Amelia and Adam Dory are twins and sophomores at Standord University. The two of them plus their friend T.J created Doreye, a brilliant new company that has Silicon Valley buzzing. The problems start when the three disagree about the future of Doreye. Adam wants to be successful. He wants the world to take notice of him. Amelia wants the app she designed to be free for all. For her Doreye was always about creating new code that will re-define the limits of technology. T.J. is a trust fund baby who is out to make a success of himself without the help of his family's money. As their goals come into direct conflict, the future of Doreye looks a little shaky, and Adam and Amelia's relationship becomes more strained than ever. Throw in a mysterious older woman who seems to be equally interested in Adam and Doreye, a budding romance between Amelia and T.J, and a powerful behind-the-scenes player who wants control of Doreye and what you have is a multi-million dollar mystery that questions everyone's motives as they look for success in the hard world of Silicon Valley.

THE NEXT BIG THING by Sadie Hayes is the second book in the Start Up series. A large part of enjoying a story is identifying with a character so I can root for them, feel the ups-and-downs alongside them, and share that moment where their world is irrevocably changed for them. This is an empathetic connection because it's a shared emotion between me and the character rather than a sympathetic connection in which I understand the struggle but don't feel the same visceral emotion. Characters don't have to be inherently good for me to enjoy their story. In fact, some of my favorite stories are about characters who start off on the shady side of bad. What is important to me is that I make the deeper empathetic connection that pulls me into a story and a character's struggle. I didn't connect with any of the characters in THE NEXT BIG THING. It was a struggle for me to finish this novel because I became easily frustrated with Adam's sulking, Amelia's neediness, and T.J.'s manipulations and the thing is, these characters do change and become more than the people they started as. I just couldn't invest myself in them early enough to enjoy the story.

I do want to say that author Sadie Hayes is a good writer. Her prose is clean and sharp. She creates vivid settings, and when computer and business jargon is used, it is always easily grasped. I like how she includes texts and instant messaging as part of the dialog in the story because both have become a large part in how people communicate in today's world and to see that reflected realistically in a story is fantastic.

THE NEXT BIG THING wasn't the right book for me, because I didn't connect with the main characters, but that's not to say you won't. There is a lot to recommend about author Sadie Hayes's writing. If you're interested in the world of corporate espionage and love a college-aged cast of brilliant characters, the Start-Up series could be perfect for you. If you find yourself easily frustrated by "kids who need to get their priorities straight", I'd definitely skip this one.