Reviews tagging 'Biphobia'

Milk Fed by Melissa Broder

85 reviews

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"!

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Content Warnings

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

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

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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

mushmoll's review

emotional funny inspiring sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Quote:
"Was it possible I could be my own daughter?..I wondered if the universe, in its roundness, somehow already contained my daughterness. Perhaps I'd been being held there, a daughter all along, until I woke up to it."

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Outing, Toxic relationship, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Dysphoria, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Biphobia, Emotional abuse, and Religious bigotry

kickitupanotch7's review against another edition

challenging funny reflective fast-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, and Body shaming

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Biphobia, and Suicidal thoughts

perksofbeingemily's review

dark emotional funny reflective fast-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: Eating disorder, Body shaming, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, and Mental illness

Moderate: War, Lesbophobia, and Biphobia

butlerebecca's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Mommy issues, the (horny) book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Biphobia, Religious bigotry, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia

extracelestial's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

4.5

I know this book is decisive but I really enjoyed it. To me it reflected how much we, especially women, are raised to suppress and deprive ourselves, and how learning to live outside that mindset can be difficult and messy. A lot of the book was crude, but it felt honest to me, likely because I read a lot of romance and the explicit desire and lust felt like a small way Rachel was getting closer to appreciating her own body as she learned to regulate. I certainly don’t think this is for everyone, but it was the right amount of mess and transformation for me.

PS - It was incredible to read this book in December 2023, 60+ days into the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza. Some moments of confronting Zionism in the book feel otherworldly, knowing that these conversations have been happening for decades. I really felt for Rachel during the confrontation with Miriam’s mom— a real mourning for my Jewish friends who have had part of their identity/culture weaponized against them as they question Israeli occupation and speak up for Palestinian liberation.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Homophobia, Body shaming, Biphobia, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Eating disorder, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Grief, and Fatphobia

norabeideineroma's review

inspiring reflective 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

2.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Body shaming, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Islamophobia, Biphobia, Homophobia, Eating disorder, Lesbophobia, Antisemitism, and Alcohol

mlachevre's review

challenging emotional funny fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Biphobia, Body shaming, and Dysphoria

elderwoodreads's review against another edition

dark emotional funny fast-paced

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

5.0

This was my first book by Broder and I will certainly be reading more. I did have a heads up this would be weird going in which I think helped, but I think the weird was used well and was necessary.

I personally liked the ending, however, I get why others didn't. I like endings where there is some realism about how much people are able/willing to change for each other, but I definitely get that it's frustrating

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Sexual content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Incest, and Lesbophobia

Minor: Alcohol, Antisemitism, Religious bigotry, Biphobia, Blood, Excrement, Genocide, Vomit, War, and Xenophobia