Reviews

The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam

hollygoltly's review

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dark medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No

2.75

yodisborg's review

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lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

gabfat's review

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challenging slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

rumandkoolaid's review

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2.0

So….I really wanted to like this book and the story; however, I low key hated it. The characters are awful…Cyrus is an egocentric, pretentious butthead the entire time and I never really understood why Asha, the female protagonist, loved him soo much and followed along deeper and deeper into making herself obsolete. It felt like Asha was supposed to be this sassy and smart female lead that gets run over by male privilege, but the whole time she let herself be subservient to Clyde (Cyrus whatever his name is…he’s such an ass I don’t even care) and all the other men in her life. My favorite character was Destiny that got forgotten halfway through and then suddenly reappears in the last 30 pages. Asha’s sister is also amazing. The two of them kept this book going for me.

The writing style is definitely engaging and makes for a really quick read. But I was left with a lot of unanswered questions and a strong desire to punch them all in the face for being terrible to each other.

savalaur's review

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5.0

Creative, innovative, and SO FUN. Fell in love with the characters.

lizal33's review

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5.0

The first two-thirds of this books will be familiar (uncomfortably so, in some cases) to anyone who’s ever worked in tech. Then the final third will force you to grapple with the distance between your mind and your heart.

jesstherese's review against another edition

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funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

samstillreading's review

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4.0

The Startup Wife is a story of a marriage, a startup company, fame and fortune – until it all goes wrong. It’s an interesting read that combines satire with commentary on women in IT and faith in the modern world.

The story is narrated in the first person by Asha. Asha is a woman who is fascinated by the brain works and is part of the way through her PhD when she meets her high school crush, Cyrus. It turns out that Cyrus has a crush on her too and they get married in haste to the despair of her parents, who are eager that she becomes her own person in her own field. Although Asha describes her love for Cyrus a lot during the novel, it’s difficult at times for the reader to understand why she’s attracted to him. Cyrus is a dreamer with a fascination for faith and religion, with no formal tertiary qualifications in comparison to Asha’s drive for knowledge and research about the brain. With their friend Julian, they hit on the idea of creating an app that uses Asha’s knowledge and coding skills with Cyrus’ knowledge of faith to create rituals for those who don’t consider themselves religious. It’s called WAI, and a few questions will give you the perfect ritual for your cat’s baptism. After a few bumps in the road, WAI starts to make it big and Cyrus becomes a cult hero. Asha is behind the scenes making it all work, but as Cyrus’ fame grows, so does his ego. Risky choices are made, but nobody listens to Asha until things come crashing down for WAI and her relationship.

The story is a cautionary tale of the pitfalls of fame and power, particularly for the white men involved. Asha is continually marginalised by the men who hold the power and money to progress WAI and later by her own husband. It was frustrating to see her take a back seat when she and her team were driving the artificial intelligence behind the app, particularly when she chose to do so. But as the novel progressed, Asha found her voice more and was willing to disagree with Cyrus and the board. Cyrus at times was a caricature of the typical person who finds fame only to ditch all his friends and common sense. I can’t say that I saw what Asha did in him – he was disinterested in WAI until it became popular and then became too power hungry.

Choosing faith as the basis for the app was an interesting choice, and I’m still not certain whether it was meant to be satire of social media or a genuine comment on people searching for alternative rituals to organised religion. The details of different faiths were well researched, even if it didn’t always hold my interest. The plot, even though you knew where it was going, held many quirky details to keep interest, including those first uncertain days of COVID-19. Anam is a talented writer who has taken the startup novel and thrown in some curve balls to make it stand out from the pack.

Thank you to Allen & Unwin for the copy of this book. My review is honest.

http://samstillreading.wordpress.com

novelvisits's review

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3.0

Thanks to @scribnerbooks for the ARC of #TheStartupWife. (Really more of a 3.5 star book.)

small_mango_reads's review

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  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

always a fan of books that tackle tech/startup culture.