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A review by bisexualbookshelf
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
Did not finish book. Stopped at 17%.
A potential soft DNF?
A funny thing happened to me a few years ago: I love to read books that reflect my own experiences with trauma, which is why mommy issues books are some of my favorites. There was a point in my life where mommy issues books were essentially all I was reading. I was also finding myself having to pretty constantly pause my reading to vomit during these books. For some reason, I didn’t put two and two together myself, but my mental healthcare team did. My psychiatrist and therapist ganged up on me and told me I was reading too many books about trauma, physically hurting myself by inducing so much vomiting, but also limiting my healing journey by casting everything through other peoples’ perspectives, rather than just being with my experience and feelings. Since then, I’ve been limiting the books I read that might be a little too similar to my own trauma.
The only things I knew about this book when I picked it up were that it was by Melissa Broder and it featured Jewish characters. Digging into the book, it turns out the main character is dealing with severely disordered eating after a childhood of calorie restriction inflicted by her mother. This is a big no-no for me, and I had to immediately fly out of bed last night while reading to hurl.
I love Melissa Broder. I love her unhinged and unapologetic FMCs. I was really enjoying this one, especially the fat representation and the subtle pro-🇵🇸 vibes. But alas, the body keeps the score, and mine is saying no. Perhaps I will revisit this one when I have a healthier relationship with my nervous system.
A funny thing happened to me a few years ago: I love to read books that reflect my own experiences with trauma, which is why mommy issues books are some of my favorites. There was a point in my life where mommy issues books were essentially all I was reading. I was also finding myself having to pretty constantly pause my reading to vomit during these books. For some reason, I didn’t put two and two together myself, but my mental healthcare team did. My psychiatrist and therapist ganged up on me and told me I was reading too many books about trauma, physically hurting myself by inducing so much vomiting, but also limiting my healing journey by casting everything through other peoples’ perspectives, rather than just being with my experience and feelings. Since then, I’ve been limiting the books I read that might be a little too similar to my own trauma.
The only things I knew about this book when I picked it up were that it was by Melissa Broder and it featured Jewish characters. Digging into the book, it turns out the main character is dealing with severely disordered eating after a childhood of calorie restriction inflicted by her mother. This is a big no-no for me, and I had to immediately fly out of bed last night while reading to hurl.
I love Melissa Broder. I love her unhinged and unapologetic FMCs. I was really enjoying this one, especially the fat representation and the subtle pro-🇵🇸 vibes. But alas, the body keeps the score, and mine is saying no. Perhaps I will revisit this one when I have a healthier relationship with my nervous system.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse and Eating disorder