Sucker Punch is about what happens when the life you thought you’d be living radically changes course, everything you thought you knew about the world and yourself has tilted on its axis, and you have to start forging a new path forward. Scaachi employs her biting wit to interrogate her previous belief that fighting is the most effective tool for progress. She examines the fights she’s had—with her parents, her ex-husband, her friends, online strangers, and herself—all in an attempt to understand when a fight is worth having, and when it's better to walk away.
Deftly written, they are humorous and cutting, but perhaps their greatest strength lies in the margins. Contending with her participation in a world that collapses privacy and publicity down to nothing, Koul finds her momentum in reflecting on the interior details of her family.
Readers hoping to find themselves through reading about someone else’s experiences may get a bit frustrated by this hall of mirrors (of mirrors of mirrors of mirrors…). Not that readers will never stumble upon a funny sentence or a relatable insight—but it’s not enough ... The author’s trademark self-lacerating humor does not quite save the day.
