Book Reviews of Smashed : Story of a Drunken Girlhood

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.

I thought that the author glorified and made her youthful drinking into a much bigger deal than it actually was. I can't imagine that most teenagers (myself included) haven't partied like she did and survived. It was an OK book, but I found myself irritated with the story.

This book was almost my college experience word for word! It was strange hearing it through someone else, and also a great learning experience. A great read.

Wonderful story about an alcoholic. Good for girls in college. The girl in the book is only 26 or so. Easy to relate to if you are around that age.

Book dragged on and didn't change, basically 300 pages of college drinking to excess.

It started fine, but got sluggish told the middle. Perhaps I have read too many of these types of books lately, but I felt it completely lacking in empathy. It just seemed to be a matter of fact account of her life.

I couldn't get into it. It was not well written and it just seamed that she was so overdramatic making the whole thing worse than what it really was

Good book. The author definitely strikes a few chords of just about any of our lives growing up at some point. Could see myself in some of her recollections. A must read for anyone who even "partied a little" as a teen.

First of all, this is a book about a girl and her abuse of alcohol...not addiction. Secondly, it was AT BEST an "ok" book (although well written). I didn't find it to be page turning, insightful, or horrific. I found myself having to drudge through it, hoping it'd get better. It never did. It was hard to connect with and/or like the author.
In my opinion, there are way better addiction and/or substance abuse memiors out there.

I actually really enjoyed this book. I think its a very important book for moms of teenage girls to read and for teenage girls themselves. Its sad but many of the things she writes about are very true. Its a quick read and its amazing to see her quick downfall into alcohol.

This was a big fat YAWN FEST! It was SO boring, I didn't even finish reading it. It was hard to feel sorry for Koren. She was so self absorbed and had very low self esteem. I know some girls are like that, but I would rather not read about how much your life sucked. She didn't even describe much of her drinking and I thought that was what the book was about? This book just didn't do it for me.

This was a memoir about a young woman who told us about her drinking and how she started on her road of drinking and alcohol abuse. The story was pretty thoughtful and well written and it showed how distructive alcohol can be.

I think they should make young girls read this in school! It's a very true account of the life of a girl who starts drinking at a young age and learns about alcohol abuse.

Though I related quite a bit to some of Koren's drunken escapades, the book itself seemed to drag. I can't exactly put my finger on it, but it might have something to do with not liking the author's personality. I preferred Heather King's "Parched" MUCH better.

I bought this book because I saw it on display and thought that I would give it a try. It seemed interesting enough. The first couple of chapters were good. I was disturbed, however, how this author claimed to not to be a drunk or anything else. I'm sorry, but you can clearly tell she had a drinking problem. In the middle of the book it gets slow, then all she does is skip through to all of her drunken rampages. I do not feel sorry for her what so ever. She knew what she was doing, she even says so in the book. This is just my personal opinon. You might or might not like it, but to me it just seemed crazy and not in order.

pretty good book..some things about the story reminded me of my youth

Every parent of a teenager, girl or boy, should read this book. Amazing insight into one of the most widespread problems facing youth today.

This book was a little hard to get into at first, but it was a very heartbreaking story the about addiction of a girl my age. It made me realize just how hard it is for people to battle their demons.

Mesmerizing, and quite sad, tale of a young girl and her alcohol addiction, and what it finally took for her to realize her problem and how she went about stopping.

Amazing to read the honestly and the reality

Fascinating and frightening at the same time. Very well done, especially considering the author's relative youth.

This is an excellent book. Well written and descriptive!

The book is well-written, but teens might fall in love with the ideas in the beginning, without reading all the way through to get to the 'bad' stuff.

a witty look at the perils of alcoholism in a young woman

very interesting story.

This was quite compelling...a must read!

Not your typical growing up novel, this book shows the affect of alcohol on a young girl's life as she moves through the stages of her life. Very entertaining and educational.

Terrific book about a young girls drinking.

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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