This book could have very easily been terrible. The characters are all super privileged, and their "problems" such as they are are self made and/or problems of affluence. Close asks you to sympathize with "struggles" like "my lucrative, prestigious job is not exactly the job I want, how I suffer" or "my husband doesn't help me enough with our kid even though we're rich enough to have hired help, live right next to doting family and all I do work wise is a goofy, part-time hobby job selling jewelry to my vapid, bitchy friends." It's hard for an author to create high stakes narratively when everyone is so well off. Even when things get heavier with the marital problems between Beth/Matt and Jim/Ash as they are put through the wringer of a political campaign the reader always sees the safety nets the characters have that ensure true disaster will never strike. 
 This seems like a pretty negative start to a four star review I realize. I start this way only to show how easily this book could have gone awry. It's a minor miracle that it doesn't. Despite writing in the difficult genre of "upper class people dealing with their extremely first world problems" this book is actually really good. Close is a consistently witty writer. Her wry observational eye make this a joy to read. Stylistically, her writing is a treat. 
 I don't know D.C. well (I've taken a few short trips there but never spent real time in the city) so this is a guess on my part but this book also feels super authentic in its discussions of what it would be like for these specific characters to live in D.C. If it is as realistic as it feels I congratulate Close for doing such a good job recreating the social milieu of White House staffers and their families. If it's not, I congratulate her anyway for simulating authenticity so well. 
 The main characters are not very sympathetic in a "I'd like to know these people" way but they are interesting people who command your attention on the page. Their relationships are textured and compelling. Close does a good job writing complex friendships, marriages and workplace relationships. The secondary characters are also vivid and entertaining. I'm not of the belief characters have to be likable to create a good reading experience. If you need likable protagonists I'd skip this one but if you're fine reading about some fairly obnoxious people as long as the writing itself is of high quality, I'd recommend this. 
 This book also is very much a page turner. I read 200+ pages of it in one sitting. I liked it a lot and would strongly recommend it.