Startup Hell

by Caitlin Rozakis

A 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.

Genres: Fantasy, Adult, Urban Fantasy, Adult Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook

432 pages, Paperback

Expected publication May 19, 2026

Reviews

[Ai Jiang]

A 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. 

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I LOVED The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association and I recommend it to customers all the time. So, I was excited to read the author's next book. There was a lot to like here, but in the end, I just felt like this story was too much. I got really tired of the actual startup talk. A lot of it was fairly incomprehensible to me and it got old after a while. I did enjoy the general story and some of the characters. But by 2/3 of the way through, I was ready to be done.

[Jassmine]

Hell Yeah!

...to a literal corporate hell AND new Caitlin Rozakis book!

[Tween 2 Teen Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

After devouring The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association last year, I knew Caitlin Rozakis was becoming a must-read author! Startup Hell has some different vibes from Grammar School, but still hits that great combination of fantasy, funny, and full of feeling.

Morgan was raised within the magical community, but unlike her parents, she has no magical abilities. Morgan spends her days working in a tech startup, occasionally fielding phone calls from her mother (a magical badass) who more closely resembles your standard fantasy heroine. This totally doesn't bother Morgan at all *enter sarcasm here*. Her work is a disaster, but it's a living, until she walks in on her dead boss-who just summoned a demon. Obviously things can't get worse, right? Ha. Morgan's life, and this book, is a classic tale of "if it can get worse, it WILL get worse". The only good news? The demon doesn't particularly want to be here either and he is HOT. What ensues is a tale of shenanigans, disaster, and just maybe... love.

Morgan was a compelling heroine, even if I wanted to shake her at times to call the (magical) authors. However, her character is developed in such a way that it's completely believable why she wouldn't. Morgan has an independent streak a mile wide and mommy issues to put others to shame. Which to mention, I felt the writing of Fiona-Morgan's mother-was particularly well done. I immediately liked her, but you can see exactly why Morgan struggles with her. Fiona did her best, but what she thought was best wasn't necessarily what Morgan needed.

While Morgan is our single POV lead, we also follow demon-and potential love interest-Luke (short for Lucareoth). He's sweet and funny and totally charming. I love a fish out of water situation with supernatural creatures, where you have to explain all the random things about how our human world works. The burn is slow, and not featured enough to categorizes this as romantasy, but definitely present (and certainly enjoyed by me).

Fantasy fans will definitely want to check out Startup Hell. If you've read Grammar School, there are some fun easter eggs hidden in here, but it's not necessary (but also read Grammar School because it's also amazing). The author infused many of her own experiences in tech startups into the book and it absolutely shows. Startup Hell does a great job of mixing the batshit crazy with more hopeful idealism. It got me in my feelings a few times (especially Morgan's relationship with her mother) and also had me laughing out loud. My arc is full of highlights of truly ridiculous lines that I wish I could share with everyone. All in all, I highly recommend Startup Hell!

[Terra ⭐️ · Rating 5 out of 5]

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:

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.

[suraya · Rating 3 out of 5]

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!

[Tina Liu · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the setting and humor of this book, but unfortunately, the plot felt bland and slow to me.

Morgan is a low-powered witch working long hours at a startup. One night, while staying late at the office, she discovers that one of her bosses has died while attempting to summon a demon. The demon, Luke, is successfully summoned—but since her boss dies before completing the deal, Luke can’t claim his soul and ends up stranded on Earth. To return home, he needs to find someone else willing to sell their soul. Morgan helps him hide his true identity, and he poses as a new intern at her company. Together, they try to secure another soul so Luke can finally go back.

On the positive side, the book has some lighthearted humor, especially in its satire of startup culture. The exaggerated depictions of founders blatantly lying in demos or constantly pivoting their business plans just to impress investors felt sharp and very true. It also pokes fun at how some companies provide all kinds of healthy snacks or yoga classes to showcase—or pretend—to be a trendy tech company, while not wanting to spend time and energy actually getting their product ready. There is also a very cute hellhound in the book. I also really liked Morgan’s roommate—she was unexpectedly funny and added some great moments to the story.

However, many of the jokes were repeated too often. The startup theme, while amusing at first, can only carry the story so far. It didn’t feel strong enough to support an entire novel. Much of the book focuses on Morgan’s daily work life and Luke’s experiences at the office. While initially entertaining, it quickly became repetitive and lost its appeal for me.

Thank you to NetGalley, Titan Books, and the author for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

[Aquaspells]

Thank you so much Netgalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to review an early copy of this book!
I want to make clear that this is my personal opinion and in no case a judgement on the author - it just wasn’t for me, it doesn’t mean that it won’t work for other readers.

DNF - 30%

Unfortunately this book wasn’t for me. As someone who’s worked in tech for years and who loves fantasy and romance stories, I thought this one would be right down my alley. But I’m afraid it just didn’t do it for me.

I couldn’t get attached to the characters, their interactions not feeling natural at all and just creating a negative atmosphere overall. When on the same page Morgan talks about her best friend and roomate to say that ‘she expected her to react way worse than she actually had’ about two different interactions, it just makes me feel things are happening for the sake of happening, not because they take the story further. It gives the impression that the main character just expects the worst of everyone but she doesn’t learn from it. It only makes her sound like super negative and whiny most of the time.

The side characters all feel so similar to one another, making it extremely hard to keep track of who is who. And the tech jargon… Yes, I guess if that’s going to be setting, it’s important to talk about the job itself, but an extremely detailed explaination of what angel investors are when the idea of using them is discarded right after without even a discussion? Again it really felt like space wasting. It made me feel like I was just reading a dry school book without a real goal or objective.

On paper this story had everything I would have like but it just felt flat for me. I started not looking forward to continuing the story so I decided to stop there.

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caitlin Rozakis writes such fun books. They're always humorous, lighthearted, and heartwarming, and this one is no exception. I won't say that it's my favorite of her novels — that would be Dreadful and it's seriously one of my top five high fantasy novels of all time — but I'd probably rank it second, just ever so slightly ahead of The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association. I mean, it has a hot demon and an adorable hellhound and a kale juicer, and what more could you possibly ask for in a book? (Okay, fine, maybe the kale juicer isn't really much of a selling point.)

This isn't a super deep read — it's fluffy and a little predictable and I daresay I don't need to tell you whether our main character and the hot demon wind up together at the end. But it was the perfect story for cleansing my brain after reading One Hundred Years of Solitude (not one bit of pedophilia in this one, you guys!), and it definitely scratches that cozy urban fantasy itch. And did I already mention that there's a pet hellhound?? There are also vampires and demons and demon hunters and an angel and tech bros (again, perhaps not really a selling point, but whatever) and a crow named Murder, and if they ever make this into a movie, I desperately need Misha Collins to be cast as the angel even if he's not blond because duh. Chris Hemsworth can be sexy demon Luke.

So, yeah. This was cute. It's not Shakespeare, but do any of Shakespeare's plays include hellhounds? I think not.

3.99 stars, rounded up.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is May 19, 2026.

[Pixie's Book Den · Rating 5 out of 5]

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!

[Jill Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one. There were a lot of elements that I loved, but feel like it was about 100 pages too long to truly have loved the whole book. There's a LOT of office/marketing talk here - way more detail than I think the book needed to keep the reader engaged and informed enough to get the concept. It kept dragging me out of the relationships and the demons in ways that I found frustrating.

The family dynamic between Morgan and her mother was really well managed and relatable, as was the found-family relationship between Morgan and Gisele. I loved Luke and the demon-y bits and the "securitizing" concept (can't say more without spoilers, sorry) was hilarious and snarky and unfortunately all too plausible... I really enjoyed the banter and the self-reflection (and self-doubt) that populated the Luke-Morgan exchanges. They felt very real and helped bring the characters to life for me.

All that said, I feel like a lot of the action was dragged out WAY longer than it had to be - or than it behooved the plot/pacing to be. There are a number of areas where marketing strategies, office organization, and the trade show felt like they overtook the central plot and point of the book, and it pulled my focus away and led me to skim a bit until the action resumed. But on the whole it was a fun(ny) ride and worth the trip! I'm at 3.5 stars, but I'll round up because the good bits were better than the slow bits were frustrating.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.

[RoamingwithBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

🖥️Startup Hell by Caitlin Rozarkis

💭”A 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.”

💕Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

🖥️Startup Hell is a perfect blend of fantasy and workplace comedy with rom-com vibes sprinkled throughout. This has heart, humor, and scorching stakes.

❤️This is such a fun read with quirky contemporary fantasy that quickly turns into one of the most refreshing and funny reads you’ll discover all year.

🧙‍♀️Meet Morgan: a junior sales witch with magic dyslexia, stuck in a tech startup that feels eerily like every corporate nightmare ever (corporate girlies, this one is for you ),except there are actual demons and literal hellfire.

😈Meet Lucareoth (aka Luke): a disturbingly attractive cheeky and unexpected demon.

⭐️Read Startup Hell if you like:⭐️
* 🔥 Workplace satire with actual demons and magic
* 💼 Fantasy that roasts corporate chaos
* 😈 Snarky, morally gray demons with surprising depth
* ✨ Contemporary fantasy that feels fresh, clever, and wildly fun
* 🖤 Humor-forward reads with heart and emotional payoff

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

With a promise of urban fantasy, disability representation, and office-based humour, I was incredibly excited for this book, but I'm afraid it really fell flat for me. There might have been a couple of times I blew air through my nose, but I didn't really didn't find a lot of the attempted humour that funny. I also felt like the fantasy elements were forgotten for a good chunk of the book, focusing mainly on life at the human world office, with a ton of characters so similar that it started to get confusing. The fantasy kicked in at the end, but the addition of unnecessary characters also made this quite confusing.

I did enjoy some of the office life banter and seeing how a demon would fit in with the human world, but it got very tedious hearing about the job at hand, especially having come from that world myself. The job was made out to be a lot more complicated than it actually is, and I found myself frustrated at the amount of jargon that would throw even the most seasoned tech marketer off.

For me, the characters lacked any sort of chemistry, friendships and relationships felt forced and like they bobbed up out of nowhere. I liked individual characters, but didn't see a way for them to be together romantically.

Overall, this was a disappointing read for me, and I was hoping for a lot more.

[Franky · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book with a witch who is secretly working with a demon to get him home while navigating the living hell of the realm of consumable souls – corporate startups, sign me up. The premise of this novel was fantastic.

Rozakis knows the world of corporate well. As someone who has worked large companies for my entire career, it was refreshing to see the type of pressures I have experienced in my time on the page. It was quite accurate, sans witches, demons, and vampires (I think, or at least hope).

Morgan is a compelling character who feels well developed. The decisions she makes seem genuine and true to her personality, and she changes as the circumstances change, just like all of us. Luke is well crafted as well.

The premise of the story is great, however, it did feel like a slog to get through. I experienced very high highs (like meeting the creatures that run Ravenfell, so on point), but also quite a few low lows. There were times where I had to force myself to keep reading because it felt like I had read the same conversation before, or I felt as if the conversation was not entirely moving the story forward.

This novel would work best for readers who enjoy or have experienced corporate culture and love a bit of fantasy.

I received a free eARC of Startup Hell from Titan Books via NetGalley for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

[Lis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me so glad I turned down that tech startup job offer.

In the cutthroat business of a tech startups even a demon deal starts to look like a good choice.

Morgan is on her way out of the office, when she discovers that her boss Tim has summoned a demon to make a deal, unfortunately he died before finishing the deal and now Morgan is stuck with the demon Luke. He can't go back to hell without a soul, he has metrics too you know! What's an unpowered witch to do??

This was so much fun I really liked Dreadful so I already knew that I liked Caitlin Rozakis writing going in. I love the satirical nature of this book I love the dealing with family matters as a young adult and trying to get your parents to accept you as an adult. At least get them to attempt to understand that you have a job and what that looks like. This really punched me in the feels quiet a few times. If you are a burnt out from startup or tech culture you have to read this. This is a fun satire about how awful corporate America is and tbh I get where the demons are coming from.

I highly recommend. Thanks NetGalley and Titan Books for an advance copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

[Tia's BookTok Reviews · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted SOOOO badly to love this book. The premise and social media buzz were completely my vibe, and I went in fully ready to fall head over heels. Unfortunately… it just didn’t land for me.

Startup Hell is a very slow, snail’s-pace romance, and the heavy focus on tech-startup culture and corporate jargon went way over my head more often than not. The world-building is deeply rooted in startup life, quarterly targets, and tech speak, which I’m sure will absolutely hit for readers familiar with that world, but for us more 'mundane' folks, it felt overwhelming and honestly a bit blegh.

The verbiage made it hard to stay engaged with the actual storyline, and the plot dragged on far longer than I felt it needed to. While there are some clever moments and a fun concept at the core (corporate hell as literal hell is a great idea), the execution lost me along the way.

That said, I can definitely see this working better for readers who enjoy slow burns, dense workplace satire, and tech-centric world-building. It just wasn’t the right fit for me, and that one hurts, because I really wanted it to be.

[Lizzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed most of this book; as someone who wound up somehow in an acronym-heavy office job against mostly their will it was sort of made for me premise-wise.

So the pros: It moves along at a great pace and the humour is deeply millennial coded but, hey, that’s my people so I was on board.
For a contemporary fantasy it didn’t overload on lore; the world building was neat and concise enough to carry the plot and add colour to the setting without weighing it down.

The cons: the romance was a little underbaked but it wasn’t so prominent as to make me lose interest in the book.

As common with a lot of high concept books, the ending didn’t quite match up to the promise of the premise. It built up an interesting world and a complex problem over 400 pages and then sewed it all up neat with a bow on in 20. Just a little bit less than satisfying.

Overall had a great time though, don’t feel like I can give more than 3 stars with the ending dragging down the experience but it was a nice little read that I sped through happily and I’m absolutely going to look into the authors other work. It might not change your life but it’ll improve your week, - I’d happily recommend.

[Jennifer Haughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am so glad I managed to get the ARC for this!

Such a fun read! Who knew the corporate world and Hell had so much in common?! Or not actually Hell as we are repeatedly reminded 😂

I absolutely want my own Hellhound after reading this! Who knew a Hellhound could be so cute and loving 🥰

I've never been one for monster Romance but Lucareoth was so cute 🥰 you just want to give him a cuddle!

The main character is incredibly relatable! I'm beginning to wonder if you ever reach a point in life where you aren't trying to decide what you want to be when you grow up?

I enjoyed the questioning of good and bad. We all make daily decisions that aren't necessarily ethical but are practical. We buy clothes, coffees, food etc without knowing if it was ethically sourced because we can't afford to buy everything that way and we don't have the time and energy to question every decision that thoroughly... but still feel guilty for those choices and want to do better. This book makes you evaluate that in a more light-hearted way.

I will absolutely be reading more from this author moving forward!

[Greybeard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not normally a fantasy reader: I read and watched Lord of the Rings, then said "OK, that's enough of that" and skipped the rest. Other fantasy I generally avoid completely. So it was a bit of a stretch for me to even start this book.

But it was great! I've been in IT for over 46 years, the last 40 at a variety of software vendors, ranging from startups to multi-$B companies, and Rozakis nails the flavor of the business. It kind of reminded me of HBO's Silicon Valley--not in specifics, obviously, but in the overall flavor.

I read the other reviews, and those also made me think of Silicon Valley: the people who didn't "get" this book likely aren't in tech these days. Lucky them, they haven't lived the pain!

Similarly, I have a good friend who used to be in tech but retired in the 90s; he watched one episode of Silicon Valley and found it "unrealistic", whereas everyone I know who's still in it considers it almost a documentary.

I recommend this for anyone who is in the tech space.

(And note that if you substitute "VC" for "demon", it even doesn't need the fantasy aspects--but it's a lot less fun to read)

[Lena · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great surprise for me. Demons, wizards, magic, romance... all things I don't usually go for, but add the corporate hell backdrop and this book had my attention.
I loved the premise of trying to help a demon that's stuck here and ending up only able to restore everything back to normal if both Morgan and Lucareoth (the demon) find someone who sells their souls to them.
The characters are somehow really relatable in spite of the fantasy elements, the writing is engaging and the humour fits perfectly. The romance was well integrated into the story and I actually enjoyed it, it felt authentic. The story is full of little details that really make this book stand out, it feels almost too realistic for a fantasy book, it was really a joy to read.
I am incredibly glad I stepped out of my comfort zone and read this one.

[Kirsty Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having loved Caitlin Rozaki's previous books, I was really looking forward to her third outing and it did not disappoint. Morgan suffers from magic-blindness in a family of high-level magic users and has moved into the mortal world and into a tech startup where she (along with most other people in the office) doesn't really understand what it is she's supposed to be selling. When her boss dies attempting some desperate and ill-advised demon summoning, Morgan is left to pick up the pieces, including his job, his problems and his demon, Lucareoth, who is now stuck on Earth with work problems of his own.

Featuring Rozakis's trademark wit, Startup Hell skillfully combines a fish-out-of-water storyline with found family, ethical musings and excellent fantasy storytelling. A great read.

[Katie May · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

Thank you to Netgalley and Titan Books/Caitlin Rozakis for an early copy of this book in exhange for an honest review.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Startup Hell summons the reader right in, yet burns itself (and us) in basic everyday drama with a spoonful of fantasy for flavor. Marketed as a hilarious contemporary fantasy, this novel lives up to its name only in that it's a slow hellfire torture of office drama, mommy issues, and endless whining about people in general. The humor is tepid at best; situations that are supposed to be funny, get salted in all the surrounding mundane foolishness.

It just didn't land with me. I stopped at 15%, gave it some days, started reading again, and gave up at 35%. Unfortunately, no amount to sexy demon time will make up for grind of continuing with this read.

[Zita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having really enjoyed the author's previous book, "The Grimoire Grammar School Parent Teacher Association", I was excited to read her newest book. Especially because of the blurb about a start-up employee having to deal with an actual demon summoning in the literal corporate hell. Unfortunately, however, the book kept losing me over the course of the plot. It felt like it was trying too much and attempting to be too many different things all at once, switching from humorous romance to social commentary to emotional coming of age. That and the repeated commentary on how corporate culture is hell unfortunately got old very fast.

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've enjoyed Rozakis' other books, so I was intrigued to read this one. All of the stories I've read from this author are very different - this one takes another different path.

I enjoyed the characters and the situation - the mother-daughter relationship was great, the chemistry between the leads was pretty solid and I liked that Luke was not a sleazy alpha type that goes with the stereotype of the demon. The other demons we met were fun too.

Pacing-wise it could have picked up a bit in the middle, but generally it was a fun, light read.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

[George Hobbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

ARC edition
A fun romp into start up businesses! I will be honest - I glossed over most of the "lingo" terms and focused on the storyline. Some terms I could figure out, others I just rolled over.
Start up chaos, a CEO that changes the business platform concept constantly, a parent you are never going to live up to, and you just trying survive the insanity. Then, you find your co-worker dead moments after he has summoned a demon. A really hot demon. And like you, the demon is just trying to make it through the day and not get fired.
Some folks will do anything to make it - even sell their soul...

[Jendia Gammon · Rating 5 out of 5]

"STARTUP HELL is diabolically delicious! Caitlin Rozakis crafts a magical combination of darkly humorous office culture, a charming romance that unfolds through the book, complicated but relatable family dynamics, and a whole lot of laughs. Simply brilliant!"
-Jendia Gammon, Nebula and BSFA Award Finalist author of DUNGEON CRAWL AT THE HAUNTED MALL, DOOMFLOWER, and GODFESTATION

Thank you to author Caitlin Rozakis and publisher Titan Books for the advance review copy.

[Gabriella Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the Grimoire Grammar School PTA and was so excited to get this ARC via the publisher and NetGalley! It follows the mundane Morgan Blackwater as she navigates corporate hell with a literal demon :). It was such a cozy read and I loved the plot and the characters Caitlin Rozarkis dreamed up. I would recommend this novel to any lover of fantasy rom-coms <3 4 stars!!

[Philip Moscovitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Contemporary fantasy, slow-burn romance, and hilarious send-up of startup culture (and late capitalism generally). The Infernal Plane and startup parallels were great. A fun read.

Knew Rozakis by reputation, but this is the first book of hers I've read, and it made me want to pick up the earlier ones.

[Megan Lincoln · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting concept and I think it could be a good book, but I also feel like it’s longer than necessary. I feel like pieces could be cut out that were drier and felt more like filler than plot necessary pieces.

However, the story with our main characters being on a journey to save themselves was fun. The personalities were interesting, with neither one being an overwhelming influence.