Delighted to include this title in the January edition of Novel Encounters, my column highlighting the month’s most anticipated fiction for the Books section of Zoomer, Canada’s national lifestyle and culture magazine. (see column and mini-review at link)

Definitely not for me. Characters were so full of themselves and pretentious. Can’t wait to get out of the city on vacation (with a baby) then instead of taking care of painful (oops I forgot my breast pump) breast milk problems decide to go out on the town drinking with fiends ? What kind of decisions are these? I could not imagine being around these people in real life.

Cecile and Rueben, a thoroughly unlikeable couple who have removed themselves to Cecile's native Denmark after he was canceled in New York, alternately narrate this tale of unpleasant people. Honestly, I know that not every character has to be someone you'd enjoy a coffee with but really- Mikkel is loathsome. I struggled with this and ultimately DNF. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. Over to Lipstein's fans.

An addictive read full of complicated relationships and the merging of past and present. I deeply enjoyed getting to know the characters, the tone of the novel sat well with me, and the pace was perfect. I also loved the hyper -specific details about Copenhagen and Danish culture. Will definitely be checking out Lipstein’s other work!

Something Rotten by Andrew Lipstein, publishing on Jan 21, 2025.
The first thing that pulled me toward the book was the cover. Lipstein's other books have been on my radar for a few years, but this would be the first. The book follows Cecilie and Reuben as they flee from NYC to Denmark.
The book has an edge to it. The writing explores marriage, infidelity, morality, culture, and what it takes to have a family in 2025. I didn't love this book, but it has some moments of glory. The writing is edgy and I can see this book being for certain people. Overall, 3/5.

What a strange, well written book. I feel like every emotion came screaming off the page. I love reading about unlikable characters so I absolutely inhaled this one.

Mildly surreal story of a man who gets pulled into a Danish MRA's orbit via his wife's childhood friend shortly after he is cancelled for sexual harassment and fired from his NPR job. Shows the seductiveness of these views and the folks behind them, and how it's usually nominally women pulling the men out kicking and screaming. Fun winter read, comes out in Feb

Cecilie and Reuben are a young, professional New York couple working in journalism. However, after Reuben has been canceled from his NPR job, Cecilie is now the sole breadwinner while Reuben stays home taking care of their firstborn. Neither one of them is particularly happy with the situation. Reuben fulfills his parental duties but doesn't particularly enjoy them; Cecilie, who is Danish,  always feels slightly different, even in multicultural New York. Being fed up with tedious yet exhausting everyday activities, they go to Denmark for vacation and to reunite with Cecilie's family and friends.

But, as the title smartly suggests, taking from a famous line from "Hamlet," something is rotten in the state of Denmark. At first, they are both excited, tasting the new freedom without constantly having their baby in tow.  Cecilie meets her friends and feels she can speak the same language as others - finally! Reuben befriends Mikkels, a high-level journalist, and is strangely fascinated by Mikkel's persona. It's almost like a high school nerd suddenly finds the most popular guy who, inexplicably, wants to hang out with him.
 
When the reader figures out that this novel will deal with the traditional male model and perhaps with integrating into a new community and even a new country, Andrew Lipstein brings a significant moral dilemma. Another one of Cecile's friends, Jonas, has been diagnosed with a rare disease, but he refuses any treatment, and the only person he listens to is Mikkel. How far can one go to change the behavior and even the life of another person? What would be best for our friends? Should we lie and cheat to make them understand how wrong they are?

This is Andrew Lipstein's second book, which I read after "The Vegan," and I'm very impressed with how good a writer he is. Even though I know Cecilie and Reuben would never become my friends in real life because neither side would want it, I understand them well and can relate to their problems. There is also a feeling of loneliness and need for other people, the constant hunger for acceptance, permeating "Something rotten," which is hard to forget. I'll be thinking about this insightful novel for a long time.

Andrew Lipstein, author of THE VEGAN, returns with SOMETHING ROTTEN with such a great cover that I knew I had to request this.

An American dad and Danish mom and headed back to Denmark for a postponed parental leave for a few months with their newborn in tow. They find out that one of the mom's (Cecilie's) close circle of friends has bee diagnosed with a life threatening diagnosis.

The whole book throws into question morality - there's questionable behavior on multiple fronts some more egregious than others. Then there's the dynamic of an American perspective vs a Danish perspective and how a singular individual can be immoral in an otherwise society of well-meaning, social conforming group that tends to stick to the flock than deviate.

I found myself entirely engrossed in what was happening - you'll follow from both sides of the couple's POV and wonder when and how shit's going to hit the fan because you know it's coming.

While there was no momentous life-changing idea ultimately exposed by story's end the dynamics at play between masculinity, American and Danish culture, conforming and sociopathic behavior was teased out well in such a way that I really enjoyed my time with this one.

Cecilie is a fed-up New York Times reporter, and her husband, Reuben, is a disgraced former NPR host and grudging stay-at-home dad. Neither can wait to spend the summer in Copenhagen, Denmark, Cecilie’s hometown. But their vacation begins to turn inside out as soon as they land: Cecilie’s first love, Jonas, has been diagnosed with a rare, fatal illness. All of Cecilie’s friends are desperate to get him help—that is, except for Mikkel, a high-powered journalist who happens to be the only one Jonas will listen to, and whose influence quickly extends to Reuben.

This started off very strongly, and immediately hooked me in and, while I will admit my interest did start to falter about halfway through, it still kept me coming back all the way to the end; it was also a very quick read, and the writing was great and incredibly captivating. There's something so confusing to me about this, because I didn't even care about the characters all that much, but the story itself was what got me, and it was definitely enough, which is unusual for me. The characters were still very interesting to me, in the sense that all of them were so incredibly frustrating and flawed and honestly very awful at times, but it made them feel real. The story can get so incredibly frustrating, and it definitely is not for everyone, but it's definitely a very thought-provoking one that can spark many conversations.

Many thanks to Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

I wanted to love this but couldn’t get into it. So many characters and shifts in perspective that it was hard to keep up!

Not my favorite book I read but I didn't hate it. Back half was way more compelling than the beginning.

Couldn’t seem to get into this one. I liked how it flipped between Reuben and Cecilie’s point of view, but all the characters seemed to blend together. I didn’t find myself wanting to pick this one up. The plot seemed to be intriguing so with the right reader this could work well.

I absolutely loved this book. I thought it was something new and original that not many authors are doing anymore. Definitely a must read!

I loved this book. The talent of Andrew Lipstein is really hard to miss. The writing flows beautifully and the descriptions are vivid. I highly recommend this one.

I really enjoyed Andrew Lipstein’s previous novel, Last Resort, and was looking forward to reading his newest work. I think Lipstein has a talent for crafting propulsive plot lines and unlikeable characters. Something Rotten highlights some of these skills, but for me, there were a number of factors weighing the book down.

Something Rotten alternates chapters and perspectives between a couple: Reuben and Cecilie. I enjoyed reading each distinct voice but felt that Cecilie had almost no growth or depth throughout the novel in comparison the Reuben. The couple, while they do not seem to like each other, or really interact with one another, are bound by their baby Arnie. I was surprised by how little thought the role of parenthood plays into this novel – it almost seemed like the idea of having a child was an afterthought. Neither character interacts with their son beyond a few minutes of play time once they arrive in Denmark, so much so that their role as co-parents feels very unrealistic. In short, I didn’t feel like there was anything to tie the couple together, which made me quickly loose interest in their relationship.

I was originally attracted to the exploration of masculinity and cancel culture laid out in the book’s description, but honestly did not feel like I gained a lot of insight into either. My favorite character in the book was likely Gorm, a failure-to-launch type of character who is really underutilized in my opinion, particularly as he fits into the masculinity subplot. I was also quite disappointed in the level of passivity required to tie together the story’s medical drama. It is hard to imagine a character quite like Jonas in reality, who could be quite so gullible, and take so little impetus to understand his own health emergency. I was so tired of the back and forth of getting Jonas to care about his diagnosis that I failed to make an investment in the book’s outcome.

Overall, there were some storylines and ideas I enjoyed reading and mulling over, but the book was a miss for me.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and FSG for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review! Something Rotten will be published in January 2025.

I wanted to love this, I just felt no motivation to go back to it. The characters all blurred together for me, and I didn't feel very compelled by any of their stories.

Something Rotten started off as something that seemed right up my alley, but as I slowly made my way through the book I realized I wasn't being pulled to read this one and I sensed the start of a slump. By the 51% mark, I had no choice but to DNF. Don't get me wrong, the writing was creatively structured and I feel like it has potential for many other readers, it just was not for me.

The story follows Cecilie and Rueben who are just ready for a break after having their first child, and kick off the book by heading to Cecilie's hometown in Denmark. While there, they find out that Cecilie's childhood love, Jonas, has this mysterious illness that everyone is determined to help cure, aside from Mikkel, a journalist and the only person Jonas will listen to. Rueban slowly gets entwined with Mikkel, and begins to make some impulsive decisions, all while Cecilie is just trying to get through to Jonas.

While the plot sounds right up my alley, there was just something that was not compelling me to read this book. For some context, I started reading this on July 24th, and it is currently the 17th of September, so just a little shy of two whole months. I've found myself having to force myself to pick this one up, and after reading a little bit, I would just want to put it down and read something else.

I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters, or even just caring about what happens to them. All the characters are pretty unlikable, but I have no problem reading from characters I'm not a fan of. I don't want to sound too harsh, but I think I was just bored by them!

Bottom line: I don't usually DNF books, but after reading a little over half in two months, I coulnd't get myself to continue. For me, this one just didn't hit. But I am definitely in the. minority here, and there are many other amazing reviews for it, so give it a shot if you're interested!

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Hmm… I’m not sure how I feel after reading this. I appreciated how alive and energetic the writing was. While I didn’t love any of the individual characters I was interested in their lives. And in how all of the lies and intrigue would play out among this group of friends (who don’t seem to like each other all that much). Recommended to readers looking for an exciting friendship and relationship drama that explores identity, gender roles, and starting over. 3.5 stars.

Thank you very much to FSG and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a copy.

Good title, but the book itself isn’t as strong, instead solipsistic in an unconfiding way. Characters are smug and uninvolving, and the central themes seem to be addressed to them, not to us. Limited, in several ways.