Sarah Levy has written a memoir that joins the ranks of Caroline Knapp's Drinking a Love Story as an essential women's recovery book. With admirable vulnerability, Levy lays bare her relationship with alcohol in a series of interconnected essays that mix humor and palpable rawness. A vital read for anyone thinking about changing their relationship with alcohol, Levy's book charts a lost young woman's journey to finding herself and freedom from alcohol.

Disclosure I received a free copy of this book through netgalley. This review is my honest opinion .

I really enjoyed Sarah Levy's account of being a woman in her 20s and struggling with issues that many of us face-body insecurities, dating and friendship woes, and how these really contribute to the culture of binge drinking. A lot of sobriety memoirs focus on the rock bottom moment, but I think she did a great job of changing that narrative, and how important it is to normalize conversations around alcohol use that's unhealthy. She also provides some really insightful experiences of life after quitting-navigating dating, holidays, work situations that revolve around drinking, and the pressures of social media. Really great debut, and as someone who reads a lot of memoirs about substance use and mental health, this one takes a unique and fresh approach to the subject.

Although I am not sober myself, I enjoy reading books about sobriety because I think there's always room for improvement in your relationship with alchohol. That being said, I loved this book. Sarah Levy was completely transparent about her struggles and issues with drinking and I never once felt she was coming from a place of judgement. I think this book will help so many and I'm so glad it exists.

This is the first addiction memoir I think really speaks to younger millennial women, connecting the ideas about gender, feminism, womanhood, and work that we received in our teens to the thorny issue of alcohol and substance abuse. I loved the author's frankness and her gentleness. Going to recommend this in and out of class, especially for the way it talks about gender, substances, and the body.

Feel very mixed about this book. While it gives plenty of insight into what alcoholism and sobriety can look like for a young woman, I don’t think she did enough to acknowledge the incredible amount of privilege she had, the issues around (not) consenting to sex while blackout drunk, nor any science or real research around recovery. For people struggling with moderation while drinking or who know someone who is, this could offer some helpful insight (she is in a healthy and happy place when she concludes the book) but I believe she is still early in her recovery/healing journey.

Some of my favorite quotes:

“But the truth was, I was powerless over alcohol. When I drank, I lost control. In the presence of alcohol, I put myself in dangerous situations, woke up next to strangers, and lost huge chunks of my memory…A few months into sobriety, it hit me: the insanity of my drinking was my inability to accept that it wasn’t serving me. Once I fully accepted that I simply couldn’t drink safely, I felt an incredible amount of relief. I didn’t have to work harder to be “better” at drinking. I just could not drink.”

“It took me years to understand that the outsides didn't matter; the shame, anxiety, frustration, and loneliness I felt after I drank qualified me for sobriety. And in time, I learned that rock bottom, like anything else, looks different for different people.”

“I hope that social stigma around alcohol use disorder, treatment modalities, and sobriety shifts one day. But until then, I'm trying to keep it simple. I think about my recovery meetings in the same way I think about yoga classes: they are a practice and part of my routine that allow me to show up as a present participant in my life. Along the way, they taught me to ask for help, introduced me to women who built big lives without a drink, and offered me a place to go when I felt lost. Most of all, they gave me what I searched for in every cocktail: the deepest, purest, and most genuine belief that everything was going to be okay. For that, and so much more, I'm grateful.”

✨BOOK REVIEW✨
Drinking Games
By Sarah Levy

This book was so refreshing! It was such a great memoir and it didn’t seem to sugar coat the topic at hand.

In Drinking Games, Sarah Levy takes us through her story of her toxic relationship with alcohol.

As having struggled with alcohol, and the life that goes with it myself in my younger years, there were parts of this memoir that read like a mirror to me.

Levy speaks about how her last drink was just the beginning of her life, something it took me much longer to realize.

I greatly enjoyed this one, and how it addressed the issue of not only alcoholism, but also the feelings of pressure that young women in society endure in all aspects of life.

Highly recommend this one!
It’s out on January 23rd, 2023!

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thanks so much to @sarahplevy for sharing her incredible story. Thanks also to @stmartinspress and to @netgalley for sending me an ARC of this wonderful book, in exchange for my review.

QOTD: Do you enjoy reading Memoirs?
For me it depends on the topic and the person. Loved this one❤️

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Thank you Netgalley for this audio edition of Drinking Games by Sarah Levy.

This is a memoir read by Levy about her relationship with alcohol as she grows up. It's incredibly honest and gritty, and I learned a lot. She also warns about modern day issues people face today, disordered eating, perfectly curated social media presence, and mental illness. I can see this as a huge balm for anyone, especially young people who experience these things. It was also an enjoyable and very well written read.

In this memoir, Levy lays it out on the line about her struggles and addiction to alcohol. I found myself laughing with her, crying at some of her stories and even relating in some level to the struggles she has on a social level. Her voice and prose is truly relatable and authentic - I could feel myself with her on this ride.

Sometimes in memoirs, I feel the authors can try too hard to “get” their audience, but in this case, Levy didn’t have to try at all; she had me from the first page. Her analysis of AA and the program was fresh and interesting. I think anyone that has a problem with addiction would find this memoir helpful or at least an enjoyable read.

I really feel like this book is for everyone. It’s so relatable and fun but also very (no pun intended … but maybe) sobering. The words really come from a place of honesty, self-love, and compassion. That starting place allows this book to be a pleasant and thought-provoking read, rather than a self-righteous, boastful read. Thank you for sharing your story with us, Sarah Levy!

This was pretty good. I'm a sucker for a memoir, and this definitely fit the bill. However, I didn't completely finish it. I think Sarah Levy is a great writer, and this had so much insight into her struggle with addiction and the larger problems that our society faces in regards to the scrutiny of young women, but at times it felt like there was a lot of repetition. The chapter organization felt a bit disjointed, and some of the points she was making were rehashed multiple times. But honestly, I did like this and I look forward to hopefully reading more by Levy in the future!

Drinking games was a blunt, honest recount of something more people go through than we even realize. When I think of alcoholism the stereotypical picture of a beat up looking older man is what comes to mind. This book crushed that stereotype and made it possible for so many more people to confront and address their demons or get a harsh look at what could be happening to people around them.

This was REALLY good. The chapters could have been slightly more cohesive, but I loved Sarah's honest and incisive self-commentary. Several lines made me stop and put the book down to really think.

I don't fully identify with the target audience of this book, but definitely at least a little bit - which I guess makes me the target audience, lol. I really appreciated and valued this book and I will be buying a physical copy to flip through and tab.

This is a very good book especially for our time and culture. It is good for everyone to read to have a better understanding of others and what they might be going through even though they appear to have it all together and appear to be the life of the party. It is also great for those that are struggling so they know that they are not the only one and that there is help, and they will have a wonderful life ahead of them.

Sarah Levy was brave for writing this memoir—it was soul-bearing, heartbreaking, and achingly beautiful. Her voice and her writing were fresh and engaging. I couldn’t put this book down and I’m not usually one for memoirs (like, at all). I loved the way she wrote about her struggles and challenges so openly. 5/5!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read and review Drinking Games. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Pub date; 1/3/22
Genre: memoir
One sentence summary: Sarah Levy couldn't stop at just one or two drinks, and when she finally acknowledged that her blackouts weren't normal or fun, she had to come to terms with a society where drinking is ever-present.

I really enjoy memoirs, especially by women close in age to me, but who've lived very different lives. Levy is brutally honest in describing her blackout misadventures and how they motivated her to seek help. I enjoyed her analysis of 12-step programs and how she found her community of recovering women. The book is well structured - it consists of four parts covering her journey to becoming sober and how she reorganized her life without alcohol to fill it.

I think women of all drinking habits will find value in this memoir - even if you don't have a problem controlling your drinking, it is worth better understanding how alcohol permeates our culture, and how we can support friends who choose to stop drinking.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I like to read memoirs about topics that interest me. Alcohol addition and sobriety is one of those topics. It is hard to fit in with the social hipsters. I can't imagine being in New York doing it. The story was honest and forsake of better words, she put it all out there. I read the memoir in a day or less. It related to me, as I had blackouts in college from excessive drinking. I would love to sit and talk to her.

Bravo Sarah Levy! What a brave story to get out into a book... her own! I was so happy to have received and advanced copy thanks to NetGalley. This memoir and essay collection is woven together in a beautiful and healing journey way... the way only Sarah could tell it because it's her own account of drinking to not drinking and all that is in between... and after!

I have also stopped drinking so I do enjoy reading and connecting with others that have chosen to do so. I loved this book and the insight Sarah provides, the work she does to get sober and all the amazing things that life has to offer after the haze of alcohol is gone.

If you're looking to be inspired I suggest getting this book once it's available in 2023!

Thanks to Netgalley & St. Martin's Press for this advanced reader copy. This is an honest account of how alcohol has a direct effect on many aspects of our lives. Thank you for this helpful, informative book! I will be recommending it to many colleagues and clients.

This was such a raw book, and I applaud the author in her bravery to share her story. I definitely went through the gamut of emotions I reading this book, laughing and crying and sometimes both at the same time

Drinking Games is an honest and raw account of Sarah Levy's history with alcoholism, detailing how she lived as a party girl and then her journey to sobriety.

I respect so much that Sarah didn't hold back with this memoir. Laying out your faults and struggles that way is no easy feat, and this book was unflinchingly honest. I connected to her writing voice consistently throughout the book.

I did get confused at times as the timeline is not chronological and was hard to piece together at times, but otherwise I felt this was a rare memoir that gave me everything I wanted from the story and more.

Thanks so much to St. Martin's Press as well as NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.