A debut about Zoe and Jack, Harvard students who find themselves propelled into the intoxicating biotech startup world when they announce they’ve discovered the cure for aging. A different kind of love story where the thirst for achievement consumes and the stakes are forever.
Commanding ... Insightful and zeitgeisty ... Begins as an intriguing slow burn ... But the novel really picks up speed when the business, named Manna (as in manna from heaven), takes off ... delivers an incisive exploration of a cutthroat contemporary culture that’s produced some spectacular scams. Taylor’s vividly observed, often beautifully wrought close third-person storytelling lets readers in on the emotional lives of her protagonists. A Harvard graduate herself, she peers hard at gender politics and class insecurity amid the hothouse culture of elite academia in this more cutting cousin to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow and The Startup Wife.
Sharp, insightful ... Taylor, a Harvard graduate, turns a razor-keen eye on the dynamics of a world-famous, high-pressure environment filled with young, ambitious students convinced they are (or should be) the best ... A blazing meditation on the pressure cooker of academia, the price of fame in the digital age, and how far is too far to go for a chance at corporeal—or scientific—immortality.
Provides an insider’s glimpse into the high-stakes Ivy League climate and the potentially devastating personal consequences for those caught up in ambition beyond their abilities ... The novel’s focus is the breakneck pace of Zoe and Jake’s success, leaving character development to play catch-up. This will interest readers who enjoy heady tales of academia and ambition or novels that delve into the underbelly of scam science.
