Friday, September 6, 2013

Review: The Social Code by Sadie Hayes

The Social Code (The Start-Up, #1)Series: The Start-Up #1
Release date: September 3rd 2013
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Purchase: Amazon

Synopsis via Goodreads:
In a world where anyone can rise to the top, the only rule is... watch your back.

Eighteen-year-old twins Adam and Amelia Dory learned the hard way to rely only on each other, growing up in a small town where they understood the meaning of coming from nothing. But everything changes when both are offered scholarships to Stanford University – and catapulted into the dazzling world of Silicon Valley, where anyone with a good enough idea can skyrocket to fame and fortune in the blink of an eye…

Amelia is almost as pretty as she is smart – almost. A shy girl and genius, she is happiest alone in the computer lab, but her brother has other plans for her talents: A new company that will be the next Silicon Valley hit, and will thrust Amelia into the spotlight whether she likes it or not. Where Amelia’s the brains, Adam’s the ambition – he sees the privileged lifestyle of the Silicon Valley kids and wants a piece of what they have. He especially wants a piece of Lisa Bristol, the stunning daughter of one of the Valley’s biggest tycoons.

As Adam and Amelia begin to hatch their new company, they find themselves going from nothing to the verge of everything seemingly overnight. But no amount of prestige can prepare them for the envy, backstabbing and cool calculation of their new powerful peers.

Welcome to Silicon Valley, where fortune, success – and betrayal – are only a breath away...

*A copy was provided by the publisher in exchange of an honest review.


First of all, I had no idea this was released back in 2011 much less that it's part of a series until I made it to the end of the book, or whatever that last paragraph was. With that aside, The Social Code was an alright, goodish sort of story but it wasn't great. The technical aspect had the potential to be so cool but it all came out a bit overwhelming, as did some of the elaborate details throughout the book. I felt that there was too much going on with all the different characters being focused on that I didn't really get to connect deeply with the two main ones. 

Adam came off a bit pushy, sometimes annoying, and not masculine enough. Amelia seemed remarkably naive and childlike. Yet, despite those characteristics I was convinced by her geeky nature and her position felt strong in the book. Her brother, however, didn't shine to me or to the other characters in the story. It's almost like the author was trying to write him as this young man desperately trying to figure himself out and establish a way to make a name for himself among tech and business community that he ended up coming off all over the place. Another thing that irked me about Adam was how clingy he got with his love interest, Lisa, who I also didn't care for and couldn't warm up to his relationship with her. I knew there was something off about Lisa from the start and once that particular truth came to light I wasn't surprised. But Amelia did her brother injustice by not bringing Lisa's sidework to his attention.

Anyways, back to the story. A character I had no problem with whatsoever was T.J. I liked how his views changed and his more honest side began to appear more as the story progressed. I would also love for him and Amelia to develop something beyond work related. That's just my wish. T.J. showed maturity and wit, and I especially liked when he stood up to his father and addressed that issue of what he was going to do with that shady company. Kudos to T.J. for that move. 

The rest of the characters, in my opinion, were just there to add drama and scandal to the story. It made it more realistic I guess because in the world of the rich such things do take place. In regards to Patty's and Chad's situation, I'm still taken aback by that part of the story and am interested in seeing how that side unravels itself. Where Amelia, Adam and the rest of the characters are concerned, including the further development of their business, I truly want them to succeed, especially with those malicious people on their case trying to destroy what they've worked hard to created. 

Overall, The Social Code was alright, not entirely impressive because there were several moments I zoned out, and the writing wasn't exactly poetical where it pulled me into another realm. But I am interested in reading the next book only to see what happens to the twins and their start-up. 


8 comments:

  1. The summary sounds interesting enough but after your review I'm not particularly in a hurry to add it to my TBR list.

    Thanks a for an honest great review Shane!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you, but who knows maybe you'll like it more than i do :)

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  2. Yea this does seem like an average book from your review. It sounds like it could be really interesting but I don't particularly like when other characters are just added to cause trouble or to take up space.

    Thanks for the great review! :)

    Michelle @ Book Briefs

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  3. The summary sounds interesting, but I'm a little leery of trying it out after reading your review. Maybe eventually... Thanks for sharing!

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  4. the cover is very cool! too bad it didn't totally live up.

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  5. I didn't know this was from 2011 either. It seems like I saw this, or maybe the sequel on NetGalley, not sure. I remember being curious about it. I am really glad to read your informative review.

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