Reviews tagging 'Fatphobia'

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

9 reviews

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

ghostboy1996's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Murder, and Sexual content

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Rape

hello_lovely13's review

dark funny reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Murder, Sexual content, and Gore

Moderate: Alcohol and Drug use

Minor: Homophobia and Fatphobia

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

toofondofbooks_'s review

challenging dark funny reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

This book was beautifully written and grotesque. It was both funny and unbelievably unhinged. It made me laugh and cringe, and feel sad. It was just so good. There were some sections that were difficult for me to get through but as a whole this is such a solid piece of literature and such a good addition to the "unhinged woman" literary sub genre.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Misogyny, Infidelity, Murder, Cannibalism, Car accident, Gun violence, Animal death, Mental illness, Animal cruelty, Sexual content, Death, Classism, Sexual assault, Cancer, Drug use, Rape, Excrement, and Vomit

Moderate: Fatphobia

Minor: Genocide, Pedophilia, Slavery, Racism, and Outing

vampires's review

• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

i liked that the book never lays out Why She's Like This (because she as the narrator is never concerned with that) but you as the reader have to sketch together a plausible explanation if you want one. i also liked that they let her age instead of making her just a sexy young maneater... she was a sexy milf maneater . the grossest scene imo? when she's trying to get the tongue. i regularly stop while going about my day to think about the note her bff sent her near the end (being vague so no spoilers). and also the fact that her family sends her care packages and stuff... i would do anything for some pages devoted to their current relationship now that they know she's a cannibal

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death, Cannibalism, Gore, Blood, and Murder

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

emudds's review

3.75

was skeptical of the tiktok femcel girlies' recommendations but i really liked this. i don't know if it's my general disconnect from femininity/womanhood at the moment or an inability on my part to distinguish between satire and earnest observation but some passages definitely veered a bit too far into wanda in the dr. strange trailer Girlboss-ism, but honestly a small price to pay for an otherwise entertaining book about attachment and abandonment, love and isolation, yearning and passion, etc etc.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Car accident and Fatphobia

lycheejelly's review

dark funny reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Cancer, Alcoholism, Confinement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Cursing, Death of parent, Rape, Infidelity, Misogyny, Antisemitism, Blood, Cannibalism, Sexual content, Animal death, Car accident, Chronic illness, Death, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, Medical content, Stalking, Outing, Body shaming, Classism, Incest, Biphobia, Fatphobia, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

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