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readingundertheradar's review against another edition
3.0
EAT ONLY WHEN YOU’RE HUNGRY was an introspective novel on family and what it means to support and love someone, even when you may not like them. It featured flawed and real characters who definitely made wrong decisions but who feel all the more real because of that. The prose was outstanding, and it’s clear Hunter is a writer to watch. Recommend for fans of Lily King or Ottessa Mosfegh.
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“Soon Greg stopped trying to right himself; he got used to everything being upside down. All the blood rushed to his numb head. Everything numb, eyes closed against the floor of the sky.”
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CW: drug abuse, overdose, attempted suicide, suicide ideation, driving under influence, alcoholism, eating disorders
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“Soon Greg stopped trying to right himself; he got used to everything being upside down. All the blood rushed to his numb head. Everything numb, eyes closed against the floor of the sky.”
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CW: drug abuse, overdose, attempted suicide, suicide ideation, driving under influence, alcoholism, eating disorders
chrissydisibio's review against another edition
3.0
I finished this pretty quickly- a man nearing upper 60's goes on a search to find his drug addict son and along the way he realizes things about himself and life. He thinks back to his first wife and then current wife and how he possibly treated his son wrong throughout his childhood. The whole time you are wondering where his son is and it kept my interest however I HATED the ending! Absolutely hated it
canuckmum's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Incredible novel that is at once humorous and tragic.
emmylou52's review
3.0
I didn't love too much about this book. I do think the author did a good job of detailing some of life's smallest moments and some of all of our inner thoughts. I also liked how she explored the main character's relationship with each of his parents and compared that to how he fathered his son. However, I felt that her descriptions of Greg's overweight body seemed gratuitous and sometimes even distracting... but maybe that was the point?
brittski's review
1.0
This book was such a disappointment.
Greg, an overweight retired accountant, goes on a journey to find his drug addicted son who's been missing for three weeks.
Honestly, Greg is a really fat guy who can't stop eating and doesn't really care what it is doing to himself. He's divorced to his son's mother, and his current marriage isn't all that great either. He finally decides to get his butt off the couch and look for his son, but in reality he only goes to three places.
This book just was not what I was hoping it would be. It made me quite sad actually. There was no plot, there was no journey, the main character barely changed. This could have been an excellent platform for facing and overcoming addiction, but alas it did not. I'm really thankful it was only 209 pages and I didn't waste a ton of time on it.
Greg, an overweight retired accountant, goes on a journey to find his drug addicted son who's been missing for three weeks.
Honestly, Greg is a really fat guy who can't stop eating and doesn't really care what it is doing to himself. He's divorced to his son's mother, and his current marriage isn't all that great either. He finally decides to get his butt off the couch and look for his son, but in reality he only goes to three places.
This book just was not what I was hoping it would be. It made me quite sad actually. There was no plot, there was no journey, the main character barely changed. This could have been an excellent platform for facing and overcoming addiction, but alas it did not. I'm really thankful it was only 209 pages and I didn't waste a ton of time on it.
obviouschild96's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
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
5.0
kairakaira's review against another edition
4.0
I normally hate an addiction novel, but I really liked how this was done. A portrait of a family dealing with addiction and how that can feel like failure.
rpmirabella's review
3.0
I like Lindsay Hunter's writing. She creates deeply flawed humans in this novel, but I found it hard to care about them. We begin the novel with a certain understanding of Greg, and gradually many of his issues are revealed to us, but I never felt connected to the issues. I wanted to know more about his issues with food. They are part of the novel, but I expected more focus, more confrontation. There are some very brutal and sad moments in flashback, where we see the TERRIBLE relationship he has with his son, and I found those compelling. It's kind of brilliant how this novel exposes how sometimes parents want relationships from their children that they did not actually earn. Still, I had trouble with the execution here. I felt that much of the novel dragged, despite its very short length. There are long paragraphs of description, and long moments that do not seem meaningful. I've heard great things about Hunter's short fiction, and I bet I'll like it better.