The Knockoff

DNF on page 70 because it wasn't much fun. It felt false - like manufactured drama with no real purpose and little basis in reality. It does make total sense for a publishing company to decide to forgo print in favor of a website and app relaunch. But that decision isn't one that is handed down by the publisher and executed within six months without the editor in chief being made aware of it, and then said editor isn't thrown back into her (senior) role after a not-that-long leave of absence with no feedback about how the company is moving forward and her role within it. Both main characters felt like caricatures, and it annoyed me. My mom is in her late 50s, and not tech-savvy at all, and even she knows how to use email and basic smartphone functions better than Imogen as an “old” could at 42. And at 26, Eve is a caricature of what a millennial is - recent business school grad that will do anything to get ahead, operating a 24/7 cutthroat work environment with 100% connectivity, who has mediocre-at-best social skills and whose goal is pushing anyone over 35 out of the company (um, highly illegal).

TL;DR - I was irritated. Sorry, friends who loved this one.

This book was so, so good in that it so seamlessly integrated the new tech world - and its personalities and characters - with the traditional industries that have been so carefully developed. As someone who walks the fine line between “millennial” and having remembered a life before the Internet, I loved it. A fun, escapist read. If this was a movie, I would expect Robin Wright to play Imogen Tate.

It was fluid enough to keep me going, but it had two major drawbacks: 1, the Imogen character who was portrayed as a classy, elegant, wise and gentle editor in chief of a fashion mag, returning after a sick leave of 6 months, sounded 67 and not 42 with her absolute stupidity tech wise. One thing is not to know code or the blog platform. Another is the kind of baffled question she would ask, as a disservice to all 42 women who actually know pinterest, instagram or facebook. 2, Evie was the opposite: a villain so stereotyped it was like a child throwing a tantrum.
So, even if the context was ok, the two main characters were dumbing it down.