Reviews with content warning for Fatphobia - Supper Club

Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

owenwilsonbaby's review

emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

"I thought about how I was carrying only that weight, how I was responsible for no weight other than my own. All I had to carry through life was myself."

I mistakenly absorbed the information that this was a female cannibalism novel and was pleasantly surprised and intrigued when I realised it wasn't! There are a lot of different ideas here but for the most part I enjoyed it. The university strands were at times very moving and familiar. There was something less than cohesive about the novel as a whole but ultimately I did enjoy the character work and luscious descriptions of food preparation.

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bxcvi's review against another edition

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dark emotional

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.0

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samkcs's review

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jen_prouvaire's review against another edition

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challenging reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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akira_outofthegravity's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is like dark academia with food.

Honestly the food metaphors are incredible, the subtlety of the food reflecting the story arc is really cool. I loved Roberta, I loved her journey. I loved the imagery and I loved analysing this book.

I wish we knew what she chose, but I think it’s fairly clear that she chooses Adnan. I also think Stevie is a total controlling bitch, but she has her moments.

I like the themes of nonconformity, of trying to be yourself. Overall this is a really easy read, and a really interesting one.

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freyanjani's review

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book was… surprising. First of all, I read a lot of reviews about how this book was disappointing and didn’t live up to its main theme and title, but I’d like to differ. I think this book was everything it’s supposed to be, it was reflective and (way too) relatable and it’s a coming of age—both for early twenties and late twenties because the main character time hops a lot to her univerity times and present.

The book is wrapped as this female Fight Club-esque story, about women who made a Supper Club to eat (a lot) and take space. I do agree how the title misled what this book was about because the Supper Club itself only took up like probably 30% of the plot, and the rest focused on Roberta and the back and forth storytelling of her University times and current problems. But I didn’t mind it, to be honest. I think both aspects were perfectly balamced, but I do wish the Supper Club was more incorporated to Roberta’s plot.

My only strong feeling about this book is that it’s too relatable. Everything that Roberta narrates are so eerily… me. At times I keep thinking I hated the way she feels about certain things and I’m like “Wait, is it because I also think that way??”. Roberta’s so self-depricating and sad, and most of all she rarely believes in herself. Some parts of her thoughts are so embarrassing and negative and I keep realizing I’m only apalled because I am exactly the same. If this book makes you question Roberta’s personality and morals I think it might have hit you too close to home, at least it did with me.

Sometimes it’s also romanticizing a lot of harmful things, almost indulgent, like the part about self harm. But then again I think it does Roberta’s narrative some justice, after all the book Is from her pov. I do think if one was suicidal/actively SH, this would’ve been triggering.

Spoiler

There was a part where there’s a trans character as well but the author went back to using their old pronouns just to give this dramatic transformational effect that I thought wasn’t necessary but I digress because I don’t have a place to say whether that’s ethical or not as I am a cis woman.

All in all, it was satisfying but there are too much ehhhh moments that didn’t make it spectacularly good. It’s a solid read and I think it gives a unique perspective on late adulthood coming of age, people in their 20s deserves more of these stories. If you liked Normal People, My Year of Rest and Relaxations, or any other book with a passive—almost unlikeable—female narrator and main character that’s deeply sad and more than a little fucked up; this is for you.

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savvylit's review

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Supper Club is a reflective and often very sad slice-of-life novel. University student Roberta is desperately lonely and preyed upon by men. Late twenties Roberta is doing a bit better but she still carries the insecurities that have haunted her since school.

Supper Club as a whole shines the brightest through its primary concept: the club itself. The sections where new members are introduced were some of the most interesting and empathetic portions of the whole book. And the club meetings themselves were quite entertaining! As many women know, there is still an abundance of gender norms that can be difficult to escape. Imagining the women of this novel doing so and being gluttonous & unrestrained was delightful.

Eventually, however, the titular Supper Club fades into the background when Roberta enters into a serious monogamous relationship. At this point, I lost interest a bit. I understand the inclusion of this relationship as an obstacle to Roberta's friendship with Stevie. However, that didn't make it any less frustrating to read. Too much time was wasted describing the (frankly lackluster) relationship. Not to mention that diverting from the emphasis on sisterhood and radical norm-busting was a mistake, in my opinion. Eventually, the ending redeemed this choice... but not really.

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