Kirkus
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A disturbingly ambitious woman finds herself challenged by mysterious crisesboth personal and professionalin Cohen's painfully funny satire of the tech industry.In Shelley Stone, Cohen has created an aggressively unlikable yet captivating and entertaining heroine. Twenty years ago, as a directionless 20-year-old, Shelley was struck by lightning, a trauma for which she claims to be grateful despite the physical pain it inflicted. She doesn't care that the lightning shriveled her pleasure receptor or that she now scores low on the likability scale. What matters is that the lightning strike changed her brain in ways that made her into the driven woman she's become. Shelley is married and has two childrenreaders will concur with her amazement at having attracted financial-analyst husband Rafe, who goes along with her scheduled 12 minutes of daily sex even though his own pleasure principle remains intactbut she's primarily committed to her role as CEO of Conch, a company producing personal data repositories shaped like shells and worn behind users' ears. On a family vacation in France, Shelley's 4-year-old daughter, Nova, disappears while Shelley and Rafe are distracted by work calls; more disturbing, both parents continue their calls while searching for her. Fortunately, a stranger finds Nova, a stranger who somehow has Shelley's cellphone number and seems oddly excited to meet her when returning the child. Within weeks, Shelley meets another stranger: Michelle looks like a younger version of Shelley herself, down to the same scar on her arm, and has experienced the same childhood. Is a pre-lightning strike, alternate self possible? Or is Shelley having a nervous breakdown? Shelley is rattled but cynical enough to have her doubts. Meanwhile Conch suddenly faces serious quality control issues that she must solve to save her job. And then there's Rafe's plan to move with the kids to Brazil, with or without Shelley.Clever, original, and unabashedly silly fun. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Library Journal
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DEBUT Shelley Stone is the CEO of Conch, a tech company that makes wearable personal assistants (think Alexa crossed with Bluetooth). She's very committed to her job and never loses an opportunity to work, having perfected the art of time management and efficiency. She is also a mother of two and married to the similarly driven Rafe. While vacationing in France, Shelley and Rafe lose sight of their young daughter Nova-they both were on business calls when Nova wandered away. Before they descend into full-blown panic, a stranger calls. He has found Nova and can return her to them. This event starts a string of unexpected glitches in Shelley's well-organized life. As she faces increased pressure at work, Rafe questions their demanding lifestyle and proposes dramatic changes. To top it all off, -Shelley encounters what appears to be a younger version of herself. VERDICT As an updated version of Allison Pearson's I Don't Know How She Does It for our hyperconnected tech age, this debut novel is funny and smart with an appealing, driven protagonist. [See Prepub Alert, 8/27/17.]-Lynnanne -Pearson, Skokie P.L., IL © Copyright 2018. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Shelley Stone is a force of nature in the world of wearable tech. She has worked hard to get to CEO, and everything in her life is just as she likes it two children (one carried by a gestational carrier), me time at 3 a.m., regularly scheduled sex, vacations in France (working vacations, natch). It could be said that it was a force of nature that made her the person she is today: she was struck by lightning as a young woman. She credits this one-in-a-million event with her success. But as the twentieth anniversary of the lightning strike approaches, strange things begin to happen. Her four-year-old daughter goes missing and is found by a stranger who seems to have an agenda. Then a young woman appears who is the spitting image of herself before the strike, who may even be a young Shelley. Is she having a breakdown? Is she being blackmailed? Is she really living the life she wants? Part techno-thriller, part techno-satire, Cohen's debut is a funny, engaging read.--Platt, Diana Copyright 2018 Booklist

Publishers Weekly
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In her witty debut, Cohen follows Shelley Stone, a high-powered, perfect-on-paper lightning-strike survivor and married mother of two whose life gets a bug in it. The CEO of Conch, which developed a behind-the-ear personal assistant, is the perfect corporate shill, calculating, artificial, and always on message, even when things start going wrong. Her four-year-old disappears from the beach while she and her husband take business calls; when she bizarrely meets someone who seems to be her 20-years-younger self, she advises young Shelley to take more coding classes but never mentions the lightning to come. When the media reports that a man killed himself because his Conch nagged him into it, her approach remains transactional. She's on point whether she's working toward a corporate merger or in marriage and motherhood, even as her husband begins suggesting a more balanced approach. Cohen's novel premise and lead character-so incredibly well-drawn in her singlemindedness-are almost enough to sustain the story. But as the glitches in Shelley's life begin to pile up, the author loses control of the narrative. By the time she wrests it back, the reader may wonder if a reboot along the way might have worked better. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.