Sophie

(Since there is at least one other book in the series that I liked less than this one, I'll keep my rating in the 4-5 stars area.)

It is here! The last book in The Boss series, this time having Sophie in the limelight. You might argue that Sophie was always in the limelight since the whole series is from her point of view, but I am going to disagree. The other books in the series focused on one or multiple other characters, but this one, this last book of the series, it is all Sophie.

If I recall correctly, we left everyone worrying about what's to come in the last book. There had been a clash with Laurence and everyone was uneasy, so a wrap up was to come. Sophie is just that, it takes all the lose ends and pull them up into a bow, some more careful and tight than others.

While it is a good conclusion to the series, this book felt a little off. I am very happy that finally no one is shrugging out of anything (I didn't mention it in any of the other reviews, but the amount of shrugging out of jackets, coats and other outside clothing made me want to climb the wall), but there were other things... Some scenes felt very flat to me, when there were three characters (I mean Sophie, Neil, and El-Mudad) having a conversation, if felt like one of them wasn't there when they weren't actively speaking. I don't know if it's just me or there was something about the description, but I definitely didn't get that impression in any of the other books.

I appreciated the whole domestic violence discussion. I didn't like that it happened to one of the characters, but I liked that it showed that domestic violence exists without anyone outside of it even knowing. Without wanting to, I thought to myself that Valerie never gave me the impression of someone who would be a victim of domestic violence, she was a strong accomplished woman, but then I realised that's the whole point. There isn't anything to make someone more prone to being a victim, it can happen to anyone regardless of their social status or the way others perceive them. Very well done, Abigail Barnette.

In my first review on this series I said that Sophie is relatable and that's not the case anymore. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Sophie simply changed lanes, we intersected for a while then I watched her go a different way. Her evolution was very smooth and I might have not even noticed it if I wouldn't have had this period in between the first and the last book of the series. What I'm saying is Sophie changed. She started off as this ambitious poor girl who had big dreams, and became this comfortable, rich woman whose dreams and priorities changed.

My feelings about Neil and El-Mudad remained the same. I would have liked Neil to top El-Mudad, so, um, maybe, I can hope for a short story? Maybe? I won't keep my hopes up, just putting it out there. I must say that I liked Neil's relationship with Rashida and the way everyone became a big happy family.

Under the things I didn't particularly like is Valerie's long lasting feelings for Neil, to the point where it's completely unhealthy and more like an obsession. Get a grip already, Valerie! I was so glad El-Mudad stepped in and made both his and Sophie's feelings about that relationship known. Only Neil was too quick to accept it. And just to be clear, Neil is definitely guilty too in this Valerie-Neil relationship.

As I already said, this last book tights up lose ends and while I am glad everything was taken care of, I feel like some things were rushed. Neil's acceptance that he might just be wrong, Valerie's divorce—what happened to Laurence? I'm sure he put up a fight, that was definitely one nasty divorce. Did he walk away with Valerie's money? Was there no repercussion for his actions?—then the fact that matters regarding Olivia weren't taken care of until it absolutely had to, it all made it feel like this book's sole purpose was just that, cleaning up, and not offering a sequel, a story.

However, I did enjoy it. I laughed a few times, there were some good moments there, some harsh words were thrown too, and the book was overall entertaining. I just didn't feel it as close as some of the others, there was excitement, but in a very so long kind of way, I knew every step of the way that this is the last book, it loomed over me, and I wasn't taken by surprise at all by what happened. I like being taken by surprise when reading.