I’m in awe of Marcy Dermansky’s writing style. I don’t, however, know that I love it. It’s razor-sharp and clever, but it’s also halting and a little off-putting. But you can't deny she has a strong voice and wields it with a purpose.

This is sort of a story about a sleepover from hell: A woman’s first date in a long time is with a guy who’s a bad kisser, and they’re interrupted when a hot air balloon crashes into his pool and out pops a conservative billionaire who sleeps around and his liberal, philanthropist wife who thinks she wants to adopt a baby from Vietnam. (Both the billionaire and his wife are obsessed with his assistant, but for different reasons.) They all spend the night—sharing rooms and beds, not with the people they came in with—while the kids sleep downstairs. And then, somehow, the book gets weirder than a crashing hot air balloon as Johnny, Joannie, Jonathon, and Julia navigate their dynamic and interactions.

At its core, though, this is a book about relationships, parenthood, power dynamics, identity, and self-worth. The story starts as one thing, but as you spend time inside all the characters’ POVs, the story becomes one of how we find fulfillment, what we need to be happy, and how we get our lives back on track after they’ve been derailed. There’s a decent amount of heart and thoughtfulness under all these shenanigans.

Dermansky’s style—her quick chapters and even quicker sentences, her alternating POV chapters—make this a breezy read. And she manages to convey a ton of characterization in a slim novel. All these people are terrible in some way or another, but you understand some of them and root for a couple of them. Everyone is miserable. Everyone wants what someone else has. No one has any clue what on earth is going on. This novel felt a bit like a dream—hazy and unfocused with no real plot. But it’s a rollickingly strange time, and I had fun reading it. (I think?) Part of me wishes Dermansky had gone even weirder with the story and fleshed it out a little, but there's a good chance that if this book had been longer, what I found quirky would have become grating. 

I’m still not sure how I feel about Dermansky’s writing style, and I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this odd little book—but you can’t say it wasn’t enjoyable, and you can’t say she isn’t wickedly talented. 

Thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for providing me with an e-ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a well paced read on the lighter side. The characters are well developed and interesting adding to read. All in all , it is worth my time to read it and I will read more from this author in the future. Thanks to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a copy of this read.

Hot Air is full of messy, seemingly unhinged adults who collide at pivotal moments in their lives. A single mom with the adorable daughter. A single dad with a soccer playing son. A couple celebrating an anniversary. An assistant who sees and knows too much. Lives intertwine and liberties are taken with each other and with their hearts' desires as they try to figure out what's next for themselves. Two of them have a shared past that influences their present interaction, while two others make a quick decision to cross into intimate territory. One wants to reinvent themselves, while another wants to figure out who they are meant to be. Money, power, ego, sex, marriage, kids, and more are central to all their lives. And in the end, it seems to me that they are all just trying to escape their current situations.

This was a whirlwind of a ride that found adults making some questionable decisions as they questioned themselves. I liked the storyline pacing and the character descriptions. They were so well defined by the author that it left no imagination on who they were and how quickly I could probably pick them out if we were to pass on the street. Setting the timeline for when the country was coming out of the pandemic was very relatable to me. I can recall those feelings of concern/worry when first going back to public places. And as a Universal Studios fan, those scenes were all too real of being caught at a massive theme park feeling overstimulated and exhausted.

Solid 3.75 out of 5 star read for the moments that made me cringe, raise my eyebrows, laugh out loud, and shake my head. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Joannie hadn’t been on a date in seven years when Johnny invites Joannie and her daughter to dinner. His house is beautiful, his son is sweet, and their first kiss is, well, it’s not the best, but Joannie could convince herself it was nice enough. But when Joannie’s childhood crush, a summer-camp fling turned famous billionaire, crash-lands his hot-air balloon in Johnny’s swimming pool, Joannie dives in.
Soon she finds herself alighting on a lost weekend with Johnny, Jonathan, and Julia, his smart, stunning wife. Does Joannie want Jonathan? Does Julia want her husband? Or Joannie? Or Joannie’s beautiful little girl, Lucy? Does Johnny want Julia? Does Jonathan want Joannie, or Julia, or maybe, his much younger personal assistant, Vivian, who is tasked to fix it all? A tale of lust and money and lust for money.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Knopf for this digital e-arc.*

Real Rating: 3.75* of five

<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_%26_Carol_%26_Ted_%26_Alice" target="_blank"><i>Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice</i></a> for modern times. A bit prim and a lot heteronormative for my taste.

I'm not mad about it, also not mad I read it. Some decent one-liners in here.

Hot Air begins with a bang - Joannie and Johnny are on a first date in his backyard when a hot air balloon crashes into Johnny’s pool. Even stranger is that the balloon pilot, Johnathon, is a famous billionaire and Joanie’s first kiss. Johnathon’s balloon adventure was supposed to be a romantic surprise for his wife, Julia, but, to be honest, Julia is rather sick of her husband’s antics. One night together soon turns into a weekend as their lives become even more entangled.

This book immediately sucked me in and before I knew it I was 30% of the way through. I loved how the author chose to tell the story from so many different points of view. Everyone was kind of terrible, but in seeing the weekend through their eyes they all made sense and felt real to me. Hot Air definitely kept me entertained and I wanted to see how the story would end, but then it was just over. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but I still ended up feeling a little let down at the end as everyone just carries on with their lives as expected. But maybe that’s the point.

I really did enjoy this author’s storytelling and engaging writing style. I’m happy to see they have a backlist to explore and I look forward to reading from them again on the future.

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for a review copy.

HOT AIR: A NOVEL seems like an over-reach on the title; this is a short book closer to a novella. The time frame is a short weekend plus and the setting might be just called ‘lifestyles influenced by extreme wealth.’ The characters are well-developed and their POV is completely explored and given voice. The problem is the characters are by turns privileged, entitled and annoying; they manage to break things and people in their world without regard for outcomes. Author Marcy Dermansky has created a clever little book and her imagination provides food for thought. I received my copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

I enjoyed the writing and the multiple POVs and the premise is interesting. I found myself asking, what was the point after finishing it though.

This book definitely keeps the pages turning, but by the end it feels like a bit of a waste of time. The short, choppy sentences were annoying, and the fact that none of the characters are likable in any way also got on my nerves. I don't mind unlikable characters as long as there's something interesting about how they're interacting. That was here, but it was repetitive. Nothing surprised me and at the end I was just left kind of....blah.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an advance reader's copy of this book.

I enjoyed this thought provoking and offbeat novel by Marcy Dermansky. Joannie is on a first date when a man she knows from her past and his wife crash their hot air balloon into her date’s swimming pool. The couples end up partying together and stay the night. The book spans a few days in their lives and takes on the different character’s point of views.

Such a unique read! Quick and quirky--glad I got to read it!

Thank you NetGalley and Marcy Dermansky!

Hot Air starts with an intriguing premise — a billionaire and his wife crash their hot air balloon into a swimming pool, setting off a chain of events that ties together an eclectic cast of characters. While the setup is undeniably fun, the execution falls a bit flat. The story had potential for chaos and clever twists, but instead, it plays things a little too safe. By the end, everything wraps up a bit too neatly, leaving the whole experience feeling somewhat forgettable. An entertaining read, but one that doesn't quite live up to its promising concept.

3.5 stars! I've enjoyed some of Marcy Dermansky's books in the past, so I was extra excited to read HOT AIR! I really liked her sharp, witty writing and the messiness of these characters. The story is described as "joyfully unhinged," which I think is definitely apt—it has its moments of being "weird" and chaotic, but is undeniably entertaining throughout! Overall, I would recommend this one for an good, quick read. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for the ARC.

When I saw the amazing cover for Hot Air, I immediately NEEDED to read it. It starts off with a bang. Well, kind of. A hot air balloon crashes into someone's backyard. It's the meet cute of four characters whose names all begin with the letter "J" (something I found hilarious, especially when Dermansky even points out how ridiculous it is). And we follow these characters along for a few days as they entangle and disentangle their lives. Dermansky's sharp and witty writing had me hooked and laughing out loud in the beginning. I did feel the story lost steam at some point and left me wanting a bit more from it. It raises many interesting topics such as wealth (how the rich spend it and the desperate decisions one makes when they don't have it), marriage, sex, parenthood and success. It's a quick read with messy and somewhat unlikable characters.

3.5 Stars! I'd definitely read another book by Dermansky..

I wanted to start this review with a list of which character was the most hateable, in order - because every character in this small story was quite detestable. However, the number one spot changed with each perspective we got, so that list would actually be quite challenging to make. I will say, this speaks to Dermansky's writing abilities, as I found myself rolling my eyes and scoffing at the ridiculousness of every character at least two to three times, if not more. The story is quick and punchy without much "point" - rich people behaving badly. Entitled people being entitled. A fun travel or vacation read if you're into those sort of things. 3 STARS.

This title comes out Tuesday March 18th. Thank your to NetGalley and Knopf for the eARC

This is a short book about a hot air balloon that crashes into a swimming pool in a backyard during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the house, a man and woman are on their first date (with their kids watching movies inside the house). In the balloon is an extremely wealthy couple. The crash begins a whirlwind few days in the lives of these people. I feel like the short length left me needing a bit more.

The prose had a brittle intensity that kept me at arms length from the story. Dermansky always writes with bite and directness but usually the heart of the characters keeps beating strong and that heartbeat was missing for me here. Bad Marie remains my unsurpassed favorite of Marcy Dermansky’s novels.

Johnny and Joannie are on a first date when a billionaire she knew as a kid crash lands in the pool with his wife… on his hot air balloon.

This was an interesting story that flies by but warning, it’s not a book for prudes! It’s like every character had their own hang ups about themselves and each other and had them acting out in new ways. I loved their conversations and interactions with each other and being privy to their thoughts as the perspectives changed. This is definitely a unique read.

“A hot air balloon in his backyard. A beautiful woman literally asking to come into his bed. No games, no foreplay. It has been a while. Dating was so much work. How could he say no?”

Hot Air comes out 3/18.

This was such a good read and a total trip and largely enjoyable. I love some morally questionable characters. I love a goofy hot air balloon opening. I love stray cats! Marcy does not miss!!!

Thanks to NetGalley, Knopf, and Marcy Dermansky for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Marcy Dermansky’s Hot Air begins with a hot air balloon making an emergency landing in a backyard pool. Joannie is on a date (her first in some time) with Johnnie (a terrible kisser), the owner of the backyard pool when her now ridiculously wealthy childhood first kiss, Jonathan, and his wife, Julia, abruptly end their romantic anniversary air balloon ride with a watery ending. The quirkiness and absurdity continue as Julia suggests she and Joannie swap partners. The plot gets even more complicated when Julia becomes obsessed with Joannie’s daughter and takes the two on a vacation to Universal Studios to visit Harry Potter world.

A big fan of Dermansky’s Hurricane Girl, I was very excited to read Hot Air. Readers who enjoy stories that are truthful, just a little absurd, and coincidental will enjoy Hot Air.