Scaachi Kohl's sophomore memoir and she did not disappoint. There is a candor to Scaachi's writing that I always appreciate. She is honesty, abrasive and very much a Millennial just trying to get through life. Through in a divorce before she was 30 and you have a recipe for relatable story that is easy to connect with. I also appreciate when she talks about her relationship with her parents and how it impacts her relationships which I found relatable,

While I had to wait 8 years for this, I think it was worth it and I will continue to support Scaachi in anything she does and I can't wait to pick up a physical copy.

Sucker Punch follows Scaachi Koul's life far from where her debut book left us. One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter ended with a sense of hope for a life to be embarked on with her then-boyfriend; Sucker Punch begins at divorce and unravels a rocky marriage from there. There are commonalities as both books explore themes of culture, family, and love with a deep sense of humour, yet, heartbreak and experience appears to sharpen Koul's narrative voice delivering something even more distinctive as Koul opts not to roll with the punches but instead bites back.

A personal collection of essays in which Canadian writer Scacchi Koul shares her experiences with divorce, rape, body image, disordered eating, life during the pandemic and more. This was good on audio narrated by the author herself but I'm not sure I liked it quite as much as her first book. Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early digital and audio copy in exchange for my honest review!

I have been dying to get my hands on an ARC of this and so naturally, once I got one, I devoured it. Scaachi Koul has been one of my favourite culture writers for a while now, and I really liked her first book of essays. More introspective and vulnerable, this is an examination of her life after her marriage fell apart - a kind of post-mortem, but also a tentative re-introduction.

Koul is open about her faults, and the things she should have and could have done differently. She talks about the stories she told herself, and the reality of having to examine everything when she lives her life so publicly and online. There’s lots of anger and regret, but there’s lots of love and desire to heal, and not to totally burn everything down, not anymore.

I’m the same age as Koul, and so I think the sadness of Sucker Punch, the way the pandemic shaped how she dealt with her relationship, and her references make sense to me. But we are also very different, and her storytelling about the Indian diaspora, and her own experiences as an immigrant, even as a Canadian to the US, we’re illuminating. I laughed, I cried, I needed to sit with it for a bit. And isn’t that all we want?