Smashed by Koren Zailickas (2005, Hardcover)

I thought this book was going to be much more captivating than it turned out to be.

I think the biggest flaw in this story is that the author failed to fully develop any of the characters, including herself. I realize that this was a memoir about her abuse of alcohol, but I don't care who you are, you don't just start black-out drinking for no apparent reason. She did little to explain what could have caused her lack of self-esteem.. this makes it hard to root for her in any situation. Although she seems to take appropriate ownership of her alcohol abuse, there are times when she seems to blame it on her sorority - one that she "suicide bid" on solely for it's alcoholic, party girl reputation. (That personally bothered me because the Greek system really doesn't need any more bad press.)

After reading about Koren making the same mistakes over and over, she ends the book in a rather sanctimonious manner. She abused alcohol, but she's not an alcoholic. She needs help, but she's too good for AA. Blah blah... All of that's well and fine but again, she didn't explain any of it well enough for you to truly feel happy for her overcoming these demons. It just sounds preachy.

With all of that said, I finished this entire book in one afternoon. It is pretty fast-paced.. but I was also just waiting for it to get better. This may be an enlightening read for parents of college-aged daughters but I doubt it will surprise (or interest) anyone else.