I really loved this book! T he characters were very engaging and the plot interesting. I loved the set4ting of Copenhagen and the relationship between the two main characters was captivating. The voices felt real and I loved all the dynamics.

Reuben and Cecilie are new parents. Cecilie is a NYT reporter and Reuben is a now-disgraced former NPR host who is now a stay-at-home-parent to their baby. After a rough few months, they decide to go to Cecilie's hometown in Denmark for a break. Only once they get there, they realize that maybe a break isn't coming Cecilie's ex has been diagnosed with a rare disease and their proximity and the situation begin to unravel what's left of their sanity.

Told in dual POV, this is very much a literary novel but it manages an impressive amount of plot. Careful characterization and thoughtful drama create a realistic bordering on crazy making story that will have you immersed. While none of the characters are particularly likeable, they do feel very real and I am truly impressed with Lipstein's writing.

When we first meet Reuben and Cecilie, the couple at the center of “Something Rotten,” Andrew Lipstein’s third novel, they’re doing what a lot of 30-somethings in Brooklyn are no doubt dreaming about as you read these words: leaving for an extended stay in Europe.

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Big fan of Andrew's work and enjoyed this novel. As with his other work, the characters are interestingly drawn and morally ambiguous. I appreciate that he's also willing to delve into timely topics, too.

something rotten was an excellent read. I loved the writing and it was propulsive. Great character study. I would read more from this author.

Andrew Lipstein is a wonder - how he manages to be so such a prolific writer with a full time job in fintech AND three small children remains a mystery to me - but no matter: it has now resulted in three completely different, interesting novels in a row. Don't be alarmed or turned off by the provocative and slightly misleading cover art (this is not a novel about the painful early days of parenthood). Lipstein is an auto-read author for me so the cover was no issue, though my husband did regularly ask me how I was enjoying the "distressed baby mouth" novel 🙃

Something Rotten is very plotty, just like his previous efforts have been, but this time with the added location of Copenhagen, where Reuben and his Danish journalist wife Cecilie spend an extended parental leave months after Reuben has been fired from his NPR job for inadvertently exposing himself during a Zoom call. Once they're settled with the in-laws in Copenhagen, things start to go south as Reuben and Cecilie get caught up with her friend group and their attendant dramas. Her first love Jonas has been diagnosed with a terminal illness and all of the friends have come together to problem solve and grieve together in their own way. Journalist friend Mikkel has a persuasive role in the group and quickly exacts a svengali-like spell on an impressionable and "blank slate" guy like Reuben. Things devolve for everyone from there. If the plot sounds complicated, it kind of is and is hard to explain without spoilers, but Mikkel challenges Reuben to examine a different type of masculinity and question what he's doing with his life. Another complicating factor to the plot is the lack of quotation marks for dialogue attribution (21st century trend that won't die) and the overuse of Danish dialogue, which came off more like a flex than a necessary plot device (IMO better to just say "He said in Danish" or "they switched to speaking Danish"). It took away from the reading experience to have so much Danish dialogue that was simply chatty and not expository or revealing in any way - and trust me, I ADORE the Danes. The plot is twisty and propulsive despite its short timeframe, and the writing is excellent as usual.

Highly recommend Ben's podcast interview with Andrew on Beyond The Zero from a few weeks ago (spoiler free discussion): https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/andrew-lipstein-something-rotten/id1578980767?i=1000687088775

Many thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux and NetGalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I've never read about cancel culture quite like this! This was a FUN read, and I don't normally like that, but I liked this a whole lot. It made me laugh, think, and the writing was very literary, which I loved.

3.5 stars- my main takeaway from this book was that the Danes really like their Pepsi Max, like ALOT. It took me by surprise that Reuben was cancelled because he was having consensual with his wife and accidentally left his computer camera running in the best of the moment. Maybe it is because our current cultural climate is so vile and disgusting that someone having consensual sex in front of coworkers seems more than mild to me, and not really cancel worthy behavior. There was plenty of compare and contrast between US vs Danish culture as it pertains to gender roles, masculinity and social programs for families. I felt the main story line dragged for me though.
Thanks to NetGalley and FSG for an advanced digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

What a wild concept, end to end. It took me a while to understand what was going on (my fault, not the author’s) and by the time I was putting the picture together I had even more questions than I started with. The execution of this concept was strong, although I felt like the male MC was a little more fleshed out than the leading lady. I also thought a few points were very clever (the imagery and relationship to the baby throughout, for one), which makes me curious to read Andrew Lipstein’s previous work.

Thank you to FSG for the opportunity to read and review!

I am so thankful to FSG Books, Andrew Lipstein, and Netgalley for granting me advanced access to this book before it hits shelves on January 21, 2025. This book encapsulated true horror, and it really resonated with me.

I loved this book—it was completely unexpected in the best way. There’s a mystery at the heart of it, but it’s not really a mystery novel, which made it even more interesting. The writing is sharp, and the characters are so well done. I especially loved the introspective look at the two main characters—it really gets inside their heads in a way that makes the story feel so much deeper.

Reuben and Cecilie, while not necessarily always likable, had a lot of relatableness. There are also a lot of side characters that made the story really colorful. We get the journalism angle in the US often but the characters are usually not within a group of friends. The setup of college friends ended up adding layers to the situation and allowed for an exploration of being at the cusp of ADULT adulthood. There were also other bits of how curtain American approaches differ from other places. I honestly didn’t have a clue where the story was going but I enjoyed the humor and how it came together a lot.

What a fun read. I loved the premise. I loved the settings. I loved the title. This is a story of a disgraced/cancelled man, Rueben, who is married to a woman, Cecile, who now is the breadwinner in the family. The writing was so funny and smart and clever and I stayed up way too late to keep reading about this band of friends and family. Cecile's internal dialogue made me laugh aloud. I love when a book's setting is like a character and that's the case with Something Rotten. You'll like this one if you like character-driven books with unlikable characters. I found it fun to try to find things that are positive about these characters so that I root for them. I don't know if I ever found anything positive but it sure was fun trying. Pick this one up. It's really fun.

the characters are quite unlikeable and it works very well. 5 stars. tysm for the arc. i found the perspectives very cool.

Something Rotten follows a couple, Reuben and Cecilie, who embark for the summer to Cecilie's home country of Denmark.

Reuben is a former NPR host turned lackluster stay-at-home dad following a controversy which relieved him of his job. Cecilie is an overworked, under appreciated journalist at the New York Times, who longs for her relationships back in Denmark, as well as a return to a state of normalcy which she connects to her Danish roots. Upon arriving in Denmark, Cecilie discovers from her group of friends that her ex-boyfriend Jonas has been diagnosed with a fatal illness, prompting her to relive parts of their relationship.

Something Rotten is messy, cut throat and explores the lives of characters that you almost immediately dislike or have no connection with, however, you do not want to stop reading.

For me, areas that caused confusion were the lack of quotation marks for the speakers. Although the italicized speeches were not the hardest to follow, there were many areas in the book where once word was not in italics and I do not know if this was an editing issue or if those areas were intended to be a main point.
Although it was probably a choice, we were never given a moment to really love any of the characters which I think as a reader I could have come to have some moments, although being said they are largely unlikeable. For example, we get surface level information about Jonas and Cecilie which did not make me feel very connected to the journey they were experiencing.
I do think that one more viewpoint should have been included from Mikkel, I did not need a full explanation, however, why highlight his viewpoint once and never come back to it?

Overall, I would suggest this as a summertime read. I liked the twisting and turning of the plot, I felt at times there were a hundred different directions I was being pulled. However, the characters were a bit underdeveloped, I was missing any sort of draw towards them emotionally. Lastly, areas of the plot were a bit sparse and felt incomplete.

Based on the synopsis, and specifically this sentence - "As Mikkel indoctrinates Reuben with ever more depraved stunts, Reuben senses something is seriously amiss" - I was expecting a strange, twisted, or even depraved read. This was not that.

This is a literary fiction with unlikeable characters discussing their jobs, relationships, desires and motivations, and going back and forth about a character's inoperable medical diagnosis - whether the diagnosis is correct, why the friend isn't taking it seriously, if they should get a second opinion, etc.

We alternate between married couple Reuben and Cecilie's points of view. They've recently had a baby and are on vacation in Denmark. (The newborn and parenting take up a surprisingly small amount of this book). I was intrigued by Reuben's intoxication with Mikkel and their strange dynamic/relationship, but it never went in the direction I was hoping, and I was ultimately left a little bored. The cover and synopsis are a bit deceptive in my opinion.

I would recommend this to someone who likes literary fiction that is just following characters as they discuss their lives, relationships, desires, etc., where there isn't a strong plot moving the story along. This reminded me style/vibe wise of Evenings & Weekends by Oisin McKenna, and Sally Rooney.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy for review.

Honestly, in the beginning of this book I thought it would give me a reading slump, but thankfully it didn't!! And it actually turned out to be very entertaining!
"Something rotten" gives an interesting take on masculinity and honesty, guilt and responsibility, love and friendship in times of tragedy.
There are some surprising twists in this book which I loved.

Thank you NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for this ARC.

Something Rotten left me confused and angry and I think that is the right reaction to this novel. The characters feel authentic and when they do terrible and shitty things and act like they are morally right it just sits in your gut. Rueben has been cancelled and jobless for two years and has become the de facto caretaker of the house and the newborn baby. Once he arrives in Denmark for the summer he immediately becomes sucked into the web of lives of his wife's old friend Mikkel and begins to question the ideas of masculinity and his own place there. Cecilie is grateful to be off of work for some time but herself becomes caught up in her the sudden illness of her ex-boyfriend Jonas.

These characters pissed me off so much and yet I needed to know what happened next. It was an interesting look at these political themes of masculinity, cancel culture, and European vs American beliefs.

I'm genuinely sad to say that this just wasn't my cup of tea.
After starting off SO strong, it went downhill for me when the focus shifted to politics and the differences between countries for too long. I really enjoyed the additional perspective at first, but over time it became confusing (a "me" thing maybe, that's okay) and/or so tangential I lost the determination/curiosity to finish it out.

The humor and sincerity were definitely there though, so I ended up purchasing The Vegan and am really excited to give that a try instead.

Not a very helpful review since it didn't outright dislike it, sorry!
Just know it does require thinking and doesn't maintain a tone as funny as the cover & synopsis would suggest. Or did to me.

The dedication is precious from what I saw on Instagram though (the DRC didn't have it filled in yet, totally fine!!), so at the very least give that a gander.

Because this feels like way more of a "me" problem than the book's, I'm not going to carry this review over to GR, IG or Storygraph. I don't think it's fair to Andrew.
{Thank you bunches to NetGalley, Andrew Lipstein and FSG for the DRC in exchange for my honest review!}

This started out so good then devolved into something really silly and trite. The twist was obvious but well written but I found myself hating every single character in this book by the end. Plus, I have a bit of a problem with a man writing a woman character in the way that this author chose ... it was supposed to be a commentary on masculinity but was still misogynistic. Still, well written and if you like this author, you will probably enjoy this one!

Something Rotten comes out next week on January 21, 2025 and you can purchase HERE.

But therapy also taught her that the word itself, closure, was absurd; healing did not come from a cessation of feelings, but from understanding they would never end.