Name: ingrid's review of Complicit by Winnie M Li
Item: Complicit
Rating: 5
Author: ingrid

Winnie M Li

After a long-buried, harrowing incident, a woman whose promising film career was derailed has an opportunity for revenge in this visceral and timely thriller about power, privilege, and justice. A Hollywood has-been, Sarah Lai’s dreams of success behind the camera have been put to the wayside. Now a lecturer at an obscure college, this former producer wants nothing more than to forget those youthful ambitions and push aside any feelings of regret…or guilt. But when a journalist reaches out to her to discuss her own experience working with the celebrated film producer Hugo North, Sarah can no longer keep silent. This is her last chance to tell her side of the story and maybe even exact belated vengeance. As Sarah recounts the industry’s dark and sordid secrets, however, she begins to realize that she has a few sins of her own to confess. Now she must confront her choices and ask herself, just who was complicit?

A Novel

Complicit

ingrid

Complicit tells the story about Sarah Lai and how she entered and left the film industry. Sarah tells her story through a journalist, who in turn is compiling stories about women in the industry that had been assaulted by a famous movie producer.

I was hooked on this book from the prologue and couldn't put it down, finishing it in one sitting. The author did a fantastic job at describing the film industry and how women, in particular women of color, had to work even harder than their male peers. I liked the fact that the author didn't have to specify or point out the obvious racism against her in the industry, it was unsaid but the reader knew it. This was shown when Sarah, as a Chinese American woman, had to work harder than her white coworkers just to get no recognition at the end of the day. Although there is one particular scene where one character is blatantly racist while casting the lead role for a movie. And just like this, there are more instances where the reader learns about how horrifying the film industry really is, especially for women.

The format of this book is really engaging and frankly, the breaks from Sarah's days in the industry where we're back in the present are very much needed. The topics in this book are strong and very hard to read at times. Still, the characters were perfectly written, especially Sarah. Her struggle with guilt over the events that took place was hard to read. It's easy to root for Sarah, don't get me wrong, but it's still frustrating to read about these situations knowing there's nothing she could've done to help her coworkers. 

The buildup towards the end is greatly done, and though the reader knows and understands what's going to happen as Sarah moves forward with the interviews, it still makes you anxious to find out how it all goes down. The way Winnie Li wrote Hugo and the hints towards his abusive and predatory behavior was perfectly done; it didn't come out of nowhere, we all saw it coming. As for the end of the book itself, it's bittersweet. On the one hand Sarah finally gets to tell her story about this man. But on the other hand, we get to see what Sarah lost because of this and how much the industry exploited her. She's lost everything while the higher ups get to reap the rewards of her work

Overall, this was a phenomenal book with a well written and complex main character. It talks about a hard topic that's very relevant today. Winnie Li did an excellent job with this book! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing and advanced copy of this book

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