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3.56 AVERAGE
3.56 AVERAGE
One of my favorite chick-lit books of the past few years!
amazing! even though I may be one of the dreaded millennials that are much of the focus of this book I found it funny and relatable.
Light and breezy. Great pick for fans of The Devil Wears Prada.
Wow. I wanted a fun, fashion romp, and my expectations for my fluff reading are low, but the premise of this book was so insane that I could NOT enjoy the story. A 42 year old woman, a successful editor in chief of a fashion magazine but we’re supposed to believe that girlfriend doesn’t know how to check her email? Sees all tech as a foreign language? If she were maybe 25 years older, I could have gotten on board but it just makes no sense.
Maybe the authors had an axe to grind with “millennial” women? The antagonist was completely one dimensional, and it seemed generally insulting to millennial women (robotic, fickle) and Gen X (inflexible, sad).
I don’t understand how folks gave this rave reviews. I am so confused.
Maybe the authors had an axe to grind with “millennial” women? The antagonist was completely one dimensional, and it seemed generally insulting to millennial women (robotic, fickle) and Gen X (inflexible, sad).
I don’t understand how folks gave this rave reviews. I am so confused.
While there isn't much between these covers but bitchery, tech phrases and a decidedly enviable New York life, I still found Techbitch fun and accessible. Sykes takes her Marie Claire background and is able to translate the fast-moving magazine industry into a relateable work place environment, replete with job security concerns and fear of bloodthirsty juniors.
Imogen Tate was a likeable character, though too bloody nice and conservative at times (which made me want to yell at her to DO SOMETHING about Eve who is making people CRY on a daily basis) and frankly, because Sykes didn't see her timidness as a fault, Tate was often presented as a one-dimensional do-gooder, faultless to the very end. This was an issue I had with most of the characters, who seemed only to be presented as 'good' or 'bad', and consequently felt very flat and difficult to empathize with. I would have loved the novel to focus on characters who balanced their morality with pragmatism, like Ashley, who recognised that Eve was a complete monster, but also continued to 'stay on her good side' by taking nice Instagram pics of her. Ah, Eve. There was literally no redemptive quality about her, and she almost seemed like a caricature of the villain stereotype. Even the bullying of Annabelle failed to provoke any great outrage in me (though cyber bullying is a real and heinous issue) because it just seemed so absurd???
Absurd was the way I felt about Sykes' portrayal of the millenials in Techbitch - who, despite living with their parents, would still have understandings of general social etiquette; Sykes seemed to write them all as spoiled heiresses with no concept of manners, shushing people and 'flouncing' out of meetings. I think it is safe to say that someone who has been to business school would need a certain level of maturity to have successfully graduated and no matter how psychopathic, would not have put a toy dinosaur on someone's chair.
Despite the character failings, the narrative was well-thought out and apart from some irrelevant deviations ( such as the phantom breast pain, drinks with Andrew etc) which were never returned to, I liked Techbitch for the inspirational message that despite the head start younger generations had, there was no reason why anyone else outside of that couldn't get into tech; that there were great ideas and new ways to do things and innovations was not simply the bastion of Gen Y. The fact that Imogen was willing to learn, and make mistakes is something that made Techbitch stand out from the usual fashion industry beach reads. 3.3 stars.
I received this galley courtesy of Netgalley and Penguin UK. All opinions my own.
Imogen Tate was a likeable character, though too bloody nice and conservative at times (which made me want to yell at her to DO SOMETHING about Eve who is making people CRY on a daily basis) and frankly, because Sykes didn't see her timidness as a fault, Tate was often presented as a one-dimensional do-gooder, faultless to the very end. This was an issue I had with most of the characters, who seemed only to be presented as 'good' or 'bad', and consequently felt very flat and difficult to empathize with. I would have loved the novel to focus on characters who balanced their morality with pragmatism, like Ashley, who recognised that Eve was a complete monster, but also continued to 'stay on her good side' by taking nice Instagram pics of her. Ah, Eve. There was literally no redemptive quality about her, and she almost seemed like a caricature of the villain stereotype. Even the bullying of Annabelle failed to provoke any great outrage in me (though cyber bullying is a real and heinous issue) because it just seemed so absurd???
Absurd was the way I felt about Sykes' portrayal of the millenials in Techbitch - who, despite living with their parents, would still have understandings of general social etiquette; Sykes seemed to write them all as spoiled heiresses with no concept of manners, shushing people and 'flouncing' out of meetings. I think it is safe to say that someone who has been to business school would need a certain level of maturity to have successfully graduated and no matter how psychopathic, would not have put a toy dinosaur on someone's chair.
Despite the character failings, the narrative was well-thought out and apart from some irrelevant deviations ( such as the phantom breast pain, drinks with Andrew etc) which were never returned to, I liked Techbitch for the inspirational message that despite the head start younger generations had, there was no reason why anyone else outside of that couldn't get into tech; that there were great ideas and new ways to do things and innovations was not simply the bastion of Gen Y. The fact that Imogen was willing to learn, and make mistakes is something that made Techbitch stand out from the usual fashion industry beach reads. 3.3 stars.
I received this galley courtesy of Netgalley and Penguin UK. All opinions my own.
Full review up on my blog: https://fromthelibraryofemily.wordpress.com/2016/06/08/from-my-library-to-yours-chick-lit/
Techbitch is a lot of fun. There’s some laugh out loud moments and some great secondary characters that often say exactly what you’re thinking. Ashley, Imogen’s assistant, was great for this and was generally a fun character. There are some cringey moments in Techbitch and some things happened which I expected there to repercussions for but then there wasn’t which was a surprise and a bit odd.
Eve really is a bitch. There’s a few sections of the book that are from her point of view which helped you understand her more and at some points you almost sympathise with her but there’s no excuse for the majority of her actions.
I found Techbitch fascinating because it’s a very realistic scenario. Print magazines and newspapers are an endangered species due to the Internet and smart phones and it’s quite easy to imagine people who are too set in their ways to try and adapt, ending up being forced out and replaced by younger more tech-savy people.
Imogen is a great lead character. She’s in her forties and has never really tried or bothered to learn the most basic of Internet skills – as someone in their twenties whose grown up with the evolution of technology and the Internet, Imogen’s complete lack of knowledge is surprising and frustrating. But Imogen is smart and resourceful and she adapts way more than both I and she ever thought she would. She’s a bit of an inspirational character in some ways as she has a husband, two kids and a job she loves and is successful in – the role model for any young woman who wants to be able to have it all.
Techbitch is classic chick-lit but that doesn’t make it bad, it’s funny with a great lead character and an interesting commentary on work in the digital age.
Eve really is a bitch. There’s a few sections of the book that are from her point of view which helped you understand her more and at some points you almost sympathise with her but there’s no excuse for the majority of her actions.
I found Techbitch fascinating because it’s a very realistic scenario. Print magazines and newspapers are an endangered species due to the Internet and smart phones and it’s quite easy to imagine people who are too set in their ways to try and adapt, ending up being forced out and replaced by younger more tech-savy people.
Imogen is a great lead character. She’s in her forties and has never really tried or bothered to learn the most basic of Internet skills – as someone in their twenties whose grown up with the evolution of technology and the Internet, Imogen’s complete lack of knowledge is surprising and frustrating. But Imogen is smart and resourceful and she adapts way more than both I and she ever thought she would. She’s a bit of an inspirational character in some ways as she has a husband, two kids and a job she loves and is successful in – the role model for any young woman who wants to be able to have it all.
Techbitch is classic chick-lit but that doesn’t make it bad, it’s funny with a great lead character and an interesting commentary on work in the digital age.
Actually 3.5. This isn't profound. It's a fluffy piece about working in magazines at the advent of social media. But that's exactly what I wanted. Great for a trip or the beach.
This book was pretty bad...even for a fun read. The writing was awful (if I read the phrase "holding court" one more time...). I finished this due to getting it free from Birchbox.