Review of Sucker Punch by Scaachi Koul

Scaachi Koul is a writer I’ve long admired for her craft. I enjoyed her political commentary when she was on the Canadaland Commons podcast back in the day, and I’ve enjoyed her Buzzfeed articles and other online writing. I’ve taught her essays in English class. Although I didn’t read her first book, I was excited to pick up Sucker Punch. So it’s with a heavy heart I have to admit … I didn’t love this one, and I might not even have liked it?

If Koul’s first collection of essays was (at least this is the impression I get solely from what she says about it in this collection) the story of how the love of a good man healed her from the relationships trauma of young adulthood, then Sucker Punch is about how that love was a lie. It’s a dissection of her marriage and her divorce. Maybe I wasn’t expecting that to dominate the discourse within this book, and maybe I just wasn’t in the mood for this story at this time.

I’m making excuses because I feel bad. Koul’s writing is still every bit as good as it has been in the past: she’s witty, barbed, yet also incredibly vulnerable and self-aware. She knowingly flirts with stereotypes only to carefully filet them wide open. So I want to make it clear here that this book didn’t work for me because I didn’t resonate with the subject matter more so than any issues with the writing itself. That isn’t to say I have no interest in reading about divorce … but the way Koul has chosen to explore and examine her particular experiences just didn’t work for me. I found myself dragging my heels to finish this book, and I ultimately found it very unsatisfying.