Julie's Review: Bond Girl

Summary: While other little girls were fantasizing about becoming doctors or lawyers, Alex Garrett dreamed of conquering the high-powered world of Wall Street. Now she's grown and determined to make it big in bond sales at Cromwell Pierce, one of the Street's most esteemed brokerage firms. Though she's prepared to fight her way into an elitist boys' club, she starts out small, relegated to a kiddie-size folding chair with her new moniker, "Girlie," inscribed in Wite-Out across the back. Always keeping her eyes on the prize (and ignoring her friends' pleas for her to quit), Alex quickly learns how to roll with the punches, rising from lowly analyst to slightly-less-lowly associate in no time. Suddenly she's being addressed by her real name, and the boys' club has transformed into forty older brothers . . . and one possible boyfriend. But then the apocalypse hits, and Alex is faced with the most difficult choice of her life: to stick with Cromwell Pierce as it teeters on the brink of disaster . . . or to kick off her Jimmy Choos and go running for higher ground. ~amazon.com

Review: The title is a bit deceiving isn't it? Bet you thought this was about a James Bond girl didn't you? Nope, it's about Wall Street and working on a bond desk at an investment firm. Instantly I liked Alex and felt for her. Who hasn't woken up and thought "You can get through this" for a day at the office? Working on Wall Street was a life long goal of hers and nothing was going to deter her.

Bond Girl was a great education of what really happens in a Wall Street firm. How tough it really is for women and probably minorities? You have to have a thick skin to work here. I couldn't survive it. Just the number crunching would numb my brain and then trying to deal with the testosterone daily, would be a bit much. Alex handled it a lot longer than I would have and for that she had my admiration. She was tough and yet everyone has their breaking point. Alex reaches her at the end of the book.

There are a lot of wonderful secondary characters in the book. Some are nice and some aren't. Some will fit your thinking of the stereotypical finance guy on the street but then again stereotypes exist for a certain reason right? What Ms. Duffy does, is go beyond the stereotypes and humanizes them so we end up caring for them. They become Alex' friends and therefore they become ours. I think my favorite of these was Chick, her boss. He was a hard ass but you knew he had a heart. He pushed Alex to be her best and she was better for it.

As Alex moves along in her career and the financial collapse of 2008 happens, she ends up re-evaluating her life. While Wall Street has provided her with money and some success, it has also provided her with anxiety, a stalker and no time for any thing else in life. This isn't what she remembered her dad's job being when she was a kid.

I enjoyed then ending of the novel but I will comment that it felt a bit rushed. Perhaps it is because the climax and resolution were so closely tied together. Was some of the novel, predictable? Yes, but obviously that didn't take away from my enjoyment.

I know that Ms. Duffy was an analyst on Wall Street for 10 years so I'm sure some of this was based on real experiences but then fictionalized. I think that was also why I enjoyed this book so much was because I knew some of it had to have occurred in real life. Makes it that much more fascinating. I also wonder about the people who were fictionalized in this novel, what their reactions were to being immortalized.

Ms. Duffy has a wonderful career in writing if it's what she chooses to keep doing. I will be looking forward to her novels in the future.

For more information on Ms. Duffy you can find her on Facebook.

Final Take: 4/5

Thanks to TLC Tours & William Morrow for my review copy.

TLC Tour Information for Bond Girl:
Tuesday, July 17th: Girls Just Reading
Wednesday, July 18th: Life In Review
Thursday, July 19th: Seaside Book Nook
Monday, July 23rd: The Book Garden
Tuesday, July 24th: Twisting the Lens
Thursday, July 26th: Life in the Thumb
Monday, July 30th: Kritters Ramblings
Tuesday, July 31st: A Bookish Affair
Wednesday, August 1st: Stephany Writes
Thursday, August 2nd: Walking With Nora
Wednesday, August 8th: Reflections of a Bookaholic