Weekend Book Review: Drinking Games

Drinking Games by Sarah Levy

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Genre: Memoir/Quit Lit

Edition Reviewed: Audiobook, narrated by author, produced by MacMillan Audio

Expected publication: January 3rd 2023 by St. Martin’s Press

Drinking Games by Sarah Levy is an honest deep-dive into the life of a problem-drinker-turned-sober Millennial. In it, she describes not only her drinking war stories and her subsequent sobriety but also address the issues that often accompany a diagnosis of substance abuse disorder. These include a fundamental lack of self-worth, obsession with body image, people pleasing, the loss of self-identity and of course, the social media comparison trap. While definitely targeted toward the female Millennial audience, this book is full of great writing and hard-earned insights that anyone can relate to. The reader gets to accompany Levy on her seemingly endless raucous nights in New York City where she encounters numerous close calls and plenty of cringeworthy situations as a result of her heavy drinking. As a reader who is almost four years sober, I felt for her every single time. But we also get a front row seat into her recovery journey as she unwraps the awe of experiencing life “in technicolor” for the first time. We get to see her story unfold as she realizes her lack of identity as a drinker and begins to find her authentic sober self.

Once sober, we see her peel back the layers and examine her other destructive tendencies, namely her disordered eating, obsession with being thin and constructing the perfect social media presence. Her recovery journey shows her that, while she remained hyper-focused on the external, when it was the internal that needed to be healed in order to find peace.

As someone who is well-read in the “quit lit” genre, I felt that Levy did do a disservice to the recovery community when she condemned another sober writer for her condemnation of AA (can you condemn condemnation??). Levy said that this kind of judgement on AA undoubtedly keeps many people sick. I feel that if you are looking for an excuse not to recover–and don’t we all as part of the journey–you may use the stigma as a reason not to try it, but the way she advocated for 12-step programs made it seem like the only way to achieve sobriety. There are many different paths that make up a successful sober journey, and there is room for them all. Still, I appreciated reading how Levy navigated these always-choppy waters.

The only other thing that detracted from the piece as a whole is the structure of the book. It is called a memoir but it read like a series of essays on different themes with repetitive context that is not necessary in a cohesive story. The ping-ponging back and forth between drunk and sober was a bit disorienting and I found myself trying to keep track of what point in her life she was writing about. Calling and marketing this book as a collection of personal essays would have put to rest my desire for a cohesive, chronological story.

I’m still giving this read a four-star review because Levy is a talented writer with an important message to impart. I think that everyone–drinkers, non-drinkers and the recovery community–will find a bit of themselves in Levy and benefit from her authentic insights.

I listened to the audio version published by Macmillan Audio narrated by the author and thought that this added to the experience. Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for a fair review.

Drinking Games hits the shelves January 3, 2023.



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