3.5/5 stars-

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC of this debut novel.

This book took me so much longer than it usually takes me to get into and finish a story. I was expecting to get a tech focused mystery/thriller, but instead the main character was really hard to connect with in any way and yet seems to be not his own person. Reflected every other character he met and all the side characters seemed very 1 dimensional.

Plot was a bit all over the place and hard to figure out, which unfortunately led me to take a long time to get through it and didn't really care about the ending at all. I understand the message about companies being over bearing and knowing too much about us, but at the same time, I feel like there was a better way to go about this.

Ethan Block works for DateDate, a new and popular app that combines social media and very detailed questionnaires to help you meet your perfect match, as a content reviewer. When he finally gets matched with someone, he feels the world shift as he finds himself somewhere else momentarily. He's convinced a coding error is behind it but he needs to find proof to convince people of the bug.

I'm a fan of books combining tech companies with some magical realism/speculative fiction (the temps and robin sloan's books to name a few). Being in tech I was entertained by the commentary in this novel regarding these workplaces and found those parts very relatable. I appreciated the satirical tone this one took. The style of storytelling that was more speculative fiction than a twisty thriller and it raised interesting questions about a tech driven world and the importance of human connections. While I was really invested in the mystery, it felt like that side of the story was less fleshed out to make room for the aforementioned speculations and the ending seemed a bit rushed. I still enjoyed this one a lot!T
Thank you so much Henry Holt Books for the ARC and Macmillan Audio for the ALC of this one.

Dnf at 25%. There’s really nothing that’s keeping me interested in the story- not the characters, their relationships, or the central mystery. I also think I just don’t care about startup culture…the overall privileged tone of this book rubbed me the wrong way and the jokes sprinkled in just made me blink hard at the page.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for a review!

I was expecting a science fiction thriller and received an in-depth literary fiction look into San Fran tech startups. I think Please Report Your Bug Here would be a great choice for aspiring teen tech billionaires. It was written by one of the first Instagram employees. However, mystery and thriller readers, like me, will leave disappointed. 3 stars.

Thanks to Henry Holt and Co and NetGalley for a digital review copy of the book.

(Actual Rating: 3.75⭐️, rounded up)

🎊 𝑯𝑨𝑷𝑷𝒀 𝑷𝑼𝑩 𝑴𝑶𝑵𝑻𝑯 / 𝑩𝑶𝑶𝑲 𝑺𝑷𝑶𝑻𝑳𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 🎉
———
🔖 𝙏𝙞𝙩𝙡𝙚: 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘙𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘉𝘶𝘨 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦 ||
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ —— • by Josh Riedel • ——
🔢 Length: 288 pages
🎭 Genre: Fiction, Sci-Fi
⏰ Pub Date: *𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐍𝐎𝐖!!* January 17, 2023

📝 Summary: “𝙾𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗 𝚊𝚗 𝙽𝙳𝙰, 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎. 𝙼𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢, 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨.” •

“𝘈𝘥𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 & 𝘩𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙍𝙚𝙥𝙤𝙧𝙩 𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝘽𝙪𝙜 𝙃𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨-𝘰𝘧-𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺, 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘶𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘺𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘺𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘛𝘦𝘤𝘩, 𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢 𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘳𝘢.”
—— ❦

🪩 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲…. A cerebral read featuring an engaging & unique story; media such as 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘔𝘪𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳 or other similarly dystopian tales about the not-too-distant future; Silicon Valley being hit with a large splash of magical realism.

This book was so interesting. The concept was intriguing for sure. I lived in SF for years and commuted to the peninsula, SJ, Palo Alto etc. So I thought it was fun traveling through the areas I know. And the startup tech industry living in this area you are bound to know ppl who work on that field.
But this is tech heavy and it focuses on a dating app that is the startup company. It starts to get interesting when the startup is swallowed by the corporation.
There is a bug, and a fascinating new app that can transport people anywhere instantaneously. But there are a lot of interested parties and those that don't know how to fix the issue that has popped up.
✨Maybe spoiler✨
There was an alternate dimension that was giving me wrinkle in time vibes. But without that oily demon that was the humans in this story.

Thank you henryholtbooks and netgalley for the e-ARC for my honest and voluntary review.

The concept of this book is very interesting. One of the first employees of a dating app startup has discovered a bug in the code that transported him to another place--for only a few seconds. He then makes it his mission to figure out what happened, why it happened, and if it is happening to other people.

I had trouble keeping the characters and their relationships straight in the book. There were many descriptive tangents that wouldn’t connect back to the main story, and I felt like I was missing something. I spent a significant amount of time confused while reading this book.

I didn’t like the main character. I have enjoyed books where the main character was unlikeable, but this main character felt unrelatable. Very robotic at times - I wanted to identify with him, but I couldn’t. There are situations where he should have a reaction but he just shrugs and moves on.

I almost didn't finish the book, but I did want to find out what happened in the end. I wish the story would have pulled together differently in the end.

So intriguing!! I feel like this was almost there. So much about our connection to others as humans was explored but I found it so hard to connect with the characters as the reader.

I first came across Josh Riedel in [book:No Filter: The Inside Story of Instagram|50772888], which covers the history of Instagram - including its initiation and initial company vision, the first employees (including Riedel), and the subsequent changes it underwent after Facebook acquisition. I remember Frier (of <i>No Filter</i>) even mentioned that Riedel wanted to write a novel, so I thought it was really cool to see that he actually did!

Having read about Instagram's history, I feel like I would categorize this book as part lit-fic, part sci-fi, and part autofiction. Our main character is one of the first employees at DateDate, a start-up that uses users' data to find "your perfect match". Obviously tech start-ups are satirized (I think based on a lot of what Riedel saw in real life), but there's also a speculative element that makes the plot pretty unique. Unfortunately, I found the pacing is super slow for being advertised as "gripping" and a "thriller", and I never felt super invested in the characters.

<i>Thanks to Netgalley and Henry Holt & Co. for a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.</i>

I really enjoyed this book! I flew through this book. I couldn't put it down. If you like tech, social media, and a hint of sci fi you will love this.

Ethan Block is employee number 1 at DateDate, an app designed to match you with your perfect person. Yet his job is a far cry from what he envisioned.

Please Report Your Bug Here is a sci-fi, dystopian novel with a technological narrative. At its core, though, is a story about a young man trying to discover who he is and what his place is in this world.

The premise of this book is very interesting, and I wanted to like it way more than I did. I found the book to be too tech heavy for my liking. However, overall, I enjoyed reading the book.

I want to thank @netgalley and @henryholtbooks for the opportunity to review Please Report Your Bug Here.

I think this story would only be interesting to a fellow start-up/tech folks. This drags painfully and mires in the details. I'm at about the 10% mark and I have no interest in continuing. The lead is cringey, the pacing is sluggish, and the writing feels like a grocery list rather than any kind of prose. That style works well if the rest is good, but it reads like a draft with the characters and plot aren't there. Like I said, many tech or start-up alums will likely connect with the details here, but without that background, this is a bore.

**Thank you NetGalley and Henry Holt & Company for the eARC**

I’m struggling to write this because this book was so intriguing. There were moments I wanted to know what was going to happen next and moments I wanted to just stop reading.
Overall, I feel that Please Report Your Bug Here was an interesting look into how we as humans connect to one another. However, I feel that it also fell short of accomplishing its goal right at the finish line.
The novel may not have been my cup of Joe, but I definitely can see how this would be intriguing to the right audience.
Thank you NetGalley, Josh Riedel, and Henry Holt & Company for the opportunity to review this eARC for my opinion.
Please Report Your Bug Here by Josh Riedel releases January 17, 2023!

If you love cerebral reads, eerie covers, and are skeptical of Big Tech, boy is this book going to be for you.

Plus the author was the first employee at Instagram, where I am writing this very review. Very meta. Lord, isn't that what Facebook is called now? Pardon me, while I retire to an internet-free cabin in the woods.

Ethan is working in Silicon Valley as one of the founding members of an up-and-coming dating website. But instead of a fun, creative pursuit he thought it would be, his job is basically just clearing inappropriate photos off of the site. Oh a whim, he decides to check out his top match on the dating website, but unexpectedly he is no longer at his desk but in a field of grass next to an ocean. He quickly appears back at his desk and realizes he's discovered a pretty gigantic BUG. As he investigates, he sees that this goes much deeper than he expected.

This felt like part Uncanny Valley, part behind-the-scenes expose of tech startups, with a big dose of magical realism.

I thought this was a super unique book and loved the strange bedfellows mixture of tech and magical realism. Did I always completely understand what was going on? Absolutely not. But could I put it down? Definitely not. I found it oddly fascinating. Lost in Translation fans will enjoy the many references as well.

Also, with the author being the first employee at Instagram, you know he KNOWS THINGS. Like, where the Instagram skeletons are buried. So the book's commentary and skewering of Big Tech feels even more real.

I enjoyed this weird and somewhat creepy look at tech culture and dating; it got a little too existential for me at one point and I think it would be fun to unpack it with someone. I’ve recommended to my friends who have worked in tech, San Fran and start ups as I think they will find it highly relatable.

Midway through reading this book, I discovered that the author was Instagram's first employee, which added an extra layer of intrigue to the story. It makes a lot of sense, as Ethan's perspective with the rise of the app DateDate felt so incredibly personal, specific, and real. I appreciate the take on Silicon Valley and "The Corporation" (kind of a hybrid between Google, Apple, & Facebook IMO) becoming a monopoly in the tech industry embedded throughout the book - and the commentary on technology regulation (or rather lackthereof), the human ego, and greed.

All that said, I feel like the story itself fell a little flat. There were a few interesting twists, but once the magical realism/sci-fi element was introduced, it really lost me. I would characterize this as speculative fiction with a slight mystery element rather than a thriller (as I've seen it labeled elsewhere). Ethan wasn't a particularly likeable character. In some ways, this was almost a coming-of-age story of a man in his late-20s/early-30s. It's a story of Ethan fumbling with self-discovery and imposter syndrome. I chuckled and very much agree with other reviewer's comments about how this book was a good portrayal of how mediocre white men can stumble fail upwards. I wonder if this was the author's intention or not.

I'd give this 3-3.25 stars overall. Interesting concept, just okay execution.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing an advanced listening copy.

Thanks to NetGalley and Henry Holt for an ARC of this title.

The description of this one feels thriller-y, but the actual book is a little softer/more magical realism-y around the edges. A kinder, gentler Black Mirror that got its DNA spliced with Uncanny Valley: A Memoir or The Every. The ending on this one's a little baggy, but there's a neat little mystery in the center and the way it talks about tech culture nails the vibe of early-stage startups.

3.5 stars, rounded up for nailing its depiction of the tech world.

This book took me longer to read than most books. There was a point in the middle to end of the book where it seemed like the book may start coming together and make a little more sense. It was odd though that it kind of just fizzled out. There wasn't really a wrap up of the book, yet it wasn't even a cliff hanger really, it literally just kind of ended.

A book that fits so well in todays times and is so innovative cool and just interesting. Thanks to Holt for the arc.

I found the characters hard to relate to our care about in any way. I didn't mind the short of redacted naming in the book, I've read another like it, but this one just didn't seem to work. In the end I mostly just didn't care what happened within the story or with any of the characters. Maybe it just wasn't for me.