I didn't finish the book... I quit reading at page 209. I was expecting this book to be more of a cautionary tale of how excessive drinking can be damaging to young women. Maybe if I had kept reading, I would have gotten to that part. But the first 200 pages were nothing more than a girl with low self-esteem recounting her drunken escapades. I found it very difficult to like Koren or feel any empathy for her.

An honest, hard look at alcohol abuse. I saw in Koren bits of myself, and many a past friend. Heck, parts of it even made me miss getting drunk, but mostly it makes me realize how easy it is and how acceptable society makes it for anyone to abuse alcohol. I think it's a great book that everyone should read.

I thought this book was awesome. I read it very quickly and always looked forward to getting time to read it. The author and many of her friends reminded me so much of so many of my peers. All teenagers should read this book! It is both an entertaining and heartfelt memoir as well as a cautionary tale on the "harmless" binge drinking fad running rampant in so many high schools and colleges in our country.

Very good read! An interesting story about a womans in and through alcoholism. I think that people will read this book and see many of the main charachters traits within people they know. It can be a real "eye-opener" to your life and those around you. A must read for mothers as well as highschoolers and college students.

This isn't just one girl's story of sneaking drinks in junior high, creeping out for night-long keg parties in high school and binge-drinking weeknights and weekends through college—it's also a valuable cautionary tale. At 24 (her present age), Zailckas gave up drinking after a decade of getting drunk, having blackouts and experiencing brushes with comas, date rape and suicide. She weaves disturbing statistics (from Harvard School of Public Heath studies and elsewhere) into her memoir: most girls will have their first drink by age 12, and will have the experience of being drunk by 14; teenage girls drink as much as their male peers, but their bodies process it badly (they get drunk faster, stay drunk longer and are more likely to die of alcohol poisoning); and date rape and booze go hand-in-hand. Zailckas had alcohol poisoning at 16 after a night of downing shots at a party with friends, but having her stomach pumped in the emergency room and enduring a month of being grounded didn't check her desire to drink. Fraternity keg parties led to drunken sexual encounters not-quite-remembered; drinking began to replace intimacy. Alcohol defined Zailckas's adolescence and college years to such an extent that, as she tells it, she lacks the tools to be an adult: she's unsure how to maintain relationships and unclear about sex without an alcohol buzz. Zailckas is unsparingly insightful and acutely aware of what drinking can and does do to girls. She explains that while kids are taught that drugs are always dangerous, alcohol is perceived as an acceptable rite of passage. Her book is deeply moving, written in poetic, nuanced prose that never obscures the dangerous truths she seeks to reveal.

This was okay... I kind of drudged through it. It bothered me how low her self-esteem was.

0 star is what this book deserves
i find it very disturbing that in the preface she denies being an alcoholic and says she has no effects from her years of drinking. and in this same preface she talks about her feeling of immaturity and disconnect with her age/role in society- duh, that is a symptom of your alcoholism... as is her low self-esteem. as were the trips to the hospital. the black outs. the injuries. the degradation of body, spirit, and mind...
i feel this is a dangerous and disappointing book-disappointing because she refuses to understand that she is indeed an alcoholic and will forever and always be in her state until she comes to some very basic understanding about alcoholism. dangerous because i shudder to think that other people with an alcohol problem might find strength in her tale.
if you think you might have a problem with alcohol- you probably do. help is available through a 12 step program. if you choose to get help through a 12 step program and really work at it your self-esteem will improve, your life will improve, your maturity level will rise, you will reconnect with yourself and society as a whole. no- you might not become a best seller, but your mind will be clear.
i hate this book and all the misconceptions it embodies. i think it is a dangerous and irresponsible book. but hey- how would she know? she has not received the help she needs to understand this.

A little histrionic.

For many college and highschool days are a blure. I can relate to this book. Smashed is very eye opening. Any parent should read it as well as any young person who thinks drinking a few drinks can not turn into a nightmare.

A very descriptive look on alcoholism in young women,and the dangers of partying to much...
The book doesn't at all try to preach to you, however in parts it does lag (as far a "good read" goes), but the message is way to powerful to let that stop you from reading it.
She does set herself apart from all of the other "friends don't let friends blah blah blah" books on the shelf that you might glance at.

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This story is a true story of a girl who is an alcoholic. It gives you great insight into what a young alcoholic goes through and what they are thinking. I found it to be quite helpful in that it helped me to understand a little bit better about the alcoholics in my family.

This book was a little fun, but mostly felt as if the writer was too busy looking in the mirror thinking "poor me" with a huge sense of entitlement. I thought it was a waste of time.

An excellent reminder of growing up and recovering.

The author has very low self esteem..sad story. It's sad how little she seems to care about herself. It sounds like she had everything growing up but felt like she had to drink to the point of blackout to make herself feel good. Get over it!

I enjoyed it because I had a similar "girlhood". Her character was easy to like and her writing style is good.

A modern look at alcoholism. I could relate Zailckas to people I knew in HS and college. Couldn't put it down!

Reviewed by Taylor Rector for TeensReadToo.com

SMASHED is a chilling novel of female alcohol addiction. For Koren Zailckas, it started at age fourteen, and from her first drink of Southern Comfort she was addicted. Koren later joins a college sonority, which just gives her more of a reason to get really drunk -- and more people to do it with!

The writing isn't the most brilliant that I have ever read but the story is definitely good. Most alcohol addiction books are about a male, so this is a great book to read if you want to learn about this subject -- or even if you are just a curious reader.

There is not a lot that you can say about this book without giving the whole thing away! Even though she drinks excessively, Koren never goes to rehab or actually goes to an AA meeting! And unlike James Frey's embellished novel of drug and alcohol addiction, this one is the truth.

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