Empty by Sherry Kuehl Book Review: Friendship, Fury, and Reinvention at Midlife

I just finished Empty by Sherry Kuehl and I knew I had to review it, because this novel surprised me in the best possible way. I laughed, I flew through chapters, and more than once I caught myself thinking, yes, this is exactly what a story about midlife women should feel like.

Empty brings together three middle-aged women whose lives have taken sharp and painful turns. They meet while participating in a 30-day medical study for menopausal women, motivated primarily by money. For two of them, the study offers something even more essential: a place to live.

A Medical Study That Changes Everything

Julie, Maria, and Cassie enter the study from very different places, but all three are in crisis. Maria is living in her car after a professional scandal destroys her career. Cassie is a down-and-out former soap opera actress barely staying afloat. Julie, recently abandoned by her husband who disappeared with all of their money, is desperate for cash and answers.

Julie has a moment of clarity that becomes the foundation of the story. She invites Maria and Cassie to move in with her, helping her make mortgage payments while giving all three women something they desperately need: stability and support. Julie openly acknowledges that without the study, they would never have crossed paths. What follows proves that unlikely connections can become life changing ones.

Three Women, Three Very Different Strengths

Each woman brings a compelling backstory and a unique skill set to the table.

Maria is a brilliant numbers person, a former executive whose life imploded when her boss was exposed as a serial sexual harasser. Because she was a woman in leadership, everyone assumed she knew and stayed silent. She did not. She was simply doing her job as a high-level bean counter, and the fallout leaves her professionally ostracized and emotionally wrecked.

Cassie is heartbreaking and unforgettable. A former actress obsessed with maintaining relevance, she makes a disastrous decision to get bargain cosmetic fillers in Mexico. The results permanently alter her face and her confidence. Beneath her vulnerability, though, Cassie turns out to be the group’s secret weapon.

Julie, outwardly polished and well-versed in her swanky Orange County world, understands appearances, social navigation, and power dynamics. When she asks Maria and Cassie to help track down her missing husband and recover what is rightfully hers, the novel shifts into a clever and satisfying caper.

From Survival Pact to Real Friendship

What begins as a partnership born of necessity slowly transforms into genuine friendship. Julie knows how to maneuver in elite spaces. Maria follows the money with laser focus. Cassie, the dark horse, reveals a surprising network of contacts, an uncanny ability to read people, and a persuasive charm honed during her Hollywood years.

Their investigation leads them straight to “Alopecia Annie,” the mastermind behind Julie’s husband’s scheme, and watching these women outsmart and outmaneuver the people who underestimated them is immensely satisfying.

Why Empty Works So Well

 Empty  would be incomplete without highlighting the novel’s tone. The humor is sharp without being cruel. The anger feels earned. The suspense kept me reading faster than I meant to. There were moments that genuinely had me on the edge of my seat, racing to see what would happen next.

At its heart, Empty is a story about refusing to be erased. These women are dismissed, overlooked, and underestimated by society, and instead of shrinking, they fight back. Watching them come together, reclaim their power, and eventually open a production company felt earned, uplifting, and deeply satisfying.

The Snarky in the Suburbs Universe

One of the things I appreciated most about Empty is how clearly it fits into Sherry Kuehl’s larger Snarky in the Suburbs universe. While this novel stands completely on its own, readers familiar with her work will recognize the same sharp wit, social observation, and unapologetic honesty that define her storytelling.

Kuehl excels at writing women who are smart, flawed, and done pretending. Her characters navigate money, aging, relationships, and power with humor that cuts close to the bone but never loses its humanity. There is a confidence in her voice that comes from understanding both the absurdity and the unfairness of the worlds her characters inhabit.

Empty feels very much like part of that larger universe. It carries the same snarky, observant energy while digging deeper into themes of invisibility, reinvention, and what happens when women stop playing by rules that were never designed for them in the first place.

A Celebration of Strong Women Who Refuse to Be Diminished

One of the reasons Empty resonated so strongly with me is its unapologetic portrayal of women who refuse to shrink when the world tells them they should. Julie, Maria, and Cassie are not trying to be likable. They are trying to survive, reclaim what was taken from them, and redefine their futures on their own terms.

This theme of resilience and female strength reminded me of another powerful read I loved, which I explored in my review of the Northwest Uprising trilogy. While the settings and circumstances are very different, the heart of both stories is the same. Women who are underestimated, pushed aside, and written off discovering their power and choosing to fight back.

Stories like these matter. They push back against the idea that

Final Thoughts

Empty is smart, validating, funny, and surprisingly hopeful. It reminds readers that sometimes the strongest friendships are forged through shared survival, and that fifty is not the end of the story. In many ways, it is just the beginning.

If you enjoy novels centered on complex women, sharp humor, and stories that let female rage exist without apology, Empty is absolutely a book worth reading.