Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Just not for me - had a hard time following the characters and felt it lacking in substance. I thought the writing was solid, but it wasn’t anything new to me unfortunately.

In a suburban town in Connecticut, three couples seem to have highly enviable lives. One couple has deep roots in the town, but has not reached the heights of their parents. Another recently moved to the town from New York City, and is finding the transition to suburban life more challenging than they expected. And yet another have a rocky personal issues that are tearing their family apart, but are not apparent to others. Through an exploration of each of the families and their individual circumstances, how they interact, and their experiences with the elite private school at the center of many of their lives, this novel is a perceptive examination of modern family life, wealth, and financial and social pressures.

This is a strongly written narrative, with well crafted characters that poses many interesting questions.

Highly recommended!

A book for people who read Sally Rooney's Beautiful World, Where Are You and felt about 10 years too old to connect with the protagonists. The interjections about the Waldorf-like Petra School were humorous, but the rest of the story lacked enough wit to push this satire from good to great. There's only so much rich people grumbling that I can take before I get bored.

I think this book could have been a bit funnier- I enjoyed it, but it was billed as a satire and I only really got that when I was reading about the Petra School- the teachers and their philosophies there. That was my favorite part of the book as it was really funny. Kudos to Ball though for painting such a detailed story with all of these characters- shows a lot of work on her end. Though some of their backstories weren't the most interesting, it was still thoughtful.

it honestly took me a bit to realize that this was satire because it cuts a little too close. We've got a new age school devoted to a specific idea of an idyllic childhood and an exploration of how these survivalist and conservative philosophies seduce and draw new supporters. Ball injects humor subtly and denouement is like a train crash you just watch coming. Enjoyable.

this was a fairly compelling literary novel about suburbia, which is something I usually love reading about. this was pitched as satirical and darkly funny but I didn’t really get that from it so it didn’t quite meet my expectations

Oh How I Wanted to Love This!

The Pessimists is a Satirical novel about rich suburbanite couples in Connecticut. They should look somewhat familiar to me, Connecticut is where I'm from and I grew up in an upper middle class neighborhood growing up and kept moving on up... but this.. the writing in this novel just missed the mark for me. I found it choppy and hard to get through. Because of that the laughs fell short. I didn't care about Tripp and his wife Virginia and Tripp's gun buying habit, or Virginia's health issues or their extra marital affairs. Nor did I care about Gunter's drinking and his crazy antics. For me, none of this rang true, knowing what I do about the lives and loves of friends my age who live in towns like this and none of it was funny..... Perhaps the humor may have just been over my head or it didn't work for me because I'm from this area.

That said, I"m only one reader thus I suggest reading other reviews as most other readers loved this novel.

Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the arc.

A darkly comic but ultimately tragic portrait of white middle-class privilege in Connecticut. A group of dysfunctional families set out to create the perfect life for themselves and their children, but nothing goes quite according to plan, not least because of the increasingly sinister influence of the local expensive private school many of them send their children to. The school episodes were some of the most recognisable ones in the book – with its educational claptrap and off-beat theories about bringing up children. As the characters’ lives unravel the author depicts their failings, worries and dissatisfactions with incisive wit, intelligence, insight and acute observation to devastating effect. A really entertaining – but uneasy – read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- #52bookclub2022 -- Chapters Have Titles

I really enjoyed this one. It was a dark, witty satire about three suburban couples in Connecticut who were all connected through their desire for their children to attend an expensive and unorthodox private school. It had a "Big Little Lies" feel to it, so perhaps that is why I enjoyed it so much.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

I am a HUGE fan of Bethany Ball, and I loved her first book, What About the Solomons, so I was so glad to get an advanced copy of The Pessimists to review.

I loved this story of dysfuctional families in suburban Connecticut, whose kids all attend the same exclusive private school . Every character is flawed in some way or other, and all of them are stuggling in some way as parents and in their marriages. Bethany has a very dry sense of humor, that I love. She also shares her own insecurities through the characters.

I love this book and highly recommend it! 5 stars for #thepessimists

I am a sucker for a dark underbelly of suburbia book! This did not disappoint! I loved the cover and as silly as that sounds it made me have high hopes for the book. I was not disappointed. It had great characters and was genuinely funny in bits while still being a clearly satire.

A somewhat dark look at suburban family life, relationships, marriage, and child raising in tony Connecticut. Many of these characters are nostalgic for their younger and single days in New York, when obsessing over private schools, cars, houses, and stuff was not a way of life. The author's writing is sharp and concise, her characters just south of coming unhinged. A quick, fun read. Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC.

I love me some dark humor and The Pessimists, no surprise, has this in spades. The characters were cringe worthy and incredibly memorable. This is satire about the world we are living in and will definitely resonate.

I so enjoyed the deliciously dysfunctional world of Virginia,Tripp, Margo and Richard in this domestic drama, What an excellent portrayal of American absurdity in suburbia. I thoroughly disliked the 4 idiots who seemed incapable of growing up, but then I got totally hypnotized by this fascinating story and all the hysterical trimmings that came along with it. I enjoyed this novel, its menacing undercurrent & all its characters' flaws. None of these characters were likeable, I don’t think they were supposed to be. Each character is selfish and self-absorbed in some way. The culty private school and its domineering headmistress Agnes are an allegory about materialism, aspiration, and the fallout from making children the controlling focus in the family. Delivered in a spare, breezy writing style, this story of modern dysfunction is provocative, insightful, and a delight to read.

’m not sure what I was expecting, but what I got was a dreary novel filled with unlikeable characters. Apparently, and surprisingly, it’s meant to be a hilarious satire but the laughs passed me by. Other people seem to like/love it so maybe it’s just me missing the point. (I don’t think so).

Three couples in Connecticut are linked by past friendships and by a wackadoodle school that their children attend or their parents aspire for them to attend. We first meet the characters at Virginia and Tripp’s New Year’s Eve party. Virginia is apparently gorgeous but has been diagnosed with breast cancer though, bizarrely, she is ignoring her doctor’s suggestions for treatment. Tripp is failing financially but isn’t concerned because he’s become enthralled by the prepper community and knows that catastrophe is about to strike anyway.

The other two couples, Margot and Richard and Rachel and Gunther are also floundering both in their marriages and in their lives. The chapters alternate between the different couples and their different issues.

The rock round which they all circulate is the aptly named Petra School with Agnes, its charismatic, cult-leaderesque, and dedicated to “de-education” headmistress. The school is full of the ridiculous quirks one would expect from a hippy granola private school and our couples revere and despise it, though mostly revere it.

Perhaps it would have helped if I’d read the blurb in advance so I could have been looking out for the promised “deep wit and delicious incisiveness.” Instead I found myself grudgingly slogging through a dull novel where I didn’t particularly care about any of the adults though I did feel rather concerned for their children who were stuck in a dreadful school where they weren’t allowed to learn to read too early as it might upset the other children.

Thanks to Grove and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

I do love a sharp and witty satire of marriage and suburban ennui, secrets and lies, and those rich people problems that are my comfort read (for some strange reason!)
Three couples, a sleepy Connecticut suburb, their lives all revolving around a private school, with it’s somewhat unusual philosophies and domineering head mistress with questionable connections in the past. Perceptive, amusing, and heartbreaking at times, a really fun read.

Published by Grove Press on October 12, 2021

The Pessimists takes a satirical look at an expensive private grade school in Connecticut and the white suburban parents who send their kids there. Petra School values cooperation over competition (sports are bad), regulates the children’s diets (dairy is bad), doesn’t allow students to look at cellphones or television (screens are bad), and doesn’t seem to teach kids anything, particularly reading (Harry Potter is bad) and math (memorization is bad). The school seems more interested in teaching parents about the school’s philosophy of simplicity than in educating children. The school indoctrinates parents as if they were part of a cult.

This is a novel of relationships, with a primary focus on the interactions of three couples and their varying ties to Petra School. Tripp and Virginia are keeping secrets from each other, although they find it impossible to keep secrets from their 11-year-old daughter Charlotte. Tripp isn’t paying Charlotte’s tuition at Petra because he’s buying guns and combat knives, paying for Krav Maga classes, and taking survivalist seminars. Virginia has breast cancer but refuses to be treated for it or even to mention it to Tripp. “Tripp has never gotten over the fact that stay-at-home mothers stayed at home, even after their kids were old enough to attend school.” That’s one of many reasons they have drifted apart.

Virginia misses the days when she and Tripp liked each other. Only late in the novel does Virginia tumble to the realization that Tripp is more interested in dealing with the apocalypse to come than the apocalypse that is already here. By that point, Virginia is contemplating affairs and ready for a dramatic change. Drama does, in fact, come, although its arrival feels like an arbitrary choice to provide a climax rather than a considered resolution of the issues that drive the story.

Virginia and Rachel used to work together. Rachel does freelance work in the digital world. She’s married to Gunter, a successful and well-paid architect, who reluctantly moved to the US from Stockholm at Rachel’s request. Rachel convinced Gunter to adapt to suburban living. Gunter’s version of adapting is to buy a huge Mercedes and to enjoy the cheap gasoline that Americans regard as a God-given right — although not the environmentally conscious parents who send their kids to Petra.

Gunter initially believes that Petra School is a typically American waste of money, while Rachel initially loves it. When Gunter is later influenced by a parents’ meditation group (he starts to believe he is capable of mysterious things), their positions are reversed. Gunter is strangely attracted to the woman who operates Petra School, despite (or because of) her family’s relationship with the Nazi party.

Margot wants her kids to attend Petra but the kids and her husband Richard resist her decision. Richard is Tripp’s oldest friend. Margot and Richard come across as props who add little to the story, apart from a clever scene in which Margot’s child has to remind her that she already cleaned the cabinets that she is obsessively scouring.

Gunter accuses Americans of being pessimistic, a response to seeing Tripp’s basement full of guns. Tripp likes to show them off when he’s drunk, making it odd that so much time passes with no character alerting Virginia to their existence. The three featured couples are far from a cross-section of America, but most of the adult American characters do seem pessimistic about their futures, and with good reason.

The Pessimists suffers from the familiarity of its subject matter. As a well written and occasionally amusing examination of life in a financially comfortable suburb, the novel might appeal to financially comfortable suburban parents who struggle with choices about educating their children. The story didn’t resonate with me but I’m not in that demographic group. It does seem to be the favorite demograpic of many novelists.

Private schools that don’t educate kids are an easy target, as are survivalists who sacrifice the good of their family for their obsession with weaponry. Bethany Ball sometimes hits the target with her satirical portrayal of Petra School and the parents who treat it like a cult, but at other times she seems to want the reader to take the school seriously. Her attempt to straddle the line between satire and a serious look at private schools isn’t quite satisfying, in part because Ball never asks the reader to engage in more than superficial thought about the merits of private versus public education.

Most of the characters are also unsatisfying. They come across as stereotypes rather than real people. Virginia is the exception. Her struggle and growth during the novel seem authentic. Virginia’s characterization, Ball’s engaging prose style, and a few savage moments of humor account for my recommendation.

RECOMMENDED

The banality of life for the privileged set in contemporary Connecticut told in fine detail, with several secrets, is a new novel by Bethany Ball. Three couples with children circle each other lives with the prestigious school Petra at the center.

Each character managed to look comical and sad in my reading of this short novel. Gunther probably never should have left Sweden, and he does seem to hate his successful life in the USA. He was clearly against leaving NYC for the tony suburbs of Greenwich and tells his social circle all the reasons why after his usual overindulgence in alcohol at each gathering. Each character has personal angst hidden from the group's overabundant lives in one of the wealthiest towns in this country.

BB has woven much excellent satire into this novel to make it a fun read. Each character's pain buffered the fun, but this novel gave literary substance to a genre of the lives of the real housewives of any town. I recommend it as a fine book, balancing the glamour and glitz our culture seems to adore.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atlantic Grove for the ARC.

This was dark and funny, but also serious and sad. I have read many, many books that deal with unlikable characters so it takes a lot for me to absolutely love. I didn’t necessarily feel like this book brought anything new, but it was kind of enjoyable. There was a weird disconnect between the storyline between the parents and then the school. It didn’t quite mesh well and I wish it would’ve focused more on either one.