I loved One Day...! I was so excited for this widget when it came through. I was not expecting a divorce book, I went in completely blind. But Scaachi writes about her divorce in such an interesting way. Emphasizing hindsight is 20/20. Talking about the disconnect between what she was going through in private and what she was showing in public. That was interesting to me. It's weird to talk about someone's lived experiences. The writing, as always, was great. Highly sarcastic and caustic. This was the first book i've read by someone my age about their divorce and it's so interesting to read about her since she's such a public figure in my world.

Really enjoyed this collection of essays, my introduction to Koul. Content-wise- the first part felt a bit redundant but I understand the style of the text leans to this. Once part 2 opened up there was some forward momentum building- overall really enjoy the collection and will be recommending it to friends once it's published.

This essay collection focuses on short stories dealing with divorce, sexual assault, eating disorders, and life in general. The author experiences as they were written in these essays was very powerful, however, I didn't love it as much as I thought I did just because I couldn't connect to many of the essays in an impactful way.

This is the first book I have read of Scaachi Koul. It was essays of her life and the things she has gone through. It felt so honest, and sometimes it felt like she was figuring things out as she wrote. Sometimes it is nice to read about someone who isn't like me because it gives me a greater understanding of what others go through.
I received an ARC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley.

I went into this book not having read Scaachi Koul's first book of essays. I do think it would have been interesting to read this to see the contradictions that she points out a few times, but otherwise I felt this had a lot to say even without the backstory. This book manages to be comedic despite covering several very heavy topics - divorce, eating disorders, rape, parental health. The book gets darker as it goes, and there is a very genuinely touching segment on her relationship with her mother towards the end that explores all the different complexities that a mother-daughter relationship can have.

I also really enjoyed her reckoning with the idea of writing personal essays, and public entitlement to her life based on that, while also reading another collection of her personal essays. A challenging tightrope to walk, and I found it very interesting.

I appreciated that she takes pains to portray both herself and her ex-husband in not the best light (there were several times that I was genuinely shocked at what she reported herself as saying during a fight), and I will admit that her insistence that fighting is love was confusing to me. It was interesting to see her parse that out.

That being said, whomever her ex-husband is, is a rat bastard.

Scaachi is one of my favorite writers, so I was excited to pick up her latest book. I see her as a near-fearless writer, never shying away from topics that feel too big or complex or scary to talk about. And this is well-reflected in this book. It is absolutely fearless the way she unwraps, in pieces, the way her life has unfolded over the past few years. While the subject matter - divorce, health of parents, pandemic - is naturally sad or tough, Scaachi oscillates between treating it seriously, reflecting on her feelings, and bringing in humor. I think it balances those things extremely well.

I am of the firm belief that there is something for everyone in this book. For anyone going through a life transition, you will want to hear her perspective. I absolutely recommend this wholeheartedly.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This memoir is perfectly titled. A "burn it all down" book by a fantastic and engaging writer. Koul may actually be the voice of a generation and I'm so glad I read this. Cultural identity, divorce, aging parents and the internet are all wrapped into on perfect burrito.

It has taken me a long time after reading to submit feedback for this book. I prefer not to publish negative reviews so I am keeping my feedback here and not sharing to GoodReads or StoryGraph. But I did not enjoy this book. I was surprised, because I’ve enjoyed so much of Scaachi Koul’s previous work. Reading it all the way to the end, hoping it would get better, was a slog. It was repetitive and not engaging.

I read Koul's first book and really enjoyed it. I've followed her online ever since. I knew she got divorced but I didn't go into this book knowing it was primarily about her divorce. Even though I am not divorced, I did enjoy this book! I liked the way Koul wove in different cultural ties and related them to what she was going through. Koul found a way to take a pretty sad scenario and add in grit and humor to make it enjoyable to read.

Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this book!

Review is scheduled to post on March 4, 2025 at www.angryangelbooks.com

Title: Sucker Punch
Author: Scaachi Koul
Source: DRC via Netgalley (St. Martin's Press) in exchange for an honest review
Publication Date: March 4, 2025
Synopsis: Goodreads
Purchase Link: Amazon

Other books by this author:
One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of this Will Matter

Why did I choose to read this book?

I am pretty sure I would thank Scaachi for sucker punching me. What an absolute queen. I would read anything she writes. Reading her work is cleansing, it makes me hopeful, it makes me want to be a better, more sharp-tongued woman. It gives me strength and feeds my soul. It makes me feel like I'm not alone in my anger, my frustration, and my sadness.

What is this book about?

You can read the synopsis of the book at the Goodreads link above. For me, this book is about how we overcome societal expectations that influence our personal goals and expectations for yourself. Who do we owe ourselves to? When we make decisions, are we making them because they are the best ones for ourselves or because we feel like others expect us to do certain things? And how do we come to terms with decisions we've made that have consequences that we have to move on from? How do we come back from things we perceive as failure? From trauma? From disappointment of ourselves or others? This book is about A LOT.

What is notable about this story?

Scaachi Koul holds nothing back. She is truthful and mean and kind and everything - she wears her heart on her sleeve and you just have to accept and deal with that yourself because she isn't about to change to accommodate you and that's a good thing. She is inspiring to all of us that might have been told we are too big, too loud, too brusque - there's hope out there!

Was anything not so great?

This collection is amazing and I have no notes. Breathtaking. If you're an angry angel like me you'll love this.

What's the verdict?

5 stars on Goodreads and I feel very comfortable saying that reading Scaachi's work should be a requirement if you want to have what it takes to survive the world/society we currently live in. Everyone will have something they will take away from this, something they will relate to or recognize, and some will read things they need to hear so maybe they can be better people. Please read BOTH Scaachi's collections so that you can have the entire journey she's been on and so you can fall in love with her like I have.

I started reading this because, having not done my due diligence, I thought it was about sports (the title checks out!). In the first chapter, the author even talks about her family's volatility and willingness to argue - I thought she was laying the foundation for how she became some wild UFC fighter. In chapter 2 I finally looked up the author and realized she was simply a Canadian writer. Nothing more. I stopped reading the book after the third chapter because in general I don't like essays. But I will say she is a captivating writer, so if humorous essays about race, love, friendship, immigrant parents, etc. is your thing, check it out!

I got this book when Netgalley offered up a free copy - I usually enjoy essay collections like this, especially when they are funny and examine social issues. I hadn't read her first book, so I don't know if it was as hilarious as the synopsis for Sucker Punch promised, but I didn't think that humor was a characteristic of this one. In fact, during the first chapter, I was groaning because the author was NOT someone who I would have wanted to be around in any capacity. The way she described her tendency toward fighting with everyone just sounded exhausting.

However, I kept reading and really warmed to her because she did such an excellent job examining her argumentative nature and her life and describing what she learned she wanted for herself. Another thing that I liked was the circular nature of the book. Usually essay collections are a fairly linear deal, but the author kept interrogating the same ideas from different angles throughout the essays, and brought things back around to her opening essay at the end. It made the book more of a planned-out package rather than a pile of separate pieces bound together.

I wondered before starting this one if I should read her first book first, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it if you haven't - she spends a lot of time in Sucker Punch analyzing things she wrote in her first book and giving her new perspective on them now that she's older and more sure of who she is.

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 losing the fight with my own body for a deceptively simple reason: i treat it as a fight in the first place. but i don't need to hide from myself, or hide myself from other people. besides, i cannot hide because no one will let me. even if i try to slink away to an invisible place, someone will come and get me. it's nice in the light if you can stand in it long enough to feel the warmth. looking at my body with my own gaze is a light unto itself. i try to stay there as much as i possibly can."

when i tell you i highlighted 70 different passages of this book, i am not exaggerating. and i'm not someone who typically annotates books. but this collection of essays is just so raw and real and relatable. i found myself in tears at 10 am on a sunday morning and laughing at 2 pm on a thursday (when i should have been working!). i found myself not wanting to stop reading to do anything else. i wanted so badly to follow Scaachi on her journey.

i can't say enough good things about sucker punch. within two chapters i knew it would be a five star read for me. it's not a book i will stop thinking about any time soon. to be seen is to be understood is to be loved. and this collection of essays is exactly that. i felt seen and understood and loved because Scaachi, at times and at last, was able to see and understand and love the parts of her story she had minimized, avoided, or felt shame around for so long. and isn't that the goal for all of us? to see our faults, to understand how we got here, to learn to love the journey towards healing and who we become through that?

i cannot recommend sucker punch enough. i hope you take the time to read it, whether you relate to Scaachi's struggles or not. it's an important essay collection and it's one that i know will change your outlook on life for the better.

I'd love to have a few drinks with her and just listen, because her voice is the kind that makes you feel you're sitting on the couch with a good friend, one who drops in aha-moments like a sage. For instance, after her divorce, she shopped for housewares but no longer even knew what she liked. BAM! Been there done that. Scaachi thoroughly addresses a number of subjects, so thoroughly at times that I had the feeling of, "Yes, we get it. Let's move on now." And while I appreciate her courage in admitting that she loves to fight, I wonder why she doesn't make a priority of addressing this issue, as it obviously does not serve her well. I'm certainly open to reading more of her writing and how she works through universal issues. Her perspective comes across as fresh, not at all a shopworn view of life. And amid the flood of memoirs and essays on the market, that's quite a feat.

Scaachi bares her heart & soul in Sucker Punch as she details her divorce and mother's illness. Her raw rendering of her deepest thoughts and feelings drew me in and had me laughing, cringing, and reconciling right along with her. Reading Scaachi's essays feels like being inside a friend's brain, normalizing your deepest insecurities and fears to make you feel braver and less alone.

I recieved this as a digital galley from NetGalley,

I didn't like this as much as Koul's prior collection but it seemed more honest and pointed. Which I think it is a plus. I wish Goodreads allowed for half stars because it was realy more like 3.5 than 3.

Tender, raw, and hilarious, this collection of essays focuses on the author’s life in the midst and aftermath of a divorce. Told in her distinctive voice, many of the essays are snarky and witty, while others are so insightful and moving that they hit like…well, a sucker punch.

I absolutely devoured this book, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys literary non-fiction, especially millennial women.

This was my first read from this author and I do really like her writing style and found some of the family stories in this book really lovely. Perhaps I didn’t go into it thinking it was going to be fully about her divorce, but it was. It’s sort of a one sided account of how bad her ex-husband was (and don’t get me wrong, he sounds awful!) and I’m assuming this was very therapeutic for her to write, but not that interesting to read unfortunately.

Interesting look at life, love, perspectives and all bathed in sarcastic humour.
I requested and received an uncorrected digital galley from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.
Avail Mar 04, 2025
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