Take a photo of a barcode or cover
katiemack 's review for:
The Smash-Up
by Ali Benjamin
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I wish I had read Ethan Frome, because if I had I might understand this book better.
The writing is decent--good, in fact--but most of it is wasted on describing the experience of a mediocre white man (Ethan), depicting a feminist white woman as a crazy person (Zo), and inserting a caricature of a millennial woman (Maddie) into the story. Yes, the 2016 election, the #MeToo movement, and the Brett Kavanaugh appointment are important and all worth highlighting, but filtering those events through Ethan's lens was unappealing to me.
Again, I should have realized it was going to focus on Ethan's POV more than Zo's, but trying to make this guy "nice" and likeable is futile.
I wish I had read Ethan Frome, because if I had I might understand this book better.
The writing is decent--good, in fact--but most of it is wasted on describing the experience of a mediocre white man (Ethan), depicting a feminist white woman as a crazy person (Zo), and inserting a caricature of a millennial woman (Maddie) into the story. Yes, the 2016 election, the #MeToo movement, and the Brett Kavanaugh appointment are important and all worth highlighting, but filtering those events through Ethan's lens was unappealing to me.
Again, I should have realized it was going to focus on Ethan's POV more than Zo's, but trying to make this guy "nice" and likeable is futile.