**Review will be published to blog on 22 Apr 2017 at 10:00AM EST**

I chose this book because:

I'm interested in this book for the same reason I was interested in the TV show Silicon Valley. As a woman in tech and in search of a job, tech startups and corporations alike are of interest to me. Of course, this book is a work of fiction and I’m not doing going to do any research with it, but I am going to enjoy living through the working hard and playing hard, the glitz and glam, the highs and lows, without any of the consequences. Also, all that about “mindfulness apps,” “driving traffic,” and “viral”-ity is certainly relevant and is stuff I’ve noticed myself in this online world!

Upon reading it:

I thought this would be a quick, fluffy, YA-like read, and whilst it was a quick read for me, it didn’t feel fluffy or YA-like (YA-like, like where I’ll often find myself rolling my eyes and thinking omg this is so trivial, you’re being so dramatic and self-centered). I identified a lot with the young characters, and/or the young characters the older characters saw. The book pinpointed things I didn’t realise that I expected of and/or wanted from a workplace, and I found that especially in this quote:

"Mack thought he did a pretty good job of realizing when people were unhappy, and he did everything he could to prevent that. It was of course important that you felt fulfilled at work and felt like you had a good work-life balance. But the way people, Mack included, worked now, work was life. They expected their work to be fun and their fun to be work, and they didn’t differentiate between “work friends” and “real friends”; they assumed that the way things had been in college was the way things were in real life."

As a woman in tech studying at a women’s college, I am definitely aware of topics like racism and sexism in the workplace, and I found those topics in this book, and even the topic of ageism to a certain extent as well, which I think makes the story in this book feel more real. But what I liked most about how this book dealt with these topics is that it didn’t say them outright or get too preachy preachy. It dealt with these topics like how I might experience and deal with them. Unfortunately, cases of racism and sexism are far too frequent, and it is exhausting to get riled up about it every time. Unfortunately, they’re things we’ve gotten used to having to deal with. Unfortunately, we sometimes don’t even notice that it’s out of the ordinary. We might make a comment to acknowledge it, but then we move on because we have things we need to get done, the risks are more than we can afford, and/or the power structure doesn’t give us very many options.

Overall, I found this book exciting (as I anticipate my future career) and real. Not only that, but it also made me rethink my ideals and expectations of the workplace and what kind of impact I want to make in the technological world and also in general.

I liked this book a lot. There were a lot of chuckles. There were women getting even (YAY!!). And, it was a great read. I whipped right through it very pleasantly.

The ending, however, just kind of dropped off. Leading me to hope (fingers crossed) that there will be a sequel. I would definitely read it. I NEED to know what happens to Mack and is there any retaliation for Sabrina's husband? What a snake!

Now I know my review has got you interested in this read. Ha! Seriously, it is an entertaining, enjoyable and hilarious read.

Thanks to Little, Brown and Company for approving my request and to Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest review.

It's a near perfect contemporary novel showing us the curious and strange world of startups funded by twenty-somethings. World of morning raves, green smoothies, hot yoga, Snapchat. It's also a novel of an amazing women alliance, feminism, work ethics, and changing world of employment.

Startup is presented from three different perspectives. We have Mack who is a founder of popular wellness at work app TakeOff, Sabrina who works in that company. She's much older than the young crowd of twenty-somethings that work in the startup. She has two kids, and a husband who works in the same building as her, in a different startup TechScene. In TechScene works also Katya, journalist and daughter of Russian immigrants. The story also revolves around said husband Dan, and Isabel, an Engagement Ninja and Sabrina's boss.

The author perfectly shows us how the modern employment world works. She contrasts older generations with the youth - we have Sabrina, a mother of two, who works for a girl then years or so younger than her in a startup founded by a guy much younger than her. We see how unusual this work environment looks for the older generations, how much has changed in the attitudes towards work friends, and work life balance.

What I liked the most, and what was the key reason I decided to give this book four stars is the alliance of three women from this book. Sabrina, Isabel and Katya, all from different backgrounds, all with different agendas, decided to have each other's back and stick together. They helped each other, they didn't take man's word over women's word. They tried to find the truth. It was great to read about women helping each other, even though they are not best friends, and they don't have that much in common.

Startup is a fun book, that a lot will enjoy. Recommended read! Great observation of modern world.

Startup culture is a very recent peculiarity. It signifies that as a civilization we have reached a point wherein there can be an entire culture of producing nothing. Sure, it can be argued that apps aren't actually nothing, their goal is to make life easier, because everyone is much too busy (possibly inventing apps of their own) to do silly life things like their own shopping or errands. But in the grand scheme of things these are abstractions that aren't necessary or important and are quite possibly are the indications of a morally bankrupt society with screwed up values headed down the wrong path of abandonment of basic life skills. They apps also won't get you anywhere when the apocalypse occurs. I mean, there'll just be a giant group of 20somethings poking at no longer working devices while being slowly picked out by zombies/cannibals/aliens (choose your own apocalypse). That's one perspective and (depending on your age and personal beliefs) you might disagree. Either way, Startup is an interesting field trip into a fascinating world, at least from a purely anthropological point of view. It's a young, aggressive, hip, hungry, driven, exuberantly trendy and forcibly fun sort of a culture, a brand new work environment radically different from its predecessors. Stands to mention again, very young, as in this book will make you feel old. The oldest character is 39, then 36, the rest in their 20s. Culture clash observations are fascinating and/or sad, depending on how happy you are with being your age. The author seems to have more than a passing familiarity with her subject, she seems young and hip, senior culture editor and so on. This was a very auspicious debut novel. Not quite a pure satire, but just the right balance of drama and humor, real in a surreal way or vice versa. Much more than I expected and not at all as silly and over the top as it might have been. Enormously entertaining. Quick read and well worth the time. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.