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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.