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Sophia of Silicon Valley
A brilliant young Asian woman navigates the thrilling world of Silicon Valley in the boom years of the tech industry, working for some of the greatest minds of our time, including Steve Jobs and Elon Musk, in this a fast-paced satirical, and revealing novel—drawn from the author’s own experiences—in the spirit of The Devil Wears Prada, Primates of Park Avenue, and Bond Girl
The daughter of successful Taiwanese immigrants, Sophia Young has always spoken her mind, and in Silicon Valley, that turns out to be her greatest asset—especially when she’s often the only woman in a room. As companies like Apple, Google, Tesla, and Oracle are beginning to revolutionize the world, Sophia lucks into a job that puts her directly in the path of Scott Kraft, the eccentric founder of a groundbreaking software company and CEO of an animated film studio that is transforming the art.
As Scott’s right hand woman, the incorrigibly outspoken Sophia is in the eye of the storm—a thrilling and terrifying position that challenges her, threatens her relationships and even her health, yet ultimately teaches her how to take charge of her own future. But when engineer and inventor Andre Stark hires her to run investor relations, Sophia starts to question whether the big paycheck and high-status career are worth living in a boys-club gone bad.
Sharp, dramatic, and full of insider dish, Sophia of Silicon Valley is an engrossing story of a professional woman storming the corridors of geek power and—and the price of living in the shadows of its eccentric maestros.
The daughter of successful Taiwanese immigrants, Sophia Young has always spoken her mind, and in Silicon Valley, that turns out to be her greatest asset—especially when she’s often the only woman in a room. As companies like Apple, Google, Tesla, and Oracle are beginning to revolutionize the world, Sophia lucks into a job that puts her directly in the path of Scott Kraft, the eccentric founder of a groundbreaking software company and CEO of an animated film studio that is transforming the art.
As Scott’s right hand woman, the incorrigibly outspoken Sophia is in the eye of the storm—a thrilling and terrifying position that challenges her, threatens her relationships and even her health, yet ultimately teaches her how to take charge of her own future. But when engineer and inventor Andre Stark hires her to run investor relations, Sophia starts to question whether the big paycheck and high-status career are worth living in a boys-club gone bad.
Sharp, dramatic, and full of insider dish, Sophia of Silicon Valley is an engrossing story of a professional woman storming the corridors of geek power and—and the price of living in the shadows of its eccentric maestros.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published April 10, 2018
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3480 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 341 reviews
July 29, 2018
I'm between 4 and 4.5 stars here.
"I'm only twenty-six years old. I'm not sure how it happened. Actually, I know exactly how it happened. Unreasonable immigrant parents, a life is short attitude, and a mouth I can't seem to fully control. I've been trained since birth to get what I want; now I use this "skill" to get my bosses whatever they want. I've made it into the inner circle."
What Sophia Young wanted more than anything was to be a cheerleader for the Golden State Warriors basketball team. But for her status-conscious, overprotective Chinese parents, that was absolutely not an option. So she opted for the career path she was expected to take—finding a job where she would have the chance to meet a handsome, rich man who could provide a good life for her, so she could quit her job, get married, and have children.
After getting fired from her first job for her outspokenness, she became a paralegal at a law firm in the midst of the technology sector. She unexpectedly realizes how much she likes her job, how much her boss depends on her (and tolerates her snarky attitude), and how great it feels to actually be part of something. Sure, she's working crazy hours, which is making it impossible to have a real romantic relationship and it's wreaking havoc with her health, but much to her parents' dismay, she wants to be a working woman.
When she crosses paths with Scott Kraft, the eccentric Steve Jobs-ish CEO of Treehouse, a studio looking to change the world of animated films, she is offered the chance to be Treehouse's head of investor relations, a position right in the middle of tremendous excitement—and stress. She finds she has an exceptional talent being a "nerd whisperer," by navigating Scott's crazy demands and mercurial attitude, and she jumps at the opportunity to help this company achieve Scott's vision. But the harder she works, she discovers that men are threatened by confident women who appear to have their s--t together, and she starts to wonder whether her initial dream of marriage and children is being replaced by her career ambitions.
Although she hits some health-related roadblocks which cause her to rethink the path her life is taking, it also forces her to realize how much she craves the high-pressure environment. Yet when she leaves Treehouse to work for inventor and engineer Andre Stark (fashioned after Elon Musk), she wonders for the first time if all of the stress and coddling high-maintenance executives is really what she wants to do for the rest of her life.
Sophia of Silicon Valley is a great book, a terrific, humorous, heartfelt look at one woman's struggle to figure out what "having it all" really means, and even if she wants "all" of it at once. Sophia is a memorable character, full of fire and moxie and far more intelligence than she gives herself credit for, and her adventures wrangling her bosses and her companies into shape are funny and utterly compelling. (Of course, maybe you, too, will wonder if speaking to her bosses the way she did in the book would really have flown, even in the days of the tech boom.)
Anna Yen does a fantastic job making you care about a character who is a little bit obnoxious at times and definitely self-centered, in the way she treats those around her, but Sophia has a good heart. There are moments you'll cheer for her, and moments you'll want to tear into the characters the way she does. It almost feels a little like the movie Working Girl .
While I understand Sophia's parents were part of the driving force for her to achieve so much, I found her parents a little too stereotypical, and I could have done without endless rounds of her mother simultaneously criticizing, haranguing, and worrying about Sophia. However, I have Chinese friends who say this behavior is utterly realistic, so what do I know?
This story of a young woman surprising everyone including herself is a great find and a terrific read. Give it a shot!
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com, or check out my list of the best books I read in 2017 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2017.html.
"I'm only twenty-six years old. I'm not sure how it happened. Actually, I know exactly how it happened. Unreasonable immigrant parents, a life is short attitude, and a mouth I can't seem to fully control. I've been trained since birth to get what I want; now I use this "skill" to get my bosses whatever they want. I've made it into the inner circle."
What Sophia Young wanted more than anything was to be a cheerleader for the Golden State Warriors basketball team. But for her status-conscious, overprotective Chinese parents, that was absolutely not an option. So she opted for the career path she was expected to take—finding a job where she would have the chance to meet a handsome, rich man who could provide a good life for her, so she could quit her job, get married, and have children.
After getting fired from her first job for her outspokenness, she became a paralegal at a law firm in the midst of the technology sector. She unexpectedly realizes how much she likes her job, how much her boss depends on her (and tolerates her snarky attitude), and how great it feels to actually be part of something. Sure, she's working crazy hours, which is making it impossible to have a real romantic relationship and it's wreaking havoc with her health, but much to her parents' dismay, she wants to be a working woman.
When she crosses paths with Scott Kraft, the eccentric Steve Jobs-ish CEO of Treehouse, a studio looking to change the world of animated films, she is offered the chance to be Treehouse's head of investor relations, a position right in the middle of tremendous excitement—and stress. She finds she has an exceptional talent being a "nerd whisperer," by navigating Scott's crazy demands and mercurial attitude, and she jumps at the opportunity to help this company achieve Scott's vision. But the harder she works, she discovers that men are threatened by confident women who appear to have their s--t together, and she starts to wonder whether her initial dream of marriage and children is being replaced by her career ambitions.
Although she hits some health-related roadblocks which cause her to rethink the path her life is taking, it also forces her to realize how much she craves the high-pressure environment. Yet when she leaves Treehouse to work for inventor and engineer Andre Stark (fashioned after Elon Musk), she wonders for the first time if all of the stress and coddling high-maintenance executives is really what she wants to do for the rest of her life.
Sophia of Silicon Valley is a great book, a terrific, humorous, heartfelt look at one woman's struggle to figure out what "having it all" really means, and even if she wants "all" of it at once. Sophia is a memorable character, full of fire and moxie and far more intelligence than she gives herself credit for, and her adventures wrangling her bosses and her companies into shape are funny and utterly compelling. (Of course, maybe you, too, will wonder if speaking to her bosses the way she did in the book would really have flown, even in the days of the tech boom.)
Anna Yen does a fantastic job making you care about a character who is a little bit obnoxious at times and definitely self-centered, in the way she treats those around her, but Sophia has a good heart. There are moments you'll cheer for her, and moments you'll want to tear into the characters the way she does. It almost feels a little like the movie Working Girl .
While I understand Sophia's parents were part of the driving force for her to achieve so much, I found her parents a little too stereotypical, and I could have done without endless rounds of her mother simultaneously criticizing, haranguing, and worrying about Sophia. However, I have Chinese friends who say this behavior is utterly realistic, so what do I know?
This story of a young woman surprising everyone including herself is a great find and a terrific read. Give it a shot!
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com, or check out my list of the best books I read in 2017 at https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2018/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2017.html.
January 14, 2018
This book is being marketed as a girl-power, The Devil Wears Prada read-alike that is set in the world of Silicon Valley startups. This is inaccurate. The author/narrator (it's clear that they are one and the same) fawns incessantly over Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, and other of her straight white male mentors. Their unprofessional and verbally abusive behavior, and often sexist and racist comments are passed off as funny in a "boys will be boys" sort of way, and their incredible genius (remarked upon constantly) seems to excuse all. The main character Sophia is juvenile, rude, and unprofessional, but we are clearly meant to find her quirky and charming. And how does she show us "girl power" in the end? By literally mimicking the abusive behavior and words of her male bosses. It just feels incredibly tone-deaf to release this book in the midst of the growing movement to call to task inappropriate behavior like this. It makes the book seem out-dated and irrelevant, even though it is all about cutting-edge technology. It is saddening to see how one of the few high-powered women in the tech industry (the author) lauds and perpetuates the idea of Silicon Valley as a boy's club in which she is the only woman, and that's due to the fact that she is abusive like a man, and yet constantly flirts to get her way. Yes, I get that this was probably the author's reality, but the problem is that she isn't critical of it all. Another thing that is baffling about this book is how little sense of place or even character she provides. The Devil Wears Prada is not a well-written book, but it definitely gives you a fascinating insider's view of the craziness of the fashion magazine business. I suppose we're supposed to lap up the "insider" details about Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, etc., but you don't get a sense of these people at all, and her descriptions of them are so laudatory and fawning, that you would learn more from reading a magazine profile. This novel includes geographical inconsistencies that are glaring, and that, if I didn't know better, would lead me to believe the author hasn't spent much time in Silicon Valley.
June 1, 2018
This is a quirky, contemporary story featuring a young Asian professional working in the technological world of Silicon Valley.
Sophia is a recent graduate who becomes employed by the greatest people in the field. Her first boss Scott has a fictional resemblance to Steve Jobs, while her second boss' resemblance is to Elon Musk.
The story describes the lessons and experiences of a female in a, somewhat male-dominated field. The novel also depicts Sophia's relationship with her family and romantic interests.
I enjoy these types of stories and the novel reminded me the books Startup, The Circle, and Touch which I also enjoyed.
Overall, I liked it and recommend it to readers of contemporary fiction.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via Edelweiss
Sophia is a recent graduate who becomes employed by the greatest people in the field. Her first boss Scott has a fictional resemblance to Steve Jobs, while her second boss' resemblance is to Elon Musk.
The story describes the lessons and experiences of a female in a, somewhat male-dominated field. The novel also depicts Sophia's relationship with her family and romantic interests.
I enjoy these types of stories and the novel reminded me the books Startup, The Circle, and Touch which I also enjoyed.
Overall, I liked it and recommend it to readers of contemporary fiction.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via Edelweiss
May 26, 2018
I can’t believe someone wrote and published self-insert Steve Jobs and Elon Musk fanfic, what a world.
April 15, 2018
I really struggled with how to rate this. On the surface, it was a pretty good book - I liked the plot, and the overall storyline of a woman with no tech background suddenly ending up in the tech world.
That being said, Sophia was a really frustrating character, and I really struggled with her as a lead. Worse though, were most of the supporting characters. I know it was intentional that her parents were overbearing and pushy, and that Scott was meant to be rude and melodramatic, and that Daniel was self centered and that the poor treatment Ion was meant to be saying stuff about misogyny in Silicon Valley, but that doesn't make it any better. I came very close to not finishing this book several times.
Also dear god, the Steve Jobs & Elon Musk comparisons weren't even a little subtle.
That being said, Sophia was a really frustrating character, and I really struggled with her as a lead. Worse though, were most of the supporting characters. I know it was intentional that her parents were overbearing and pushy, and that Scott was meant to be rude and melodramatic, and that Daniel was self centered and that the poor treatment Ion was meant to be saying stuff about misogyny in Silicon Valley, but that doesn't make it any better. I came very close to not finishing this book several times.
Also dear god, the Steve Jobs & Elon Musk comparisons weren't even a little subtle.
August 4, 2018
I don't think I was reading the same book as 90% of the people here which is quite confusing. For most of the book I was just annoyed and bored but then I got to the ending and I was absolutely enraged.
The tech bosses Sophia works for are all thinly veiled and it's clearly she (well Anna Yen) really liked Steve Jobs. That's all very nice but what isn't so clear is if she ever pushed back on the rampant sexism and racism and just plain rudeness she and a few others faced in Silicon Valley as 'onlys.' She doesn't even call it out via her characters. In fact it's basically hero worship. And then in the end she perpetuates the cycle further instead of using her position of power to make change within her own company. W.T.F. It's also sad that no one in her life picks up on all the bias either so there's no one in her life even pushing her to question her treatment. Sophia's only complaint about the men she worked for and with is that she worked all the time and they were weird about her illness. Which I am entirely sympathetic to but there were a plethora of other moral concerns that went unaddressed. Now I knew people like this existed but I would never have picked this book up if that's the direction I thought this was going, I had hoped this would offer an interesting BUT THOUGHTFUL take on being one of the few women of color in the tech industry early days. Nope not this. Sure it's fascinating to read behind-the-scenes details about Pixar and Tesla but in something billed as a novel that only gets you so far.
Aside from the more serious aspects of the novel that were lacking, this novel also failed me in the chick lit department. It's not particularly entertaining. Sophia narrates every.single.detail. of her life and those around of her. The narration is all tell instead of show which works sometimes but not for an entire novel and when you're simply stating the obvious. I think I laughed a few times because Sophia can be brash but I wanted more of that sarcasm mobilized internally or externally against her asshole bosses and/or co-workers. But I did appreciate Sophia/Yen's candidness about being fired and how demoralizing that can be along with the pressures young hetero women face to get married and not have a career that outshines their (male) partner. Additionally the remaining characters remain one dimensional, it's clear Sophia respects her older sister but we really don't know much about her except that everyone thinks she's perfect. All we know about Sophia's mother is that she nags her, Sophia's father is a softy who built the family fortune and Sophia herself has one best friend (Kate, had to look up her name that's how inconsequiential she is) who pops in and out of the story when convenient.
It's been a week since I finished the book but just thinking about is making me mad all over again. I don't like being negative about authors and their work but I do think the narrative this book presents is damaging and deserves some pushback and hopefully I did that without personally attacking the author. Sophia is tenacious and witty but unfortunately that wasn't enough to even make this read like a fun breezy read. TLDR; the author should have made this a memoir about what it takes for one person to get ahead in Silicon Valley combined with a love of Steve Jobs the tech founder (not the person) and saved some readers (at least me) some heartburn.
The tech bosses Sophia works for are all thinly veiled and it's clearly she (well Anna Yen) really liked Steve Jobs. That's all very nice but what isn't so clear is if she ever pushed back on the rampant sexism and racism and just plain rudeness she and a few others faced in Silicon Valley as 'onlys.' She doesn't even call it out via her characters. In fact it's basically hero worship. And then in the end she perpetuates the cycle further instead of using her position of power to make change within her own company. W.T.F. It's also sad that no one in her life picks up on all the bias either so there's no one in her life even pushing her to question her treatment. Sophia's only complaint about the men she worked for and with is that she worked all the time and they were weird about her illness. Which I am entirely sympathetic to but there were a plethora of other moral concerns that went unaddressed. Now I knew people like this existed but I would never have picked this book up if that's the direction I thought this was going, I had hoped this would offer an interesting BUT THOUGHTFUL take on being one of the few women of color in the tech industry early days. Nope not this. Sure it's fascinating to read behind-the-scenes details about Pixar and Tesla but in something billed as a novel that only gets you so far.
Aside from the more serious aspects of the novel that were lacking, this novel also failed me in the chick lit department. It's not particularly entertaining. Sophia narrates every.single.detail. of her life and those around of her. The narration is all tell instead of show which works sometimes but not for an entire novel and when you're simply stating the obvious. I think I laughed a few times because Sophia can be brash but I wanted more of that sarcasm mobilized internally or externally against her asshole bosses and/or co-workers. But I did appreciate Sophia/Yen's candidness about being fired and how demoralizing that can be along with the pressures young hetero women face to get married and not have a career that outshines their (male) partner. Additionally the remaining characters remain one dimensional, it's clear Sophia respects her older sister but we really don't know much about her except that everyone thinks she's perfect. All we know about Sophia's mother is that she nags her, Sophia's father is a softy who built the family fortune and Sophia herself has one best friend (Kate, had to look up her name that's how inconsequiential she is) who pops in and out of the story when convenient.
It's been a week since I finished the book but just thinking about is making me mad all over again. I don't like being negative about authors and their work but I do think the narrative this book presents is damaging and deserves some pushback and hopefully I did that without personally attacking the author. Sophia is tenacious and witty but unfortunately that wasn't enough to even make this read like a fun breezy read. TLDR; the author should have made this a memoir about what it takes for one person to get ahead in Silicon Valley combined with a love of Steve Jobs the tech founder (not the person) and saved some readers (at least me) some heartburn.
Read
September 11, 2018Listened to audiobook with husband! I enjoyed it quite a bit :)
July 3, 2018
This book was presented to me as a novel about a woman taking on the sexist boys’ club of Silicon Valley. Mainly it’s a lightly fictionalized memoir about a woman justifying to everyone around her why she wants to please Steve Jobs/Elon Musk and then becoming powerful enough to verbally abuse the women she manages just like they did! She doesn’t “take on” the boys’ club; she simply joins it.
Besides that, the writing here is bizarre in many ways. The protagonist suddenly gets cancer and then quickly recovers from surgery, refusing chemo and continuing her professional rise. There are random details that don’t seem to advance the plot (i.e. Sophia’s best friend being upset about Sophia not being supportive about wedding planning doesn’t turn into any kind of plot point about Sophia realizing that she’s abandoning her friends, and so on). There are a LOT of details about the technicalities of preparing a tech firm for an IPO launch. There is very little change or growth in any of these characters. I’m not sure what the overall point of this book is.
Besides that, the writing here is bizarre in many ways. The protagonist suddenly gets cancer and then quickly recovers from surgery, refusing chemo and continuing her professional rise. There are random details that don’t seem to advance the plot (i.e. Sophia’s best friend being upset about Sophia not being supportive about wedding planning doesn’t turn into any kind of plot point about Sophia realizing that she’s abandoning her friends, and so on). There are a LOT of details about the technicalities of preparing a tech firm for an IPO launch. There is very little change or growth in any of these characters. I’m not sure what the overall point of this book is.
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December 4, 2019[previous review removed] Not really my style.
June 25, 2018
The funniest line in the book may be "This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental"
It is a very thinly veiled memoir, documenting the author's time working for SV "greats" like Steve Jobs & Elon Musk. If you have any appetite for SV misogynistic hero worship this may be worth a read (kidding, it really isn't). I would have preferred she wrote an actual memoir, as attempts to fictionalize her life just made it a confusing read. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Pixar, Tesla, etc. will end up confused over the liberties she took with timelines. Her breeziness over a rare & serious cancer (GIST), an area where I have worked, was shockingly irresponsible. Another reviewer also puzzled over the geographical inaccuracies, making one think the author had never spent time in the area, yet she is a native, so I guess it was messy writing & bad editing.
What struck me as the most bizarre was that the main character is obviously based on the author, yet comes across as one of the most unlikeable "fictional characters" I've encountered in a long time. If that is the behavior it takes to get ahead as a woman in SV, I'll pass.
If you are looking for a quirky/sassy protagonist, you will not find it here. If you are looking for real insight into the inner workings of her "mentors" I think you will be disappointed as well. Not sure who the audience is for this, my best guess is she wrote it as a vendetta against other thinly disguised characters that she bashed. Maybe deservedly, but this felt very passive aggressive mean girls to me.
It is a very thinly veiled memoir, documenting the author's time working for SV "greats" like Steve Jobs & Elon Musk. If you have any appetite for SV misogynistic hero worship this may be worth a read (kidding, it really isn't). I would have preferred she wrote an actual memoir, as attempts to fictionalize her life just made it a confusing read. Anyone with even a basic knowledge of San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Pixar, Tesla, etc. will end up confused over the liberties she took with timelines. Her breeziness over a rare & serious cancer (GIST), an area where I have worked, was shockingly irresponsible. Another reviewer also puzzled over the geographical inaccuracies, making one think the author had never spent time in the area, yet she is a native, so I guess it was messy writing & bad editing.
What struck me as the most bizarre was that the main character is obviously based on the author, yet comes across as one of the most unlikeable "fictional characters" I've encountered in a long time. If that is the behavior it takes to get ahead as a woman in SV, I'll pass.
If you are looking for a quirky/sassy protagonist, you will not find it here. If you are looking for real insight into the inner workings of her "mentors" I think you will be disappointed as well. Not sure who the audience is for this, my best guess is she wrote it as a vendetta against other thinly disguised characters that she bashed. Maybe deservedly, but this felt very passive aggressive mean girls to me.
Read
June 3, 2019DNF @ 1hr 10min into the audiobook!
I had no issues with the narrator, just the writing style wasn't really for me. I didn't like how the main character's family was treating her!
I had no issues with the narrator, just the writing style wasn't really for me. I didn't like how the main character's family was treating her!
March 30, 2018
I won a free ARC of this book in a Goodreads giveaway. Your mileage may vary …
Sophia Young is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrant parents who manages to be working for Steve Jobs as Pixar’s first animated feature is released, and for Elon Musk at the debut of the Tesla. This is a fictionalized version, though, so it's “Scott Kraft” and “Treehouse’s” first animated feature, “Treasures,” and it's “Andre Stark” who unveils the “Ion.” There are more real world companies and products referenced, but you get the idea. The back cover insists that the novel is “satirical” but I’m dubious. I’ve always understood satire as involving mockery, but, if there is mockery here it's either overly subtle or I’m just not savvy enough about the subjects to spot it. There is humor in the novel, sure, but it’s more the humor of life, and doesn't seem to be directed at any particular people or institutions.
Sophia makes a fine protagonist. Her climb up the career ladder is engaging, and I found myself really rooting for her. The final resolution of the book seems a bit hurried: everything just seems to fall into place a little too easily. But the journey to get there was entertaining enough that I don't really mind. Recommended!
Sophia Young is the daughter of Taiwanese immigrant parents who manages to be working for Steve Jobs as Pixar’s first animated feature is released, and for Elon Musk at the debut of the Tesla. This is a fictionalized version, though, so it's “Scott Kraft” and “Treehouse’s” first animated feature, “Treasures,” and it's “Andre Stark” who unveils the “Ion.” There are more real world companies and products referenced, but you get the idea. The back cover insists that the novel is “satirical” but I’m dubious. I’ve always understood satire as involving mockery, but, if there is mockery here it's either overly subtle or I’m just not savvy enough about the subjects to spot it. There is humor in the novel, sure, but it’s more the humor of life, and doesn't seem to be directed at any particular people or institutions.
Sophia makes a fine protagonist. Her climb up the career ladder is engaging, and I found myself really rooting for her. The final resolution of the book seems a bit hurried: everything just seems to fall into place a little too easily. But the journey to get there was entertaining enough that I don't really mind. Recommended!
March 25, 2018
As someone who has lived and worked in Silicon Valley, I really enjoyed this. I empathized with Sophia and cheered her on as she navigated work and personal relationships. Yen's writing is smooth and paced well - I like how the story spanned multiple years, not just one point in time. I also liked how there was depth to the story - it wasn't just all about a single girl trying to make it in Silicon Valley; there were serious obstacles to overcome.
Recommended if you like light workplace novels with a little depth!
*I won this through a Goodreads giveaway.
Recommended if you like light workplace novels with a little depth!
*I won this through a Goodreads giveaway.
June 20, 2018
If you want to write an autobiography write an autobiography, not a bad fiction book.
May 30, 2023
This was maybe the worst book i have ever read. I have no idea why i finished it
April 16, 2018
Being a young female in an industry that is also male dominated (finance/investment banking), it was so interesting to follow Sophia’s journey in Silicon Valley alongside her. As Sophia grows and changes, I saw so many experiences and thought patterns that crossed my life in my early 20s and I have always been drawn to books that show strong females in the workplace. I thought the trajectory of the story flowed naturally and was really enjoyable to read. I’ll be looking for more from this author in the future!
August 11, 2018
In light of the #MeToo era and the stories of the "bro tech" culture of Silicon Valley, it was interesting to hear about this book that supposedly parodies and shines a light of the culture and nature of SV. Seems like a good pick up. It also helped that I read a really interesting interview with Yen that peaked my interest into going ahead and picking up the book, despite the so-so reviews.
Sophia of the title is a woman who has lucked into being an assistant to a rather eccentric CEO with huge demands. But this high propane lifestyle has its price and Sophia deals with any number of issues that come up in such a stressful job: no gratitude from the people she works with, the sexism and misogyny, a health scare and seeing that this behavior is often pervasive despite moving to a new position in a new company.
The concept was great. The book is timely. Unfortunately it just doesn't work. The prologue is hysterical as she basically has to babysit Kraft to his next engagement, and that includes breaking the law, overpaying for cookies Kraft wants (and was reserved for another customer!) and basically stressing out in getting him where he needs to be. But the boo quickly falls apart.
Sophia is unlikable, as other reviewers note. In this case, it's probably not unwarranted, because she probably had to be "unlikeable" to get to where she got. But as a device it was just difficult to root for her in any way or even care. She's obnoxious and whiny.
The story itself doesn't help. It had been marketed (I thought) as a skewing of tech culture and of CEOs like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk but instead it's more about how and why people become just like that awful boss you've heard about to "succeed." There are discussions to be had but I don't think that was the book's intention nor does the text really lend to that.
I really wanted to like it, especially after reading that prologue. But even after that, in retrospect, it just showed how unpleasant the main character was.
I can't recommend this one and that makes me sad. I'll check out the author's next work but I won't be rushing to read it.
Sophia of the title is a woman who has lucked into being an assistant to a rather eccentric CEO with huge demands. But this high propane lifestyle has its price and Sophia deals with any number of issues that come up in such a stressful job: no gratitude from the people she works with, the sexism and misogyny, a health scare and seeing that this behavior is often pervasive despite moving to a new position in a new company.
The concept was great. The book is timely. Unfortunately it just doesn't work. The prologue is hysterical as she basically has to babysit Kraft to his next engagement, and that includes breaking the law, overpaying for cookies Kraft wants (and was reserved for another customer!) and basically stressing out in getting him where he needs to be. But the boo quickly falls apart.
Sophia is unlikable, as other reviewers note. In this case, it's probably not unwarranted, because she probably had to be "unlikeable" to get to where she got. But as a device it was just difficult to root for her in any way or even care. She's obnoxious and whiny.
The story itself doesn't help. It had been marketed (I thought) as a skewing of tech culture and of CEOs like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk but instead it's more about how and why people become just like that awful boss you've heard about to "succeed." There are discussions to be had but I don't think that was the book's intention nor does the text really lend to that.
I really wanted to like it, especially after reading that prologue. But even after that, in retrospect, it just showed how unpleasant the main character was.
I can't recommend this one and that makes me sad. I'll check out the author's next work but I won't be rushing to read it.
April 11, 2018
This breezy read reminded me of a combo of “Where’d You Go Bernadette” and “Crazy Rich Asians.” It’s the Cinderella story with Prada boots and a ball gown in Silicon Valley. Part memoir mingled with a little fiction, brassy Sophia is a Chinese American graduate who has the moxie and the smarts to jump from her legal position to a firm that is a copy of Pixar, for a boss who happens to resemble Steve Jobs. All kinds of madcap things happen, from looking for Mr. Right, to getting ill (spoiler alert) to the perfect #metoo revenge. Thrown in for comic relief are her over-protective parents and concerned sister. My favorite parts of the book are the running italicized comments interspersed as the things she’d REALLY like to say to some of the characters. There’s an Elon Musk type, who tempts her away with tons of stock options but I won’t tell you what happens there. At the end of the rainbow, Sophia figures it out and finds happiness. This is a fast and feel good read and Yen is an easy, breezy author.
February 25, 2019
this was truly the stupidest book i’ve ever read. i love guilty pleasure books, but this wasn’t even the fun kind of stupid. sophia was the WORST and the author seemed to think this was some kind of fun cute personality trait. the plot was all over the place, with dramatic even after dramatic event (cancer and a plane crash?? that had no bearing on the overall plot??) i’m really unclear on what that point was or why i’m supposed to care about any of these characters. also, it was published in 2018, yet we watch scott invent (?) the smartphone. there’s so many things to talk about in silicon valley and this book just rehashed things everyone has already watched happen. there were too many characters and plots that went nowhere and did nothing, including the main plot of the book. this was very terrible and i would not recommend it.
edit: i didn’t realize this was basically a memoir. this makes it even worse.
edit: i didn’t realize this was basically a memoir. this makes it even worse.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 26, 2018
So I have a cousin that has been harping on me to read one of her favorite books..Crazy Rich Asians. I have yet to tackle it. I just don't feel like it is going to be something that will intrigue me enough. But then...I run across this book. It's had some semi comparisons to it. New age, women's lit, fun, adventurous...all that. I've read it compares to all the good hyped up women in the forefront type books. Decided this will be the one I take a chance on...work my way to the others.
Sophia Of Silicon Valley...if this book was a true life story of an actual women then her and I would be so far from the same it's laughable. Workforce world...hi tech, competitive environment, CEO big boss, big problem type problems....yeah..no clue. And did it matter to me...not at all. I was so engrossed...having such a great time reading this. A well paced story with such depth and wit it was hard not to like it. A fierce and sassy woman struggling to gain her place in Silicon Valley amongst all the men that have an easier time getting to where she had to climb, claw, kick and tackle her way up to. In a way it's like a coming of age...because she, Sophia, has had to learn to come into her own in the business world, in her personal life, and within herself.
And that cover....so freakin' charming....I just loved it. can make reading about Silicon Valley..not a foreign experience but an interesting one. It's complex, at times serious, but for the most part fun. Worth the read...and kinda makes me want to try out the authors now until I get my hands on another Anna Yen book.
Author Anna Yen has a great writing style to this book...
Thanks as always to the great people of goodreads, author Anna Yen, and to William Morrow for my free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review to which I gladly and voluntarily gave.
Sophia Of Silicon Valley...if this book was a true life story of an actual women then her and I would be so far from the same it's laughable. Workforce world...hi tech, competitive environment, CEO big boss, big problem type problems....yeah..no clue. And did it matter to me...not at all. I was so engrossed...having such a great time reading this. A well paced story with such depth and wit it was hard not to like it. A fierce and sassy woman struggling to gain her place in Silicon Valley amongst all the men that have an easier time getting to where she had to climb, claw, kick and tackle her way up to. In a way it's like a coming of age...because she, Sophia, has had to learn to come into her own in the business world, in her personal life, and within herself.
And that cover....so freakin' charming....I just loved it. can make reading about Silicon Valley..not a foreign experience but an interesting one. It's complex, at times serious, but for the most part fun. Worth the read...and kinda makes me want to try out the authors now until I get my hands on another Anna Yen book.
Author Anna Yen has a great writing style to this book...
Thanks as always to the great people of goodreads, author Anna Yen, and to William Morrow for my free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review to which I gladly and voluntarily gave.
December 23, 2017
This is SUCH A GOOD BOOK!!! I love to read on my vacations and I finished this before I even got to my destination- THAT is how good this book is!!! I couldn’t put it down! It made me laugh, it made me cry, and it inspired me to continue to kick ass as a strong woman. It truly is captivating, entertaining, and inspiring! It is loosely based on one woman’s real life experiences navigating the waters of Silicon Valley! It speaks to me as a woman in corporate America and inspires me to stay strong and true to myself.
November 8, 2018
“Are you stupid, or fucking stupid?”
If you think you’re about to read “A much-needed professional coming of age story” about a young woman in tech, you’re not. Sophia starts her career as a spoiled immature brat looking for a husband, and ends it with a I’m a bitch and I’m better than you attitude. Rather than changing the tech industry culture and empowering the women in it, Sophia does just the opposite by degrading the women she works with. The epilogue made me cringe! How do people rate this 5*?!
If you think you’re about to read “A much-needed professional coming of age story” about a young woman in tech, you’re not. Sophia starts her career as a spoiled immature brat looking for a husband, and ends it with a I’m a bitch and I’m better than you attitude. Rather than changing the tech industry culture and empowering the women in it, Sophia does just the opposite by degrading the women she works with. The epilogue made me cringe! How do people rate this 5*?!
June 25, 2024
Going to create a new shelf - What I was Forced to Read While SPL was Hacked. Another no.
March 26, 2018
Although "Sophia of Silicon Valley" is classified as a fiction, it's pretty much of what actually has been going on in the tech world of Silicon Valley. It relates very well to current and past Valley IR/PR/communications professionals like me, and is fun to read. Thanks, Anna Yen for a story well told and written.
August 11, 2025
This book was published in 2018, based on Yen's life experience in Silicon Valley in the 1990s-2010s. So it was a time of more optimism and rose-colored glasses about tech billionaires, and Elon Musk hadn't gone full mask-off. So I am giving her some grace.
But reading a book apotheosizing billionaires in 2025 is painful. And the yassification of Musk ("a handsome...man with a boyish grin...his confident energy was magnetic...he looked like a superhero ready to conquer the world.") made me want to burn it with fire.
Sophia is an author stand-in. Scott Craft is Steve Jobs (get it? Craft? Jobs??). Elon Musk is Andre Stark (like Tony Stark! Subtle!). Quince is Apple. Treehouse is Pixar. The movie that Treehouse is making is Toy Story (1995).
Yen clearly loved and respected Steve Jobs, which I guess good for her. But even this fictionalized version of him is the self-involved, narcissitic, bullying asshole that Steve Jobs really was. And "Sophia" drinks the Kool-Aid that he (and Musk) are ViSionaIres, instead of just savvy investors with the manipulative ruthlessness to take advantage of others. Steve ("Scott") says at one point that he wants Toy Story to be his legacy and that he wants to do something that will bring people joy for years. And, yes, Toy Story is a good movie. But Steve Jobs could have done something ACTUALLY HELPFUL for the world with his money and power. What about charities? Public buildings? Supporting legislation that will benefit people (not just billionaires) for generations? I mean, Toy Story is great and all, but making it your "legacy" (when you are just the pocketbook and hypeman, and the actual WORK was one by other people) is pathetic when you have the power to do something actually good. Anna drinks the poisonous Kool-Aid AGAIN at Tesla, where she develops "[a] sudden rush of patriotism...as I realized Ion (Tesla) wasn't just about profits and losses, stock options and employment agreements. It was about solidifying America's position as a leader in the automative industry by bringing the world's first electric car to market." This after all the stock investors just made phone calls to her to make sure the stock/profits weren't going to be affected by the deaths of key employees in a plane crash. It WAS just about stocks and profits! The actual engineers (not the people Sophia was working with/for) may have had higher ideals - or maybe just wanted an interesting job and paycheck. But it is clear that Tesla was not founded - and DEFINITELY didn't launch an IPO - for patriotism or to make the world a better place.
Anna shows the verbal and psychological abuse her parents raised her with, which helps make sense why she is someone who can tolerate (and brush off) the verbal and psychological abuse of Steve Jobs. He is an objectively terrible person - one of his tactics to get what he wants is just to scream at people until he gets it, like a toddler, and early on he asks Anna "Are you stupid or fucking stupid?" Anna responds to him being flatly rude by laughing like he is her precocious and bratty child (several times she says a version of "That was so incredibly rude that I found it hilarious. Pure comedy! I love this guy!"). Again, good for her I guess that she has the personality to deal with these people and therefore become richer than I ever will. But I don't care to read a book that tries to gaslight me into believing these are good or great people, or that they did good for the world. Or cared about doing good for the world (would Jobs have created Toy Story if he didn't think he'd make money from it? He didn't do it to bring joy to people. He did it for profits and recognition).
This was published as a comp to The Devil Wears Prada, but (at least in the movie; I never read the book), the heroine comes to the realization that the world she has found herself in is toxic and she doesn't want to become like them. Sophia doesn't do that. She stays in the industry and STILL doesn't think there was anything wrong with Jobs and his faux-enlightened bullshit.
But reading a book apotheosizing billionaires in 2025 is painful. And the yassification of Musk ("a handsome...man with a boyish grin...his confident energy was magnetic...he looked like a superhero ready to conquer the world.") made me want to burn it with fire.
Sophia is an author stand-in. Scott Craft is Steve Jobs (get it? Craft? Jobs??). Elon Musk is Andre Stark (like Tony Stark! Subtle!). Quince is Apple. Treehouse is Pixar. The movie that Treehouse is making is Toy Story (1995).
Yen clearly loved and respected Steve Jobs, which I guess good for her. But even this fictionalized version of him is the self-involved, narcissitic, bullying asshole that Steve Jobs really was. And "Sophia" drinks the Kool-Aid that he (and Musk) are ViSionaIres, instead of just savvy investors with the manipulative ruthlessness to take advantage of others. Steve ("Scott") says at one point that he wants Toy Story to be his legacy and that he wants to do something that will bring people joy for years. And, yes, Toy Story is a good movie. But Steve Jobs could have done something ACTUALLY HELPFUL for the world with his money and power. What about charities? Public buildings? Supporting legislation that will benefit people (not just billionaires) for generations? I mean, Toy Story is great and all, but making it your "legacy" (when you are just the pocketbook and hypeman, and the actual WORK was one by other people) is pathetic when you have the power to do something actually good. Anna drinks the poisonous Kool-Aid AGAIN at Tesla, where she develops "[a] sudden rush of patriotism...as I realized Ion (Tesla) wasn't just about profits and losses, stock options and employment agreements. It was about solidifying America's position as a leader in the automative industry by bringing the world's first electric car to market." This after all the stock investors just made phone calls to her to make sure the stock/profits weren't going to be affected by the deaths of key employees in a plane crash. It WAS just about stocks and profits! The actual engineers (not the people Sophia was working with/for) may have had higher ideals - or maybe just wanted an interesting job and paycheck. But it is clear that Tesla was not founded - and DEFINITELY didn't launch an IPO - for patriotism or to make the world a better place.
Anna shows the verbal and psychological abuse her parents raised her with, which helps make sense why she is someone who can tolerate (and brush off) the verbal and psychological abuse of Steve Jobs. He is an objectively terrible person - one of his tactics to get what he wants is just to scream at people until he gets it, like a toddler, and early on he asks Anna "Are you stupid or fucking stupid?" Anna responds to him being flatly rude by laughing like he is her precocious and bratty child (several times she says a version of "That was so incredibly rude that I found it hilarious. Pure comedy! I love this guy!"). Again, good for her I guess that she has the personality to deal with these people and therefore become richer than I ever will. But I don't care to read a book that tries to gaslight me into believing these are good or great people, or that they did good for the world. Or cared about doing good for the world (would Jobs have created Toy Story if he didn't think he'd make money from it? He didn't do it to bring joy to people. He did it for profits and recognition).
This was published as a comp to The Devil Wears Prada, but (at least in the movie; I never read the book), the heroine comes to the realization that the world she has found herself in is toxic and she doesn't want to become like them. Sophia doesn't do that. She stays in the industry and STILL doesn't think there was anything wrong with Jobs and his faux-enlightened bullshit.
November 6, 2018
3.7 for a book that is chick lit, with a touch of reality. The book is fun, interesting, and from someone who had a unique front row spot in a lot of really interesting tech in the last couple decades. The character is easy to root for and tenacious in the goings on around her. She has a good balance of being at times in awe, but then also learning to grasp the new realities of the legends that are just real people. That said, I do wish she had done more than just perpetuated some of the poor treatment she had been subjected to, instead you see her doing the same eventually.
Though slightly long in some places, dragging slightly, I genuinely enjoyed the read. Nothing particularly deep or introspective, which is why I would not consider it much more than solid chick lit.
Though slightly long in some places, dragging slightly, I genuinely enjoyed the read. Nothing particularly deep or introspective, which is why I would not consider it much more than solid chick lit.
January 1, 2020
This reads like the diary of an eighth grader: an immature, flat voice narrating a series of events in the most overwrought and cliched language. I had to do a double take when the protagonist, flirting with a New York Times reporter whom she suspects might be Asian like her, says she hoped he “was on the Orient Express, or at least had a bit of yellow fever.” Cringeworthy, like almost everything else in this book.
August 23, 2022
Utter waste of time! Never have I disliked a character more than fake self-depricating Sophia.
February 19, 2022
Was going to call it quits on this book until I got to chapter 3 when she starts at a law firm and writes “I imagined myself sashaying into the kitchen thrice daily for my gratis Diet Coke pick-me-ups”. Then I realized just how relatable this book was.
September 12, 2019
Anna Yen's Sophia of Silicon Valley is NOT at ALL what the first 1/4 of the book appears to be, and thank Gid for that. If it had been, and I hadn't decided to read it through anyway, I would have missed out on a pretty good story about a woman finding her purpose, her flow and herself, someone almost unrecognizable from the character first introduced in the novel. Frankly, I almost did not finish this one. It was a Kindle book I'd either purchased or got for free back in April. I had started it and got bored, as it seemed like a tired trope book about a woman seeking a husabnd while navigating the workplace culture of Silicon Valley, and I don't often read or enjoy books like that at this point in my life. I'd stopped reading and didn't touch it for months, but while trying to clean up my Kindle home screen, decided to give it another shot. Am glad I did.
As the story continues, Sophia becimes a very dynamic character- bolstered by an excellent mentor, she finds herself amd uncovers a surprising business savvy and unbelievable grit that sees her through not only a blossoming career path, but overcoming personal and health related obstacles thrown in her way and the author made me give a sgit about corporate investing and office cultures, a topic that normally would bore me to tears. But I found myself rooting for Sophia and enjoying watching her triumphs and obstacles. Yen created a real role model in this character for women in the business world, and I appreciate her unique voice. That said, the book could have used some editing, especially in the first 1/3, as before the plot truly takes off, I had all but given up on the novel- pacing is definitely an issue. But much like climbing the corporate ladder, if you put in time and patience, take a risk and stick to it, you'll be rewarded with this story. Particularly enjoyed the veiled references to Pixar movies and the quirky character seemingly inspired by Steve Jobs. Having read a very unflattering memoir written by Jobs' daughter, this books fictionalized version of him wad infinitely more likable. Overall, a surprising novel that I enjoyed way more than I originally thought possible. 3 stars.
As the story continues, Sophia becimes a very dynamic character- bolstered by an excellent mentor, she finds herself amd uncovers a surprising business savvy and unbelievable grit that sees her through not only a blossoming career path, but overcoming personal and health related obstacles thrown in her way and the author made me give a sgit about corporate investing and office cultures, a topic that normally would bore me to tears. But I found myself rooting for Sophia and enjoying watching her triumphs and obstacles. Yen created a real role model in this character for women in the business world, and I appreciate her unique voice. That said, the book could have used some editing, especially in the first 1/3, as before the plot truly takes off, I had all but given up on the novel- pacing is definitely an issue. But much like climbing the corporate ladder, if you put in time and patience, take a risk and stick to it, you'll be rewarded with this story. Particularly enjoyed the veiled references to Pixar movies and the quirky character seemingly inspired by Steve Jobs. Having read a very unflattering memoir written by Jobs' daughter, this books fictionalized version of him wad infinitely more likable. Overall, a surprising novel that I enjoyed way more than I originally thought possible. 3 stars.
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