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3.62 AVERAGE
3.62 AVERAGE
I would round up to 3.5. It was entertaining and I finished it quickly. Did not love the end, but it was ok. I am curious to read Ethan Frome now.
Between 3 and 3.5 stars.
I had a hard time getting into The Smash Up; my body is still learning not to clench 24/7 given the events of the past four plus years, and the story takes place during the last presidential administration.
This may be the first novel where I actually prefer the end of it to the majority of the story. I couldn’t connect with Ethan or Zo until the epilogue. The writing is great; I’d like to check out some of Ali Benjamin’s other novels, but the story didn’t really grab me. Maybe it’s because it’s all such a mirror of our society right now, and what I’m looking for is more escapism than analysis.
I had a hard time getting into The Smash Up; my body is still learning not to clench 24/7 given the events of the past four plus years, and the story takes place during the last presidential administration.
This may be the first novel where I actually prefer the end of it to the majority of the story. I couldn’t connect with Ethan or Zo until the epilogue. The writing is great; I’d like to check out some of Ali Benjamin’s other novels, but the story didn’t really grab me. Maybe it’s because it’s all such a mirror of our society right now, and what I’m looking for is more escapism than analysis.
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I enjoyed this. There were a few parts that were hit and miss and I found myself less interested in picking up the book, but ultimately I took something away from reading it (remembeing not to take social media/news as it is presented and think more critically about it). It made me cry towards the end, over all was alright.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Sexual assault, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
4.5 stars / This review will be posted at BookwormishMe.com on 9 February 2021.
Ethan Frome grew up poor but ended up best friends with a very rich kid, Randy, while attending Kenyon College. After college they started a marketing firm that took off and left them both well off. Except the firm needed to move to Los Angeles, and Ethan had fallen for Zo, a documentary filmmaker. Zo was, and is, decidedly independent. Not afraid to say what she thinks or fight for what she believes in.
They marry, Ethan sells most of his shares in his company, and they have a daughter named Alex. Years pass, Ethan never goes on to be a writer. Zo stops making films. Alex turns out to have severe ADHD and social issues. Living in the Berkshires in a small town, they can’t really get Alex the help she needs. Ethan mostly becomes the full time dad. Zo gets heavily involved with a women’s activism group. Alex goes to a private school but still isn’t getting why she needs.
In comes Maddy, a live-in nanny for Alex. Maddy is a wild twenty-something who dropped out of college and isn’t quite sure where her life is headed. Ethan is a bit taken with Maddy, Zo barely has time to notice Maddy. Alex responds well to Maddy. Perhaps Maddy is going to be the shake up this family needs. Or will Zo’s obsession with activism shake them to the core?
Wow and holy cow is all I can say. This story seems to move along slowly with day to day chaos. It’s like riding a roller coaster. You keep slowly climbing uphill, reach the top and then come plummeting down rapidly. Benjamin has written a novel that incorporates the unbelievable events of the last four years with the realities of parenting, working, and marriage. It is a story that will leave you laughing and crying and occasionally wanting to shake the characters. I didn’t expect to feel this way about this book when I finished it. I expected to feel rather ambivalent about it. For some reason it rocked me. It may not have that effect on everyone, but it’s worth reading to find out.
Ethan Frome grew up poor but ended up best friends with a very rich kid, Randy, while attending Kenyon College. After college they started a marketing firm that took off and left them both well off. Except the firm needed to move to Los Angeles, and Ethan had fallen for Zo, a documentary filmmaker. Zo was, and is, decidedly independent. Not afraid to say what she thinks or fight for what she believes in.
They marry, Ethan sells most of his shares in his company, and they have a daughter named Alex. Years pass, Ethan never goes on to be a writer. Zo stops making films. Alex turns out to have severe ADHD and social issues. Living in the Berkshires in a small town, they can’t really get Alex the help she needs. Ethan mostly becomes the full time dad. Zo gets heavily involved with a women’s activism group. Alex goes to a private school but still isn’t getting why she needs.
In comes Maddy, a live-in nanny for Alex. Maddy is a wild twenty-something who dropped out of college and isn’t quite sure where her life is headed. Ethan is a bit taken with Maddy, Zo barely has time to notice Maddy. Alex responds well to Maddy. Perhaps Maddy is going to be the shake up this family needs. Or will Zo’s obsession with activism shake them to the core?
Wow and holy cow is all I can say. This story seems to move along slowly with day to day chaos. It’s like riding a roller coaster. You keep slowly climbing uphill, reach the top and then come plummeting down rapidly. Benjamin has written a novel that incorporates the unbelievable events of the last four years with the realities of parenting, working, and marriage. It is a story that will leave you laughing and crying and occasionally wanting to shake the characters. I didn’t expect to feel this way about this book when I finished it. I expected to feel rather ambivalent about it. For some reason it rocked me. It may not have that effect on everyone, but it’s worth reading to find out.
Boken utspelar sig under fem dagar 2018, och i bakgrunden är både Trumps valvinst några år tidigare och den pågående #metoo-rörelsen.
Ethan och Zo är några av alla de som chockerades av att Trump vann presidentvalet, och Zo blir gradvis mer aktivistisk samtidigt som Ethan mer går mot likgiltighet, vilket leder till att deras äktenskap knakar i fogarna. Deras dotter Alex kräver hårt jobb, och att de får förstärkning av Maddy - en blåhårig millennial - som barnvakt är inte till särskilt stor hjälp.
När Ethans enda inkomst hotas av att försvinna på grund av en metoo-anklagelse är han också tvungen att ta ställning.
Jag gillade boken. Trots att det är deppiga iakttagelser av nutiden (extremer vid makten, näthat och folk som praktiskt taget försöker att missförstå varandra), så finns det ändå hopp i den. Man vill veta hur det hela ska sluta.
Ethan och Zo är några av alla de som chockerades av att Trump vann presidentvalet, och Zo blir gradvis mer aktivistisk samtidigt som Ethan mer går mot likgiltighet, vilket leder till att deras äktenskap knakar i fogarna. Deras dotter Alex kräver hårt jobb, och att de får förstärkning av Maddy - en blåhårig millennial - som barnvakt är inte till särskilt stor hjälp.
När Ethans enda inkomst hotas av att försvinna på grund av en metoo-anklagelse är han också tvungen att ta ställning.
Jag gillade boken. Trots att det är deppiga iakttagelser av nutiden (extremer vid makten, näthat och folk som praktiskt taget försöker att missförstå varandra), så finns det ändå hopp i den. Man vill veta hur det hela ska sluta.
I loved the concept of this book and the action built up into wonderful suspense, but the resolution was a letdown for me. I’m also not sure if I liked how the story was framed in terms of the narration at the beginning and the end. It’s different, so I like that aspect, but by the time I reached the end, I had forgotten about the beginning, so I had to go back and re-read it to get the “ohhhh!” factor.
I love Edith Wharton, so thought this would be an interesting read, perhaps a modern-day retelling of Ethan Frome. But it is not. Only the names are the same, but the relationships are completely different. I think I would have liked this book more if she had simply used those characters as a starting point but not included the original names. But then, would I have picked it up otherwise? There are a lot of very big ideas in the book that never quite came together. Some reviews say it is hopeful, but a few hopeful words are swallowed up by the tidal wave of nihilism.
I really struggled to get into this book but the payoff was worth it.
This is the story of Ethan and Zo, a couple who live in a small town after successfully living in the big city. They have the house, the kid, but after a few years, their small-town life begins to feel like a big-time disappointment. In an interesting twist, Zo decides she wants a total stranger, Maddie, to move in with them. Maddie has just come out of a bad relationship and Ethan and Zo could use help working on their latest projects and with their young child, Alex. Set against the backdrop of 2016, the political atmosphere seeps its way into Ethan and Zo’s lives as Zo becomes increasingly more politically engaged and Ethan’s old firm undergoes a harassment lawsuit.
From the start, the writing style just did not click with me. It felt awkward and broken up in the wrong places which made it easy for my mind to wander off. Also, while I would have enjoyed the discussions surrounding 2016 political events/movements to give the story a specific setting, the way the information was presented made the novel feel outdated. It didn’t feel like the political events were written with a 2021 lens but with a 2016/2017 lens that boiled conversations down to grandiose generalizations without much insight. Also, the character of Ethan wasn’t easy to follow as his perception of events felt very unaware and male-centric. He immediately perceives women, whether meaning to or not, based on what they provide or don’t provide for him. He perceives Maddie as attractive and Zo as difficult. It also does not help that Maddie comes off as very fun and laid back in perfect juxtaposition to Zo—and very manic-pixie-esque. He also doesn’t even want to know about the allegations going on in the firm he himself founded and from the onset he hates the politically engaged women Zo brings to the house. All this to say, he comes off as a cishet white man who treats the serious topics of the time with little seriousness or self-awareness, yet we are expected to follow him first and foremost in the story. It just didn’t work for me.
Special thanks to Netgalley & Random House for providing me a copy of this book to review!
From the start, the writing style just did not click with me. It felt awkward and broken up in the wrong places which made it easy for my mind to wander off. Also, while I would have enjoyed the discussions surrounding 2016 political events/movements to give the story a specific setting, the way the information was presented made the novel feel outdated. It didn’t feel like the political events were written with a 2021 lens but with a 2016/2017 lens that boiled conversations down to grandiose generalizations without much insight. Also, the character of Ethan wasn’t easy to follow as his perception of events felt very unaware and male-centric. He immediately perceives women, whether meaning to or not, based on what they provide or don’t provide for him. He perceives Maddie as attractive and Zo as difficult. It also does not help that Maddie comes off as very fun and laid back in perfect juxtaposition to Zo—and very manic-pixie-esque. He also doesn’t even want to know about the allegations going on in the firm he himself founded and from the onset he hates the politically engaged women Zo brings to the house. All this to say, he comes off as a cishet white man who treats the serious topics of the time with little seriousness or self-awareness, yet we are expected to follow him first and foremost in the story. It just didn’t work for me.
Special thanks to Netgalley & Random House for providing me a copy of this book to review!