Best friends Cate, Lauren, Olivia and Max are overworked and underpaid assistants to some of the most powerful people in the entertainment industries.

As they are passed over for promotions and their toxic office environments reach a breaking point, the women secretly start an anonymous blog detailing their experiences, which snowballs into hundreds of others coming forward with stories of their own.

Confronted with newfound viral fame and the possibility of their identities being revealed, the assistants have to contend with the life-changing consequences of speaking out against those who refuse to share the power.

Most Anticipated by Fortune • The New York Post • Medium • Publishers Weekly • Feminist Book Club • Library Journal • Bookish • TheNerdDaily • Motherly

“Smile and Look Pretty is a 9 to 5 for the Instagram generation—a darkly funny and bitingly modern tale of friends banding together to stand up for what’s right. As a former assistant myself, I couldn’t stop nodding with recognition and cheering on its richly drawn cast.” —Andrea Bartz, author of Reese’s Book Club Pick We Were Never Here

“A sharp, funny, and incredibly relevant tale of young women taking their power back.” —Susan Fowler, author of Whistleblower

“Smile and Look Pretty is a timely, page-turning battle cry that will make you want to call your friends and change the world. Bad bosses, prepare to quake in your boots.” —Laura Hankin, author of A Special Place for Women

“A page-turning powerhouse about the lengths four assistants are willing to go to break down patriarchal power structures in the workplace—and become bosses themselves. Full of sharply funny social insights, delicious drama, and the type of empowerment we need more of—I couldn’t put it down.” —Halley Sutton, author of The Lady Upstairs

“Smile and Look Pretty [feels] like our story and our friends’ stories. From the start we were captivated, and by the last chapter we were choking back tears… Amanda Pellegrino describes, in nuance, what it’s like [to] experience the gray area of power, abuse, and what it means to take that power back. Empowering, riveting, and humorous.” —Katie O’Brien & Katy Colloton, co-creators and stars of TV Land’s Teachers

“Amanda Pellegrino’s debut novel ‘Smile and Look Pretty’ deftly explores the world of assistants dealing with all manner of mistreatment in the name of working their way up… An affirmation to those who can relate to Cate, Max, Olivia, and Lauren, as well as a girl-power rallying cry… Filled with wit, humor and snark, if you liked ‘A Promising Young Woman,’ you’ll enjoy ‘Smile and Look Pretty.’ Like the former, the latter will leave you raising your hackles at the merest whiff of the patriarchy.” — The Associated Press

“Readers will cheer Pellegrino’s shattering of the glass ceiling in this fast-paced, millennial-centric, you-go-girl novel about workplace empowerment.” — Starred Review, Library Journal

“Pellegrino shines in this intelligent and engaging debut…written in the tell-all tone of The Devil Wears Prada with a conceit reminiscent of Gossip Girl.” — Publisher’s Weekly

“Pellegrino’s debut is a hard-hitting expose of toxic workplaces and the horrors women are faced with on the daily. Chronicling what happens when women bite back, Smile and Look Pretty is a must-read for any woman who’s ever felt exploited in her 9-5 job and wants to blow off some steam—or, you know, burn down the patriarchy.” — The Nerd Daily

"“Pellegrino’s debut novel is part workplace comedy and part girl-power treatise, centered on the ebbs and flows of female friendship. It’s a sharp, empowering novel for the #MeToo era that will resonate with anyone who has felt less-than at work.” — Booklist

“This is a great novel that gives voice to female assistants who were ignored or passed over for promotions while their male colleagues were rewarded for less work… I was hooked on the story… I laughed out loud, teared up, and smiled while reading. This is such a great debut novel!” — The San Francisco Book Review