Ali Benjamin

Wow, this is probably the first really good book I've picked up in a long, long while. The style and way of storytelling reminds me of Patrick Ness--and whoever knows me knows I absolutely adorePatrick Ness, so this is high praise indeed.

Book content warnings:
drowning
child death

After her (former) best friend drowns, twelve-year-old Suzanne "Zu" is determined to prove that she died due to the sting of a Irukandji jellyfish.

That's really the barest way to describe the novel, because this is show more really an exploration of child grief, isolation (and self-isolation) in youth, and a child's way of explaining the world, life, and death.

I wish we could have had confirmation that Zu was autistic, though, because as an autistic person reading this book, I was 100% sure she was like me. Growing up, Zu's problems were my problems, and her experiences were achingly similar to my own. But even without this confirmation, her character development and the way she's written is just so well done. I'd give anything for more books with characters like her.

I'm also touched that Zu's brother is LGBT with a boyfriend. Usually with side characters/brothers/best friends who are gay, it's just an add-in to grab some LGBT readers, and I just roll my eyes. But there's something different here, I don't know. There's something about how Zu's brother and his boyfriend are the most supportive characters; there's something about how damn healthy the relationship between her brother and his boyfriend is. It's written with such care and love that I don't mind it's a side relationship. I'm touched that it was included. That . . . never happens!

Anyway, this book taught me many things about life, grief, and jellyfish. I feel like I want to study jellyfish now! In any case, I'm definitely going to look up how I can somehow help jellyfish from taking over the seas. Or maybe get a poster of jellyfish to remind me that, yes, jellyfish are strong. They're forever. And that's pretty damn inspiring. show less

I was a little worried when I began this book. I was not in the mood for a sad book. But when I started, I could not stop. Ali Benjamin’s writing is breathtaking. She wrote in a way that made it NOT all about tragedy. I connected with the main character, Suzy, and her quirky self who is trying to prove how her friend passed away. I enjoyed the way Ali included the facts about jellyfish and the background of Suzy’s friendship with Franny. The pacing of events, background, and facts was show more perfectly well done. I recommend this not just for the middle grades, but for everyone. Amazing! show less

The Smash-Up is hard to define. It’s a novel (that’s easy) that encompasses the lives of one family but it also covers problems much larger than one town and at times, even the USA. Some themes are universal, some are local. It’s a ball of rage, unrest and unfairness set the in the Trump era told from the point of view of a white middle class man, but before you move on – it’s not like that. It’s a balanced portrayal of #MeToo, American politics and not fitting in to the cultural show more norms.

Zo and Ethan were once a couple with big dreams. She was a film maker; he was part of the internet revolution. But Ethan sold out his share and now designs websites for doctors who cherry pick evidence to suit and Zo is far too busy being angry to work on her current project. She’s part of a female activist group (All Them Witches) and is trying to get their daughter Alex in to see a paediatrician. Alex doesn’t fit in with the other kids at her private school – she’s a chatterbox and moves at a million miles per hour. Even some of her classmates’ parents are starting to question whether she belongs with their little darlings. Alex is also incredibly fun. Ethan is lost as Zo moves further away, always seeming angry (or ordering furniture online). His solace is through quiet morning walks to the local diner where he engages with his neighbours, conversations with the local UPS store employee and a weird kind of fixation with their houseguest. He’s there to attempt to pick up the pieces – oh and to try to stop a former employee of his company (now world-famous actress) from joining a class action against the co-founder.

The novel has some funny moments, as well as some jaw dropping ones. While Ethan is fairly predictable, Zo is not. She goads the police into arresting her and sometimes it seems her anger has no limits, no matter how big or small the target is. Ethan is by no means the stereotypical hero, as he spends a lot of time pondering the ‘right’ thing to do, whether it be blackmailing someone or returning a rug without telling Zo. One part I did enjoy were the flashbacks to Ethan’s company, Bränd, and their new style of marketing. It was more light hearted and fun to read about big, bold ideas after the minutiae of Ethan’s life. The ending was very powerful and really grabbed my interest as it was so unexpected (but maybe it shouldn’t have been).

Overall, The Smash-Up is very well written and held my interest as it tackled big issues from a small-town viewpoint.

Thank you to Hachette for the copy of this book. My review is honest. show less

A modern take on Ethan Frome - same oppressive Starkfield, MA different repressed emotions. Ethan is at mid-life in our current times, a little bewildered by how he got there and how to live there in our 24-7 world. "It was good until it wasn’t. all of it: the town. His marriage. Their finances. The world.” (74) His wife Zenobia is not the cold crone of the original, but she is emotionally unavailable to him, consumed by anger at our post-2016 world, and trying to take an activist stand. show more They have an extremely high-maintenance 11-yr-old daughter, Alex who has hyperactive and oppositional disorder and that is why blue-haired Gen-Z Maddy Silver, the daughter of a family friend has come to help. She does remind Ethan of some of the essential vitality of being alive, and that is attractive and tempting to him, but more than anything she complicates the family dynamic. This is part satire of our current state - Benjamin definitely has her finger on the pulse of the twenty-first century: Alex goes to the pricey Rainbow Seed school for an authentic, self-actualizing education when her local school squelches her spirit; Maddy does questionable side-jobs on Ten-Spot; Zo's women's group meets to watch the Brett Kavanaugh confirmation hearings; and bottomed-out Starkfield Main Street can't seem to offer a livelihood to locals, though nearby trendy quaint towns are thriving with an influx of NYC millennial money. Best conveyed is how all this creeps up and comes to a head in the doldrums of daily living. The smash-up in this version threatens the whole community, not just the marriage and is a result of rage-repression, rather than lust, but it is equally effective as a twist and a wake-up call to see the life you have isn't half-bad and maybe it's best to relish it. show less