Reviews with content warning for Stalking - A Certain Hunger

Dorothy Daniels is a renowned food critic and food writer with a specific taste. Dorothy guides readers through her life and endeavors with ex lovers and absolute hunger.

GRUESOME. While reading this, I couldn’t help but think of Silence of the Lambs. Especially, when she’s talking about eating Giovanni’s liver. I liked this book well enough, though there were some parts that felt long-winded. I’m not so sure I’m a fan of the “writing a memoir,” main character telling me a story, trope. Ultimately, I found the book interesting and different from what I’ve read before.

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refrejarator's review

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dark funny mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a really fun read, however the main character is (due to her nature) someone I find intensely unlikeable. The description is fun and wild, and full of gore and torrid sex. I personally dont enjoy constant discussion of genitals outside of smut, and this book had a lot of reflections on genitalia (but this lines up well with the main character).
I'm a vegetarian, and this book at least intrigued me with all the meat and recipe talk. Definitely made me hungry.

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amessina3399's review

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dark funny tense fast-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

3.75

Really great story, lots of parts that I wanted to highlight and carry around with me in my pocket. That being said, the only thing stopping me from giving it a 4 is that the book tries really hard to keep itself as realistic as possible—ie the character saying things like “this book is true, why would I lie” and such things that when plot holes arise, no matter how minor, I’ve been asked not to suspend my disbelief, so they appear more glaring than had the book just given me the story without qualifying anything. Also, wish there were slightly more food/flavor descriptions, being a minor foodie myself. Other than that, great book, very interesting character, and I would recommend to anyone who loves horror and overall nasty bad-assery

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karalara's review

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adventurous challenging dark tense slow-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

1.25

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themeanfrench's review against another edition

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dark funny informative tense slow-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

3.25

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queerfucker's review

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challenging dark funny reflective tense 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

4.0

overall a great book exploring gender and sex one painstaking cut of meat at a time. It can get a little bit unneeded in areas of euphemisms but i get its supposed to be a person desperate to shock you ? Some antisemitism/lesbophobia but I can genuinely chalk it up to the authors age as my mom from gen x has said some weird shit until i corrected her in an innocent way not knowing it’s outdated.

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reynasimone's review

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dark funny tense 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

The writing style made the first few chapters hard to get through, but I think it was a deliberate choice to add character to the narration. After awhile it becomes more bearable but it persists throughout the book. I found the main character unlikable and frustrating.

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bbpettry's review

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious 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

4.25

Summers really worked me out with this debut - I'm three years late as always, but damn! It's fun, its grotesque, its twisty and while this protagonist is deeply fascinating, there is no point in the narrative that is positioning for forgiveness. Dorothy Daniels is a violent murderer, and she tells us about that in tales of food and sex and plotting. It feels like Summers made this character by taking all the femme fatale career bitch attitude stuff from the 90's and took it all to its logical conclusion. A man-eater. A writer. A woman. Every time the writing was on the verge of losing me in too much gourmet musing (she is a food critic writing from prison, obviously she'd go on endless food tangents) she pulls it back with a raunchy one-liner or low brow tv reference (Green Acres being my fave.) Somehow with all this book is, one could describe it as a book about the power of friendship and you'd technically be right. Very misleading, but correct.
Not 5 because

while the end with Emma knowing all and staying loyal was fun, something about the end felt wanting? I wanted a bloodier end somehow, with her having escaped and maybe she's coming to eat you next kinda thing. But this isn't a horror novel, so maybe the end fits but was clumsy.

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