The Startup Wife: #bookreview

Most of The Startup Wife by Tahmima Anam is set in Utopia. Utopia isn’t heaven. It is a place for startup companies to develop and become successful. Asha Ray sees her high school crush, Cyrus Jones. They begin a whirlwind romance, get married and develop an app based on an idea that Cyrus had about personalizing rituals.

Asha is a brilliant coder and is the force behind the app. Cyrus is the face of the company. At first, he doesn’t have much involvement and then he has too much power. Cyrus publicly takes all of the credit for the app. Understandably, Asha feels betrayed when Cyrus excludes her from the company.

Asha knows that Cyrus is not the mastermind behind the company and definitely not the messiah. She put so much faith in him and not enough faith in herself. She does everything to keep the company afloat in the beginning stages. Then Cyrus betrays her in such a harsh way. Will their marriage survive mixing business with their relationship?

My favorite character is Destiny. She meets Asha and Cyrus at Utopia. Her company doesn’t have the same success that Asha’s company does. Destiny comes to work for Asha. They become really close friends. Destiny supports Asha through all of the problems. I imagine her as a RiotGrrrl, a punk rock feminist. I love her so much.

Asha follows Cyrus’s dreams and leaves her plans behind. I think she learns that one person cannot be everything to another person. She learns about boundaries. She loves Cyrus but starts to question if he is the best person for her.

Recommendation

If you are looking for a book about feminism and technology, then you might enjoy The Startup Wife.

If you think feminism is for suckers, then maybe you will learn something by reading this book.

Author’s website:

Tahmima Anam

• I received this book from NetGalley. All opinions are my own. Obviously.
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