Unfortunately, this writing style just didn’t do it for me. I love the topics and the awareness this novel brings, but the writing was slow and didn’t pull me in at all.

One of the things I enjoyed about this book is the timeliness, and how achingly relevant it is. I liked the way the author dealt with the topic of the #metoo movement with such poignancy, and elements of relatability. Also, in the interest of allowing this book to age gracefully, I thought it was a use move on Benjamin’s part to not name names of major players. That being said, with such an ambitious topic, I just didn’t feel that I connected with the characters and in fact, I found them downright unlikeable. Not sure I’d read another Adult novel by this author, but would consider reading some of her YA material.

This is an IMPORTANT book. Taking place in the height of the #metoo movement and around the 2016 American election, this book tackles REAL issues that need REAL solutions both in book and in real life.

The writing was top-notch. Really. I'll probably read anything else this author writes. I just...didn't feel anything for the characters. Like, I was not at all emotionally invested in their lives. Ethan just had this push over, wet towel personality that I just kept feeling sorry for and Zo's activism felt grating (what kind of person would demand that the police arrest her for not being black?).

All of that aside, this is not a terrible book. It just wasn't for me.

I really struggled to get into this book.

The opening rubbed me the wrong way and everything with the Kavanaugh hearings just made me angry. The characters were unlikeable and the writing style was not for me.

This book, very much like Fleishman in Trouble (a favorite of mine last year), drove me crazy at times. A good chunk of it I didn’t like at all. Ethan’s wife, Zo, is extremely unlikable, yet she’s strong and a feminist and speaks out about everything I think is important. I was upset at her representation. But then...

“Curious, how a single, simple sentence — ‘I hurt’ — simultaneously holds two, opposite meanings. I myself am hurting. And also: I am hurting someone else. Or no. Not opposite. In fact, maybe not so different at all.”

In the end, this story is a powerful commentary on the pain we are, collectively and individually, feeling in our country. Very thought provoking, almost with too much to really unpack. My review is barely scratching the surface. I finish feeling extremely perplexed!

I spent most of the book thinking that "The Smash-Up" was not the book for me. I appreciated the homage to the classic novel "Ethan Frome." It has been years since I read the book and I do not remember the story, but as soon as Ethan arrives at his home, with a hand-painted sign out front reading "The Fromes", I immediately thought of the book. "The Smash-Up" starts out interesting, with the reader realizing that something life-changing has happened to Ethan and the story going back in time to reveal all of the issues Ethan and those around him were dealing with prior to the "smash-up." However, the story soon became somewhat irritating. Ethan's wife, Zo (Zenobia) is a caricature of everything that is wrong with "left liberals" today.

However, starting with Chapter 21, the author redeems the story. Zo starts being open and honest with Ethan, and starts behaving responsibly again. She explains the reasons for her behavior and she discusses all of her fears for her daughter, Alex, and what confronts Alex in her future. Alex is a special needs child, impulsive, hyperactive, has sensory-processing issues, and can become hyper-focused on a topic, but also creative, insightful, and amazing in so many ways. Yet, Alex, due both to her age and her nature, can be rather naïve and oblivious at times, not always recognizing when people are making fun of her or taking advantage of her. Zo's change in behavior is freeing for both her and Ethan, and gives Ethan the opportunity to tell Zo about the issues affecting the family that he has been dealing with. Zo opening up about her fears and the reasons for the behaviors that have been driving them apart also helps Ethan confront a situation that he knows he should have dealt with long ago. The final chapters also describe the incident known as "the smash-up", which is quite horrible and devastating, but out of the shock, outrage, and pain comes some good things as well.

The book that I was likely to rate as three stars and I was not sure I would recommend ended up as a book that I would say is worth the read and earned its four stars.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

The Smash-Up by Ali Benjamin is a modern take on the classic, Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton, infused with other literary references, such as The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot, and a slew of modern politics and pop culture references for the last few years. The novel primarily follows Ethan, his wife Zenobia, and their daughter Alex. Ethan is a middle aged man that has his best years, and most financially fruitful years, behind him. He struggles with his daughter's needs, as she's unable to concentrate in school and at home. Zenobia spends more of her time focused on her activism with her feminist group All Them Witches than she does helping care for Alex. Every school day Ethan drives Alex to Rainbow Seed, a private school that Ethan is in danger of being unable to afford when his former business partner's inappropriate actions may come out from a famous star they helped make. Ethan has to find a way to do what's right for his daughter and keep his family together. The novel is dripping with modern politics, as its centered around the 2018 SCOTUS Brett Kavanaugh hearing. After a long day and a meeting at Rainbow Seed relating to an incident where Alex hurt a fellow student, Zenobia takes a turn for the worst and crashes into some traffic cones. Once they're pulled over, Zenobia antagonizes the police officer for letting her off with a warning and finds herself the face of a small political movement with the help of her friends from All Them Witches. Ethan struggles with that and takes comfort from their live in babysitter, Maddy, who is a prime example of the millenial struggle with over 100k in debt for a degree she didn't complete, working in the gig economy. A great many tensions arise from this relationship. On top of that, Ethan's old partner with MeToo problems asks him to blackmail the star they helped make famous or the business that Ethan is pulling checks from that help pay for his daughter's tuition and medicine and his family's life in is jeopardy. If you want a book that escapes from the real world and the politics on everyone's mind the last few years, then this isn't for you, but if you want a charming book that navigates the struggles of the modern world then please take a look!

3.5 Stars

When Ethan Frome met the woman who would become his wife, Zenobia, Zo, she was filled with energy for producing her documentary films, while he was still busy building a marketing company with his college buddy, but they were already budding stars in the marketing industry. Early on his partner decides that California is where it’s at, and moves the company there. Ethan and Zo move to Starkfield, Massachusetts, where they currently reside along with their daughter, who has ADHD, needs medication which they seem to need to request refills on within a narrow window of time. Too early, and they won’t get the medication. Too late, and it’s, well, too late. Living with them is Maddy, who they hired to watch and help care for their daughter, whose lifestyle / morals are more than somewhat questionable for someone meant to care for a special needs child.

The story begins as the Brett Kavanaugh hearings are going on, and Zo’s women’s group <i>All Them Witches,</i> is meeting at Zo and Ethan’s home to watch, and commiserate. Meanwhile, Ethan’s former business partner is trying to convince Ethan to save his company from a similar fate by <i>convincing</i> an actress that was responsible for their success, to back off her lawsuit. It isn’t exactly a request, and he continues to call and pressure Ethan to do his bidding.

This was a moderately entertaining modern-day take on Edith Wharton’s <i>Ethan Frome.</i> It does occasionally stray into an unconvincing, preposterous and over-the-top storyline with some less than lovable characters that made it difficult to root for anyone. Still, it managed to take a lighter look at how we managed to get to a point where we are, politically and the male-dominated field of politics that seems to have a history of protecting men, even when they have committed heinous crimes. All that being said, I’m sure that some will find this amusing or even hilarious as it does contain some lighter moments.


Pub Date: 23 Feb 2021

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Random House Publishing Group - Random House

Wow. Where do I even begin? What an intriguing book, especially with the divisiveness of politics right now, the age of #MeToo, and raising a child in a world much different than the one we grew up in. I really enjoyed the plot but I think I enjoyed the author's writing most. The only thing I didn't love as much was that it could drag on sometimes but it always picked back up.

Unfortunately this is another book with a fantastic premise that fell short for me. I finding it hard to plod through fiction these days when there is nobody to root for. I guess in hindsight I didn't really want to relive the hearings either, which isn't the fault of the author as it's clear that's the device of the novel from reading description.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

After reading 25% of the book, I had to stop for 2 reasons.

It seemed to be taking a long time going nowhere. A couple invites a young woman to live with them temporarily while she finds a job. Of course the man decides he enjoys being with her more than his angry wife. I can see where this is likely going.

The second was the anger of the Me Too movement. After living through the Kavanaugh vetting for Supreme Court and experiencing the anger of his appointment, I cannot read about it and how the characters experienced it without going through that anger all over again, while knowing the unfair outcome. I read mostly for enjoyment and escape and this brought neither,

Thank you NetGalley for an advance reader copy 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. 3.5 stars

I wish I liked this novel more than I did because I enjoy Ali Benjamin's previous novels. I felt like the overall plot was interesting but ultimately confusing. Too much back and forth. I don't mind political novels but with our country in such dire straights time right now, this book just brought me down even more. Decent story that needed to be 100 pages shorter.

Compelling story of a flailing marriage strained by a high needs child and parents who are caught up in their own needs and dramas.

A fantastically multi-layered story about what happens when too many aspects of a successful couples life intersect and eventually come crashing down. It took me a few chapters to get in to it but I was sad to come to the end of the book.

This novel takes place over the course of a week or so in the Berkshires in 2018, told from the perspective of Ethan, a man in his 40s who seems kind of stuck in his life, dealing with his wife Zo, who is angry about the Kavanaugh Supreme Court confirmation hearings and kinda checked out of family life and obsessed with her women’s group; their daughter Alex, an oppositional 11 year old with ADHD; their live in babysitter Maddie, a woman in her 20s who Ethan is a little too interested in; and Randy, Ethan’s ex-business partner, who is about to get caught up in the Me Too movement. I had read and enjoyed Ali Benjamin’s two middle grade novels, but I had very mixed feelings about this one, her adult debut. The characters are just not likable, and Zo and her feminist group in particular are portrayed in such a negative way that it feels kind of weird that this book was written by a woman. And I definitely did not need to relive the Brett Kavanaugh hearings (not to mention the weird way this book opens with describing Trump’s election). All that being said though, it was very well-written, with some interesting and provocative ideas sprinkled throughout, and definitely got better towards the end. I’m going to average all that out and give it 3.5 stars.

The Smash-Up introduces us to Ethan, his wife, Zo, their daughter, Alex, and their houseguest, Maddy. Ethan and Zo are former NYC residents living in the Berkshires. They moved there after 9/11. This story takes place in 2018. It deals a lot with current issues - the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh, the 2016 election, protests, social media outrage, and all the things I read books to escape from right now. I gave this four stars because I enjoyed the writing. The story itself was too much for my brain right now. The news is still full of the things this book is about. I think a few years from now this would be a great read. Right now it's just too much of what we're dealing with in real life.

I do not want to give the plot away. If you like satire, stories about current events, marriages, and parenting issues then you will find things to enjoy in this story. If you need a break from reality then this is not the book to pick up when it comes out on February 23rd.

Thank you to Netgalley and Random House for the ARC of The Smash-Up. I post my reviews on Goodreads, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble.

A fun, contemporary romp with some surprisingly insightful themes. A great new voice in millennial fiction and I look forward to their next release. For fans of Sally Rooney, Raven Leilani, and Naoise Dolan.

My timing for picking this book up was surreal. I start reading this book that begins with a description of the division created by the Trump election on the day his supporters overran the capitol. The Smash Up covers the #MeToo movement and the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation.
Told from Ethan’s perspective, he’s dealing with a newly politicized wife and his old business, his main source of funds, rocked by sexual harassment allegations. Ethan is middle aged, living the comfortable life in small town Massachusetts when it all comes apart. “It was good until it wasn’t. All of it: The town. His marriage. Their finances. The world.”
These were not characters I could relate to. Zo is so wrapped up in protesting the injustices of the world, she totally ignores her child and husband. I spent most of the book wanting to smack her. Ethan just seemed like such a sad sack. I wanted him to grow a pair. And his attraction to his daughter’s babysitter was just a cliche.
Still, every now and then the book really hits the mark , especially at the beginning when Ethan and Randy are starting Brand and they use the philosopher Baudrillard to make a point. Or when Ethan thinks about post-truth society. “It all feels like those choose-your-own-adventure books Ethan used to love.” In fact, the book has a lot to say about manipulating the truth.
I loved the ending and it helped me appreciate the book more. It also helped that the characters do grow and become more sympathetic as the story progresses. The book is unsettling at times, but it raises important issues and deserves to be read.
My thanks to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.