"The Start-Up" by Sadie Hayes

I originally posted this review in January of 2013, but Sadie Hayes has had some big news since then!  The Start-Up is now available in paperback as well as for the Kindle.  Since my old links likely don't work anymore, you can get the book here!

Also, new cover!


This book has been on my TBR list for more than a year now.  Once I started reading it, I was a bit surprised by the length- it's rather short.  Then it occurred to me that it was likely to end on a cliffhanger- and it did.  Going to have to find some time to finish this series!

Sadie Hayes' The Start-Up centers around Amelia and Adam Dory, college freshmen that have spent the entirety of their lives in foster care.  Both are attending classes at Stanford University.  Amelia is crazy smart and early in the novel develops an iPhone ap that catches the attention of some important people in Silicon Valley.  Adam seems to be scraping by (he doesn't show an awful lot of school smarts) and wants to cash in on Amelia's brain power.  He tries to convince his sister to sell her ap and things spiral down from there.  The novel also focuses on T. J. Bristol and Patty Hawkins who both are involved in Adam and Amelia's path to success (though not in the most positive of ways).  This book is certainly the beginning of the series.  There is a lot of introductions to the characters and the plot but it feels like the read meat of the story will begin in Episode 2: The Anti-Social Network.I thought this book was pretty good.  I could have done with a little more character development.  The characters seemed a bit one-dimensional and cliché.  There's the crazy smart one, the spoiled rich kid, the not-so-smart-girl who happens to be in the right place at the right time, and Adam (he may have been the most developed).  I also would have liked to have had more back story.  The plot is pretty straight forward so I wanted to know something more about these characters and how they have become who they are now.  I do hope to finish up this series soon and see what happens next!

Happy Reading!
-Melly