The Burnout – About the Book
Sasha has had it. She cannot bring herself to respond to another inane, “urgent” (but obviously not at all urgent) email or participate in the corporate employee joyfulness program. She hasn’t seen her friends in months. Sex? Seems like a lot of effort. Even cooking dinner takes far too much planning. Sasha has hit a wall.
Armed with good intentions to drink kale smoothies, try yoga, and find peace, she heads to the seaside resort she loved as a child. But it’s the off season, the hotel is in a dilapidated shambles, and she has to share the beach with the only other occupant: a grumpy guy named Finn, who seems as stressed as Sasha. How can she commune with nature when he’s sitting on her favorite rock, watching her? Nor can they agree on how best to alleviate their burnout (Sasha: manifesting, wild swimming; Finn: drinking whisky, getting pizza delivered to the beach).
When curious messages, seemingly addressed to Sasha and Finn, begin to appear on the beach, the two are forced to talk—about everything. How did they get so burned out? Can either of them remember something they used to love? (Answer: surfing!) And the question they try and fail to ignore: what does the energy between them—flaring even in the face of their bone-deep exhaustion—signify?
The Review
The Burnout by well-known Confessions of a Shopaholic author Sophie Kinsella, started out very strong. It also continued with a strong message about how burnout can impact your mental health. Sasha Nathan is burnt out. She has, what to many people, would be a dream job, but behind the scenes, it is anything but. Anyone who has ever worked in the corporate or start-up world can relate to shrinking teams and management talking about well-being when you can barely tread water.
There are a few, laugh out loud, yet very relatable moments when Sasha is asked out by a nice looking man at Pret A Manger. There is a fun cast of supporting characters and a deeply touching story arc involving a surf instructor with dementia. Finn, the love interest, and Sasha are two people that find each other in the midst of burnout and they have a solid basis of friendship that turns into attraction.
Who can’t relate to wanting to run away to that place from your childhood that has the best memories, only to discover that it just isn’t the same anymore? A lot of the entertainment comes from the quirky staff. There are a couple of story arcs that could have been cut out. There were a few confrontations that I would have also liked to have seen with people that Sasha once worked with. That would have made The Burnout much more satisfying, at least to me.
Overall, The Burnout was enjoyable to read, and as mentioned, the self-care message is important right now. You will like this book – it’s not my favourite from Sophie Kinsella, but she definitely knows how to write a book that is perfect for the beach and completely of the moment.
