The Circle

The Circle Book Review

Since I live and breathe digital marketing and new tech, I was excited to add The Circle to my reading list. I thought maybe I’d get my fix for working at a large tech company without actually moving to Silicon Valley.

When you pick up the book, you’ll be surprised it’s a whopping 491 pages long. The pages are incredibly thin.

Our main character, Mae Holland, turned out to be someone I could easily relate to. She grew up in a small town, wanted something bigger, her college roommate gets her a job at the world’s biggest tech company (think Google and Silicon Valley).

Things start out really well for Mae. She’s in the customer service department, working hard to reach an average score of 100/100 with each interaction. Working her way up from one screen to five.

Throughout the story, we see her move up the ladder and soon she’s hanging out with the Three Wise Men, or the guys that started and run this company.

Eventually shit hits the fan because the company decides to take things a little too far with the technology.

Overall, the story is mediocre. The character development was lacking a bit, but I did find myself reflecting on the rate of technology advancement today. How we’re consumed by more screens and lacking in the privacy department.

People believe they are creating something that will solve all the world’s problems, yet it just ends up creating bigger problems because someone will always find a way to abuse it.

Despite the negative reviews and my middle-of-the-road review, I’m looking forward to watching the movie with Tom Hanks and Emma Watson (not literally with them, but how cool would that be!?) and seeing how the book and movie stack up to each other.

UPDATE: The movie played out a little differently. There were parts that they skipped (and I wish they hadn’t), but I feel way better about how the movie ended vs. the book. If you’re on the fence about reading or watching, I’d recommend watching!