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irenejean's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating read on the Theranos debacle. Hard to believe how much Elizabeth Holmes got away with for so long.
megkoz's review against another edition
informative
medium-paced
4.0
Really well done but I found the characterization of some folks like war criminal Henry Kissinger as having a “sterling reputation” to be a bit rich.
al_sharnaqi's review against another edition
5.0
If there is something to learn from this story, for me it would be that cowardice is far dangerous than ignorance. Those who decide their next steps cowardly, can destroy humanity than those who decide their steps poorly out of ignorance.
autogeek's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely superb!
To be fair, a large part of what made this book a great read is that the real life story that this documents is itself so messed up and sensational. But Jon Carreyrou seems to do a great job with his investigative reporting and there was almost no place where I felt like I was missing something.
"Almost" being the key word.
Two places where I felt there could have been more detail:
- The book stops a bit early for my liking. Almost feels like a cliffhanger. This is of course not the author's fault, it just so happens things are still playing out even now well after the company has shut down.
- The author could have interviewed and/or included some content from Dan Ariely. I also watched the documentary "The Inventor: Out for blood in Silicon Valley" when I was reading this book and as awful as the behaviour was of many of the people at Theranos, one of the experiments about dishonesty described by Dan Ariely in the documentary went a long way to explain it. I felt like adding this would have balanced out the story a bit and provided a bit of context or the "story from the other side".
Nevertheless, this was a great read and blew through this book in a few days (which I almost never manage for a non-fiction book).
To be fair, a large part of what made this book a great read is that the real life story that this documents is itself so messed up and sensational. But Jon Carreyrou seems to do a great job with his investigative reporting and there was almost no place where I felt like I was missing something.
"Almost" being the key word.
Two places where I felt there could have been more detail:
- The book stops a bit early for my liking. Almost feels like a cliffhanger. This is of course not the author's fault, it just so happens things are still playing out even now well after the company has shut down.
- The author could have interviewed and/or included some content from Dan Ariely. I also watched the documentary "The Inventor: Out for blood in Silicon Valley" when I was reading this book and as awful as the behaviour was of many of the people at Theranos, one of the experiments about dishonesty described by Dan Ariely in the documentary went a long way to explain it. I felt like adding this would have balanced out the story a bit and provided a bit of context or the "story from the other side".
Nevertheless, this was a great read and blew through this book in a few days (which I almost never manage for a non-fiction book).
mmajer's review against another edition
5.0
I have never met an audiobook I liked… until now. Having recently inherited an Audible credit, and being one to never pass up free goods, I decided to press my luck in the non-fiction genre. Elizabeth Holmes’ recent trial reminded me how I wanted to read this book when it came out a few years ago. WELL. I’m thrilled to say there were no whammies here- In fact I couldn’t listen fast enough! First of all, this story is bonkers. I was so fascinated by everything that went down at Theranos. The writing and research done for this book are so impressive. On top of that, this is the first time I loved the narration for an audiobook. This was so impeccably narrated, it seemed like one of the many true crime podcasts that I obsessively devour. For once it did not come off as corny like every other audiobook I’ve tried- This book truly had it all. Time to go back down my deep dark internet hole as I find everything ever written about this case.
rainjrop's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars
This book was fascinating. I'd heard of Theranos in the news a bit, so I loved hearing the nitty gritty story of their rise and fall. It was a great book that had me hooked from the first page. The world is an amazing place: you can raise millions of dollars with a pack of lies and some charisma.
This book was fascinating. I'd heard of Theranos in the news a bit, so I loved hearing the nitty gritty story of their rise and fall. It was a great book that had me hooked from the first page. The world is an amazing place: you can raise millions of dollars with a pack of lies and some charisma.
chez_abaa's review against another edition
4.0
If you are interested in Business Ethics, this book is a real must.