I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Something Rotten by Andrew Lipstein Series: Standalone
Published by Farrar Straus and Giroux on 2025 February 21
Genres: Contemporary
Pages: 264
Format: E-Arc
Source: Netgalley
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In his crackling new novel, Andrew Lipstein makes you question everyone, everything, and—above all—the very nature of truth.
Cecilie is a fed-up New York Times reporter. Her husband, Reuben, is a disgraced former NPR host and grudging stay-at-home dad. Neither can wait to flee New York and spend the summer in Copenhagen, Denmark, Cecilie’s hometown. But their vacation begins to turn inside out as soon as they Cecilie’s first love, Jonas, has been diagnosed with a rare, fatal illness. All her friends are desperate to get him help—except for Mikkel, a high-powered journalist who happens to be the only one Jonas will listen to.
Mikkel’s influence quickly extends to Reuben, who’s not only intoxicated by Mikkel’s charm but discovers in him a new model of masculinity—one he found hopelessly absent in America. As Mikkel indoctrinates Reuben with ever more depraved stunts, Reuben senses something is seriously amiss. Cecilie, too, begins to question who to trust—even herself. Drawn in by the gravity of the past, she can’t help but stray onto the road not taken.
A twisting, thrilling tale of loyalty and deceit, lovers and fools, Andrew Lipstein's Something Rotten proves that to be kind you sometimes have to be cruel beyond belief.
Something Rotten was a random pick from Netgalley, a sort of challenge for myself to read something that’s way out of my comfort zone. And well, who could resist that crying baby cover which really piqued my curiosity? It’s not something that I get to encounter every day what with the SFF books that I usually prefer to read.
I’m glad that I picked Something Rotten because it gave my brain a new stimulation that’s not focused on who’s gonna usurp someone’s kingdom or will the boy/girl of destiny fulfil the prophecy. Something Rotten is not your typical contemporary-couple story wherein the wife and the husband are trying to make their relationship workout. It’s more of a story of introspection, authenticity, getting back up and crawling towards the sliver of light at the end of a tunnel.
Most of the characters were hateful and despicable and yet, I finished the book in just one sitting. There’s just something perversely brilliant about following the lives of characters who are not only unrepentant and unaware that they’re repugnant beyond measure. We have Reuben, our male leading character and a popular NPR host, who had fallen from grace due to a scandalous social faux pas and thus, forced to become house husband out of pure shame. He’s prolly a good father but emotionally weak, susceptible to deceit and has the tendency to please everybody regardless if said people are good or bad influences. And then, there is his wife, Cecilie, who is still hang up with her ex-boyfriend, Jonas. For Pete’s sake, she just gave birth to her and Reuben’s child but she just can’t stop herself from acting like a wife and at the same time, mom to Jonas. And then, there are her Danish friends who spout about the importance of individual freedom but can’t be bothered to show some love and sympathy for their dying friend. If they are this detached about each other, why are they even making the effort to hang out together and just get into passive-aggressive fights? And don’t get me start talking about Mikkel who’s probably the most interesting character in this book but I don’t know if it’s even morally right to be charmed by him because….uggggh, why did he do it?
Reading Something Rotten is like watching a TV series about snakes and sharks trying to outmanoeuvre each other. It’s disturbing but in that gratifying way. There’s fulfilment seeing all of them, their lives thrown into chaos as they hop from one bad choice to another. And amidst all the chaos, I was humbled by the surprising twists in the story and concepts of authenticity, masculinity, and the socio-political issues that are directly affecting the lives of our characters. It’s this profoundness that hooked me to the story all the way to the end. Because at the end of the day, our lives are not just made by our choices but are also influenced by things that are happening around us and by the people we interact with. This is the central lesson this book is trying to convey.
All in all, I cannot say that this book is for everyone but its exploration of human values and relationships surely held a certain charm that made me stick with it until the end. If you are hungry for something unconventional with a lot of hair pulling on the side and an eye-opening read, give this book a try.