The Takeover by Cara Tanamachi
Actual Rating: 2.5
*Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and the publishers for a free e-copy in exchange for an honest review.*
This was a pretty light-hearted and easy read, but even though it has all the right pieces, it doesn’t really fit together that well.
The Takeover is a rivals-to-lovers romance between Sami, a newly single 30-year-old who’s also the CEO of a tech startup, Toggle, that’s about to be bought out, and Jae, her high school nemesis who narrowly beat her out to win valedictorian — still a sore spot. And then it turns out, Jae is representing the company trying to buy her out. Shenanigans ensue.
The character set-up is interesting enough; it shows a nice contrast between Nami and Jae’s lives and their worldviews, and it explains why they clash the way they do. But it never really goes as deep as it could. There’s a little bit about familial pressure, but the arcs feel a little cookie-cutter. It’s hard to get a grasp on what their high school dynamic is really like beyond “academic rivals trope.”
I really wish this book was braver with the backstories and emotional impact of pressure, because without it the tension between Nami and Jae feels kind of low stakes. Their “rivalry,” even as adults, consists of seeing who can eat spicier ramen, who can drink more…and while all this is fun and definitely puts the com in rom-com, it starts feeling repetitively juvenile.
Other than that, I didn’t really click with either of the main characters. I don’t want to be political (and didn’t read this book with the intention of being so, obviously) but throughout the book, the vibe of both workplaces was kind of uncomfortable. Jae’s is sort of a cartoonish evil corporate perspective, while Nami’s is so over-the-top with the “I love Toggle, Toggle is my life, we’re a family, my employees are everything” that is also feels cartoonishly overbearing. Maybe I read this at the wrong part in my life — when I was in the middle of the horrible, mind-numbing process that is job-hunting and hearing that “we’re a family” is a red flag — but whatever the reason, I found myself thinking that I would definitely not want to work for either of these companies or bosses. In terms of political theory (lol), however, I do like the way the story goes, although it’s not all that surprising.
The romantic development, like I said, is decently fun with the banter and the more serious company backdrop situation going on, but I think it’s one of those where I wish we had more communication and slow development, rather than having the leads come together with zany antics and inexplicable attraction. They also fall victim to a few tropes that I don’t really enjoy (I would’ve rated this a 3 star before (HIGHLIGHT TO SHOW SPOILER: the horrible break-up), so overall I found the romance also fell flat, except for a few fun scenes.
The side characters also add to the story well; while the cartoon-iness of the workplace settings didn’t really work for me, I think some side characters that were in these places did. It’s a case of showing not telling being successful — showing how someone is frustrating to work with or showing the Toggle group chat about stealing a fancy chair from that person — both of those are relatable and make me feel a lot more engaged rather than simply hearing narration describing what the environment is like.
Overall, I think I really like the premise here but it didn’t really work for me. I think it really just needed a more mature voice to really tug at my heartstrings.
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