The Startup Wife - Tahmima Anam

Genre: Fiction

Release Date: Expected 3rd June 2021

Publisher: Canongate

Asha has her entire life planned out - she's going to finish her PhD, run her own lab and become on the most sucessful computer scientists there is. But after a chance encounter and very unplanned, very quick romance with her former crush Cyrus, the plan changes.

Asha, Cyrus and their friend Jules are dreamers, and they set their minds to work reinventing social media and using it to bring happiness and meaning to people all over the world by bringing hope and belief not in a higher power but in humanity itself. And when they get accepted into Utopia, an elite exclusive group for only the most innovative technical minds, their dream is about to become very real.

But while Asha is working hard in the background making the algorithms and code that will jumpstart their platform, she doesn't see that she's drifting further and further into the background while Cyrus' charm thrusts him further into the spotlight he insisted he never wanted. And the more successful they become, the more invisible she feels in her own creation -she's become the CEO's wife, not a creator, not the futurist superhero she was meant to be - but is it too late?

"People say there's no such thing as Utopia, but they're wrong. I've seen it myself."

The Startup Wife was addictive from the very first page, full of unapologetically strong characters who I would probably idolise if I met them in real life. Asha and her sister Mira were a pleasure to read, both standing in their own unique spotlights fearlessly standing up for what they believe in - along with an amazing cultural insight into some aspects of Bengali and Muslim culture that I haven't read much about in the past.

The platform our dynamic trio are working on, WAI, was the definition of thought-provoking. Delving into the human desire for rituals, for communities and for genuine human connection. And as we watch them turn from haphazard dreamers into business owners, the satirical social commentary that comes out really packs a punch. Can you really monetize dreams? When is enough really enough?

"I wanted him to respect you on your own terms, not just as my wife.

... What if he saw you as just my husband?

I wish the world worked that way, but it doesn't."

This was a story about love, about belief and friendship but most of all it was about ambition and passion and always standing up for yourself regardless of the consquences. Joyfully geeky, full of charm and undeniably immersive, this is the first time I've read Anams work, and I can say for sure it won't be the last.

RATING: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Thank you to Tahmima Anam, Canongate and Netgalley for this ARC in return for an honest review.

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