HOT AIR by Marcy Dermansky

5 stars A hilarious splash of a novel about the lives of the haves and the have-nots that begins with a literal splash as a hot air balloon being piloted by a billionaire and his wife is blow off course and crashes into a pool. The pool’s owned by Johhny, a single Dad who’s invited his impoverished divorced neighbor Joanie over for a first date, while their eight-year old kids Tyson and Joanie watch a Harry Potter movie in his basement entertainment room.

When the balloon crashes, Joanie rushes to the pool and dives under the balloon to save Johnathon Foster, a famous tech CEO. The billionaires land right in the middle of a bitter marital dispute with Jonathon’s wife Julia screaming that she will kill him if they don’t die. Johnny, sensing the momentousness of the occasion, opens expensive wine to celebrate and everyone decides to stay for a sleepover given the lateness of the hour. And then the zaniness begins, with twists popping up as everyone’s internal perspective of events gets shared.

The narration switches points of view each chapter between all the adults as well as Joanie’s daughter Lucy and Jonathon’s unhappy personal assistant Vivian. All their parents have their own selfish perspectives, riddled with needs, narcissism, bitterness, thwarted ambition and a touch of cruelty. Sprinkled on top are closely held secrets. Based on cascading bad decisions, they all end up in the deep end, just like the wayward balloon.

Meanwhile, Vivian works to muster the courage to breakout of her servant-assistant role, and Lucy turns her craving of going to Florida’s Harry Potter Land into a larger angst about being the have-not child of divorce.

The books zaniness, unbelievable coincidences, and humor lift the story beyond the really bad behavior of the grown-ups and saves you from questioning whether humanity itself is worth salvaging.

Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for an advanced reader’s copy.

Stacy DeBroff

Stacy DeBroff, founder and CEO of Mom Central.com and social and digital consultancy, Influence Central, is a social media strategist, attorney, and best-selling parenting author. A sought-after expert for national media, she trend-spots regularly with national brands and speaks frequently to national and international audiences on a wide range of subjects, including influencer marketing, social media, entrepreneurship, and consumer trends. A passionate cook, gardener, reader, and tennis player, she adores this new chapter of post-college-age parenting.