Joannie is a divorced single mother to Lucy. She's on a post-lockdown first date with Johnny when a hot air balloon crashes into Johnny's pool, immediately derailing their date in unexpected ways. The balloon is coincidentally (and inexplicably) carrying a childhood acquaintance from Joannie's past (John the philandering billionaire) and his wife Julia. But after that unusual inciting incident the story seemed to turn into a series of justifications for bad behavior and poor choices. This was a story about a group of unhappy people who didn't quite know what would make them happy, all of them seemed simultaneously stuck but also in flux. There was tension surrounding everyone's behavior, which helped a bit to keep the reader's attention. 

That said, ultimately I wasn't the right audience for this book. I had to DNF at 30% because everyone was increasingly unlikable (minus the children) and I couldn't fully engage with the story. The book was described as satire and "blisteringly funny" but I think I missed a lot of the nuances that made it funny. The satire I could see, though, and there was a clear class divide between Joannie and the others. The writing was simplistic and straightforward, and clearly expressed each character's thoughts and motives. The story was pretty easy to follow even with multiple POVs. If you enjoy reading books in which unhappy people try to ease their ennui by making impulsive and self-serving decisions then this is the book for you. It's possible that the book improved further in, and because it's an ARC it also may be different from the published book. Publishes March 18, 2025. I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary ARC of this book, this was my honest and objective opinion.