HELL YEAH. This is THE BEST divorce memoir I've read to date (sorry Leslie Jamison lol). It's beautiful and complex and thoughtful and, most importantly, it has Scaachi's signature bite. I can't wait to read her next book.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for a free ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This is out now!

Non-fiction/Essays. In a series of essays, Scaachi Koul details all the ways in which she is fighting in her life, whether it’s with her now ex-husband and the implosion of her marriage during COVID, how fighting in ingrained within her Indian family, her relationship with her self image and her body, and the internet at large, to name a few.

While Koul is clearly a talented writer and gifted story teller, I DNF’d this one when I was about halfway through. Everything skewed negative and honestly kind of put me in a bad mood. It could also be that we’re in much different seasons of life. I’m sure there are a lot of people who will closely identify with Koul - and I did at times - but overall this just wasn’t for me.

Scaachi Koul was not a name I recognized, but her bright green book titled “Sucker Punch” with brass knuckles on the cover caught my attention, and I’m so glad it did.

Sucker Punch is a collection of essays written by author and Buzzfeed reporter, Scaachi Koul. You might know her from Buzzfeed documentaries Scamfluencers or Follow This, or her first book of essays, One Day We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter. I did not know of any of these things because I clearly live under a rock. After reading Sucker Punch, I fully intend to look into Scamfluencers at a minimum.

Scaachi’s essays take the reader into the world of her divorce, written from an introspective, perceptive, and sometimes comical view. While the essay topics may vary, the divorce seemed to be a recurring theme, and the standout point. I saw another review say that this book is pretty great as far as divorce books go, and I have to agree. Her ex-husband clearly had issues with her writing about their lives, decided to cheat, and then worried she’d write about it… and we are glad she did!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was excited to get to dive into another collection of Koul's essays and wasn't disappointed. Despite the fact that we have incredibly different life experiences, it's easy to find relatability in Scaachi Koul's honesty and humor. I enjoy her ability to balance dark or difficult realities with both wit and vulnerability.

I read Sucker Punch (eBook) not too long after reading Koul's other book, One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter (audiobook). As a divorced woman, I could definitely relate to many of the author's feelings about being part of a failed marriage and the aftermath. I didn't relate to much else though. It felt very repetitive of the same themes from her previous book. I also think it was easier to enjoy Koul's writing style in audio format, read in her own voice. I wasn't eager to pick up Sucker Punch in my downtime. I'm sure many will enjoy this book; it just wasn't for me.

A little straighter than I typically read and I didn’t pay attention to the religious aspects and I fear some of the humor may seem dated BUT overall affirming and healing and some relatable parts about being an Online Person. Will def read her first book, this review sounds harsh but if I still rated books it would’ve gotten 4 stars. Thank you to NetGalley.

Thank you, St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this arc!
What an eye-catching cover! I assume the lime green is a call back to Scaachis journal?..

The one thing that can unite anyone is shared traits in family trauma, and I think that is what connected me to Scaachis story the most. When you live, you live in such a way that you find others that don't live that way to be both aspiring and completely foreign; then you grow up and realize that you were actually molded by that life and are trying yo find someone to accept you or accept them. It's a tragic part of adulting that no one talks about with dating/marriage. I felt Scaachis pain when writing about her marriage and busted out in laughter when she spoke of her family. I think there were some aspects of the story that felt disjointed, but overall, it was a great read.
Here are some of my favorite qoutes:
"You were designed in a lab to drive me insane."

"I wanted to get close to someone without them getting too close to me. I dreamed about being alone and needing no one."

This was my first experience at reading author Scaachi Koul's writing. I was uncertain what to expect, and I appreciate NetGalley giving me the opportunity to read these essays in exchange for a review.

The essay's were honest and often humorous look at what it is like to grown up as the daughter of immigrants to a new country. While I cannot elate to being an immigrant or being brought up by parents who are - I can relate to the human nature of this and of becoming an adult under the watchful eyes of parents.

I am glad for the opportunity to read these essays.

I love Scaachi's writing and I love a good divorce book so this was right up my alley. Scaachi is honest about her divorce, her marriage, and the other relationships in her life while still acknowledging her own flaws and how they contribute to the complicatedness of those topics.

Her essays are refreshingly blunt and she doesn't try to be unnecessarily sentimental or couch some of her feelings with what the "right thing" should be. This book is perfect for those readers who have recently gone through a divorce that was just necessary and not an awful awful thing.

Thankyou to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for a review.

An entertaining essay collection leaning into dark humor, mainly about Scaachi’s divorce. Chocolate, Lime Juice, Ice Cream was my favorite essay and one that I think any millennial women (maybe all women) can relate to about the ways we & society hardly judge our bodies.

Finished Reading

Pre-Read Notes:

I was drawn to this one because of that bright green cover with the brass knuckles with a wedding ring on the appropriate finger hold. Anyone who's been married knows that sometimes a happy marriage turns into a metaphorical brawl, often over very little. The cover images also suggest a dark humor I think I'll appreciate. Looking forward to this one!

Final Review

"[...M]arriage has always felt high stakes, like if you get it wrong, the universe could stop still on its axis." p12

Review and recommendations

"I have spent so much of my own life trying to assess whether I have any power or not. I never get closer to an answer." p108

Reading Notes

Favorite Essays:
1. "A Comprehensive List of Everything My Dad Has Called Bergdorf Goodman"
2. "Parvati Stands in Flames"

A Few Words about the Essays:
1. "Parvati Stands in Flames" - An essay about a family defined by trauma bonds. I related to this essay in its tone and topic. It's tough to write about your messed up family whom you love to bits.
2. "A Close Read" - A reckoning with the pandemic and the perpetrators of her own Me-Too moments.
3. "Chocolate, Lime Juice, Ice Cream" - "Here are some things I would rather do in public than write about my body... : Punch my cat in the face , eat a leech, have sex with an impolite wolf, allow someone to watch me try to pluck an ingrown hair from the most tender part of my groin." p53
4. "Two Stars" - A piece on the vulnerability of getting divorced in public life.
5. "Lolita, Later" - An interesting take on Lolita and real-life age-gap romances.
6. "Auspicious" - I’m not alone unless my mother leaves me alone . I’m not alone until I am alone for good. p151
7. "Kali Starts a Fire" - "What I wanted was space—sometimes literally. I wanted it to be possible for me to carefully and thoughtfully build a rocket for one, outfitted with the most powerful engine known to humanity, big enough just for my body and maybe a paperback or two, a few packs of Dramamine, and maybe my good pair of glasses." p159
8. "A Comprehensive List of Everything My Dad Has Called Bergdorf Goodman" - This one is cute and possibly my favorite in the collection.

Rating: 🔥🔥🔥🔥 /5 fires to start and end this collection!
Recommend? yes
Finished: Mar 8 '25
Format: accessible digital arc, NetGalley
Read this book if you like:
📓 nonfiction
💍 personal essays
❤️‍🩹 Marriage gone bad
🙃 Sarcastic humor

Thank you to the author Scaachi Koul, publishers St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an accessible advance digital copy of SUCKER PUNCH. I found an accessible digital copy on Libby. All views are mine.
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This is, perhaps, a strange thing to say, but I love a good divorce book. There’s just something so inevitably honest and relatable to me, and reading through others’ experiences with divorce often helps me better articulate my experience of my own. There’s a lot of divorce memoirs out there these days (lucky me!), and *Sucker Punch* is one of my new favorites. Scaachi is an incredibly sharp, funny writer — but there’s a tenderness in this book that reflects the soft vulnerability of divorce. Her writing feels more reflective than usual, even more self-aware than in her first book because, well, I think she is more of both; the result of both growing older and growing apart from someone you once promised to love forever. Most of the book’s essays were pretty long, but I found myself speeding through them quickly, impressed by the different stories and experiences Scaachi braided together into a singular narrative. Even if you haven’t been divorced, even if you don’t love their new genre of memoir like I do, I think most would love this collection for the ways it touches on family, facing mistakes, and strengthening the relationship we share with ourselves.

Probably not a book I should have started on my honeymoon... but alas. I love Scaachi's writing, it is as if I am gossiping with a bestie. She share the story of her divorce and all that comes with it. This book made me cry, laugh, and most importantly, call my mom.

I have always loved Scaachi Koul's biting, funny, and still emotional writing and this book is even better than I hoped! It takes real bravery to get this kind of introspection through some of the most painful periods of your life and the way she connected everything to her religion/culture and family outside of marriage was really beautiful. If you enjoy her writing, you'll definitely enjoy this read and if you are new to her style, the book will still be a great welcome to new readers!

This very personal collection of essays was a great read! Koul’s talks about her divorce, sexual assault, how it feels to think you are letting down your parents, among other things.

I loved her writing and how it sometimes felt like I was reading a novel and not someone’s real life experiences.

Sucker Punch by Scaachi Koul is an absolute knockout—funny, bitingly sharp, and deeply insightful. Koul’s voice is as witty and incisive as ever, effortlessly weaving humor into even the heaviest topics. Whether she’s unpacking the complexities of divorce, the trauma of assault, or the heartbreak of aging parents, she does so with a brutal honesty that never feels overwhelming. Instead, her sharp observations and self-deprecating humor make the essays both deeply personal and universally relatable.

What makes this collection shine is Koul’s ability to balance vulnerability with razor-sharp wit. One moment, you’re laughing at her perfectly timed quips; the next, you’re hit with an emotional gut punch that lingers long after you turn the page. It’s rare to find a book that tackles such weighty topics with this much grace and humor, but Sucker Punch does it flawlessly.

Scaachi Koul is hilarious even about the most heartbreaking times of life. Her evolution from a relationship and back to herself that started during the pandemic is harrowing and inspiring.

Unfortunately, this book was totally not for me. I've read many of the author's essays over the years and while I wouldn't say I necessarily "enjoy" them all, I do find her to be a sharp and very funny writer. But perhaps she doesn't have enough distance from her own divorce yet—those essays seemed raw and too rageful to really work as pieces of writing, whereas the essays about her family of origin were much more emotional and fully realized. I'll keep reading her work for sure in the future, but I won't be returning to this one.

Scaachi Koul’s Sucker Punch is a sharp, funny, and honest collection of essays about identity, culture, and the weirdness of modern life. Some essays hit harder than others, but her mix of humor and vulnerability keeps it engaging. If you like smart, witty writing with a personal touch, this one’s definitely worth a read.

I enjoy Scaachi Koul's unvarnished honesty about everything she encounters, including herself. Her writing voice is engaging and compelling, so much so that even when I realized I was not enjoying this book, I still felt compelled to keep reading. She may not be the most likeable protagonist in the personal essays genre, but she is truthful, and she writes with staggering honesty about some of the hardest experiences a person can have. For that, I am grateful to have read her work. Five stars for sharing it all, Ms. Koul, even the parts that made me know we wouldn't be friends.