Valley Verified by Kyla Zhao

 ´Since her teens she had made working in fashion her goal in life. Who was she outside of that?´

Zoe Zeng is an ambitious fashion writer working in New York for a small fashion publication. She enjoys doing it, has some good friends there, but financially she is far from paying that student debt. When she is offered a top position in marketing at a Silicon Valley fashion startup by a complete stranger she met and impressed at a fashion show, she is accepting the position, but she is completely far, far away from her comfort zone. She is clumsy in everything that has to do with tech, from the terminology to the practicalities.

Surviving in a relatively hostile and new working environment, Zoe is finding her way, growing up both professionally and personally, getting to know and sometimes trust new people, while adapting her wardrobe to the new circumstances, becoming self aware enough to fight against a sexually abusive boss, creating alliances with other women.

I personally liked Zoe Zeng a lot, as she resonates with some parts of me: the journalist and the fashionista. The word of tech and startups with its stereotypes, hilarious titles - ´chief dream evangelist´ - and obsessions is pretty well described, particularly from the perspective of women employees and their limitations. I really wanted her to succeed as a tribute to all women in tech and fashion marginalized for unprofessional reasons.

Very often I felt though that the story could have been better developped and the characters more involved into the story. Almost half of the story, the second part to be more precise, has a #metoo vibe which I appreciated but would have expect a bit more story context and some background stories too - for instance, Zoe´s and other people´s family background and past are largely absent from the story.

However, I would be very curious to explore more writing by Kyla Zhao and as I am writing this, took a break to oder her other book, The Fraud Squad. Because I really enjoy her humorous writing and witty women characters.

Rating: 3 stars