Lou McCarthy is a journalist who has seen the dark side of Silicon Valley and has made it her mission to take the elite down one article at a time. Unfortunately, after going after a high profile abuser she loses her home, her job and is pulled into a mystery she never expected.

I really enjoyed this face paced tech thriller with a twist on the usual murder mystery. The story is complex, well written and intriguing from start to finish.

I really enjoyed Emily Lawrence depiction of the characters. Her voice was distinct and her reading style really brought the book and characters to life.

I want to thank NetGalley, Paul Bradley Carr and Snafublishing for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

I really tried to finish this and I couldn’t . I really wanted to like it but I just couldn’t it really dragged. The first couple of chapters were okay but then I found myself completely losing interest . I’m so sorry for the negative review I wish I could of finished

I really wanted to like this book. The setting and synopsis got me as the kind og book I would like. Unfortunately, then language as well as the looong setup were both really bad in my opinion. This will be my first DNF in a long time. Thanks to the publisher and Neutrally for the ARC.

This was just . . . weird and confusing. I didn't finish it.

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Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of 1414 by Paul Bradley Carr.

Unfortunately, and I really mean that, this is a DNF. I made it about halfway, and then just didn't see a reason to keep going. The premise is so promising! The beginning so creepy and foreboding. But it just draaaaaags so much, and I just couldn't keep myself invested. I felt like I was reading a soap opera, where even if I duck out for a few weeks, I can come back and have barely missed anything.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.

This book threads the line between being feminist and being a parody of the feminist extremist and I have trouble figuring out what the intention originally was.

Our main character Lou is very much the stereotypical men-hating, life ruining feminist the right wingers are scared of. She doesn't usually seem to think very much, and acts impulsively throughout most of the book. (But when her boss almost calls her out, saying she should think more rather than acting... she gets tilted because he almost said "the e word" e being emotional). I found it hard to feel for her. There's this theme of "everyone always underestimates women" but her actions are nothing to be wowed by in the first place.

On the other hand, she is trying to expose some extremely awful people. Reading about how one of the rapist used technology and algorithms in all our phones/data etc to find victims was positively horrifying by how likely it is to become possible in the future.

Almost all men in this book are horrible, and with that I mean serial rapist, child rapist type of horrible. The women in this book all hate men. All men, in general, and are very surprised when a man doesn't in fact condone rape. (I think the majority of men doesn't condone rape, but maybe that's just me...)

We have three main characters, all women, who despise these rich rapists and try to take them down. Usually by playing dirty. Lou is a journalist and her goal is to ruin these people. Which means she doesn't always completely check her sources, which gets demonstrated almost right away in the story. Her boss points some things out, she instantly realises she's been set up... And that annoys me, because this means that if she had stopped to think for a few seconds she would have figured that out, but she got so excited about bringing someone down she forgot to even check if this rape trial was even happening. And then her boss, a man, had to point out where she went wrong. It were these kinds of things that made me feel like this wasn't quite feminist, but rather trying to portray feminist as obsessed with bringing down rich men, and not even caring if they were actually rapist, and need men to tell them what's going on...

There is also a lot of stereotyping in this book, like the Chinese quack with an awful accent, and the horrible Arabs. We're never quite told what makes them so awful, we're just supposed to accept they are horrible and deserve to be despised/stopped no matter what. The big bad man is also Arab.

This book had some interesting things especially in it's description of silicon valley and its technology, and the way technology can be used for evil. But the characters were very stereotypical (feminism extremist main characters, evil Arabs, men = rapist, etc).

It's an easy read, and engaging enough to keep going. The further into the book we get, the more Lou starts to feel like a person and not just the right extremist idea of what a feminist is, so that was definitely good. The writing was fine, though heavily relied on stereotypes. Terms like brociopats and things were also mentioned way too much. Then there was the y/n. Maybe this would have worked better in the written version (although is it really that hard to write yes or no?), but hearing y slash n so many times throughout this book was incredibly annoying.

Which brings us to the audiobook. It was mostly fine. The broken English accent of the Chinese doctor made me cringe, and the accent of the Arab prince changing every few lines was annoying to me, but other than that, the narrator spoke clearly and in an engaging way.

All in all, I'm not sure what to make of this book. Parts of this book felt very "what anti-feminist think a feminist is like" and I struggled with that personally. Other parts were interesting and fun to read. The ending was lame. There were no "good" people in this book, and I wish this meant they were an interesting shade of grey, but they were not... Just stereotypes and flat 100% evil characters.

Paul Bradley Carr has set 1414 degrees as the starter to an amazing series if so chosen to do one. I heard the audio version of this book and I had never gone through an audiobook as quickly as I did 1414 degrees. It discusses some tough subjects, subjects that are a reality to some, and the responses to those subjects that we also see happen in the media. Lou is a reporter that has put her career on the line more than once to get the real truth published, even if her boss or powerful men in Silicon Valley try to stop her. In 1414 degrees she puts more than her career on the line, her life and the life of others are caught in this mystery, with multiple layers and players to be uncovered. I felt like I was holding my breath through chapters especially once we got to the middle of the book all the way to the end. If you're a fan of mystery, and tech thrillers you will enjoy 1414 degrees.

Silicon Valley is full of secrets, some of those that Lou, a journalist, wants to expose. She though her source was a good one, but is then fired from her job. We follow her story as she keeps digging in hopes to uncover the truth. With her recent story out in the public she faces troublemakers and people who attached her mother. But a much bigger story needs to be uncovered.

I have to admit that at times I found it a bit hard to keep track of this story and had to go back a couple of times to recheck facts. The outline was really good and the character building very nicely summed up. I think many will enjoy this murder mystery and find it a five star read.

My thanks to Netgalley and Snafublishing for this ARC.