Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.3 AVERAGE
3.3 AVERAGE
This was well-written and suspenseful! I finished it in two days. The characters are vivid without seeming stereotypical, and Shafrir has done a solid job of capturing tech startup life. I especially appreciated that the female characters weren’t forever in pursuit of men to complete their story arcs. Four stars.
A little slow to start but worth hanging in for. The ending leads me to believe there is a sequel in the making (otherwise there are a lot of loose ends and not a real sense of closure satisfaction). Enjoyed the story enough to add the possible sequel to my TBR list.
All the characters are layers of complex and not always likeable. I did like the sense of strong, complicated female leads.
All the characters are layers of complex and not always likeable. I did like the sense of strong, complicated female leads.
This was a really fun book! Perfect thing to bring on my day trip to Rehoboth Beach :) funny, lots of pop culture references, and a quick read. This book follows a few characters working in the tech scene in NYC. Kind of had a Silicon Valley feel to it.
Mack McAllister is the "start up bro" trying to secure funding for his work mindfulness company. But his recent affair with one of his employees threatens to spook his investors. Katya Pasternak is a young writer for TechScene magazine trying to make a name for herself as a journalist. Her boss, Dan, encourages her writing until his friendliness crosses a boundary. Dan's wife works for Mack and resents her husband's long workdays and their inequitable distribution of childcare.
All of the characters' lives and motives are intertwined, but never felt unwieldy. The ending was a little abrupt but I think the writer may be setting herself up for a sequel if this one does well. And I'm fine with that; I'd love to see what these characters do next!
Mack McAllister is the "start up bro" trying to secure funding for his work mindfulness company. But his recent affair with one of his employees threatens to spook his investors. Katya Pasternak is a young writer for TechScene magazine trying to make a name for herself as a journalist. Her boss, Dan, encourages her writing until his friendliness crosses a boundary. Dan's wife works for Mack and resents her husband's long workdays and their inequitable distribution of childcare.
All of the characters' lives and motives are intertwined, but never felt unwieldy. The ending was a little abrupt but I think the writer may be setting herself up for a sequel if this one does well. And I'm fine with that; I'd love to see what these characters do next!
This definitely filled my need for a quick, engrossing read. The book shifts between the viewpoints of five characters who are varying degrees of complex and sympathetic, with every significant male character being a garbage fire (this is not a complaint). Shafrir sometimes veers on the didactic, but the sheer variety of viewpoints and cutting accuracy of her observations ultimately allows the reader to come to their own conclusions.
3.5 ⭐
As someone who lives in NYC and has worked for a tech company, I was curious to see how the industry would be portrayed. I must say, the author nailed it. TakeOff, the fictional tech company in this story, was depicted quite similarly to what I’ve come to know as a modern-day tech company, from the regular happy hours, themed dress-up days, social media use, and secret office “romances”.
The story had great pacing—I finished it in one sitting—but I was still left wanting more. What exactly did I want more of? I don’t know. Maybe the ending? It felt underdeveloped.
I applaud the author for writing about sexual harassment in the workplace. All too often, these issues go unreported or silenced.
Overall, I’m glad I read this and would recommend this if you are into stories based on office drama, NYC startups, or just want a quick and easy read.
As someone who lives in NYC and has worked for a tech company, I was curious to see how the industry would be portrayed. I must say, the author nailed it. TakeOff, the fictional tech company in this story, was depicted quite similarly to what I’ve come to know as a modern-day tech company, from the regular happy hours, themed dress-up days, social media use, and secret office “romances”.
The story had great pacing—I finished it in one sitting—but I was still left wanting more. What exactly did I want more of? I don’t know. Maybe the ending? It felt underdeveloped.
I applaud the author for writing about sexual harassment in the workplace. All too often, these issues go unreported or silenced.
Overall, I’m glad I read this and would recommend this if you are into stories based on office drama, NYC startups, or just want a quick and easy read.
Man oh man this book was good. The whole startup scene has fascinated me ever since I had to write an article about it for Insite, but it's seemed so far removed from my own experiences. Add in my journalism background and my traditionalist views of journalism/social media, and this book had me hooked. It's such an interesting commentary, not only on the culture of journalism and startups, but also on gender roles in an office culture. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a feminist by any means, but even I think sexual assault in any form is a huge no-no. The most interesting part of course is societies response to this, which I think was captured so well towards the end of the book. My only complaint? The ending! I feel like the characters were just to the heart of their stories and the book just closes, the end, leaving me want to know what happens next.
I just love stories about spoiled millennials and horrible bosses and plucky people who don't give a crap. This book is awesome because it satirizes the startup culutre (in New York, this time!), useless apps, social media, and crazy people. Well, less of a satire on the last part. Because crazy people are real life and satire is sometimes not powerful enough to reveal all the parts that make up the crazy.
So it's the story of a bunch of horrible people. Mack, a douchy startup guy with an office fling, Isabelle, said fling and casually beautiful person who is discovering the actual meaning of feminism, Katya, gritty Russian journalist waiting for her big break, and a very curious married couple (forgot their names, but one is a douche and the other is Asian and has a side hustle. lolz). All these people crash together and come apart and do nutty and stupid and heinous things. It's just delightful.
So read this if you like making fun of people who are ironically fed up with SXSW and if you just love horrible people.
[Thanks to Edelweiss for a review copy!]
So it's the story of a bunch of horrible people. Mack, a douchy startup guy with an office fling, Isabelle, said fling and casually beautiful person who is discovering the actual meaning of feminism, Katya, gritty Russian journalist waiting for her big break, and a very curious married couple (forgot their names, but one is a douche and the other is Asian and has a side hustle. lolz). All these people crash together and come apart and do nutty and stupid and heinous things. It's just delightful.
So read this if you like making fun of people who are ironically fed up with SXSW and if you just love horrible people.
[Thanks to Edelweiss for a review copy!]
This book was an interesting look at start up tech companies. I liked how it followed different people in different companies and how their lives are entwined. New York was a good setting for the book. I just did not really relate to any of the characters.
This is a cute and funny book about present day life for millennials in NYC. A send up of tech startup culture, it is also incredibly timely in its treatment of sexual harassment in the workplace. Congratulations to the author for nailing it and for coming out with the book at this exact moment in the zeitgiest. Maybe I'm an old fart, but having lived in NYC during my own 20s and 30s, I felt hugely relieved to be old and to have missed this particular moment of work expected to be your life, irony free existence, snapchat, instagram, etc. Any book that makes me happy to be middle aged is aok by me!
Book of the Month: April 2017
PopSugar 2017 reading challenge #16
I cannot describe how I feel about this one. On one hand, I enjoyed the interesting dive into the tech and start-up company world. I also thought the interesting dynamics between employees were ones that drew me into the plot. However, I eventually ended up in a state of confusion.
Mac and Isabel have clearly been having a sexual relationship. Suddenly, Mac is feeling as if he's being ignored -- which is because Isabel is now seeing someone else. But rather than Isabel just say, "Hey, sorry, I've moved on" she just kind of ignores the situation. So, Mac (who admittedly is an idiot male) sends her several dick pics that get no initial response from Isabel. Next thing you know.... someone else is convincing Isabel that this is sexual harassment, which she eventually goes along with and makes a huge accusation, etc., etc., etc.
The scenario just rubbed me the wrong way. Keep in mind, I'm also reading this amidst the huge Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial so, maybe that influences my opinion. Nevertheless, the scenario rubbed me the wrong way because I'm not convinced that the alleged harassment was as bad as it gets made into. Towards the end, it seems like we're supposed to be happy that all of the women have teamed up and ousted a man from his company but... again... could there have been better ways to go about this?
PopSugar 2017 reading challenge #16
I cannot describe how I feel about this one. On one hand, I enjoyed the interesting dive into the tech and start-up company world. I also thought the interesting dynamics between employees were ones that drew me into the plot. However, I eventually ended up in a state of confusion.
Mac and Isabel have clearly been having a sexual relationship. Suddenly, Mac is feeling as if he's being ignored -- which is because Isabel is now seeing someone else. But rather than Isabel just say, "Hey, sorry, I've moved on" she just kind of ignores the situation. So, Mac (who admittedly is an idiot male) sends her several dick pics that get no initial response from Isabel. Next thing you know.... someone else is convincing Isabel that this is sexual harassment, which she eventually goes along with and makes a huge accusation, etc., etc., etc.
The scenario just rubbed me the wrong way. Keep in mind, I'm also reading this amidst the huge Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial so, maybe that influences my opinion. Nevertheless, the scenario rubbed me the wrong way because I'm not convinced that the alleged harassment was as bad as it gets made into. Towards the end, it seems like we're supposed to be happy that all of the women have teamed up and ousted a man from his company but... again... could there have been better ways to go about this?