MAY 2019 - AudioFile
Vanessa Johansson smoothly narrates this story of intense friendship and its perils. Violet—a quiet, intelligent girl from the wrong side of the tracks—and Stella—a charismatic, rich beauty—become best friends at college. Johansson shines at her adept emotional portrayals of these two very different young women. After college, when Violet excels in a career she loves and comes into her own in New York City, Stella finds herself floundering and jealous. Johansson’s slight shifts in tone express the nuances of the characters’ shifting relationship. In particular, listeners will feel Stella’s fear and tension as her lies and omissions begin to surface. S.K.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 03/18/2019
Pitoniak’s fantastic sophomore effort (after The Futures) concerns what happens when ambitious plain Jane Violet Trapp finds her social and professional territory impinged upon by her narcissistic and charming best friend Stella Bradley. After meeting in college, Stella and Violet fall into roles in which the former, a beautiful heiress, lives a life of excess from which the latter constantly has to save her. Once they graduate, Stella travels the world, while Violet works hard as an intern at the cable news network KCN, quickly rising through the ranks. Violet sees her job as a means to get as far away as she can from her childhood of poverty and abuse, and also a way to flourish in a world where unfocused Stella is always the brightest star. Resenting Violet’s ascendency, Stella uses her connections to get a foot in the door at KCN, where she promptly steals Violet’s thunder by getting promoted and receiving credit for a story that was Violet’s brainchild; she also starts dating Violet’s good pal Jamie. Stella’s about to ink a multimillion-dollar contract when Jamie dumps her, sending her off the deep end. The friends have a huge fight before a fateful incident, leading Violet to wonder if Stella will ruin her one way or another. This stirring character study and treatise on the dark sides of ambition, friendship, family, and privilege will hook readers from the get-go. (May)
From the Publisher
"That book-blurb saying 'I couldn't put it down' is usually bullshit, right? For me it was true of Anna Pitoniak's Necessary People. I literally couldn't stop reading. Murder, ambition, toxic friendship. What's not to like?"—Stephen King
"A chilling mix of charm, danger, suspense and surprises...You think you know where this book is going—but you don't."—Lee Child
"Gripping... Pitoniak delivers a pitch-perfect exploration of class, family, and female friendship."—People, Book of the Week
"I started reading Necessary People two hours ago and I am absolutely spellbound. I love a book that is smart as hell and impossible to put down and this is IT."—Jessica Knoll, New York Times bestselling author of Luckiest Girl Alive and The Favorite Sister
"Delicious...Thrilling...I was so mesmerized by this story that I took the longer subway route more than once so I'd have more time to savor it."—Jenny Hollander, Marie Claire (Best Women's Fiction of 2019 So Far)
"Pitoniak's riveting and gripping novel nails the big personalities, intense competition and high drama of TV newsrooms. I was sucked in by the dark friendship of these two ambitious women, and did not see the final twist coming!"—Alisyn Camerota, anchor of CNN's New Day and author of Amanda Wakes Up
"Smart and stylish...Pitoniak creates a compelling world of haves and have-nots that plays out in the cutthroat world of cable news. What begins as a sharp story about best friends—one who's had everything handed to her, the other who has almost ruthlessly made her own way—develops into a darker tale of rivalry, hubris, and deadly desire."—Town and Country
"A juicy thriller that will make you side-eye your friends and wonder if they're capable of doing crimes."—Cosmopolitan, Best Book of the Month
"A delicious story about the ambitions that can lift us up or tear us apart."—Mehera Bonner, Woman's Day
"What we love is that it's a story...you can escape into...Let's just say not everyone plays nice-and it's thrilling."
—Goop
"Utterly enthralling...An escapist thriller laced with substantive social commentary. A no-guilt guilty pleasure."—Elena Nicolaou, Refinery29
"In college, quiet Violet lives in the shadow of party girl Stella. When they're adults, Violet comes into her own as a TV producer, sparking Stella's jealousy. A juicy, all-too-familiar tale."—Good Housekeeping
"Psychologically astute...Pitoniak's spot-on portraits of these two women come together in a gripping novel that's sure to be a popular summer read."—Deborah Donovan, BookPage
"A complex, sharply written novel of female friendship and competition. Everything I want from a novel and more. Rife with plot twists and rich with insights, this is a book that will leave you desperate for whatever Anna Pitoniak writes next."—Julie Buntin, author of Marlena
"Propulsive...Pitoniak's prose keeps a quick pace, and her characters and the TV-news setting ring true...Hand this to readers who like books exploring the dark side of female friendships, à la Megan Abbott."—Kathy Sexton, Booklist
"Sheer pleasure...A twisting delight with a haunting punch. Deceptively nuanced, and impossible to put down, this is escapism with substance."—Kirkus (Starred Review)
"Fantastic...This stirring character study and treatise on the dark sides of ambition, friendship, family, and privilege will hook readers from the get-go."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
MAY 2019 - AudioFile
Vanessa Johansson smoothly narrates this story of intense friendship and its perils. Violet—a quiet, intelligent girl from the wrong side of the tracks—and Stella—a charismatic, rich beauty—become best friends at college. Johansson shines at her adept emotional portrayals of these two very different young women. After college, when Violet excels in a career she loves and comes into her own in New York City, Stella finds herself floundering and jealous. Johansson’s slight shifts in tone express the nuances of the characters’ shifting relationship. In particular, listeners will feel Stella’s fear and tension as her lies and omissions begin to surface. S.K.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2019, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-01-28
A pair of college best friends—one born with everything; the other starting from nothing—become post-college rivals, intent on success no matter the cost.
Stella Bradley is rich and blonde and beautiful, a monied Manhattanite, irresponsible and razor-sharp. Violet Trapp is a hardworking kid from Florida with no money and no family support. Their connection is instant. "It wasn't that my personality changed when I met Stella," Violet reflects. "It was that it became….I didn't just want the friendship of this dazzling girl. I wanted the world that had made her so dazzling in the first place." Violet is determined to overcome her own roots; by studying the Bradleys, she imagines, she might become one of them. After college, Stella flits across the globe, and Violet, the "responsible one," stays in New York—living in the Bradleys' apartment, intended for Stella—gets an internship in cable news, falls in love with the job, is promoted, and then is promoted again. She excels in production, behind the scenes, cultivating sources, engrossed in the work. When Stella returns, though, the relationship can't quite pick up as before: Violet has an identity now, separate from Stella; the power between them has shifted. And then Stella pulls a few strings—family connections, natural charm—and begins encroaching on Violet's new turf. She, too, gets a job at the network and begins climbing the ranks. And her newfound ambitions are not behind the scenes but in front of the camera, once again eclipsing Violet, restoring the balance between them: invisible, hardworking, talented Violet and Stella, the star. But this time, Violet is fighting back—by any means necessary. If the pivotal event of the book—and its sinister aftermath—seems slightly far-fetched given the relative grounding of the first two-thirds of the novel, who cares? It's a trivial quibble given the sheer pleasure of reading this book. Pitoniak (The Futures, 2017) is an astute social observer, and the novel—a literary thriller about class aspiration and young female ambition—is a twisting delight with a haunting punch.
Deceptively nuanced, and impossible to put down, this is escapism with substance.
