Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

162 reviews

ella__ing's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Islamophobia

mianb's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, and Fatphobia

peachpapaya94's review

adventurous challenging emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Emotional abuse

caroisreading's review

emotional funny reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love Melissa Broder's writing so much. "Milk Fed" was a dizzying experience, being volleyed between sapphic sexcapades, mommy issues, an intense eating disorder and a complex relationship with religion. 

The biggest, most flagged trigger warning is the eating disorder content. You're punched in the face with it right away, and I saw myself in too much of it. Is it strange to say this felt refreshing, cathartic? So many of us have this experience, and in reading all its calculative detail, I cried for all of us. 

Perhaps the content that surprised me most wasn't the sex (honestly not as pearl-clutching as reviews make it out to be?), but our narrator's hope to find mothering, acceptance and comfort with an Orthodox Jewish family, and the conversation about Palestine. I won't get too spoily here, but the way she finds her voice here, an important scene. 

You'll like this is if you're into troubled and funny narrators, themes about sexuality, acceptance, faith, and don't mind the triggering and sexually graphic content.

I'm off to read "The Pisces"!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Biphobia, Sexual content, Fatphobia, Alcohol, Antisemitism, Body shaming, Eating disorder, and Homophobia

katebushcore's review

adventurous challenging dark sad tense fast-paced

0.25

when i tell you. this book is fucking insane. i mean it. when i tell you the descriptions are so fucking cringeworthy. i mean it. this bitch had me thinking that it was normal to smell A WAFT OF SHIT from someone's asshole while going down on them. not to mention just the general cringeworthy dialogue thats peppered throughout all of this. it's like reading one of those compilations of bad male sex scene writing but it's a woman writing it which somehow does in fact make it worse. it's certainly a fun erotic read if you're in a seattle polycule, but since i am not, it just felt incredibly cloying and i still think about it several years after reading it which is when im writing this review which really tells you something.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Emotional abuse

nad_books623's review

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Well this was odd.

I’m sad that the relationship between Miriam and Rachel didn’t work out. I enjoyed reading about their relationship more than Rachel’s eating disorder.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder and Sexual content

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Religious bigotry, Lesbophobia, and Fatphobia

Minor: War, Emotional abuse, and Sexism

alexandracpedro's review

challenging emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Biphobia, Religious bigotry, Mental illness, Lesbophobia, Fatphobia, Dysphoria, Addiction, and Sexual content

Moderate: Outing, War, Antisemitism, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Self harm

arbramirez's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Lesbophobia, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Addiction, and Body shaming

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic friendship

dykebakery's review

This book really pushed the limits of appreciation versus fetishization, and for me it really went past what I was comfortable with. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, and Sexual content

8going80's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.25

The ED aspect of the book definitely made it uncomfortable to read at times as it makes you address your own relationship with food. Good book and easy to whiz through

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, and Homophobia

Moderate: Body shaming and Fatphobia

Minor: War