STARRED REVIEW
March 2025

Sucker Punch

By Scaachi Koul
Review by
Scaachi Koul’s visceral memoir in essays Sucker Punch throbs with feeling. But Koul being Koul, it’s also witty and frequently hilarious.
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Sucker Punch is Canadian culture critic Scaachi Koul’s second collection of essays. Although it can be read on its own, it’s best read as a response to Koul’s 2017 debut collection, One Day, We’ll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter, a series of essays on Koul’s experiences as the Canadian-born daughter of Indian immigrants. While One Day addressed many critical social issues (rape culture, misogyny, online trolling), Koul also wove in the story of her parents and her relationship with her white, Canadian boyfriend throughout the essays. Moving in with him caused a mighty rift between Koul and her father, but the collection ended with the promise that reconciliation is possible, and that her hard-fought-for love will endure.

And then it didn’t.  

The “punch” in the title of her new memoir occurs when, very soon after her extravagant and expensive Indian wedding, Koul realizes her marriage was a terrible mistake. Instead of love triumphant, her romance with her husband has become a battleground. Worse, the COVID-19 pandemic forces them into shared isolation. Meanwhile, Koul’s parents are marooned in India because of travel restrictions, and her mother endures several serious health crises. Eventually, Koul and her husband divorce, further straining the relationships in her own family.

Sucker Punch is a more visceral book than Koul’s earlier one: These essays practically throb with fury, guilt, sorrow and regret. But, Koul being Koul, they are also witty and frequently hilarious. And while deeply personal, they are also universal. Her ex-husband’s betrayal of their marriage has implications that extend beyond the usual heartbreak into the territories of misogyny and racism. Koul’s complex relationship with her mother leads to a deeper understanding of both the strength of feminine forbearance and the fiery power of feminine rage. Caring for her mother’s fragile body, Koul experiences the common fear of a parent’s mortality, which reminds us that we, too, are mortal. Finally, Koul affirms that grief and anger can create opportunities for reconciliation and forgiveness with her mother, her family and, at last, herself.

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Sucker Punch

Sucker Punch

By Scaachi Koul
St. Martin’s
ISBN 9781250270504

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