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.

This was a weirdo of a book with each character more unlikable than the last one you met. Each characters motivation seemed to be “why not” because nothing else truly made sense, not that I’ve ever hung out with billionaires or crashed a hot air balloon into a pool that my childhood crush stood beside.

As a quick, one-sitting read, I guess this book is technically a novel, but I think it falls in that grey area between novel and novella. There are a lot of characters and POVs in this book. Despite it being so short, I feel like we really got fully-formed characters with good character arcs. None of the characters were particularly likable, BUT I really liked not liking them. 😅 I enjoyed how messy, raw, and chaotic this book was.

Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest rating and review.

This book made me feel dirty from the beginning and never really stopped. It felt yuck throughout and left me with the same feeling upon ending. The cover and description enticed me, but there were no real redeeming qualities, other than that it was a short and quick read.

The premise of Hot Air by Marcy Dermansky is unique - Joanie and her daughter are on a first date at Johnnie’s house in LA when a hot air balloon lands in Johnnie’s pool. The balloon contains Jonathon, a billionaire and his wife Julia. Coincidentally, Joanie and Jonathon went to camp together as teens and shared a kiss. Once I got all of the J names straight, I grew to love this slim novel. Dermansky has created unlikable characters who you still manage to root for. In particular, I really wanted Joanie and Vivian, Jonathon’s assistant to find their way. I really enjoyed this novel and look forward to reading Dermansky’s backlist. Thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for an advanced readers copy of the book!

I must admit, this cover caught my eye right away. Then I saw @getbookedwithlarry enjoyed it. I knew I had to read it. This is told in multiple POVs and all of the characters’ names (minus two) start with a J. Once I got that down, I really enjoyed how messy, real, annoying and unlikeable they all are. It was like being a voyeur and peeping through the door of their lives for a few days. It’s short, goes by quickly and since this was my Dermansky, I will have to check out more. It was odd, but in a good way. Thank you @netgalley for my copy!

Short and enjoyable little novel. A glimpse into the life of a divorced single mom and a rich couple having a more-exciting-than-usual weekend (and maybe realizing something about what they want and need in their lives). I couldn't put it down and read it in a single day. For fans of gossiping and absolutely no plot.

Thank you to Netgalley & Knopf for this digital copy of Hot Air.

Hot Air definitely fits into the lit fic hot girl reads genre that is absolutely booming. I think it caters to millennials a bit more in the sense it deals with marriage issues that I have seen from friends or friends of friends. Overall, it was witty and I enjoyed it!

Joannie is on her first date in Johnnie’s backyard, it’s her first since her divorce. All of a sudden a hot air ballon crashes into the pool and her first kiss/camp crush now billionaire (Jonathan) and famously philanthropic wife Julia emerge from the wreckage. Julia suggests an interesting idea of how to spend the night and the weekend just gets weirder from there.

I’m not sure what this novel was supposed to be but with 4 awful characters and a bratty child I didn’t find it an enjoyable read. What I did think was well done was the questions it raised, what is success and what is true philanthropy. Julia is a philanthropist but mainly out of boredom and the need for adoration. While I am generally bored with the rich behaving badly because they have money trope - time is was balanced with the fact that the non rich were also behaving pretty terribly as well so that part worked for me. I guess in the end, I enjoyed the message and what it brought up for me in terms of some bigger questions, but not the novel itself because I generally felt uncomfortable the whole time reading it. I listened to about 75% since I had a lot of walking and packing to do and it was a quick listen and I do think the narrator was right for the book, but not my favorite listen.

3.5 stars

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for the ARC to review

Hot Air is a short, messy, weird book that explores relationships among the main characters, Joannie, Julia, Jonathan, Johnny, and occasionally Joannie's daughter. It's an enjoyable book. but I wish it went a bit deeper.

The more books I read from Dermansky the more excited I get for her next release. This too as with Hurricane Girl is both witty and strangely different in the best of ways. Set during the pandemic, this starts off with a first date + one terrible kiss + a hot air balloon crashing into a pool. The book then spills over into relationships, parenthood, money, power and ego. All messy people doing messed up things. All shallow and eccentric. Is a fast read with short chapters told in alternating POV’s, each chapter labeled with the MC it’s referring to. One tiny thing was my mixing-up their names.. Johnny, Joannie, Jonathon and Julia. This cleared up after settling in to the story. Entertaining for sure! 4.25 stars — Pub. 3/18/25

Thanks to NetGalley for the arc. All opinions are my own.

**Hot Air** by Marcy Dermansky is a hilarious and absurd take on love, lust, and money. It follows Joannie, a single mom who gets pulled into a whirlwind of messy relationships after Johnny, a guy with an unimpressive kiss, invites her and her daughter to dinner. Things get wild when Joannie’s childhood crush, Jonathan—a billionaire she’s never quite forgotten—lands his hot air balloon in Johnny's swimming pool, kicking off a crazy weekend.

Dermansky has a knack for capturing the ridiculousness of modern relationships. Joannie is caught up in a web of feelings for Jonathan while trying to sort through her connection with Johnny and the intrigue of Jonathan’s wife, Julia.

The book dives into themes of wealth and desire, featuring characters who are both relatable and deeply flawed. With sharp humor and keen observations about power dynamics between the rich and everyone else, **Hot Air** is a funny and touching look at our obsession with money and status. It’s energetic and unpredictable, making it a great read about love and the chaos that comes with it.

This is my first book by this author and i had a lot of fun reading it! It was entertaining quick read with fun characters! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for early arc!

I tried my best to get into this story but the writing style did not work for me. It felt like a rough draft instead of a completed novel. I appreciate the opportunity to read this book in advanced.

Somehow there was so much that happened in this book, but also not much at all?

One thing about me is I love a good weird book and this book was giving weird.

We meet Joanie and Johnny at the beginning of the book, as they are on a first date at Johnny's house when all of a sudden a hot air balloon crashes into Johnny's pool. Enter the uber wealthy Johnathan and Julia. (yes the names were low key kind of mixing me up). But, turns out, Johnathan was Joanie's first kiss a long time ago at summer camp. The rest of the book follows what happens when they decide to have a sleepover and the aftermath of switching partners (kind of).

There are a lot of interpersonal relationships I wish were explored a little more in this book, specifically between Joannie and Julia, and Joannie and her daughter. But the open ended-ness of it leaves the floor open for some good discussion, I was very invested in the story line, but I just wish there was some more detail, and a more rounded out conclusion but that is just a me problem.

But it was a fun and quick read, with messy characters and who doesn't enjoy that.

Thank you NetGalley and Knopf for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was just too much of everything. Too many characters, too many sub plots and way to much dialogue.

I can not believe I finished this book. I kept thinking it was going to get better, it did not. What a poor excuse of families. marriage and adults in general.