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.