3.5 stars but rounded up because I highlighted a lot of quotes and enjoyed the writing a lot.

I'm going to start with the things I really enjoyed. Our protagonist Cassie is one year into her new job and life in tech in California, where she lives in downtown San Francisco but works in Silicon Valley. This book takes place in the months leading up to covid, and you see it slowly creep up in news articles as Cassie struggles with the black hole of anxiety and depression that has followed her around since childhood, which often flares up as she is faced with ethical struggles at work as well as the cost of living in San Francisco, which she struggles with as a middle class person who only recently started making good money.

I loved the metaphor of a black hole as anxiety and depression, especially how it can sometimes become almost a comfort at times. This feels so real to how mental illness feels. I also really loved the depictions of being a millennial in the corporate world, especially tech, and I could absolutely relate to having a "fake self-" how often are you having the worst day ever but when you have a meeting you say "oh i'm great, it's sunny here today!" just so you don't disrupt the social norms of a corporate workplace? Very relatable.

I also want to shout out how abortion is normalized in this book as a tough thing to experience but something Cassie never really wavers on, and handles even as it is expensive, isolating, and painful.

Now for the things that didn't quite work for me. I have some issues with the way privilege is handled in this book. Yes, Cassie is middle class and barely making it, but the way homelessness is portrayed just didn't quite work for me. I wish she and her friend Maria had done more than go to one protest. There are a lot of ways to get involved in your community in this hellscape of modern urban life beyond just saying "wow it's so awful I saw someone shooting heroin and defecating in public today," but the commentary on this never went beyond those comments. There was also only one scene where Cassie realizes there are working class folks in the city, which is when she takes the train outside of rush hour. Maybe this shows that the narrative is limited by her perspective and we are supposed to feel she is privileged, but that juxtaposed with her retired father working at a grocery store out of need just didn't quite jive for me. Cassie did recognize her privilege when hiring an employee in Pakistan, which I appreciated and worked as a commentary on the global dominance of Silicon Valley.

I do also agree with those who say this got a little repetitive. It could've maybe been edited down a bit and still have the same impact.

I will be ruminating on the ending of this book for a long time. Dark but provocative.

Overall, I highly recommend this look at modern capitalism. Thank you to Scribner for the eARC!

RIPE is astonishing: mean, sad, beautiful, funny. I finished it two weeks ago and haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. It’s wonderful to see labor written in this way; the authenticity of how much space and time work takes up in a person’s life is juxtaposed with the surreality of Cassie’s vision and surroundings, bringing the reader into a sort of liminal state where you can’t be sure if you’re dreaming. I will be telling everyone to read this book.

Gorgeous, devastating prose. A descent into the mundane realities of a consumerist world intent only on eating. Loved every moment. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ripe follows Cassie, a woman who has a “dream job” in tech in San Francisco. Her job is cutthroat and high pressure and no matter how hard she works there is always more expected of her. The pay isn’t as high as she hoped it’d be, and she’s always struggling financially. She’s in love with a man who will never love her back. She hates most of her friends and most of them hate her. She doesn’t get the support she needs from her family. She can’t get through her days without drugs and alcohol. Her depression (which manifests as a literal black hole, a detail that I loved) follows her wherever she goes. Basically she’s very very unhappy. There’s not really a plot outside of that. The reader just follows Cassie’s life as she tries to push through the pain that follows her throughout her daily life.

This book is great! Each chapter of Ripe begins with the definition of a word, and in the chapter that follows it becomes clear how that definition is relevant to Cassie’s story. The way Ripe is formatted isn’t wildly unique, but it is interesting, smart, and engaging. I personally thought that the satire was hilarious, but I know that it won’t be funny to everyone.

I used to want a demanding job that would consume my life. I thought that as long as it was in a field I loved living like that would make me happy. This isn’t unusual. A lot of us in our 20s and 30s have found ourselves falling into hustle culture. As it did for many people, 2020 made me think deeply about what’s important to me, and I realized that I no longer want that. I started to spend more time speaking to people in the same field I want to go into and I realized that the idea of missing out on my hobbies, my family, my friends, my restful nights of sleep, my weekends, and much more was, quite frankly, my worst nightmare. When I came very close to reaching that life I felt very similar to how Cassie does: like there was a black hole following me around that I felt I might step into at any moment. She knows that she’s in a position in life that she’s put herself in and she feels foolish for having done so. I’ve never been in a position that was as extreme as Cassie’s, but I get her. I understand her pain, and again, I think a lot of us in our 20s and 30s do.

In general I think this is the kind of book that readers will either love or hate, and as you can see I loved it. I highly recommend it if you’re a fan of the “sad girl books,” but if you’ll have any serious issues with reading about mental illness you should stay away from this.

4.5 stars, really.

This was a good'un. Etter does something here that really resonated me. From the black hole as anxiety/depression/darkness personified to the tangible anxiety in Silicon Valley tech culture (it was hard to read at times!) to Cassie's loneliness and uncertainty, all of it just worked for me.

"Ripe" is a book in which nothing much happens, and that sort of feels like the point. In trying to explain the book to my partner, who's not much of a reader, I kept finding myself sharing specific scenes rather than overarching storylines because there aren't many, as such. That's not a bad thing here. In fact, it lends to the overall feeling of being stuck, rudderless, up shit's creek without a paddle, as they say. Was much of Cassie's situation her own doing? Sure, but that doesn't make her any less of a victim of circumstance and her own perceived powerlessness. Things happen in life and it's not always easy to just rise above.

Anyway, I'm going off on a bit of a tangent. This was good. Really good, even. Admittedly, it's a bit heavy and anxiety-inducing, so I'll likely opt for something slightly lighter for my next read just as a palate cleanser. Nevertheless, one of my favorite reads this year so far.

Thanks to NetGalley as usual for the ARC!

This is a brilliant book about the near-future where a virus threatens mankind but workers like Cassie in the Silicon Valley are more concerned with abiding by the corporate guidelines even though a "black hole" seems to follow her around. Clearly her anxiety, the hole manifests itself when she is on edge or worried about her future at Voyager where she is a corporate "cog" in the wheel and must do what her superiors want her to do. Friends are fleeting and boyfriend, the Chef has a girlfriend as well so that makes things complicated. It's a depressing read but oh so prescient that it's worth it going in!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I have a feeling this one is going to be big this year.

Ripe blew me away because Cassie felt like a real person who is just trying her best to feel something, be something, do something. That grounded, normal quality is often absent in the books that this is likely to be compared to (ahem, My Year of Rest and Relaxation), which are so often built around protagonists you'd run away from in real life.

Bonus points to any book that makes me scream internally: "Move back to Philadelphia! You'd be so much happier here!"

How many books have you picked up with a blurb referencing "My Year of Rest and Relaxation"? For me, it's been many, and while I'm strongly against comparing every "sad girl" sub-genre book to Moshfegh and Rooney, you should know the comparison is not only fitting, but Sarah Rose Etter's "Ripe" transcends. Surreal and unsettling, "Ripe" unsubtly critiques the pipeline of capitalistic dream turned corporate hellscape.

In a sea of hustle culture yes-men nicknamed Believers, the new virus on the horizon is the least of Cassie's worries. A black hole representing her anxiety and depression has followed her to the promised land, she's barely getting by with her soul-sucking tech startup job, and a baby -- the size of a pomegranate seed -- is growing inside her.

I'm sure many of us millennials and zoomers see aspects of ourselves in Cassie, but every time she's greeted by the homeless man outside her window, we're reminded she's hardly the sole victim. With thought-provoking pomegranate metaphors throughout, "Ripe" paints an uncanny portrait of how capitalism's unethical, exploitative practices trickle down the ladder of society until we're all eventually enveloped by our own personal black holes.

This is sad girl lit at its finest. You won't be able to put this one down. It's a great one to get lost in!

I finished Ripe a little over a week ago, and the longer I sit with it the more I like it.

The use of the black hole to denote depression and anxiety, and the fake self were so relatable and clever. Etter's reflections on capitalism and big tech are obviously dialed up but I think are pretty accurate as a whole. I think millennials in particular can relate to the feeling of dread that's present throughout the whole book-- feeling like even though the world is ending, you have to keep pushing through at your soul-sucking job.

I think this will be a hit with fans of Severance by Ling Ma or My Year or Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.

absolute banger of a book--the metaphor of the black hole was apt and perceptive, without ever feeling kitschy or derivative. i hate to box this in to the slowly growing canon of "sad girl millennial corporate tragicomedy", but.....it belongs. i loved it, full stop.

tldr; add this one to your list when it comes out in july 2023.

i received an eARC of this via scribner and netgalley and was super excited to read Ripe. this book fully captures the millennial panic/dread felt by everyone caught up in the corporate grind, exemplified by the san francisco lifestyle and expenses. i really enjoyed the plot of this one but think a few things could’ve been fleshed out more, like the project prometheus plot line. i also thought that while the words and associated definitions that marked the beginning of each chapter were interesting and beneficial to the story, i was distracted by the “e.g., …” sections that started the bulk of most chapters.

WOW!!!! I wasn't too sure about this book going into it, but it was extremely addicting (no pun intended) Our main character is imperfect and flawed and struggling mentally and I think the author portrayed these well! While the story is short its gripping and written VERY well!

This book follows Cassie as she moves through her transplanted life in SF, working in the tech industry, and trying to stay afloat in a city with rent increases, wildfires, and a looming covid crisis,

It's a sharp, beautiful, and moving novel, dealing with start-ups, bad bosses, personal black holes, and the tech industry's soulless, capitalist environment. It's funny and bleak and hopeful all at once. I only wish there was more of it, because I could have kept reading it. I really wanted to spend more time with Cassie.

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the ARC!

Oh I was INTO THIS. I can't wait for all of the sad girl lit fic people to read this when it comes out. Ripe reminded me a lot of the book Severance, and I think in some ways this is what I wanted My Year of Rest Relaxation to be when I first went into that one.

This book gave me a lot of anxiety thinking about work (particularly while working a tech-related job), hustle culture, and societal expectations. It's not even a little subtle with its satire of those things and in its "black hole as a metaphor for depression and anxiety" device. But it's clever, I could not put it down, and I have a feeling I'll be thinking about this one for a while.

Ripe is another one of those books I wouldn't necessarily recommend to everyone, but it was absolutely for me. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC to review! I have a feeling I'm going to want to get a physical copy when this comes out.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of "Ripe" by Sarah Rose Etter.

"Ripe" read as a majestic work of literary fiction. While reading about Cassie's life was often stressful, it was a contemplative stress, relieved through Etter's gorgeous prose. The stunning cover image was what initially drew my attention; the theme certainly delivered, and was accentuated by the unexpected inclusion of the ever-changing black hole. Silicon Valley was discerned for what it truly is in a manner reminiscent of, but surpassing, Dave Eggers' "The Circle." Finally, props to Etter for her skillful mention of the "virus." I have read books that have done this wrong, but Cassie's intrigue at the virus' emergence felt authentic, not overdone.

this book is so unbelievably good, i genuinely loved every second of it (even tho it was incredibly bleak) and didn't want it to end. THANK u netgalley for the digital copy but laaawd am i getting my hands on a physical copy as soon as they're available !

this was such a wrenching, well-written reflection on the tech industry, mental illness, societal colapse, hustle culture and what it means to be a woman worn thin amidst it all. i knew i'd love it bc i loved 'book of x' but i have to say, i loved 'ripe' about 5x more. etter truly created a piece of art w/ this one.

RIPE follows cassie, a young woman one year deep into her “dream” tech job in silicon valley. this new path she originally welcomed as an escape from her hopeless former life quickly rotted to reveal the scathing realities beneath — a soul-draining workplace in the middle of a city that juxtaposes extreme wealth and privilege alongside poverty and crises. cassie is stuck walking the tightrope—always teetering on the edge of losing the cutthroat job opportunity, struggling to make ends meet and keep her head above water, yet never fully in crises.

at least, that’s what she tells herself. a black hole (metaphorical? literal? we get the sense it is both) follows cassie around, shrinking and growing depending on her mood. the ever present foreboding of the black hole only compounds that of the world around her — a mysterious virus in the headlines, the deaths of other silicon valley workers unable to take the pressures any longer, the looming housing crisis.

when her employer’s demands finally cross a moral line, and when her body demands to be put first, cassie is forced to confront her unraveling life and truly consider if there is a different way to live.

reading this book felt dystopian, yet every fiction presented in the book mirrors our bleak reality — wealth inequality, a generation of burnout overworked and underpaid employees, a pandemic growing ever closer, living paycheck to paycheck. etter captured this dread with candor and creativity. her insights on modern life are dismal yet astute, and are matched with vulnerable and touching flashbacks of cassie’s past. i appreciated that RIPE didn’t feel like a millennial gimmick — it felt incisive and infused with sincerity and humanity.

RIPE was unexpectedly grave. i yearned for morsels of hope, and think some aspects of the text could have benefitted from even more exploration — the housing crisis, the homeless man outside her home, the deaths across the city, the new-hire noor — but also respect that many elements were left intentionally unresolved and suspended in this existential malaise. that is, after all, more realistic, isn’t it?

a compelling and compulsively readable millennial tragedy. if LAPVONA and SEVERANCE had a book-child in silicon valley, it’d be RIPE. i’m impressed by etter’s dexterity blending elements of surrealism, dread, philosophy, all expressed through the horrors of day-to-day capitalism.

5/5 ⭐️

I appreciated this quick and thoughtful read which, despite its brevity, managed to delve deep into the modern-day dichotomy of who we really are and who we become at work to survive. I thought the storytelling handled dark and complex topics in a manner that drove the plot, while still weaving in social commentary at large. There were some graphic details that didn't always add to the story, but I felt the black hole through-line made sense and added to the dark sense of foreboding that followed Cassie until the end of the story.