Startup

Perhaps working at a startup gives me a more nuanced perspective, but I thought Shafrir was heavy-handed with stereotypes about tech, funding, and bias in this book. (A bit like Silicon Valley - the TV show - without any of the humor to soften the crazy.) The way it's written and how characters are portrayed makes me think this will be optioned for TV or movie, especially since its themes are relevant. I also felt that the book ended rather neatly.

It was fine, I guess? Not quite a satire, not quite anything else, unexpectedly topical while I was reading it, since the story focuses on a sexual harassment claim against a powerful white CEO. All the men in this book are terrible to varying degrees, which I guess is part of the point, and the only characters that get much in the way of development are the two POV characters, Katya and Sabrina - even Isabel is pretty sketchily drawn. The story takes a while to get going and the book ends pretty abruptly and with a lot of plot threads unresolved (setup for a sequel?). I wish there'd been more satirical elements, because god knows startups are more than ripe for parody. Overall, this was pretty enjoyable but I'm not sure how long it'll stick with me.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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It's hard to give a thumbnail pitch for this book – my gut wants to compare it to Coupland's Microserfs, just because I liked that so much. But it's more like a feminist Po Bronson's The First $20 Million Is Always the Hardest, I think. It's been about 20 years since I read that, and my memory is more than fuzzy on the details. It's about web/app-based companies in New York and the strange (especially to outsiders) culture that surrounds them. You don't have to know a lot about tech – or venture capitalism – to appreciate this, however. You just have to know about people.

Because at the end of the day, this book isn't really about startup culture, apps or technology – it's about people. There are 5 central characters – and a couple that hover around central – to this book, and yes, they're all involved with startups, but that's just where they happen to be. You could set this novel in the Wall Street culture of the mid 80's and not have to change much about it at all, because the relationships, the people are what matter – not the industries/subcultures they're in.

You've got Mack McAllister – the driving force and face of TakeOff – an app promoting mindfulness, happiness and productivity; he seems pretty harmless (initially, anyway), but gets reckless with money and sloppy with interpersonal issues – when that starts to snowball out of control, he then crosses the line into something worse. Isabel is in charge of Engagement and Marketing for TakeOff, she had a little thing with Mack awhile ago, but has started to see someone else recently. Sabrina works for Isabel, is ten years her senior, but has just got back in the workforce after having kids – she's got some money problems and a husband that seems to be checked out of the relationship and parenting. His name is Dan, and he's an editor for a Tech News website – he's pretty oblivious to a lot, really (like his wife's problems) and the crush he has on one of his reporters (actually, he may be very aware of that, come to think of it). Her name is Katya, the child of Russian immigrants – a hungry reporter, trying to figure out just how to make it in the world where journalism is judged by quantifiable results (views, shares, retweets). Katya needs a break, and stumbles upon a story about Mack – and Isabel – and this could be the thing to solidify her position at the news site.

That's all you really need to know going in – actually, I knew far less, so that's more than you need to know. You take those people and their goals, their problems – but ‘em in a blender and this book comes out. It's pretty easy to see how – the part that isn't obvious is how Shafrir accomplishes this. She does it by: 1. making these all very relatable characters, with strengths and weaknesses; 2. by making even the villains of the piece not that villain-y (I'm not saying, for example, that Mack is a paragon of virtue – he does some horrible things, but he never sets out to be horrible, he just ends up that way); 3. by making the heroes of the piece not all that heroic – just people trying to do (and keep) their jobs, while not screwing up the rest of their life.

I love the fact that Sabrina and Katya are both pretty serious grammar Nazis who find themselves in jobs where they have to do so much that violates grammar – it's a nice touch, and I enjoyed their reactions to poor grammar. Similarly, Katya's attitude toward smoking is a lot of fun to read about – but not really something you want to inculcate to kids, or even see in someone in real life.

This is Shafrir's first novel, but she's been writing for forever – most notably as an online journalist. She knows the world she's depicting, she's lived it and wrote about it – this is just a barely fictionalized version of her reality, so it reeks of authenticity. I have no doubt I could find people very much like her main characters without trying very hard if I put myself in the right cities. She's not so close to this world that she can't comment on it, nor is she so close to it that she's bitter, nasty and cynical about it.

There's a very slow build to this book – around the 40% mark, I noticed that while I was enjoying the book, appreciating the writing, and so on – I wasn't really “hooked” by it, I wasn't invested in any of the characters, which I thought was odd. So, I resolved to make note of when it happened, to see if it was an event, or a development with a character or whatever that prompted it. By the time I hit 80%, the hook was set (it happened well before then, but don't ask me where), but there wasn't anything that I could point to that did it. Just slowly but surely, these people and their individual struggles wormed their way into my subconscious. Which is a great way for a book to be – not that I mind those that hook you from the start, or those that a have a big, dramatic moment that grabs you – but those that gradually get you without you noticing.

The ending sneaks up on you – I really didn't realize the novel ended when it did – I got to the words “Acknowledgements” on the next page before I realized that the book had ended. I really liked the way it ended (once I figured out it happened), even if I found the last sentence annoying. I still do, actually – but I see what she was going for and she achieved it. But I still would've liked a few more pages to follow that last sentence.

I can't help feeling like I should have a lot more to say about this book – but I can't figure out how to do so without giving everything away. So I'd better leave it by saying that I really liked these people, Shafrir's writing, and the way she told a story. Startup was honest, heart-felt, compassionate, and real – this debut is as strong as it is winning. I hope to read more from Shafrir in the future.

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Little, Brown and Company via NetGalley in exchange for this post – thanks to both for this.

Wow, I haven't written a book review in what seems like forever but that's because life has a funny way of getting out of control sometimes. It's unfortunate that because of having a kid I don't have as much time to read anymore but I'm making the most of it and trying to get in as much reading as I possibly can before the second baby comes in November.

Now, I got this book off of the Book of the Month site and I have to say, I'm liking it so far. I signed up for this book delivery service because I have a bad habit of judging books by their covers and not picking up the ones with covers that don't appeal to me. I thought this might help me expand my book reading horizons. I would recommend this service to people who are into books definitely, without a doubt.

Now with Startup, I really didn't know what to expect whatsoever. The synopsis seemed like something I could potentially like but not exactly my cup of tea. And even though I enjoyed this book immensely and liked countless things about it, I was right about it not being my cup of tea. It's just the whole topic of the book and even the plot itself wasn't something that I find all that exciting or interesting. I mean, I enjoy technology but purely for enjoyment purposes and nothing beyond that. The entrepreneurial aspect of it was definitely eye opening and taught me some things I didn't know but I still probably won't pick up another book on the same subject.

Now, with that being said, I have no more negative things to say about this book because from every other standpoint- this book was completely brilliant. For one, the writing style was very intelligent and not overly simplistic without also being too drawn out and just tedious. This contributed to the flow of the book and even though we were jumping from character to character with each chapter, it was an effortless transition and didn't make us confused. I mean, being a busy mom and all, it's quite a miracle that I finished this book in about a month considering the fact that I barely even have time to read. I simply had to make time for this book because I wanted to know what happened next and I also couldn't stop reading it once I started.

Further on, I really enjoyed all the different characters and felt like I got a good sense of who they were on the inside most importantly. I was even able to picture them as concrete people in my head and that rarely happens because my imagination isn't all that good- you can probably attribute that to mom brain. Going off that, I loved the way that the characters intertwined in each other's lives, even if their connections didn't start off that close at all. They did, however, progress, grow and change as the story developed further and further on.

In summary, I would recommend this book especially to people who's interest in tech stuff goes beyond mere enjoyment of it or perhaps those who want to expand their knowledge base of it a little and maybe even learn something in the process. Masterfully written and laid out, this book serves as an excellent example of writing done right- in every which way.