Sarah Rayner’s GETTING EVEN gives you insight into what it’s like working in a busy ad agency in London with several characters’ lives intertwined professionally and personally. The two protagonists, Orianna and Ivy, have worked very well together for years. There are no secrets between these besties. Their relationship is tight, and they have each other’s backs. But when things begin to change, their lives --- as well as those of their co-workers --- are affected. 

Orianna is honest, caring, trusting and shows integrity, but she is deeply vulnerable. Ivy is also vulnerable to a certain degree due to her father’s abandonment of her mother and their family when Ivy was young. She was tasked with taking care of her brothers due to her mother’s breakdown. Her mother couldn’t cope with life, which leads Ivy to vow to herself that she’ll never give up in that same way. Her father remarries and has a new family who lives in a house that she has to pass by each day on her walk to school, which only adds insult to injury. Now, as an adult in her 30s, she’s a tough career-driven woman who won’t let anyone or anything stand in her way. 

"I thoroughly enjoyed how Rayner ends the story and couldn’t wait to see how everything played out and what happened to Ivy. She does a wonderful job describing two women who thought they knew each other so well, but instead were rivals."

Orianna begins an affair with Dan, a department head at the agency. Their relationship thrives for several months without anyone knowing, including Ivy. On the other hand, Ivy and Russell, a powerful figure at the agency, are having their own affair, which has been going on for years. They are both married, and no one is privy to their private liaisons, not even their spouses. After six months have passed, Dan and Orianna let the cat out of the bag, and Ivy finds out about the affair. At first she’s shocked, as she and Orianna share everything, but remember, Ivy has her own secret as well.

When the creative director decides to leave the agency, Dan believes that Orianna is a wonderful candidate for the position. But how could she leave Ivy? Orianna always has Ivy’s best interests at heart. This creates the big conflict of the plot thus far. At first she is hesitant to take the promotion, but after thinking about it, she accepts as she feels she needs to do what’s best for her. The author made me feel like I was on team Orianna. I empathized with her as she is a much more likable character with a pleasant personality.

Orianna, now a creative director, needs to fill her old position. She hires Cassie, a junior to the agency, to work with Ivy, but this only adds more chaos into the mix for Ivy. She is not happy with Orianna at all. Why is she keeping things from her? First it’s the affair, then she abandons her (just like her father), accepts the promotion, and now has to work with Cassie. She believes she should have gotten the creative director position, as she is the smarter and more professional one. What’s really eating at Ivy is that Orianna never confided in her about any of this, as though she went behind her back and betrayed her. Cassie is the “ever-present reminder of the widening gulf between herself and Orianna.”

And then there’s Rob, Dan and Ivy’s gay professional trainer. She and Dan tend to confide in Rob when they’re working out because they feel he is neutral territory. Rob has a “thing,” or, as Rayner describes it, a “fancy” for Dan, but Dan is straight. In her deviousness against Dan, she puts ideas into Rob’s head that he’s gay, playing mind games with him. She begins to plan and plot to destroy Orianna and Dan’s personal and professional relationships, making Rob think Dan fancies him too. Since she can’t stand Cassie, she makes Orianna believe that Dan is having an affair with her. However, Cassie secretly is having her own affair.  Ivy believes it’s with Leon, another office worker. She’s constantly advising Cassie to be discreet about her personal affairs in the office as it’s not acceptable. The author adds so many twists, turns and lies upon lies that the book turned out to be a real page-turner for me.

By now, Orianna has so many wild thoughts going through her head from all of Ivy’s misdeeds. She’s hurt as she thinks Dan is having an affair with Cassie. How could Dan do this to her when she thought he cared for her so much? Meanwhile, Ivy begins to realize all the lies she’s created and how deep she’s in. 

I love Sarah Rayner’s writing style and the use of British terms. “Loo” is the bathroom, “fancy” is when someone likes you, and “shagging”…well, I think we all know what that is, especially when affairs are in play. I thoroughly enjoyed how Rayner ends the story and couldn’t wait to see how everything played out and what happened to Ivy. She does a wonderful job describing two women who thought they knew each other so well, but instead were rivals. As the saying goes, keep your friends close and your enemies closer.