Reviews

I'll Eat When I'm Dead by Barbara Bourland

inkandimagination's review

3.0

The title and first sentence were absolutely amazing.
Everytime I read books fashion and beauty and that’s type of industry (especially when the word horror is implicated) I get extremely excited.
And at first I’m always like: Hey! This is great!
But as the plot progresses I get a bit bored and it’s not because the book is not interesting! It just has so so many layers to it that it becomes tiring (for me that is.)
Nevertheless I have to admit that I really enjoy reading books like this.
I suggest you give it a shot if you need something you don’t normally read

manikahemmerixh's review against another edition

3.0

The author has very readable writing which is great in this case, as it meant that I had a pleasant enough reading experience despite the book not being what I expected. There’s a lot of elaborate content here that would appeal to a niche audience (that doesn’t include me). Which could also be why the characters were off for me. I think they were meant to be ironic? But it felt more like it perpetuated overdone character stereotypes.

Imagine me pleasantly surprised to see FWB presented as an even no strings attached, MUTUAL, relationship between a man and a woman, because that never happens someone has to be in love, right? Well yes actually, she’s hopelessly, desperately in love with him. Which also means that’s he’s the asshole who uses her because that’s the way it’s always been (meaning I no longer care about him as a love interest) Ugh. Lame.

 

I also haven’t read many mysteries, so I may be wrong but this almost doesn’t feel like it should even be classified as one? The murder that the story is introduced with is one of the smallest plot pieces in the whole book, even though it does tie back in eventually. I wasn’t anxious to know who did it, but I wasn’t bored.

xlucyx's review

dark funny reflective tense fast-paced

• 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

3.25

joliek's review

3.0

I fluctuated between a 2 and 3 star rating - I really wanted to like this book, and did like a fair amount of it. But it fell flat for me in a lot of ways - there would be build up in a story line, then it would just sort of be thrown aside and ended without any sort of actual conclusion. The writing was enjoyable to read, so I’m open to reading the author’s other books.

kristianawithak's review against another edition

3.0

This is like The Bold Type but grittier, with more commentary on the fashion industry and a lot of casual drug use. It was good.

annikaripley's review

4.0

ouais c'était bon mais je n'ai pas adore . parfois c'était drôle parfois c'était ennuyeux , toujours c'était prétentieux

3 1/2 -> 4

bluejayreads's review against another edition

 I read 80% of this in the same way I used to read pretty far into mediocre audiobooks: it was fine enough while I was listening, but once I put it down, I couldn't think of a reason to pick it back up again. If you guessed this was a murder mystery from the back cover, I wouldn't blame you. Nor would I blame you for assuming it shone a withering spotlight on the pressure society puts on women to look a certain way and the potentially deadly lengths women feel they must go through to gain beauty, their only available source of power. However, this book is mostly about pretty women who work at a fashion magazine wearing interesting outfits and trying to make the fashion magazine interesting and profitable, with a hefty dose of "mutual pining but only because we're both SO bad at communication" between the protagonist and the cop investigating the death that started the story in the first place. I have a casual interest in fashion, so it kept me just engaged enough to not give up on reading while I was actively reading. But once I put the book down, I realized that there wasn't really much of a plot to speak of and I didn't really like any of the characters. I am actually curious about what actually happened to the character who died at the beginning, but it seems like the book is less invested in that question than in the questions of whether or not the protagonist and the cop get together or what happens to the fashion magazine. As much as it feels like a waste to stop reading this close to the end, I really have no desire to read the rest of it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Eating disorder

Moderate: Confinement and Death

Minor: Infidelity, Sexual assault, and Grief

Being arrested, being drugged without consent

chareth666's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

2.75

endointhewild's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

• 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

lizzyb96's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5