This book made me want to storm into work tomorrow and demand the respect, and title. An interesting book with an interesting cast of characters that I think will house something for every kind of reader.

I'm not sure I agree with the satire genre thats being pushed but I'm not sure I know what genre I would put it in either!!

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.

A wonderful book about the struggles women have to be heard and taken seriously, wrapped up in a love story, sprinkled with a dry sense of humour. I loved the narrator, Asha Ray and her story was completely engrossing, the social media app at the centre of the story quite believable. Well told, with central characters who felt real and moral dilemmas which are central in the social media environment. Above all of that though, it is a story about relationships and how we let other people take our power. I would definitely recommend.

From the other reviews this seems like a book many will enjoy. I did try but it wasn’t for me and , unusually, I gave up about a quarter of the way through.

What a curious book this was! I'm not quite sure where to start because it was very different to the sort of books I usually read.

Asha is the central character, an AI genius who develops an app which can offer people an alternative to religion, producing rituals for weddings, funerals and everything in between. She and her partner Cyrus join a start up hot house for the app.

The book explores the development of the app in some considerable detail, along with Asha's relationship with both her husband and co-workers at the hothouse. It's hard to know how to describe it from there! The writing was strong, powerful and left me wanting to find out what happened.

If you want to try something different this book is for you,

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. 3.5 stars from me.

This is a very unique book as it centres around technology and computer programming. Asha is trying to create a new algorithm that has the potential to replace religious rituals. Alongside this story, the book discusses privilege in terms of gender and race in such an incredible way. By being a Bengali woman, Asha's voice is very often not heard and I absolutely loved her character development as she finds her own voice.

This was something of a different choice for me, and I loved the way it explored women’s role in technology, business and the workplace in a Silicon Valley kind of world. Our narrator is Asha, a lovable and geeky computer scientist, who had me really rooting for her success, and who is surrounded by incredibly frustrating men, not least her new husband, Cyrus.

The Startup Wife was in equal parts funny, absorbing, poignant and infuriating. It’s a real page turner and I hurtled through it. Recommended!

Thanks to @netgalley and Canongate Books for an ARC of this one!

This book caught my eye due to the description rather than the title, and that is why I requested to read it on NetGalley.
I found the context of the story very interesting, to create an app based upon rituals from belief systems rather than having an actual faith is, to my mind, a very clever concept. As someone who has a faith I found this element especially intriguing. To tie this in with a tale of the journey of a relationship made the book a gripping read. The book tells the story of a gifted programmer and the development of her life-changing social media app, as she negotiates patriarchal, and at times racist, business practices whilst trying to keep her relationship with her husband free from the challenges that being such a successful entrepreneur can bring. Geographically it is set mostly in New York, which ads to the intensity I felt, being the “city that never sleeps”. The enigmatic Cyrus, her husband, also happens to be the person whose thought processes and creativity give the app its content. It all sounds inconceivable, but the author cleverly paints a picture that does sound plausible, albeit quite terrifying at times. Age old problems of sticking to ones founding principles and not compromising on your own beliefs are addressed in the narrative too.
I really enjoyed this book, although I felt that the world it described is probably more familiar to millennials rather than to me, but I found this enriched my reading experience rather than detracted from it. Issues such as what constitutes family and negotiating friendships are also examined so I feel the book would have broad appeal.
To summarise then, I’m glad I wasn’t swayed by my first thought on seeing the word “wife” in the title as the book delivered much more than a study of a marriage. I would definitely recommend it.

I thoroughly enjoyed this timely novel of ideas. The narrative does follow (among other things!!) the love story of two characters: Asha, a (very) brainy computer genius second-generation American, who is also the narrator, and Cyrus, a (very) brainy charismatic self-taught student of all things philosophic and religious. There are many more characters, each of them deftly delineated, never secondary, and always deeply interesting, eg Jules, a WASP reject yet an enabler to both Asha and Cyrus of what is the engine of the story, the creation of a new social platform (the startup company) with a thought-provoking raison d'être: an algorithm that will provide a personalised response to your spiritual, ritual needs...
As I started the book, I was unsure of where in time I was and where the story was going, as there is a wonderful sense of sci-fi in the air as things begin to move... suffice it to say that you will embark in a sort-of romantic comedy which makes you think about pretty interesting, never banal issues: the role of ritual and religion in a secular society, the actual realisation of ideas, power struggles within equalitarian settings, gender roles, feminism, societal v self-imposed limitations... The sheer abundance of ideas and how they are developed just enough to allow your own analysis of the issues, is rather exhilarating. The humour and self-awareness of the narrator, the precise, clear prose which uses the historic present to great, dynamic effect, they all contribute to this absorbing, entertaining story with a denouement which brings the events ever closer and more relevant to our present times.
I recommend it without hesitation if you want to think about issues that matter in a rather humorous way...
With many thanks to Canongate via Netgalley for an advance copy of this engrossing novel.

The Startup Wife is a quirky and intelligent romance seen through the eyes of Asha Ray, whose parents moved to the US seeking a better life for their daughters. Asha feels ostracised at school but works hard and earns a prestigious computer science PhD placement. After a chance encounter, Asha enters into a whirlwind romance with her former school crush, Cyrus. Combining his spiritual knowledge with Asha's programming talent, they build an app which creates personalised rituals for various life events. Although Asha is the brains behind the company, Cyrus becomes the figurehead. Asha becomes increasingly sidelined but dislikes the limelight and is reluctant to rock the boat.
The love story between Asha and Cyrus is quite beautiful and I loved Asha's self-confessed geekiness and hearing her inner thoughts. My only regret is that Asha consistently seemed happy to let events wash over her, repeatedly rationalising failing to stand up for herself . Although she was working harder than anyone, she shied away from taking any credit. Perhaps it could be said that she was staying true to herself, but it was frustrating that she only finally took control when she was forced into the situation by extreme circumstances.

Asha Ray, an incredibly intelligent computer programmer designs an algorithm that could replace religious rituals. As investor interest starts to increase it becomes apparent that her husband and co-founder, charismatic Cyrus is wanted as the face of the CEO of the company. Along with the third co-founder, Julian, the three of them led by Cyrus begin to see their idea grow in exponential ways and risk getting out of control.

There is an interesting theme in the book on privilege. Along with being a female founder, Asha’s Bengali heritage is reason enough for her voice not to be heard at the table. Initially Asha joins in and play the game, encouraging Cyrus to be the face of the company to gain the required investment but when her lone voice of reason needs to be heard she realises she has been complicit in her own silence and that those she loved and trusted were not her allies when she’d needed them.

Although enjoyable this wasn’t a book that blew me away, it’s quite slow paced and the characters aren’t particularly loveable. There’s also a fair amount of business and tech talk that lost my interest although the sarcastic and comical look at the constant stream of new initiatives and trends was well written and funny.

The main selling point of this book is the main character herself, Asha. I enjoyed being on the journey with her as the book is written in first person, especially as you watch her own self worth be challenged and then grow.

I've devoured this in about 2 days, wanting to find out what will happen to Asha, Cyrus and Jules. Told from Asha's perspective, we begin with her (rekindled of sorts) relationship with Cyrus who she knows from High school and learn how talented she is at coding. She has developed an algorithm she calls the Empathy Module and adds it to her now husband's encyclopaedic knowledge of rites and rituals. The story explores the intensity of setting up a start up, a new marriage as well as the feminist issues of presence and recognition. I loved it.

I very nearly didn't carry on with this book after the first couple of chapters but I am glad I did as it definitely got better and was a very enjoyable read by the end. Asha worships Cyrus at school but he doesn't know she exists. Years later they meet again and start a relationship and a company, along with Cyrus's friend Jules. Asha is brilliant at coding and Cyrus is a bit of a faith guru - people listen to him and believe what he says.

Asha designs a code that after a series of questions, grants you a ritual that will deliver whatever it is that you are looking for in life. As with anything, the more popular it becomes the more problems it brings both to the company and to their relationship.

I thought the ending was very topical and thought provoking and I'm glad I persevered as in the end it was a very compelling read.

The StartUp Wife is a quirky, funny, deeply intelligent story of love, big dreams, starting up and feminist geekdom. The book tells the story of computer scientist Asha Ray, who after high school is working at a prominent Cambridge AI lab. Her life and career, however, changes when she attends the funeral of an old high school teacher back on Long Island and has a chance meeting with her high-school crush, Cyrus. The two begin a whirlwind romance and two months later they are married. Soon after, the couple launch a social networking app with Cyrus' wealthy best friend Jules. While Asha is the brains behind the operation, Cyrus’ charismatic appeal throws him into the spotlight, and she begins to feel invisible in the boardroom of her own company. The titular start-up is We Are Infinite (WAI), a social networking app centred around faith and ritual. They also apply with WAI to join a tech incubator called Utopia, which is already home to other start-ups that are preparing for the end of the world. As the start-up takes off, the boundaries between work and life start to blur for Asha and Cyrus and their work/life ratio is completely out of sync.

For a while, they had everything: they got to work together, they got to see each other all the time, they had this very intense sensual and romantic relationship and everything was operating at a very high volume. But will Cyrus and Asha's marriage survive the pressures of sudden fame, or will she become overshadowed by the man everyone is calling the new messiah? This is a captivating and absorbing novel with a gripping plot and award-winning author Tahmima Anam doesn't shy away from exploring faith and the future with a gimlet eye and a deft touch. Come for the radical vision of human connection, stay for the wickedly funny feminist look at startup culture and modern partnership. The initial team behind WAI starts out being quite countercultural and, in a way, the story is about how they (especially Cyrus) end up being embodiments of the things that they were critiquing; essentially becoming what they once despised. It's a richly described and immersive story crafted with intelligence and deft humour that ostensibly asks the burning question: can technology, with all its limits and possibilities, disrupt love? Highly recommended.

Asha is a lady with career plans, a brilliant computer scientist working on her PhD. Then she meets up with Cyrus, and her life takes a very different pathway. Together with their friend Jules they set about building a social networking app to provide meaningful background to all the major life events. However, although Asha is the creative one on the computer, it is Cyrus who becomes the face of the app, a charismatic leader.

Eventually Asha begins to feel sidelined, and it is their relationship, as well as the idea of apps and the silly fads and fancies of the modern world that the book explores. It is very cleverly written, and draws the reader along on a journey as Asha believes, but does not believe, in the monster she is creating, under the auspices of Utopia, who are preparing apps to help humanity through what they think will be the next apocalypse.

Thank you to NetGalley and Canongate for allowing me access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Asha and her husband Cyrus and friend Jules have great idea for new social media platform. Asha is the brains behind this platform but when it gets taken up by a large online company called Utopia Asha is sidelined. It was her ideas that created the platform in the first place but she has to battle with friends,fam8ily and hangers on who want to make money from her. The system uses belief systems along with your own interests to create answers for you., how to live your life how you want to be buried are all touched on in this funny and entertaining novel. Anam dissects the lives of women and men who are climbing up the corporate ladder in 21st century America.
Both amusing and moving in parts this is a wonderful story of love, great ideas and keeping hold of yourself when others try to push you out of your own business.

Do you like Black Mirror? Do you think it would be even better with an Asian female character? Then you should pick up The Startup Wife. Solid ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫 rounded down to 4.

Blurb: Newlyweds Asha and Cyrus build an app that replaces religious rituals. The algorithm simply asks the user a series of questions about what gives meaning to their life, which could be anything, eg: “Game of Thrones, The Great British Baking Show, and Ancient Egypt,” to name the examples from the book's prologue; then it suggests relevant, customised rituals for a special event in their life (wedding, funeral, baptism, you name it) Intriguing, right?

What I loved:

- The dystopian undertones of the book. Utopia, the New York-based incubator our protagonists go into to work on their app, is clearly meant as a satire for the tech industry. People seem to know that something bad is coming and they are "preparing for the afterworld". The inclusion of some real-life events, literature and pop culture references are done really well. Satire aplenty.

- All the mentions of foods and drinks casually peppered through the narrative as a backdrop. Eg: "...and we stand up and hug over the mini pancakes floating in their sticky amber lake." There are also omelets, turmeric lattes, a Pikld restaurant, a vegan character inventing lots of kooky things (one of them intrigued me especially but no spoilers!), pink lemonade, activated-charcoal lemonade, ginger turmeric toddy, a non-dairy mixologist, okra curry, mochi ice cream, warm sake, etc. It's just fun to read about all this, but maybe it's because I'm a vegan hipster myself 🤭

- The narrator being the daughter of Bengali immigrants yet married to a white guy. There were so many funny quips about cultural differences, but it still felt authentic, sometimes sarcastic without falling into the overly cynical.

- The writing style. Simple yet impactful, the self-deprecatory, insightful and smart female narrator really grew on me. Random example: "Everyone stops moving. We're a canvas, captured in time by an artist, titled The Fun Is Over."

- The diversity of characters in general: despite taking place in the tech industry, there are several interesting female, BIPOC protagonists, as well as queer representation. The dialogues between Asha and Destiny ring true and there are powerful feminist moments when discussing sex, consent and pleasure.

- Reading about the tech industry through an Asian woman's eyes. I felt like I was watching Silicon Valley (the TV series) but I could empathise with Asha way more than with the men on the show. I knew most of the terms (VC, IOP, fintech etc.) But if not - definitions are easily found with a Google search and it does not detract from the story at all.

What could have been slightly better:
- Mira, the narrator's sister was not really fleshed out and felt a but "tacked on" to me. I wasn't sure why she was in the book...?
- The way Asha adulates Cyrus is weird, and you just want to shake her and say "Whyyyyyy, why do you love this man?"
- One of the late plot twists has been done before in a TV show I really like, which was unfortunate - even though the narrator literally says "At the very least, it's an idea ripped off from a television show", it still disappoints. Won't say any more because I want to keep this spoiler-free!

Overall this was a really pleasant surprise and if you want to read something different which does not really fit in any genre, but is an odd, refreshing mix of romance, dystopia, tech, suspense, cli-fi, feminist manifesto, then get it!! I am keen to read the author's other books now.

This book is being released on the 3rd of June. I received an Advanced Reading Copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A whirlwind of love, friendship, technology and standing your ground.

As a woman working in tech, I was interested to see how a "women's fiction" novel would approach it and goodness am I glad that I did. Every inch of this was so masterfully crafted and I could really feel for our protagonist at every step of the way,

You do not need any background knowledge to appreciate this work, The Startup Wife is accessible to all and I would highly recommend reading it.

When I read the synopsis of the book, I was really excited to start reading it, as I thought it would have everything in it that I would love. A female lead in the tech business? Yes, please!
Ahsa Ray, a young and talented programmer who’s in the process to earn her PhD at MIT reunites with his crush from high school called Cyrus, a deeply philosophical individual with a deep passion for rituals, they fell in love, get married, and they start to work on their newly invented idea. An app, that would replace religious rituals and let the users select their preferred ritual based on their hobbies and interests. Alongside their friend, Jules, they will work hard to achieve success with this code, but not everything goes as smoothly as expected … Especially for Asha.
I think the story sounds interesting, and it was the blurb that has caught my attention first, but aside from the relatively simple story, it also brings up important issues and questions. We look at the dynamics within the company, mainly focusing on our wedded pair, bringing up issues such as misogyny and racism within the industry. (It actually brings up situations that I fear I have to eventually face in the industry). It was really funny to see how the author makes fun of the tech companies, especially all that is going on in Utopia, with the yoga classes and CBD coffees.
Although I did find things that I could enjoy, I wasn’t completely “wowed” by them. The story and characters felt flat at the times (especially in the middle).
Overall, a quick and entertaining satire of the industry with some thought-provoking ideas.

This was a refreshing and fun novel about the tech industry. Asha, a Bengalo-American, is a brilliant coder and programmer. When she reunites with her high school crush, Cyrus, a brilliant dreamer with a passion for rituals and religion, they fall in love, they get married and she turns his talent for coming up with spiritual rituals into a social network that creates new rituals for you, based on your interests, and pairs you with people who share the same values and interests. A lot of the novel is all about the hard work put by Asha, Cyrus, and their best friend Jules, to make their social network work and to get funding. It is very satirical - other characters work on an app that lets you consent to various parts of your body being touched, or that manages your social media accounts once you die -, but it still feels real and somehow not completely far-fetched. The most enjoyable aspect of the novel was definitely its narrator and main character, Asha - I have read so many recent, vaguely dystopian novels, where the main character is dysfunctional and a bit of a failure... It was great to get an heroine who is wildly ambitious, not a terrible person, smart and reasonable... I found it just lovely and refreshing to follow her. Towards the last quarter of the book, it becomes slightly more predictible; but it didn't ruin my enjoyment of the novel - I would recommend it, it's what I would consider a smart light read.