What do you think?
Rate this book
Startup Hell
Not yet published
Expected 19 May 26A hilarious contemporary fantasy about a junior sales witch stuck in corporate hell, who has to evade devilish pacts and her kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying mum to save a (surprisingly hot) demon, and work out how to hit her quarterly target. From the New York Times-bestselling author of Dreadful and The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association.
Morgan Blackwater's mother is a kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying Shadow Council wizard. As for Morgan? Morgan's a junior salesperson at a tech startup that can't even decide what its product is. But with magic dyslexia and a disinclination to kick ass, Morgan is doing her best carving out a niche for herself in the mundane world.
Leaving work late one night, she discovers her boss dead from the effort of summoning a demon to trade his soul in order to make his quarterly target. The disturbingly-attractive demon, Lucareoth (Luke for short), is trapped here until he finds someone to sell their soul. While trying to sneak Luke out of the building, Morgan runs into her infamous mother. Apparently, someone has been summoning demons and she's here to get to the bottom of it.
Trying to protect Luke from her mother, Morgan gets sucked into the Infernal Plane and discovers hell really is a corporate nightmare. She only gets back home with a promise to deliver a human soul of her own. While her coworkers are really annoying, she's not willing to sacrifice their souls. The company's tech bro CEO, though, is another story.
With Caitlin Rozakis's signature wit, STARTUP HELL is a contemporary fantasy that exposes the demonic nature of the corporate world.
Morgan Blackwater's mother is a kickass, world-saving, demon-slaying Shadow Council wizard. As for Morgan? Morgan's a junior salesperson at a tech startup that can't even decide what its product is. But with magic dyslexia and a disinclination to kick ass, Morgan is doing her best carving out a niche for herself in the mundane world.
Leaving work late one night, she discovers her boss dead from the effort of summoning a demon to trade his soul in order to make his quarterly target. The disturbingly-attractive demon, Lucareoth (Luke for short), is trapped here until he finds someone to sell their soul. While trying to sneak Luke out of the building, Morgan runs into her infamous mother. Apparently, someone has been summoning demons and she's here to get to the bottom of it.
Trying to protect Luke from her mother, Morgan gets sucked into the Infernal Plane and discovers hell really is a corporate nightmare. She only gets back home with a promise to deliver a human soul of her own. While her coworkers are really annoying, she's not willing to sacrifice their souls. The company's tech bro CEO, though, is another story.
With Caitlin Rozakis's signature wit, STARTUP HELL is a contemporary fantasy that exposes the demonic nature of the corporate world.
432 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication May 19, 2026
7 people are currently reading
973 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Read
December 16, 2025A big thank you to the editor and publisher for an ARC of the book!
STARTUP HELL explores the hellish nature of the corporate world, quite literally, through slapstick humour and entertaining absurdity while illuminating moral ambiguity and the way desire might result in detrimental consequences but also wholesome, and sometimes chaotic, connections. Rozakis brings us on a journey of navigating a first job and finding faith in ourselves, especially when facing conflicts we aren't well-equipped to handle.
STARTUP HELL explores the hellish nature of the corporate world, quite literally, through slapstick humour and entertaining absurdity while illuminating moral ambiguity and the way desire might result in detrimental consequences but also wholesome, and sometimes chaotic, connections. Rozakis brings us on a journey of navigating a first job and finding faith in ourselves, especially when facing conflicts we aren't well-equipped to handle.
Want to read
July 27, 2025Hell Yeah!
...to a literal corporate hell AND new Caitlin Rozakis book!
...to a literal corporate hell AND new Caitlin Rozakis book!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
4.5 stars.
Wow, wow, wow! I absolutely loved this book. It's incredibly funny and painfully real while being a sweet rom-COM (heavy on the comedy). Our main girl, Morgan, is the magic-less daughter of a witch/demon-hunter family who's stuck working in, well, start-up hell. While her mom is off fighting battles and saving the world, Morgan is trying to sell shitty tech products to other companies that definitely don't want to hear her pitch. When one of her coworkers dies while summoning a demon to get an edge in his job, Morgan is forced to take Luke (the demon that was summoned) under her wing while trying to meet the quarter's sale targets. Luke also has to meet his sale quota, and unfortunately that means securing a contracts with humans for their souls. So, we have corporate politics, interplane demon-human politics, and politic-politics to deal with.
I was laughing or smiling every other page. Even though I don't work in a corporate setting, I still related heavily to Morgan. I very much enjoyed the interweaving of modern-day issues and references (and I did feel a bit pained realizing I am waaayyy too online). Also the fact Morgan was using LinkedIn to solve crimes? Genius, hilarious, and a little horrifying to read some of those posts.
Some of my favorite quotes (note that these are from the ARC version of the book and might not be the same in the officially published work) were:
I just loved this book, and every time I picked it up to read my day got a little better. Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.
Wow, wow, wow! I absolutely loved this book. It's incredibly funny and painfully real while being a sweet rom-COM (heavy on the comedy). Our main girl, Morgan, is the magic-less daughter of a witch/demon-hunter family who's stuck working in, well, start-up hell. While her mom is off fighting battles and saving the world, Morgan is trying to sell shitty tech products to other companies that definitely don't want to hear her pitch. When one of her coworkers dies while summoning a demon to get an edge in his job, Morgan is forced to take Luke (the demon that was summoned) under her wing while trying to meet the quarter's sale targets. Luke also has to meet his sale quota, and unfortunately that means securing a contracts with humans for their souls. So, we have corporate politics, interplane demon-human politics, and politic-politics to deal with.
I was laughing or smiling every other page. Even though I don't work in a corporate setting, I still related heavily to Morgan. I very much enjoyed the interweaving of modern-day issues and references (and I did feel a bit pained realizing I am waaayyy too online). Also the fact Morgan was using LinkedIn to solve crimes? Genius, hilarious, and a little horrifying to read some of those posts.
Some of my favorite quotes (note that these are from the ARC version of the book and might not be the same in the officially published work) were:
Re the coworker dying: "'Gonna be some great LinkedIn content there, real inspo stuff. I've got dibs, no posting about the same event, you know?' 'Wouldn't dream of it,' [Morgan] promised [....] Mostly because it had never occurred to her to categorize a coworker's death as 'inspo'."
Re making a deal with a demon: "'You're not hallucinating," Luke assured [the CEO of shitty tech company]. 'Your world is much bigger than you dreamed. And your competitors are taking advantage of that.'"
Re big-boss demon on capitalism: "[...] Our entire model depends on you fools wanting things so badly that you're willing to sacrifice a chunk of your afterlife for it. Why would we ever do something that decreased the net amount of misery on your plane?"
I just loved this book, and every time I picked it up to read my day got a little better. Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for the ARC in exchange for a fair review.
January 22, 2026
thank you to netgalley for this arc!!
this book was super witty and funny going into it. i really liked the plot that the fl had to help a demon who accidentally wound up there after a ritual gone wrong. the premise was super funny and the first 20% of the book made me super positive i would like it.
morgan wasn't a hero, which was a breath of fresh air. she had a lot of complexes both with herself and family. i enjoyed reading about her navigations between the magic and mortal world. complex family dynamics are always a favourite trope of mine, and although her and her mother didn't have too much time together, the scenes they did have were super relatable.
i loveddd luke and rix! the two of them made the book so much more entertaining. luke was genuinely such a sweet and thoughtful character and i loved it. they had a good relationship and i loved reading luke's loyalty and outright devotion. he was so funny and precious, 10/10 my favourite character in the book. the romance took a backburner and it wasn't fully in your face so i lowkey wanted more, but they were refreshing either way.
the side characters were super witty and the inner monologue morgan had about them were so entertaining so i loved reading the comedic parts. however, the book did kinda lose me at some points with the nature of this book. morgan works in an office with a lot of marketing. the company jargon went over my head a lot and it explained so many keywords about things like startups that i wasn't really interested in. the plot took a while to take off so you're stuck with a lot of company talk for most of the book. i can't fault it given the setting of the book but it wasn't too interesting for me to read.
loved the banter and the comedic bits, but i realized throughout the book that i could never be an office worker girlie. best believe i'd be lost 24/7. if you're into kinda office romances with a side plot of demons then i'd recommend!
this book was super witty and funny going into it. i really liked the plot that the fl had to help a demon who accidentally wound up there after a ritual gone wrong. the premise was super funny and the first 20% of the book made me super positive i would like it.
morgan wasn't a hero, which was a breath of fresh air. she had a lot of complexes both with herself and family. i enjoyed reading about her navigations between the magic and mortal world. complex family dynamics are always a favourite trope of mine, and although her and her mother didn't have too much time together, the scenes they did have were super relatable.
i loveddd luke and rix! the two of them made the book so much more entertaining. luke was genuinely such a sweet and thoughtful character and i loved it. they had a good relationship and i loved reading luke's loyalty and outright devotion. he was so funny and precious, 10/10 my favourite character in the book. the romance took a backburner and it wasn't fully in your face so i lowkey wanted more, but they were refreshing either way.
the side characters were super witty and the inner monologue morgan had about them were so entertaining so i loved reading the comedic parts. however, the book did kinda lose me at some points with the nature of this book. morgan works in an office with a lot of marketing. the company jargon went over my head a lot and it explained so many keywords about things like startups that i wasn't really interested in. the plot took a while to take off so you're stuck with a lot of company talk for most of the book. i can't fault it given the setting of the book but it wasn't too interesting for me to read.
loved the banter and the comedic bits, but i realized throughout the book that i could never be an office worker girlie. best believe i'd be lost 24/7. if you're into kinda office romances with a side plot of demons then i'd recommend!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
After Dreadful really stuck with me for its fun plot and engaging writing style, I knew I absolutely had to read this one based on the description alone.
The unaffectedly witty writing style is what truly sets this book apart from comparable humorous fantasy and satire I’ve read. I deeply enjoyed the humor, which ranges from silly slapstick to clever musings, spiced with insightful criticism and philosophical ponderings on modern society, all set in a contemporary urban fantasy version of our world.
Working in a modern corporate environment for a startup myself, the workplace and industry descriptions in this book, presented in an amusing, tongue-in-cheek way, were some of the most relatable things I have ever read. I was constantly reminded of eerily similar people and situations I’ve encountered in my own career, perfectly reflecting the absurdity of it all. I will definitely be recommending this book to my colleagues (the ones I like, that is).
Aside from that, the plot kept me really engaged with its twists and turns. The dynamic between the characters was great; they all felt approachable and genuine. I found myself truly rooting for them and having a lot of fun along the way.
Recommended for readers who like satirical contemporary fantasy, workplace humor and hot (as well as suprisingly morally unproblematic) demons alike.
Caitlin Rozakis has now officially established herself as one of my must-read authors and I'll need to keep my eyes out on all her future releases!
The unaffectedly witty writing style is what truly sets this book apart from comparable humorous fantasy and satire I’ve read. I deeply enjoyed the humor, which ranges from silly slapstick to clever musings, spiced with insightful criticism and philosophical ponderings on modern society, all set in a contemporary urban fantasy version of our world.
Working in a modern corporate environment for a startup myself, the workplace and industry descriptions in this book, presented in an amusing, tongue-in-cheek way, were some of the most relatable things I have ever read. I was constantly reminded of eerily similar people and situations I’ve encountered in my own career, perfectly reflecting the absurdity of it all. I will definitely be recommending this book to my colleagues (the ones I like, that is).
Aside from that, the plot kept me really engaged with its twists and turns. The dynamic between the characters was great; they all felt approachable and genuine. I found myself truly rooting for them and having a lot of fun along the way.
Recommended for readers who like satirical contemporary fantasy, workplace humor and hot (as well as suprisingly morally unproblematic) demons alike.
Caitlin Rozakis has now officially established herself as one of my must-read authors and I'll need to keep my eyes out on all her future releases!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Thank you to netgalley for this read! I had so much fun with this. It was engaging, well flowing and wildly entertaining.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews