ciaranolio's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Murder, Death, Antisemitism, Blood, Car accident, Cannibalism, and Violence
Moderate: Gaslighting, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexual content, Rape, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Death of parent, Chronic illness, Classism, Body shaming, Alcohol, and Cancer
tatimarie8284's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Alcohol, Cannibalism, Car accident, Chronic illness, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Stalking, Blood, Violence, Animal death, Cancer, Sexual harassment, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Terminal illness, Body horror, Death of parent, Excrement, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Confinement, Death, Gaslighting, and Gore
lilawsahar's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Sexual content, and Cannibalism
Minor: Rape, Alcohol, Blood, Cursing, Body horror, and Sexual harassment
blackcatkai's review against another edition
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
no. i get that it's supposed to be a satire overall and youre not meant to like the main character, but my biggest issue was how boring the entire novel is. and technically, it's only a satire in regards to the universe of food in real life, not the sexism or murder or sex or society as a whole or whatever. so maybe if it had JUST been about that, it would've been more successful for me. then the character of Dorothy would've read better with her vapid, self important, condescending, holier than thou bullshit. but not here, not when you throw in everything else.
pacing? all over the place, mainly slow. cannibalism and violence? well, its THERE, technically? but it takes forever to get to the gruesome bits and then theyre lackluster at best. this doesnt feel feminist or inclusive or a biting commentary on anything other than narcissists suck. there's also a ton of nuanced information presented in a non-nuanced way that feels like im reading an incomplete wikipedia page with no sources and missing key context. we get it, the author learned about a lot of things and wanted us to know about them, even if some info was left out, leading to what feels like misinformation, even in a fictional story.
this is more a book about gratuitous sex, fancy food, and trips to europe because its the best (except new york city, of course) than it is about cis-female empowerment, cannibalism, or violence. its repetitive use of simile, speaking down to the reader, and infodumps, left me disengaged, bored, and desperate for the end.
basically, this book was not for me, and im so glad its finally over. thank you.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Classism, Rape, Body shaming, Fatphobia, Ableism, Racial slurs, Racism, Acephobia/Arophobia, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Gore, Murder, and Body horror
Moderate: Sexual assault, Outing, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Mental illness, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Infidelity, Cancer, Homophobia, Antisemitism, Drug use, Cannibalism, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Transphobia
itsheyfay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Either way, I’m going to be thinking about this for a while.
Graphic: Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Death, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Car accident, Gore, Infidelity, Murder, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexism
Minor: Cancer, Antisemitism, and Death of parent
rachael03's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Cannibalism, Sexual violence, Rape, and Murder
lilacwhisker's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Blood, Body horror, Car accident, Death of parent, Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, and Stalking
Moderate: Cancer and Confinement
Minor: Animal death
raquelcanread's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment
rach_lind's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The only thing that was a bit irritating was coming across a word every other page that I had to underline and look up. And I feel like I have a pretty decent vocab. So prepare for that--but it seems also to be purposeful in its parody of extravagant food writers.
Graphic: Rape, Murder, Sexual content, Infidelity, Drug use, Death of parent, Death, Cancer, Body horror, Alcoholism, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Violence, Emotional abuse, Cannibalism, Blood, Stalking, and Car accident
jdf1027's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Rape, Death, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Car accident, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Cannibalism, Violence, Murder, Cancer, Gore, and Terminal illness
Minor: Antisemitism