Reviews tagging 'Excrement'

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

16 reviews

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

raquelcanread's review against another edition

challenging dark funny reflective 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Death, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence

Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Drug use, Infidelity, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

latoyareadsdaily's review

challenging dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I found this book to be 100% out of the ordinary read for books. It is more like the memoir of a woman who lives by the prodding of her carnal appetite. I had to keep Google nearby as I spent half the time researching words and foods. The rest of the time I didn't bother to do it but I just appreciated the book for the lexical delicacy it is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Cannibalism, Cursing, Terminal illness, Cancer, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Violence

boglord's review

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Car accident, Drug abuse, and Blood

Moderate: Infidelity, Alcohol, Animal death, Classism, Misogyny, Sexism, Toxic friendship, Confinement, Death of parent, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Antisemitism, Cancer, Body shaming, Incest, and Adult/minor relationship

paulasnotsosecretdiary's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Dorothy Daniels turns her adoration of food into a career as a food critic and writer. She proudly defies social conventions, engaging in behaviors that other people would consider disgusting and shameful. She is also a proud psychopath and serial killer, admitting to all the ways she uses people, collects information about them to use at her whim, and throws them away without a care. Her appetites are enormous. After tasting everything, a terrible accident presents Dorothy the chance to taste the ultimate forbidden dish: human flesh.

As the story begins, Dorothy recalls the crime that sent her to prison for the remainder of her life. As she serves her sentence, Dorothy writes her autobiography, recounting her youth, including the organic food her mother grew and cooked. Dorothy recalls her food writing career throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including the dishes she tastes, people she sleeps with, and the information she gathers on every one of her lovers and bosses. When she loses her job during the 2008 recession and has to turn to freelancing for internet websites in her 50s, something breaks a bit more inside Dorothy. 

You may ask, why should I read this book; the narrator is a monster. Dorothy Daniels is smart, funny, and charming; she is a fantastic storyteller. The novel reads as though sitting down to dinner with a fascinating and terrifying guest. It also offers readers insight into how the loss of print publications, especially glossy magazines with incredible photography and long-format articles, impacted writers, and how readers lost something when these publications folded or went online. The story is fast-paced and filled with action, featuring lovingly detailed descriptions and language, resulting from a great deal of time and care in its writing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Excrement, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, and Violence