[Book Review] Cubicleland by Rook Winters

Cubicleland by Rook Winters is a hilarious and genuine tale about office politics, friendship, secrets, doughnuts, tachos, beer, and other real-world elements that go along with working in the tech industry.

I was given a copy of this book ages ago from Mr Rook Winters, and I am so thrilled that I finally had time to read it! Per usual, I am just kicking myself over taking so long! I had SO much fun reading this story and I dreaded putting it down!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way. 

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on Cubicleland by Rook Winters 

In this novel, we focus on a young adult named Luke who just wants to do what he can in order to be a great employee so he can move up in his career. Luke is upbeat, friendly, willing to take on extra work and work long hours without hesitation, and he recently joined the company softball team to develop his friendships with others in the office. He even brings doughnuts to each of the Monday morning stand-ups!

Things seem to be going well for Luke, but when he is accidentally copied on an internal email that shares some very upsetting information, he has a major internal struggle. Does he let the higher ups know that he was accidentally copied, does he share the information with his team, or does he just keep quiet?

From my introduction, some of you may be wondering, what are tachos? My friends, those are tater-tots smothered in melted cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos. With all of the mentions of doughnuts, tachos, coffee, tea, and craft beer… You may want to have snacks ready while reading this book.

Like I mentioned above, this book was so realistic. Rook Winters did an absolutely amazing job setting the scene, developing the characters, and writing up a plot that kept you nervously awaiting the end results.

The characters all seemed wonderfully real, to the point where I felt like I really knew them. I couldn’t help but think of people in my own office that were very similar to each of the characters.

Needless to say, I hated when I had to put this book down. I just wanted to keep reading to see how everything would turn out for these characters that I started thinking about as friends.

Their sullen contemplation is cut off at 8:59am by the call of a cowbell being rung with the tenacity of a hockey mom hopped up on caffeine and maternal instinct.

The required skill missing from every big company job posting is “ability to get work done during the small windows between meetings.”

Luke sits quietly for a moment. If he was in a TV sitcom, he would have angelic and demonic versions of himself sitting on each shoulder debating whether he should say what he’s thinking. But since he is not in a TV sitcom, Luke only has one well-intentioned inner voice telling him to make the world a better place whenever he can.

Tech workers are vultures dressed in hoodies and nerd humor t-shirts- unattended food will disappear.

“I think you’re overdramatizing this. Like the CEO says, ‘Do what’s right for the customer and everything will flow from that.'”
“Yes, well, a lot of things flow, including shit, downhill.”

He realizes for the first time that going about normal routines while holding big news close to the chest is a superpower of successful executives.

“Avocado in sushi, sure, that’s fine. And I like guac as much as the next person. But otherwise, warn me first, for crying out loud.”
“I take it you’re not from California.”
“No, Maine, actually.”
“Maine, wow, that’s not super common.”
“Home of the whoopie pie. Represent.”

“It’s the dirty secret of going off-sites. They whisk you off to some exotic place. It sounds like a workcation. Then they lock you in a windowless room so you get to enjoy none of it.”
“Gross.”

“Yup. Never believe the smiling photos you see people post. The second the camera’s down, they’re rushing to the nearest door to get ninety seconds of fresh air and sunshine while desperately trying to keep up on emails from everyone not at the offsite.

He puts his hands in front of his chest and drums his fingers in excitement.

This book is so upbeat and fun. It was truly a treat to read! Of course there is drama that will make you anxious and office politics that will make your blood boil, but there are also many situations that will make you laugh and the banter between the coworkers is just so fun.

If you have ever worked in an office setting, or work in one now, I highly recommend this book!

Snag a copy through your local bookstore or feel free to use my Amazon affiliate link:

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Thanks for reading!
Have you ever worked in an office setting? I work in one now and I couldn’t help but related some of the situations in this book to things that I have seen over the past year with my job.