Review: The Start-up by Sadie Hayes

Title: The Start-Up

Author: Sadie Hayes

Series: The Start-up #1

Genre: Young Adult

Publisher: Backlit Fiction

Release Date: 
October 16, 2011

Source: Publisher

Format: Ebook

Buy the Book: Amazon

Set against the fast-paced, winner-take-all world of Silicon Valley, where today’s software geek is tomorrow’s billionaire, The Start-Up chronicles the meteoric rise of Adam and Amelia Dory, a talented brother and sister team. With only each other to rely on, the naïve eighteen-year-olds must make their way through a treacherous world of money, power, and envy.

This suspenseful and exciting episode is the first installment in an ongoing serial story.

Episode 1: 

Adam and Amelia Dory spent their childhoods bouncing around foster homes. Now finishing their freshmen year on scholarship at Stanford, Amelia and Adam keep to themselves…until Amelia’s breakthrough program catapults her into the limelight. Surrounded by people that want to exploit their start-up—from T.J. Bristol, a young and ambitious entrepreneur angling to get back at his billionaire father, to Patty Hawkins, Amelia’s aristocratic bad-girl roommate—the twins are seduced at every turn, until the only people they can trust are enemies.

The Start-Up surprised me from the very first paragraph, or should I say before I started reading it? The blurb caught my attention immediately, it left me with a desire to know about the characters and the plot,  and I was super excited to read it. It was the first time I was reading a book with this topic, a YA book. There are no YA books like The Start-Up! No! I haven't seen them! I haven't read them! So, it was something completely different to me, something really appealing!  And the best thing is that it doesn't disappoint! It's awesome!

Ok, why it's awesome?

First, amazing plot. Imagine a big mix. 

Gossip Girl + Technology + Dark Secret  = The Start-up. 

The story talks about two brothers, Amelia and Adam. They spent their childhoods in foster homes, they don't have money, but they have a lot of dreams, they want to do something with their lives. Amelia loves everything related with technology, she loves to code and to create new things. Adam is more ambitious, he wants to improve their lives, he wants to be like the people he sees around him people that make a lot of money, billionaires. They are finishing their freshmen year on scholarship at Stanford… but.. there is a big change… a complication. Amelia discovers something that she shouldn't. Now she knows something that will put her life and her brother's in danger. 

Like I said before, the topic is something new, it's something different and there is a little bit of everything:

A. Drama: Family relationships,  brother and sister, when they have different opinions. Father and son, when the son wants to impress his father. Sisters, when a sister falls for her sister's fiance… OMG! 

B. Romance: Not only one couple… I think there are more… 

C. Technology: If you're fan of technology, or if you have an Iphone, or an smart phone, you can be sure that you're going to enjoy this book a lot. Think about Apple and Silicon Valley…

Second, the characters are very realistic. They are not perfect, they have problems, and they make mistakes. They have different opinions, and the best of all is that you understand why they behave in they way they do, or why they do those things. You can't be only on Amelia's side, or Adam's. You understand their points of view. You understand them. Both of them.

And of course, there are also other characters that you will meet, some you will hate, and others that you'll love.

Like I said at the beginning, The Start-up is a really easy book to read, and difficult to stop reading. The plot is unique, complicated sometimes, but unique, and the way the author describes the story is wonderful. You think you're there. That you're part of that world. So, if you like books that talks about technology, technology that you may know, that maybe you have at home or in your pocket, if you like books like gossip girl, where there are rich girls and rich boys, rich families and big parties, and if you like a little bit of mystery, you'll will love this book. Highly Recommended! : )

Happy Reading! 

Loved it! 

Sadie Hayes holds several degrees from Stanford University. She has spent years working in the tech industry, both as an entrepreneur and as an investor. The Start-up is her first book. If you work in Silicon Valley, you might not know Sadie Hayes. But she knows you. 

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