Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

A certain hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

85 reviews

emmagrace012's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

Honestly loved it. So enjoyable to read, if a bit grandiloquent. Really enjoyed the immersive character experience and the overall plot lines. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

raphynette's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny informative reflective tense 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

4.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

blackcatkai's review against another edition

Go to review page

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.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

trishalah_'s review against another edition

Go to review page

dark informative 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


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

perplexed's review against another edition

Go to review page

1.5

Am not gonna lie. I don't get how people r a v e about this book? And call it a feminist masterpiece??? Like, I can sorta get the comparisons to American Psycho but at least AP was critiquing something, this book just felt like it didn't have a purpose other than girlboss gaslight gatekeep and I don't get it??? 

Also, sure, have a psycho main character but at least TRY and make them a wee bit engaging and not just a raging rude bitch 

ALSO ???? bruh this book just screamed of someone being like "hey I want this word to be something better lemme just grab my thesaurus" and I h a t e that. Use big words sure, but when your sentences are filled with like 4 or 5 instances of that happening stop. Just stop. Put the thesaurus down and use words humans know. 

Genuinely still don't understand how this book is feminist other than like
yay main milf character kills and eats men???
and like ??? That's not feminism?? Right ??????

Also - last point I promise, how was a book about a cannibal food critic this dull??? Like that's already such a darkly comic theme ?? Please I just don't get how many 5* reviews this book gets p L e a s e 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

celina246's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Another complex book, but this was pretty enjoyable, because the main character was really interesting and amusing.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

areen's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark funny informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

peachani's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

veelaughtland's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark funny informative 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

4.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

joshoonet's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

4.0

  • As a non native english speaker, I had too google quite a few words
  • Incredibly delicious, colourful and visceral descriptions
  • The sex was - at times - a bit much for me, but it fit the theme very well and I got used to it
  • Timeless vibes for some reason
  • The protagonist (and writer of the story in form of a memoir) is deadly smart and she knows it well, hence some uncommon turns of phrase, some unusual words, some very pretty poetic writing
  • Feels strangely detached from the happenings of the story, readers will know why. It works.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings