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The Glitch by Elisabeth Cohen is a smart and funny story with some mystery elements. If you’re looking for a quick and entertaining summer read, The Glitch is for you.
Work-life balance is something that all people strive for. Some more successful than others. Typically, the idea is to make sure work doesn’t overtake one’s personal life. But in the case of Shelley Stone, protagonist of The Glitch, she’s more concern if her personal life will get in the way of work. She doesn’t get the Sunday night blues but rather the Friday ones because that means she’s away from work for two days. Safe to say, Shelley is truly an original character.
She’s the CEO of Conch, a tech company in the wearables arena. To maintain absolute efficiency in her life, she follows a strict schedule and if anything gets in the way of that, they’ll get her wrath. But when a woman enters Shelley’s life who claims she’s the younger version of her, it throws her strive for perfection and order into disarray.
Narrator likability
From the start, Shelley is a lot to take. The story is told in her first-person perspective so we spend plenty of time reading every single thought she has. When her daughter goes missing for a short while, Shelley wonders how it will impact her personal brand and the image of the company. Her husband starts to show lack of motivation in work and she wonders how she can remain with him. But it’s not till she’s faced with a woman who might be the younger version of herself, when you start to see more layers to her personality.
Shelley is fairly unlikeable but she’s still an appealing character. It did make me wonder if many CEOs have unusual quirks in order to stay on top of all their huge tasks. As the story goes on and you learn a bit about Shelley’s history, things come together.
Mystery angle
Yes, there’s a mystery in this story! Who is this woman proclaiming she’s the younger version of Shelley? How can that be possible? Shelley’s reactions to her are some of the best parts of the books. I think it was so clever of Cohen to include that in this type of story. It helps the book stand apart from others in this genre. The story wouldn’t have been as strong without it. I can’t wait to hear what you think about it when you find everything out.
Having it all
There’s so much pressure on everyone to ‘have it all.’ The cushy job, the big house, the perfect spouse and children, the vacations, etc. Social media amps this concept up by 1 million. But women, especially, feel those pressures every day. The glass ceiling is not a myth with just 24 women female CEOs on the 2018 Fortune 500, according to CNBC. Leadership roles, let alone the CEO title, are rarely offered to women, so when an opportunity arises, of course one would jump at it.
When you look at it like that, you see why Shelley is so determined not to fail at work. But as the book unfolds, her determination creates plenty of other issues too. The question becomes if Shelley doesn’t have work, who is she?
Spend a Saturday afternoon with The Glitch or take this one with you on vacation. This is the ideal summer read.
