Reviews with content warning for Misogyny - Dietland (Tie-In)

Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Dietland (Tie-In) by Sarai Walker

12 reviews

bookedbymadeline's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

It started off great, I enjoyed Plum’s journey! I love the concept of women righting the wrongs of the judicial system and patriarchy but it was semi exclusionary in its feminism because they were pretty anti sex work and “women have vaginas and that’s what makes us women” TERF-y vibes.

Pacing felt off, it would slow down and honestly it felt like two different books at times. The first half was much more interesting and the terrorism plot line as well but the two never fully meshed which led to me not enjoying the second half.

Sometimes too much telling over showing with overly descriptive writing of minute details but then important events would be rushed. I wanted to just get the book over with by the last 100 pages and think it should’ve been so much shorter. I never felt fully engaged and would set it aside after only 1 chapter to scroll on my phone instead and was rushing to finish it.

The guerrilla girl group mentioned in the synopsis felt more like an afterthought and I truly thought Plum would be more involved but then she wasn’t?! Missed opportunities everywhere.

It’s very feminist, the beauty industry is BS, most of the time but then it still continues to feed into it. For example, it’s all about how everybody is beautiful and dieting fails and your size shouldn’t stop you from living your life. But then it talks about “fckability” and how important waist trainers are/they're a must have and how you should wax off all your body hair? Like I’m afraid we’ve lost the plot, Walker.

Also very western/white feminist moment implying women who wear burkas or hijabs are inherently oppressed. There’s so much more nuance to that and some women wear hijabs/burkas for religious reasons, not because men force them to, so it felt a little lacking in intersectionality.

Despite the deep topics and addressing issues within society it lacked the nuance and depth desperately needed to make this kind of social commentary. I think it does make some important points on body acceptance and fighting the beauty/diet industries but it’s not anything new for me. All the things brought up are basic white woman feminism 101 and things I’ve learned from body positive non-fiction (Just Eat It by Laura Thomas, PhD- highly recommend). I think that made it less enjoyable because I wanted more of the guerrilla group action and we were only told about it after the fact, in bare minimum details, and I wanted more of that storyline.

Also not sure Satire is my thing? This is the second one I’ve read and I really didn’t like either one😭

I loooved Walker’s sophomore novel but if we’re going for a book on social commentary then I’m going to be extra critical about how it’s lack of intersectionality and it’s own issues of internalized misogyny.

I’d say if you want to read a book from Walker, read The Cherry Robbers instead, if I had read her debut first I probably never would’ve read TCR 🫠 It’s much better paced, has more complex well developed characters, and overall more entertaining/engaging.

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cmcahill's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.5

Wow! This was intense.

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nbonarski's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional fast-paced

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

4.0

What a journey! We follow Alicia as she recounts weight trauma and then unpacks her internalized fatphobia. Too bad the world can go off the rails while she's working on herself! Self improvement waits for no one. If you are mentally able to handle the things mentioned in the content warnings pick up this book. It's a wild ride.

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criminalgoat's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad 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

2.0

The plot is consistent until then end where it completely changes. Is based on rejecting diet norms, which is great, but contains a significant amount of trauma dumping with graphic depictions and no warning. It also makes people who reject the diet industry and have fat bodies seem aggressive consistently (which is not the case). Side plots jump all over the place too. The book ends with a completely different plot which could be a whole book on its own (and it should be!) and is kind of irrelevant beyond connecting Plum to some characters.

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_masha's review against another edition

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sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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cataluna49's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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runt's review against another edition

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elatedbooks's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

2.75

“It felt good to say the word fat. I had always avoided it, but it had the same thrust as fuck and the same power—an illicit f-word, the top teeth digging into the bottom lip, spewing the single syllable: fat.”

This is actually written really well in a kinda quirky offbeat way but the story itself is pretty polarising (which I of course understand is totally the point)

It’s written for shock factor & I think in a couple of places goes too far but then again why shouldn’t it? It’s certainly truthful & unafraid to show it. However sometimes it felt like it was charging extremely fast headfirst just maybe not in entirely the right direction.
Most of the book has questionable messaging mainly because our MC Plum is really going through it & while she has a complete ideology change she then swings the other way into radicalism before finally for the very last few pages hitting a more balanced medium. Furthermore, a lot of the other women have similarly controversial practices that I just couldn’t sort out what I felt about.

Overall, this book will punch you in the face & is pretty vulgar so be warned. It’s definitely an acquired taste & possibly quite dated despite the issues raised still being relevant. Mixed feelings about this one.

“This is a different war, not an official one, but who decides which wars are legitimate?”

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carireadsbooksandtarot's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.25

I remember hearing about this book several years ago and maybe even watching an episode of the show but didn’t end up picking up the book at that time. Now with the release of Walker’s second novel, The Cherry Robbers, this one hit my radar again and I decided to give it a go.

Our main character is Plum Kettle who responds, in the guise of her employer, to letters to the editor of a teen magazine and is scheduled for weight loss surgery. She gets drawn into a whole new world when she meets a group of feminists lead by the daughter of the founder of the diet plan that Plum started following as a teen. She learns about the seedy underbelly of the diet industry and is promised $20,000 to try a new anti-diet plan before committing to the weight loss surgery.

Meanwhile, violent vigilante justice is being carried out on rapists and misogynists. These acts are dominating the news cycle and are purported to be carried out by a group headed by a mysterious woman called Jennifer. Are Plum’s new acquaintances involved? Does Plum want them to be so she can get involved herself?

I grew up surrounded by dieting and weight stigma, and have a history of disordered eating, so this really hit home. Published in 2015, this book is really ahead of its time in being anti-diet and body positive. The book also kept me guessing throughout and brought up questions of what justice should look like for men who are violent against women. If the justice system fails women and girls, is it right to take matters into our own hands? Is answering violence with violence the way forward?

Most of all, I loved seeing Plum transform in the presence of other strong female characters. Dietland is unlike anything I’ve read before and I will certainly be picking up The Cherry Robbers as well.

Tara Sands narration is excellent. I highly recommend the audio version.

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brenna2themax's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. But be aware, major trigger warnings (rape, gang rape, rape of a child - 12 years old, sexual assault, fat phobia, misogyny, violence toward women, rape culture, eating disorders, diet culture -obviously, etc).

It was a little on the intense side for a book to help me unwind and fall asleep at night (which was a little more of what i was looking for), but I still really enjoyed it. A solid feminist story that feels like a fairytale at times as Plum, the main character must go on emotional and spiritual "quests" in order to awaken, she'd her self hatred and internalized fat phobia, and finally find community in other women.

A truly amazing debut novel, I'm really excited to read Sarai Walker's next book. (And see what comes next!) I would be very pleased if there was a sequel to this book (a bit of a spoiler *at the end explaining what I would like to see).

I also really enjoyed the show and wish it had not been canceled.

I would have LOVED to have read this one in a book group.

----*----*-----*-----*----*

*SPOILER*

---*----*-----*------*------*

*I would love to see in the sequel

what Plum finds on the thumb drive, learn more about Julia's sisters, see Plum write her book, and perhaps become a mentor herself and help someone else through her own version of the New Baptist Plan. Honestly, I would enjoy a Calliope House series, before Plum and after Plum, exploring more of the characters, meeting some new ones, maybe seeing a different kind of revolution (from Jennifer).

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