Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

5 reviews

abundance_of_fiction's review

challenging dark medium-paced

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

3.0

Almost a 4 stars but more like 3.5. This book was short but the pacing still felt slow due to the monologue and narration. As a serial killer/thriller fan it was entertaining to see the author weave in many of these infamous women into her story and how they related to Dorothy. Reading about this psychopathic cannibal was both grotesque but intriguing as far as a narrative goes. Dark but engaging.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Blood, Body horror, Murder, Gore, Violence, Mental illness, and Cannibalism

Minor: Toxic relationship, Ableism, Toxic friendship, Antisemitism, Cancer, and Fire/Fire injury

blackcatkai's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

CW: blood, violence, antisemitism, murder, ableism, fatphobia, food/body shaming, classism, racism (slurs and otherwise), sexual content, rape and other types of sexual assault/harassments, gore, animal cruelty and death, sexism, gaslighting, infidelity, alcohol and drug use, passages that may read a bit homophobic and/or transphobic

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.

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Content Warnings

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

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Antisemitism, Gore, Ableism, Alcohol, Death of parent, Animal death, Confinement, Murder, Sexual content, Blood, Cannibalism, and Cancer

Moderate: Excrement, Mental illness, Drug use, Sexual assault, Infidelity, Fatphobia, Hate crime, Homophobia, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Vomit

Minor: Chronic illness

samvmac's review

challenging dark funny medium-paced

• 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? Yes

4.0

Dorothy loves sex, food and human flesh. This is revealed throughout the novel, which reads like a memoir, as she reflects upon the moments that lead up to her crimes of murder, consumption of human flesh and imprisonment.

It's a darkly funny read, although the language can be off-putting at times. Dorothy herself is an irredeemable character and extremely unlikeable, but that's not a flaw of the novel - I just hate her graphic, gratuitous description of her sex life (which I find more sickening that her descriptions of eating human meat).

Overall, it's a fun and quick read, with an extremely flawed woman main character. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Gore, Sexual content, and Violence

Minor: Ableism

katesigrist's review

challenging dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Cannibalism, Gore, Death, Cancer, and Death of parent

Moderate: Mental illness and Confinement

Minor: Ableism and Fatphobia