that show. It was even giving Office Space and Inside Out at times.
This story contains an important message that people need to hear. I really liked that message. The concept is thought-provoking and hits close to home at times. I liked all the banter, especially between Megan and Ben. I would have liked more chapters from Ben's perspective, but it was nice to also get Lily's perspective. There were parts of the story that were definitely anxiety-provoking, especially when the stakes were raised.
I wouldn't mind being a naysayer for people who are really full of themselves. (I am sure we all know at least one person like that.) However, I'm all for trying to uplift people's spirits and build their confidence, so I wouldn't last long in Naysayland for that reason alone.
Great work, Liz and Lisa! (I would get kicked out, just for saying this...)
(Trigger warnings below.)
Ben: Pierson Fode
Lily: Grace Van Dien
Jasper: Nick Robinson
Jacqueline: Carla Gugino
Genevieve: Sally Field
Karla: Jessica Paré
Thanks to Little A for the book in exchange for an honest review and to Liz and Lisa for sharing a copy with our readers.
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TW: Parent being forcibly separated from their child. Stalking by a corporation. Emotional abuse. Cyberbullying.
1 comment:
I try to flip the negative thoughts on their head by reframing them and replacing them with positive thoughts. I also try to focus on the things I can control rather than the things I can't control.
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