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Rewards
Two women reflect on the value of their lives in a wry short story of male privilege and undeserved rewards by Emma Cline, the New York Times bestselling author of The Girls.
Keri and Paula are strangers with something rotten in common: the annoying Devlin brothers. Keri is an investor whose expertise is dismissed on the entrepreneurial reality show that shot the boys to fame. Paula is the boys’ accommodating neighbor who has suffered their ingratitude for years. The world is wide open for the Devlins after their overnight success. But for Keri and Paula? For all it’s worth, they’re coming face-to-face with the maddening business of being a woman.
Emma Cline’s Rewards is part of Currency, a compounding collection of stories about wealth, class, competition, and collapse. If time is money, deposit here with interest. Read or listen in a single sitting.
Keri and Paula are strangers with something rotten in common: the annoying Devlin brothers. Keri is an investor whose expertise is dismissed on the entrepreneurial reality show that shot the boys to fame. Paula is the boys’ accommodating neighbor who has suffered their ingratitude for years. The world is wide open for the Devlins after their overnight success. But for Keri and Paula? For all it’s worth, they’re coming face-to-face with the maddening business of being a woman.
Emma Cline’s Rewards is part of Currency, a compounding collection of stories about wealth, class, competition, and collapse. If time is money, deposit here with interest. Read or listen in a single sitting.
22 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 25, 2021
About the author
Emma Cline
15 books4,069 followersEmma Cline is an American writer and novelist, originally from California. She published her first novel, "The Girls", in 2016, to positive reviews. The book was shortlisted for the John Leonard Award from the National Book Critics Circle and the Center for Fiction's First Novel Prize.
Her stories have been published in The New Yorker, Tin House, Granta and The Paris Review.
In 2017 Cline was named one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists.
Her stories have been published in The New Yorker, Tin House, Granta and The Paris Review.
In 2017 Cline was named one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews
March 24, 2021
This was just okay. While it was quick and easy to read, it felt like something was missing. It ended so abruptly that when I finished I felt like saying “that’s it?”
February 9, 2024
i just love emma cline’s writing style i need a new novel from her asap
March 22, 2021
Only short story from this collection that I have read which hit weird to me so far. Maybe because the story jumps around so much from Keri to Paula. I can see why Paula didn't like the Devlin brothers. But Keri didn't like them cause they reminded her of her ex? I don't know. The whole thing just didn't hit right. The ending just kind of happens and I feel like I missed a really important lesson/theme or something the author wanted to convey.
March 4, 2021
Short story from the Currency collection available in prime reading, told with the female's point of view.
September 20, 2022
A short free story for Kindle from Amazon prime. Here two women, who keep up appearances, do the social niceties, make an effort, don't rock the boat, etc realize that maybe it just doesn't matter. It's a boys club.
The funniest part to me was when the male makeup artist was asking the female make up artist where HIS brush was!
The funniest part to me was when the male makeup artist was asking the female make up artist where HIS brush was!
August 31, 2021
This short story is about male privilege and is written from the perspective of two strangers who are grappling with the frustrating business of being a woman. Both women have an encounter with the annoying young Devlin brothers, which make them reflect on the value of their lives.
The Girls is one of my favourite books so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this. Emma Cline's writing is stunning and her ability to unpack and dissect a thought or feeling amazes me.
Despite its short length, she paints a detailed portrait of the characters and their lives, I loved it. Emma Cline is an auto-buy author for me.
The Girls is one of my favourite books so I couldn't wait to get my hands on this. Emma Cline's writing is stunning and her ability to unpack and dissect a thought or feeling amazes me.
Despite its short length, she paints a detailed portrait of the characters and their lives, I loved it. Emma Cline is an auto-buy author for me.
February 26, 2021
Enjoyed this wry and witty story about two women who reflect on their roles as women and the overnight success of the ever so lucky and oh so annoying Devlin brothers. Keri is the business woman in a reality TV show who gave money to the Devlin brothers’ business venture while Paula is the boys’ neighbor who suffered through the boys’ terrible teen years.
A short story that delved into womanhood and the gratitude we seek for the the roles we play.
A short story that delved into womanhood and the gratitude we seek for the the roles we play.
May 11, 2021
dear emma cline: please write me another book to cure my hangover from the girls... this was not enough!
in all seriousness this was a good little short story, i really like emma cline’s writing style and i related to keri! wish this was a full book because i think that would have given me more time to connect to the characters, but i did feel the connection to keri right off the bat and highlighted like 5 or 6 quotes from her parts even though this was only 22 pages!
also the ending was really random, i see how the two stories connected but i feel like if it was longer the connection could have developed further to make this more substantial!
in all seriousness this was a good little short story, i really like emma cline’s writing style and i related to keri! wish this was a full book because i think that would have given me more time to connect to the characters, but i did feel the connection to keri right off the bat and highlighted like 5 or 6 quotes from her parts even though this was only 22 pages!
also the ending was really random, i see how the two stories connected but i feel like if it was longer the connection could have developed further to make this more substantial!
June 17, 2021
Two women are connected by a pair of brothers that many would deem undeserving of the success that they have recently encountered on a Dragon's Den style show.
This is a biting satirical look at the comparison between the work done by women in society that goes completely unrewarded while men put in minimum effort to reap the rewards of a Patriarchal society.
I do realise that this is about the fourth time that I've written a kind of "ugh, men" review here, but honestly these stories are all very much centered around inequality of various kinds so it's to be expected.
This is a biting satirical look at the comparison between the work done by women in society that goes completely unrewarded while men put in minimum effort to reap the rewards of a Patriarchal society.
I do realise that this is about the fourth time that I've written a kind of "ugh, men" review here, but honestly these stories are all very much centered around inequality of various kinds so it's to be expected.
July 8, 2022
The story‘s description aptly calls this “the maddening business of being a woman.” This novella uses Shark Tank as a metaphor for life: how we court the privileged and beautiful and typically male to angle to get a piece of our hopes and dreams. Hard work and kindness often doesn’t pay as high a dividend as beauty, charisma, or luck. Are we stuck? Cline seems to indicate so.
March 9, 2021
Literary fiction
There is a premise of course, but this is not a light read.
It's literary fiction - the characters surprise, the thoughts go in different directions.
But very good.
There is a premise of course, but this is not a light read.
It's literary fiction - the characters surprise, the thoughts go in different directions.
But very good.
Read
December 16, 2023That was kind of…forgattable?
I don’t know. I felt like it ended when the story actually started.
I don’t know. I felt like it ended when the story actually started.
June 19, 2021
1.5 stars
Came off as pretentious, at least to me.
For a story supposed to highlight the women's points of view of how life treats them unfairly, it was a bit much. The woe is me victimised narrative grates.
Keri is especially irritating with her whining tone in spite of all her privilege and affluence. Could not relate, and she was such an unlikeable character anyway.
Came off as pretentious, at least to me.
For a story supposed to highlight the women's points of view of how life treats them unfairly, it was a bit much. The woe is me victimised narrative grates.
Keri is especially irritating with her whining tone in spite of all her privilege and affluence. Could not relate, and she was such an unlikeable character anyway.
October 30, 2021
2.5 rounded up
Curious entry in the Amazon Originals series Currency.
Two women in two very different situations connected by two brothers.
One is the only woman on a show that sounds like Shark Tank.
The other is the next-door neighbor of these boys family.
Their thoughts seemingly from deep in the women's psyche about what they settle for.
Curious entry in the Amazon Originals series Currency.
Two women in two very different situations connected by two brothers.
One is the only woman on a show that sounds like Shark Tank.
The other is the next-door neighbor of these boys family.
Their thoughts seemingly from deep in the women's psyche about what they settle for.
December 22, 2021
this was so boring. there was no point to it and the characters voices were too similar, so i couldn’t even tell who i was reading about at a particular time
October 24, 2023
Jumps from 2 characters too often.
November 2, 2022
I found the concept of this story really interesting; two women who are unfulfilled in various ways interconnected by their association in one way or another to two young men who have just had a huge success. Based on their immediate relationships with men as well, it's a classic tale of the work women put in behind the scenes of a successful man, a concept so many women know all to well.
Execution wise though this just fell a little flat? There's no resolution, it's not much more than two character studies with a commonality aka these two guys. They don't really interact in the story, it's more just two parallel tales with an overarching theme (which is fine, I think that's the best way to describe this story, fine).
It was enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable unfortunately!
Execution wise though this just fell a little flat? There's no resolution, it's not much more than two character studies with a commonality aka these two guys. They don't really interact in the story, it's more just two parallel tales with an overarching theme (which is fine, I think that's the best way to describe this story, fine).
It was enjoyable, but ultimately forgettable unfortunately!
May 4, 2022
Interessante conto sobre duas mulheres, sua relação com esses dois irmãos e os benefícios do privilégio masculino. Suas reflexões em como esses homens sempre parecem conseguir o que querem com muito menos esforço e do outro lado a falta de reconhecimento que elas enfrentam e como a sociedade está sempre disposta a recompensar os homens pelo mínimo esforço enquanto é rápida em desmerecer as mulheres, mesmo as mais bem sucedidas.
February 16, 2022
You can get lost in Emma Cline's writing. She creates a world that is familiar, yet new. After I finished this story, I had to reflect a little. I wanted more resolution - for Keri and for Paula, but then I realize, that's the point.
March 12, 2024
Fuck men!!!!! (lol)
I did not love and did not hate this short story.
Cline gives just enough character description to allow us to create an opinion on them and I felt I was more intrigued by Keri! The Devlin brothers represent the ridiculous way men are able to navigate through life with no obstacles and no challenges. 👎🏼 I also hoped either she or Paula would do ‘something’ about them though… wish it was longer though!!!
I did not love and did not hate this short story.
Cline gives just enough character description to allow us to create an opinion on them and I felt I was more intrigued by Keri! The Devlin brothers represent the ridiculous way men are able to navigate through life with no obstacles and no challenges. 👎🏼 I also hoped either she or Paula would do ‘something’ about them though… wish it was longer though!!!
March 1, 2021
Uma narrativa interessante sobre como mulheres podem ser subestimadas ao se posicionarem próximas a homens de sucesso. Uma bem pertinente discussão de gênero.
June 6, 2021
A little bouncy but a fun read
December 15, 2021
Didn't really work for me.
October 10, 2022
Short story about a rather bored, unappreciated housewife
April 27, 2021
I'm sorry, but I thought this was both dull and depressing. I guess there was a point, but even if I had gotten it, which I did not, I would not have liked the story any better.
April 25, 2021
This was just. . .there.
The writing was good, but a story just never took off.
Two women. One wealthy, one not. They never meet. One is some kind of bidder on a reality tv show for entrepreneurs, I guess. That part never made sense to me. The other a housewife. The only thing in common was these two asshole boys who appear on the one woman's show and who grew up in a house next to the other woman.
Nobody's happy here, except the two asshole boys who aren't really characters, just plot points. Depressing, actually.
2.5 stars
The writing was good, but a story just never took off.
Two women. One wealthy, one not. They never meet. One is some kind of bidder on a reality tv show for entrepreneurs, I guess. That part never made sense to me. The other a housewife. The only thing in common was these two asshole boys who appear on the one woman's show and who grew up in a house next to the other woman.
Nobody's happy here, except the two asshole boys who aren't really characters, just plot points. Depressing, actually.
2.5 stars
August 11, 2024
What's the message here? Young men achieve a lot based on nothing, and older women are bitter about it? I expected something sharper and more interesting from Emma Cline, who writes novels about womanhood that are incredibly complicated. At least it was free with my Prime Reading, but still.
March 18, 2021
I would, as they say, read emma cline's grocery list.
March 17, 2021
Sad reality of the world
Women working hard and men doing not much but getting all the benefits. This story left me depressed and disgusted.
Women working hard and men doing not much but getting all the benefits. This story left me depressed and disgusted.
April 8, 2021
In 'Rewards', the Devlin brothers have youth on their side and the world at their feet. Keri and Paula can't help but resent them due to their male privilege and unpleasant personalities.
Keri reflected on the huge opportunity she lost out on while being humiliated by the brothers on a reality show while Paula recalled all the things she had done for them only to be repeatedly stepped on. The tone of the story was aptly melancholic and bitter.
Characterization was quite decent (though the same could not be said for the characters themselves). However, nothing actually happened, aside from the women dwelling on the unfairness of it all yet not taking any action to change their lives for the better.
Overall, 'Rewards' excelled in delving into the minds of two disconsolate characters but could have done with a little more activity.
Keri reflected on the huge opportunity she lost out on while being humiliated by the brothers on a reality show while Paula recalled all the things she had done for them only to be repeatedly stepped on. The tone of the story was aptly melancholic and bitter.
Characterization was quite decent (though the same could not be said for the characters themselves). However, nothing actually happened, aside from the women dwelling on the unfairness of it all yet not taking any action to change their lives for the better.
Overall, 'Rewards' excelled in delving into the minds of two disconsolate characters but could have done with a little more activity.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 128 reviews