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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
challenging
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Smash-Up is a loose modernization of Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton--a novella that ignited my love of reading literature when I was in high school. It may seem strange that such a sad, stark, and lonely book would be the story that would pique a teenager’s interest, but I became intrigued by Wharton’s writing, the very adult-like themes, and the morally grey characters. And all that snow! While The Smash-Up lacks the snow, the author still succeeds in keeping Wharton’s bleak tone and questionable characters.
I first read Ali Benjamin years ago when I was approved for an ARC of her middle grade book, The Thing About Jellyfish. And I was so impressed with it. It didn’t read like a middle grade book at all. The writing was beautiful and the characters were fleshed out. While that’s about the only similarities I can find between these two books—even though it has been years since I read Jellyfish—I was once again impressed with the depth and clarity the author brought to the story.
The Smash-Up will probably be a divisive book. Most of the characters may be considered unlikeable, but for me that was the point. Much like Ethan Frome. But Benjamin has brought these characters into the turbulent present.
Ethan is a bit aimless, relying on his past accomplishments, lacking much desire to create something new, spending most of his time focused on his exuberant daughter diagnosed with ADHD. Zo, his wife, a filmmaker who hasn’t created anything new herself, is devoting all her time and energy to her friends and their efforts to support the #metoo movement. And Maddy is the young woman they have invited into their home to help with their daughter.
Ethan feels pulled toward Maddy’s carefree ways, missing the closeness he used to have with Zo who no longer makes time for him. When their daughter’s private school is ready to push her out, Zo is gearing up for a protest rally, and Ethan’s past comes back to haunt him, things come to a boiling point for this family.
Even though it’s not a happy novel, I did enjoy this one. There’s much to think and debate about. It would make an excellent book club book. My past college student self would have enjoyed researching and writing an essay comparing The Smash-Up with its original inspiration.
I hope readers give this one a chance and don’t immediately close themselves off to it. It’s a reminder that we’re all human. And while it’s easy to think we should avoid those who think and believe differently than we do, it’s really not the healthy thing to do. It only perpetuates the circle of ignorance and apathy toward each other.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy.
I first read Ali Benjamin years ago when I was approved for an ARC of her middle grade book, The Thing About Jellyfish. And I was so impressed with it. It didn’t read like a middle grade book at all. The writing was beautiful and the characters were fleshed out. While that’s about the only similarities I can find between these two books—even though it has been years since I read Jellyfish—I was once again impressed with the depth and clarity the author brought to the story.
The Smash-Up will probably be a divisive book. Most of the characters may be considered unlikeable, but for me that was the point. Much like Ethan Frome. But Benjamin has brought these characters into the turbulent present.
Ethan is a bit aimless, relying on his past accomplishments, lacking much desire to create something new, spending most of his time focused on his exuberant daughter diagnosed with ADHD. Zo, his wife, a filmmaker who hasn’t created anything new herself, is devoting all her time and energy to her friends and their efforts to support the #metoo movement. And Maddy is the young woman they have invited into their home to help with their daughter.
Ethan feels pulled toward Maddy’s carefree ways, missing the closeness he used to have with Zo who no longer makes time for him. When their daughter’s private school is ready to push her out, Zo is gearing up for a protest rally, and Ethan’s past comes back to haunt him, things come to a boiling point for this family.
Even though it’s not a happy novel, I did enjoy this one. There’s much to think and debate about. It would make an excellent book club book. My past college student self would have enjoyed researching and writing an essay comparing The Smash-Up with its original inspiration.
I hope readers give this one a chance and don’t immediately close themselves off to it. It’s a reminder that we’re all human. And while it’s easy to think we should avoid those who think and believe differently than we do, it’s really not the healthy thing to do. It only perpetuates the circle of ignorance and apathy toward each other.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced reader's copy.
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
dark
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
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident
Minor: Drug use
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
*Thank you to Random House for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review
Whew. This fast-paced novel takes place during the week of the Kavanaugh Senate hearings, in a small town in the northeast, though it is packed with layers. The majority of the story is from the husband, Ethan's, perspective, which was an interesting choice. This seems to be a book in response to #MeToo and the Tr*mp era, though it backs away from getting into the harsher details when it comes to these things. I saw some rightful criticism underneath the surface, but the majority of the time the characters were so unlikeable that I found it hard to empathize, though the writing was so excellent that I felt compelled to turn the page.
Whew. This fast-paced novel takes place during the week of the Kavanaugh Senate hearings, in a small town in the northeast, though it is packed with layers. The majority of the story is from the husband, Ethan's, perspective, which was an interesting choice. This seems to be a book in response to #MeToo and the Tr*mp era, though it backs away from getting into the harsher details when it comes to these things. I saw some rightful criticism underneath the surface, but the majority of the time the characters were so unlikeable that I found it hard to empathize, though the writing was so excellent that I felt compelled to turn the page.
funny
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“What happened is people were hurting. What happened is people were afraid. What happened is that anger is stronger than fear, and so, for that matter, is hate. But it is easier to know what you want to burn down than it is to imagine what you might grow in its place.”
Taking place in the week of Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate hearing, the main character, Ethan, has become starkly aware of how he and his social justice warrior wife, Zo, are growing apart in their small-town life. She’s so focused on activism and establishing equity in America that he is no longer a priority for her, and it seems like their daughter is less and less so as well as he takes over most parenting duties and she shirks her work and is rarely home unless she’s invited over the local resistance group of women, All Them Witches. The result is an introspective journey volleying back and forth from Ethan’s early career in NYC to their shared present in the Berkshires, investigating all that comes with living in present-day America.
“All of these moments, all of the others, the one he remembers, the ones he doesn’t, their whole messy, complicated everything, has been distilled into a singularity that pops like a soap bubble and vanishes forever. That’s all over and it’s never coming back.”
For fans of Separation Anxiety and Fates and Furies, this is another a book of our time that presents multiple dialogues on how messy America has become and how all types— the young and the middle aged, the wealthy and those just getting by, the single people and the long-time married, the urbanites and suburban families— are managing, or not, to get through it all. It’s a delightfully deep dive into parenthood and materialism and imposter syndrome and righteousness and nihilism and lust and aging and being alive. I’d happily have stayed alongside Ethan for longer as I so enjoyed his awkward niceties and his daughter’s brilliant charm as well as Zo’s, and the witches’, burning rage.
“The weeping woman isn’t so sure she believes in humanity, not right now. But still. She pulls the car over. And that is the answer to the question Ethan used to ask me: what, exactly, is the point of a tiny protest, in the middle of nowhere, seen by almost no one? The point is that the person who does see might need exactly this, exactly now. The point is, her individual grief can become part of a collective one. The point is, this may or may not change the world, but it will almost certainly change her.”
Taking place in the week of Brett Kavanaugh’s Senate hearing, the main character, Ethan, has become starkly aware of how he and his social justice warrior wife, Zo, are growing apart in their small-town life. She’s so focused on activism and establishing equity in America that he is no longer a priority for her, and it seems like their daughter is less and less so as well as he takes over most parenting duties and she shirks her work and is rarely home unless she’s invited over the local resistance group of women, All Them Witches. The result is an introspective journey volleying back and forth from Ethan’s early career in NYC to their shared present in the Berkshires, investigating all that comes with living in present-day America.
“All of these moments, all of the others, the one he remembers, the ones he doesn’t, their whole messy, complicated everything, has been distilled into a singularity that pops like a soap bubble and vanishes forever. That’s all over and it’s never coming back.”
For fans of Separation Anxiety and Fates and Furies, this is another a book of our time that presents multiple dialogues on how messy America has become and how all types— the young and the middle aged, the wealthy and those just getting by, the single people and the long-time married, the urbanites and suburban families— are managing, or not, to get through it all. It’s a delightfully deep dive into parenthood and materialism and imposter syndrome and righteousness and nihilism and lust and aging and being alive. I’d happily have stayed alongside Ethan for longer as I so enjoyed his awkward niceties and his daughter’s brilliant charm as well as Zo’s, and the witches’, burning rage.
“The weeping woman isn’t so sure she believes in humanity, not right now. But still. She pulls the car over. And that is the answer to the question Ethan used to ask me: what, exactly, is the point of a tiny protest, in the middle of nowhere, seen by almost no one? The point is that the person who does see might need exactly this, exactly now. The point is, her individual grief can become part of a collective one. The point is, this may or may not change the world, but it will almost certainly change her.”