The Next Big Thing (The Start-Up #2) by Sadie Hayes

Amelia and Adam’s new company, Doreye, may have won over Silicon Valley, but the trouble is far from over. After facing down skepticism, a meddler from their past and a saboteur who makes their app malfunction right when it matters most, drama suddenly seems to be brewing within the ranks. While Adam has money signs in his eyes and enough charm to win over the investors, Amelia decides she wants to give away their app for free, leading to discord and a separation of responsibilities—and power.

As if that weren’t hard enough on their relationship, Adam and Amelia are both keeping secrets from each other, the kinds of secrets that could change everything if revealed. As they grow farther apart, others grow closer together. Patty finds a new boyfriend—and a fascinating new job—to distract her from Chad; Adam becomes involved with an older woman who seems to be as interested in Doreye as he is; and TJ starts to notice that Amelia is more than just a computer nerd with the tensions running high, Adam makes a decision that topples Amelia’s carefully constructed life and sets off a chain of events that could threaten the future of Doreye. Can Amelia find a way to save their company before it’s too late?

    Upon finishing this book I wasn’t very confused about exactly who the main characters were or their personalities. I saw on the front cover that it’s part of a series called Social Code; I had never heard of this series before and when I read about what this book was supposed to be about on a different website it sounded like it would be a really good book.  I was a little off on my assumption about this book. 

I started reading it and the characters voices in my head sounded like snobby kids and those who don’t have a thought in their heads. I thought they sounded exactly like rich, spoiled, disrespectful kids from California (i.e. “Adam” gets pulled over for speeding and the cop explains why he’s giving Adam the ticket and the price for it and Adam is surprised!)   

    At the end of the story however I found that I liked Amelia a little more than I did when I set out to read this book.  I didn’t completely understand her personality but I found that she had some more humane qualities than her brother Adam.  I think if I had read other books in this series then I might have enjoyed this story and possibly understood the characters more.  

     One thing I did like was how each chapter had a different subtitle than just the chapter #.  I think it helps the reader know more or less where they are in the story and what that certain part is about. I really like how Ms. Hayes wrote this story; I find that she makes it easy to read the story rather quickly.  Other than the few things that I didn’t like I still think Sadie Hayes is a wonderful and promising author and I would love to see her write some more interesting stories!!       Overall I give this story a “B” and the author an “A-.”

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  Tiffany