Startup Hell

Eva Braniff

Fun but complex

"I have started this book and put it back down three times. I want to love it. The premise is such a different idea, and sounded so fun. I did end up enjoying the book for the most part. There was just too much technical jargon, and I got tired of the actual "start up" talk... I get that this book is about the start up but it took away from the story for me. The writing is easy to read and moves quickly. The pacing is kind of all over the place, though. The characters are based on familiar workplace types, though they aren’t very deep. Most of the story focuses on comedy rather than serious drama. Overall, it’s an entertaining and quirky read, especially for people interested in tech or office humor, but it may feel a bit shallow for those wanting a more complex story. ["

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May 19, 2026

Kaitlyn

More office than demons

"3.5 rounded down. I’m afraid I actually had the same issue with this as I had with the author’s last book (Grimoire Grammar School) in that the premise sounds amazing but the focus is much heavier on the non fantasy part of the story. I don’t really give a wee rat’s mustache about the day to day of a flimsy start up lol I want to hear more about the demons! This was funny and entertaining, but maybe this would have worked better as a novella? I was getting bored with them just describing stuff that happened at an office. More demon hi-jinx, and less loading printer paper would have certainly improved this. Read via NetGalley. All opinions are my own. ["

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May 19, 2026

A. K. S.

Unnecessarily long

"Morgan works as a marketing assistant at a tech startup in New York, mostly making cold calls to potential clients. It pays the bills, just about. She feels like a failure, especially with her parents who are from the magical side of the world, while she has no magical bone in her body. But when her boss suddenly dies in the middle of summoning a demon to sell his soul to, she knows what to do with the poor demon, Lucareoth or Luke for short, stuck on the mortal plane. For one, she needs to keep him away from her mother, who is a demon hunter. Things go sideways from the start though. Before she knows it, she owes her soul to Luke's scary demon boss unless they deliver him two prime souls. She has to put her scruples aside and start luring in potential victims who are willing to sacrifice their souls for success. That would be the CEO of the startup, Brad, who wants to be a unicorn. The business kind. Well. This was a small disappointment, to be honest. The world was interesting with its mix of mundane and magical, the latter hidden, and Morgan straddling both worlds without belonging to either, was in a unique place. Luke as a reluctant soul collector was endearing. There were a lot of side characters and most of them had a reason to be there. Parallels between mundane and demon world were amusing. The story had good bones. Problem was, you had to wade through endless pages of boring and unnecessary to dig out the story. Maybe if I was a marketing person I would've enjoyed the jargon and the toxic work place environment. Then again, I had a notion it might've triggered anxiety attacks. There was certainly lot of it, constantly coming in the way of the story. I ended up skimming some of it to get to the good parts. The ending was good and conclusive and doesn't build to a series. ["

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May 21, 2026