Reviews tagging 'Stalking'

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

54 reviews

britanicadramatica's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Dorothy Daniels is a renowned food critic and food writer with a specific taste. Dorothy guides readers through her life and endeavors with ex lovers and absolute hunger. 

GRUESOME. While reading this, I couldn’t help but think of Silence of the Lambs. Especially, when she’s talking about eating Giovanni’s liver. I liked this book well enough, though there were some parts that felt long-winded. I’m not so sure I’m a fan of the “writing a memoir,” main character telling me a story, trope. Ultimately, I found the book interesting and different from what I’ve read before.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Rape and Stalking

refrejarator's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a really fun read, however the main character is (due to her nature) someone I find intensely unlikeable. The description is fun and wild, and full of gore and torrid sex. I personally dont enjoy constant discussion of genitals outside of smut, and this book had a lot of reflections on genitalia (but this lines up well with the main character). 
I'm a vegetarian, and this book at least intrigued me with all the meat and recipe talk. Definitely made me hungry.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Gore, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

amessina3399's review against another edition

dark funny tense fast-paced

• 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

3.75

Really great story, lots of parts that I wanted to highlight and carry around with me in my pocket. That being said, the only thing stopping me from giving it a 4 is that the book tries really hard to keep itself as realistic as possible—ie the character saying things like “this book is true, why would I lie” and such things that when plot holes arise, no matter how minor, I’ve been asked not to suspend my disbelief, so they appear more glaring than had the book just given me the story without qualifying anything. Also, wish there were slightly more food/flavor descriptions, being a minor foodie myself. Other than that, great book, very interesting character, and I would recommend to anyone who loves horror and overall nasty bad-assery 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Infidelity, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

karalara's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense slow-paced

• 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

1.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cancer, Gore, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

themeanfrench's review against another edition

dark funny informative tense slow-paced

• 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Violence, Cannibalism, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Blood, Stalking, Car accident, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Cancer, Terminal illness, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

queerfucker's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

• 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

4.0

overall a great book exploring gender and sex one painstaking cut of meat at a time. It can get a little bit unneeded in areas of euphemisms but i get its supposed to be a person desperate to shock you ?  Some antisemitism/lesbophobia but I can genuinely chalk it up to the authors age as my mom from gen x has said some weird shit until i corrected her in an innocent way not knowing it’s outdated.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexism, Sexual content, Cannibalism, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Racial slurs

reynasimone's review against another edition

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The writing style made the first few chapters hard to get through, but I think it was a deliberate choice to add character to the narration. After awhile it becomes more bearable but it persists throughout the book. I found the main character unlikable and frustrating. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Misogyny, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Racism, Stalking, and Gaslighting

bbpettry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• 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

Summers really worked me out with this debut - I'm three years late as always, but damn! It's fun, its grotesque, its twisty and while this protagonist is deeply fascinating, there is no point in the narrative that is positioning for forgiveness. Dorothy Daniels is a violent murderer, and she tells us about that in tales of food and sex and plotting. It feels like Summers made this character by taking all the femme fatale career bitch attitude stuff from the 90's and took it all to its logical conclusion. A man-eater. A writer. A woman. Every time the writing was on the verge of losing me in too much gourmet musing (she is a food critic writing from prison, obviously she'd go on endless food tangents)  she pulls it back with a raunchy one-liner or low brow tv reference (Green Acres being my fave.) Somehow with all this book is, one could describe it as a book about the power of friendship and you'd technically be right. Very misleading, but correct.  
Not 5 because

while the end with Emma knowing all and staying loyal was fun, something about the end felt wanting? I wanted a bloodier end somehow, with her having escaped and maybe she's coming to eat you next kinda thing. But this isn't a horror novel, so maybe the end fits but was clumsy.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Blood, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Infidelity, Stalking, and Death of parent

officialdani's review against another edition

dark reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

The writing is overly pretentious, although I realize the character is pretentious. It gets a bit tiring at times, but really keeps you connected to the main character.

However, the more I read the more it kept me interested.

The descriptions of certain events are very graphic and disturbing. But that did make it a good October/Halloween read.

I wouldn’t go out of my way to recommend this, but I also wouldn’t discourage someone from reading it (unless you really can’t read graphic content). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Cannibalism, Stalking, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

lucylou's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

Crazy read. Interesting enough to finish, but my eyes glazed over a few times reading this, mainly around the 2/3rd mark. A pretentious main character who loves to talk and meander got pretty boring. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Rape, Sexual content, Violence, Cannibalism, and Murder

Moderate: Cancer, Confinement, Stalking, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism