Reviews with content warning for Drug use - Le divoratrici

A friend told me this book was like Fight Club but instead of frustrated men living out their violent urges through secret fighting, it's frustrated women living out their consumption urges through secret feasting. I can see the comparison and as a woman I found this more relatable than Fight Club (though I also enjoyed that film).

Consumption is a key theme throughout: consuming food, consuming friendships, consuming desires. I found it an interesting conceit. Women are made to feel that public space isn't theirs, that their bodies are subject to others' wills, that their appetites aren't appropriate or decent. So the lead character decides, after a traumatic event, to start secret supper clubs where she and a select number of friends occupy empty spaces at night and gorge on skip-sourced food as a rebellious art project where they abandon all limits and quite literally eat until they are sick.

It's subversive and funny in parts, and the supper clubs themselves escalate in scale and debauchery through the book...though I have to admit not quite to the levels I expected.

Perhaps that's the point? That they can only ever bring temporary respite? I wasn't convinced the characters were any happier for them by the end.

The central friendship is recognisable in all its complexity and insecurity. The interludes where the origin and techniques of certain dishes are described in loving detail are a genuine joy to read. Our relationship with food and its link with our society and culture is truly fascinating and this book explores this well.

It would be a good read for a open-minded book group I think. I would definitely recommend it.

Be aware that there are scenes in here of sexual violence, of self harm, of behaviour that verges on eating disorders which make for uncomfortable reading.

Content Warnings

oliviamae's review against another edition

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emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

claudia_bow's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful medium-paced

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

Content Warnings

lilkstew's review against another edition

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reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

Meh. This book has such a great cover and premise, but the content falls flat. I thought that the sections that described recipes and dishes in detail were great; they made me so hungry. However, the plot was underwhelming. I didn't like how the theme and purpose were stated so blatantly multiple times throughout the novel. I don't like it when that happens! It's like the authors don't believe that their audience is capable of discerning the point just by reading, which is kind of how books should really work.

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