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3.21 AVERAGE
3.21 AVERAGE
commentary on women in tech felt pretty surface level, but still an entertaining spy story
What I liked:
- How real and relatable the working mom storyline was
- Females in tech!
- Who doesn’t want to read about a spy?
What I didn’t like:
- The characters. I couldn’t connect to most of them. Anytime the plot started to drag, a new character was introduced.
- Leo.
I picked this up because I thought it was about imposter syndrome in the tech industry (which I definitely struggle with), and it was? Just in a more literal sense. Julia wasn’t all that likable but I really liked Alice and was rooting for her to figure things out!
not a very satisfying read. was left wanting more out of each character.
This was a cool book, and the ending really had me gong, but it was a bit of a slow start, and most of the action was towards the end. The synopsis had me thinking it was going to be a rollercoaster of espionage and fractured loyalties, but it was pretty light honestly, although it did bring up a lot of misconceptions and current issues of the feminist movement, with different perspectives, which was cool. Overall it was a perfectly decent book, a nice poolside read, but not super amazing in my opinion.
I enjoyed this book, however I felt like it wrapped up too quickly. By the time I was finally getting into it, it was over. I wish there had been a little less backstory and more action in present time. I really enjoyed Alice. She was my favorite character.
A female Russian spy implanted as COO in a US tech giant... Sounds great, right? No. The characters were so boring and flat that I couldn't even decide who to root for. I just didn't care. You'd think a spy novel would be much more entertaining.
This book was both worse and better than I was expecting.
First, the book jacket synopsis is laughably wrong and does an excellent job of building unfulfilled expectations. There is no "cat-and-mouse chase" or even, really, any type of relationship between the two main characters. The book is also not an espionage thriller, though it does use that setting and genre as window dressing. Instead, it is an excellent internal character examination focusing on the struggles the main two characters go through due to their backgrounds, personalities, gender, etc. and how they have lived their lives based on the expectations of others.
The book starts quite slowly, but I was fully engrossed in the characters and setting by the end and enjoyed the novel. I do feel it ended a little abruptly, though I'm not sure what else I wanted from it.
First, the book jacket synopsis is laughably wrong and does an excellent job of building unfulfilled expectations. There is no "cat-and-mouse chase" or even, really, any type of relationship between the two main characters. The book is also not an espionage thriller, though it does use that setting and genre as window dressing. Instead, it is an excellent internal character examination focusing on the struggles the main two characters go through due to their backgrounds, personalities, gender, etc. and how they have lived their lives based on the expectations of others.
The book starts quite slowly, but I was fully engrossed in the characters and setting by the end and enjoyed the novel. I do feel it ended a little abruptly, though I'm not sure what else I wanted from it.
This book is more like a 2.5 but I'm being generous. The premise was cool, clearly targeted at millennials. The "action" was anticlimactic and the resolution was cliche and unsatisfying.