"Hot Air" is full of odd people behaving badly. The cast of characters includes a tech billionaire and his philanthropist wife, their young and beautiful assistant, a divorced mom who's also a struggling novelist and a sex-crazed divorced dad. When the billionaire couple crashes their hot air balloon into the divorced dad's beautiful swimming pool, a chaotic few days of sex, travel, lust and bad parenting ensue. Author Marcy Dermansky drops the reader inside each character's mind, allowing you to see just how shallow, lustful and worried each of them is. There's no moral to the story here, unless it's that our materialistic society is corrosive in every way and to every person, no matter how rich.

I enjoyed swimming around in this quirky little book. The characters are all over the place morally, the setting is so fantastical you can’t help but suspend disbelief, and the writing is somehow matter of fact yet vivid in its world building through character development.

It’s not going to be for everyone; the characters are not always endearing, but I liked how subtly wealth inequality, especially during the pandemic, is highlighted through each of them. For some, all problems can be solved with money, and for others, not so much.

At first I was not super convinced that I’d like this story, but I hesitated to put it down because Hurricane Girl is an absolute favorite. I’m glad I stuck it out because once I reached the second half, I was completely hooked. This is a small glimpse into the wildest random interaction your brain could conjure up. You know those people you meet in a bar bathroom and have a wild night out until 6 am with only to never speak again? Hot Air is like that but on steroids. None of the characters are great people, but they’re well done. It’s just an intriguing story. The scandal, the drama! Yet it’s done in an understated way which makes it more palatable.

40/100 or 2.0 stars

I understand what the author was trying to do with this, but it was all over the place. I really tried to get into this.
I was hoping it was unhinged like the synopsis and some of the review on Goodreads were saying. Unfortunately, this was not unhinged and rather a combination of unrealistic and straight up creepy (Julia's obsession with Lucy made me so beyond uncomfortable and not in any way shape or form in a good way). It was reading fast, but after Julia kept talking about Lucy and not wanting to leave the house, I had to stop. I got to about 46% before I DNFd this one.

this was light as hot air - occasionally funny, mostly annoying with unbelievable characters. very hard to suspend my disbelief. appreciated the concept but a miss on execution.

This was my first Marcy Dermansky. I requested it because Roxane Gay, who I adore, loved this book. Sadly, the absurdity and comedic aspects of it didn't work for me. I'm not proud of this - I wish I could lighten up and enjoy this story, but that's just not where I'm at right now. Maybe I'll try again. Thank you to the publisher for this ARC. I'm sure it will do brilliantly.

The plot centers on a group of characters who are forced to share space with one another after a billionaire and his wife crash their hot air balloon into the middle of a first date between another couple. I was immediately intrigued by this premise, as well as the striking cover. Most of the characters in the book are extremely wealthy, and all of them are, more often than not, insufferable and self-absorbed. Despite their mutual disdain, however, there is an undeniable attraction between them—much like the morbid fascination one might feel for a trainwreck.

Dermansky excels at capturing the often inappropriate inner monologues of her characters—exposing their struggles with desire, self-image, failure, wealth, status, and narcissism. The novel does a brilliant job of showcasing how the ultra-rich frequently suffer from a “savior complex,” not out of any genuine desire to help others, but to elevate their own self-image. These characters, in the hands of a lesser writer, could easily become loathsome; yet Dermansky imbues them with moments of vulnerability that offer brief glimpses of tenderness, humanizing them in small but meaningful ways. Still, they remain irritating and shallow.

That said, I did find it difficult to understand some of the characters' motivations, as the shifts in their behavior—from one line to the next—often felt abrupt and inconsistent. While I appreciated the brisk pacing and the book’s short length, this pace sometimes left the character dynamics feeling underdeveloped. Nevertheless, due to its lighthearted subject matter and beautiful cover, this book could easily become a popular beach read during the summer months.

Thank you to Netgalley, the author (Marcy Dermansky), and the publisher (Knopf) for an advanced copy. Thoughts and review are completely my own.

I have no idea how this book came to be but I cannot stop thinking about it. The characters are SO messy. I don’t know if I truly was rooting for any of them (children included) but it was done so well. I haven’t read anything like this and will be recommending it every chance I get because I want to discuss it with everyone!

This is the first book I’ve read by this author and it’s fast paced, witty, and the story is told with alternating points of view. An entertaining and quick read!

This is the first book I have read by Marcy Dermansky and was unsure about HOT AIR. I somewhat enjoyed the story line, and the quirkiness of the book. I also like that pacing of the story, it was a quick and move right along pace. Why do all the characters have a name that starts with J? Joannie, Julia, Johnny, and Johnathan. Ugh…I kept losing who was who. This began to get frustrated.

Overall, I did enjoy the book besides my small hangups. It was a 3-star read for me.

I had the honor of reading this ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Knopf.

I've been looking forward to this book since reading Very Nice last year. I loved it so much that I needed more of Marcy Dermansky’s writing as soon as possible. Luckily, I got it sooner than expected—I was fortunate to receive an ARC from Alfred A. Knopf via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hot Air follows a woman on a first date with a man while their children from previous marriages have a playdate. Their evening takes an unexpected turn when another couple crash-lands in the middle of their date via a hot air balloon. The group ends up all hanging out and dealing with this strange and unexpected situation together. It might sound completely random, but that’s part of what makes it so great.

What I find so compelling about Dermansky’s writing is how she creates these exaggerated characters and presents them in such a blunt, detached way. It has a satirical energy, but it’s not entirely satirical—there's an emotional undercurrent that makes them more than just caricatures. All of the main characters are odd, un-hinged, and strangely mechanical, which makes it a really fun read.

The book will be Mar 18 2025, and I definitely recommend checking it out!

Messy, unlikeable characters. First book I have read by this authors. Honestly hot air balloons go by in my town all the time so the premise on that end wasn’t too crazy because my husbands parents used to have them land in his yard sometimes, it was near the launching station. But the characters were soooo messy and sometimes hard to follow with similar names and I really didn’t like any of them but that was the point of the book.

This was good, but just not for me. There was SO MUCH going on. Quirky? Maybe. It was good, but overall not for me.

This is definitely a "not for everyone" book, but, for me, it was a great read! I tend to love short and quirky books, and this one hit the sweet spot for me. I enjoyed the way the narrative cycled through character point-of-views, with the ending of each providing a clear and interesting jumping off point for the next. The people in this story were often ridiculous, but in very human (and, for me, relatable) ways. They are all at some sort of crossroads in their emotional/relational lives. To some extent, this is because the book is set at the tail end of peak pandemic, a disorienting time for all of us. So to watch each character grapple with emotions and choices and figuring out who the heck they are and want to be worked for me. In terms of plot, the utter absurdity of the situations introduced throughout the book echoed the general absurdity of the world and was highly entertaining. So no, not for everyone, but for anyone who likes books like this, I think it fits in the "quirky gem" category, if there is such a thing. :)

This was so weird, but so entertaining. Hot air balloon, swingers, and Harry Potter world? Sold. I didn’t care for any of the characters which is all that kept this from being rated higher.

I had enjoyed Dermansky’s previous book Hurricane Girl, so I was excited for this one. I was disappointed. This is a lighthearted beach read that written in a short sentence style that just didn’t gel with my brain. The premise is somewhat absurd, but I didn’t think the character development or plot made up for it. I found the characters unlikeable and unbelievable. The ending fell flat for me. I think Dermansky had a great idea. I found the execution to be lackluster.

I absolutely LOVED this new novel from Marcy Dermansky! It's weird, wonderful, cringey, riveting and all the things!

I feel it's best to go in blind, but if you like characters making extremely weird and bad decisions, this is your book. It's short and sweet, easy to get through in a day or two, and so difficult to put down. We start with a hot air balloon falling from the sky, and the story goes from there. Not a lot happens, but also things just keep happening, if that makes sense.

One of my favorites of 2025 for sure!

Joannie and Johnny are on a first date at his house when a hot air balloon crashes into his pool. Joannie rushes in to rescue the man, only to find that he was her first kiss from summer camp years ago. Jonathan and his wife, Julia, the date “crashers” end up staying the night, after Julia suggests they trade partners. Oh, but also Joannie’s daughter and Johnny’s son are there, having a sleepover in the basement. The next day, Joannie and her daughter visit Jonathan and Julia’s house to swim in their pool and eat lobster, before Joannie has sex with her daughter sleeping in the same room, and before Julia whisks them away on an ill-fated trip to Disney World. Behind the seeming brightness of Jonathan and Julia’s world and wealth lay a lot of darkness, into which Joannie and Johnny insert themselves.

This was a funky little book! If the events of this book felt incredibly surreal, then the confused thoughts and emotions of the main characters were perhaps all too real, if only because their thoughts and words/actions weren’t always aligned. As I read it, this was a book about desire and jealousy, defining happiness, relationships, “family,” and growing up. I can’t say I liked any of the characters, and perhaps resented Joannie the most for her overindulgent childishness.

While all the relationships, save perhaps for that between Johnny and his son, were certainly bizarre, the relationship between Jonathan and Julia and Vivian, Jonathan’s assistant, definitely took the cake. Between gaslighting Vivian about their family-like relationship but also creating incredibly strict boundaries about behavior and discussion (all while she lives in the guesthouse and eats all meals with them), Julia’s exploration of adopting a Vietnamese baby like Vivian, and the sexual tension between Vivian and Jonathan with not so subtle power dynamics-undertones, Dermansky really managed to paint a strange world.

At the same time, I appreciate Dermansky’s writing of these characters - in life, not everyone is likable, not everyone has net positive traits, not everyone’s motives are always good or benevolent. The continued narration changes between the 5 adult characters was well done, especially when the internal dialogue was concerned with the others’ perceptions…and then we got it in the next chapters.

If anything, in writing this review, I’ve realized that my confused take on this book in a way reflects the confusion within the characters and their relationships. Something just felt a little off to me about this book, and I can’t tell if that’s because it wasn’t really for me, or if that was the intention. But in the end, this is a book that has stayed with me!

Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for this free eARC, and for giving me the opportunity to read this book and write an honest review.

This short novel is a speed read. I had to know what each character was thinking throughout. Each chapter is based on a character's POV. Everyone has preconceived ideas about each other and are also completely unaware of how they are acting themselves. Johnny, Jonathan, Julia, and Joannie, including Lucy and Vivian are each unique and each terrible. Lucy because she's 8 and everyone else's 8 year old sucks. Johnny is one of those mid white men who think they are god's gift to earth and it was cringe reading his chapters - so really life-like. Jonathan is rich and completely in his own world but maybe the most self-aware out of all of them. Julia, Jonathan's wife is a philanthropist and wants a baby girl so bad when she leeches onto Lucy and starts to rethink having kids, which is good because she is so selfish! Julia was probably the worst because she's constantly nagging on Jonathan to be better and to be aware but really she needs to take her own advice. Joannie is supposed to be the relatable one, but she has no confidence in herself and it's disappointing. Vivian is similar, even though she thinks she's better than Joannie but in literally the exact same position or worse. Anyways, I love a good book on character development, or no character development seeing how this book finished.

Dermansky drives home the point of "the grass is NOT always greener" in her latest slim novel. This is my first experience with this author but I'm impressed. I found this poignant, hilarious at times and over the top FUN. I was invested in these hot mess express characters and how far they would take things. I'm not sure how I was supposed to feel about Lucy (the kid) but she drove me bonkers. Kids man. Lucy really needed to give her Mom a break. Nonetheless, I liked how the story progressed and the resolution. It left me a very satisfied reader.