Review of Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter

*Ripe* by Sarah Rose Etter (2023). Published by Scribner.

What drew me into this book when I first saw it was the cover—I love the pomegranate motif that appears on there. Look up the symbolism behind pomegranates and think about how the title and the actual story all connect. That’s a fun way to think about the way the book unfolds. Anyways, I was eternally blessed to be given an advanced copy of the book through the publisher, Scribner, via NetGalley. I had heard of Sarah Rose Etter many times because of how active I am on literary Twitter—after a while, all the writers star to appear on your feed and you recognize the names whose books are being published at the moment.

But what really sucked me into the book was the premise. Capitalism and labor studies are something I’m interested in how fiction explores, especially in an era where it seems to become a mainstream idea that people and things can be inherently anti-capitalist in such an open manner. And I will say, Ripe definitely does explore those subject matters.

Onwards with the review!

Cassie discovers life in Silicon Valley isn’t as nice as she thought it was going to be.

One could describe the events that happens throughout Ripe as surreal. Our protagonist is Cassie, who works at a dream company and job in Silicon Valley. She was thrilled to get this job, but now that she’s moved into the area and is a year into it, things are starting to get a little horrific for her. Throughout the course of the novel, she discovers that not only are people essentially being ideas values and ideas, but her company is straight up asking her now to conduct activities as part of her job that are seriously unethical.

And when I say seriously unethical, it’s like hacking into another company’s info and finding out what could be leaked to the press, ruining their image forever so Cassie’s company can come up on top. At the same time, homeless people are wandering the streets because of how unaffordable the city has become for people not working in tech, while everyone in the industry is having a blast at their expensive brunches. Cassie literally keeps looking out her window and seeing the most horrifying events, like people bathing themselves in the river because they have no other options, or a man setting himself on fire because he sees no way out.

This is juxtaposed with the cracks in the system she’s inside of. There are depressed burnt out tech workers on the commuter trains, while the other ones, presumably Ivy League and rich, are complaining about what kinds of snacks are being served at the company’s office. This is straight up late stage capitalism and slightly apocalyptic, but no one seems to be aware of that. The novel essentially is Cassie coming to terms that all of this isn’t something she wants to feed into at the end of the day.

However, the way the novel is written is absolutely fantastic and interesting to dissect. There’s a lot of discussions about black holes, and it ends up serving as an interesting metaphor for the situation at large. It decreases and expands throughout the course of the novel to reflect her inner world. The black hole has been there as long as Cassie can remember, and it serves as a companion that sees everything that she can see. It serves as shield at times for the negative emotions she ends up feeling, which can probably be self-destructive as time goes on.

I’m not sure this is the kind of book for everyone, but I think anyone should read it. A core part about reading is reading widely, and understanding that just because you might dislike something and didn’t care for the topic doesn’t mean it isn’t a good book. Taste is subjective. I enjoyed Ripe and thought it was a good story with good writing. Cassie’s life is a bit of a mess, and when we throw in her childhood trauma and parents, we can understand why she is the way she is and is kind of a major sad girl. Some trigger warnings are applicable though for depression and abortion, as well as for anyone who just gets triggered talking about capitalism hellscapes.

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