Reviews with content warning for Classism - Piglet: A Novel

what a wild ride. an encapsulation of what it feels like for the life you’ve built to spiral out of control. hazell writes with such intent and incorporates food into the story seamlessly. the descriptions are rich and lush and border on gross and nearly too much. you feel like you’re over indulging.

the level of anxiety that is constantly humming in the background is impeccable and consistently rises until it hits its peak. it ties itself with the descriptions of food and i’m obsessed.

spoiler: you’ll never know exactly what kit did to betray piglet. some people would hate that. normally, i wouldn’t be a fan, but i kinda like that here. you can assume it’s infidelity, but you can fill in the blanks with what you think is unforgivable and make it personal. it almost hits harder that way.

a gorgeous debut and i look forward to what hazell writes next.

Content Warnings

syellico's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.5

When I first saw the cover of this book, and the title, I was immediately turned off. I didn't even know what it was about, but my assumption was that it would be laced with fat shaming, which is a hard no for me.
I couldn't have been more wrong and I am so glad I decided to pick up the audio.
I would never have imagined I would be riveted to a 20-minute scene describing the suspense of assembling a Crouquembouche, or that I would be so invested in the lush and beautiful food descriptions that are woven by Hazell. But this story is so much more than that.
I couldn't help but think of the FX series The Bear as an adjacent recommendation to this, because of the food, but also because of the emotion and heart behind the story. I'm being vague because I just want everyone to go in blind and enjoy it as I did.
Cheers to Piglet and for her standing up for herself, I think this will be one of my top books of the year.

Content Warnings

another_dahlia's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

4.0

Content Warnings

ameliabellward's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective tense fast-paced

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

5.0

I finished this in less than 24 hours. One of the best books I’ve read, cannot believe it’s her first one.

Content Warnings

drmathews777's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense slow-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

2.75

Disclaimer: I am not an English major college graduate - Science for me, I do not look further than what I read in a novel I receive - no deep dives on authors, my reviews are for consumers and not for authors.
I happily received an ARC of Piglet by Lottie Hazell estimated release 02/27/24 (March 2024 on the print).
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Spoiler Review with Trigger Warnings
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I don't feel that this is good for anyone who has any issues with food. Trigger warning for anorexia athletica, binge eating disorder, anyone with an unhealthy relationship with food, and people with poor boundary setting/ poor impulse control.
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Piglet is a melancholy tale of a cookbook editor who is in the throes of a scandal right before her wedding. It's like a mix of the great British bake-off and the full train wreck meltdown of the subject's personal life and love life. Heavy elements of classism and eating disorders.

Many people are describing this as a masterpiece because it's tale of someone who likes to perceive themselves a certain way coming to grips with the truth that their perfectly curated life isn't so perfect. And maybe they themselves aren't the person they think they are when it all falls apart. True vulnerability doesn't come through until its too late and clamming up, eating feelings, isolating herself got Piglet into matrimonial hell.

Page 197-198 choked me up though. The struggled through the daughter father relationship when your child knows about your past indiscretions. I had waited on baited breath on what advice her father would give her. I was swiftly reminded that there was a history of infidelity in the past so he felt some measure of requirement to back up her mother's own decisions to stay and work out out long ago.

I appreciated the self awareness of the pretense and posture of keeping up with the Jones' at this point of the novel.

I found the food element evolving from very descriptive at first to less descriptive of the actual food but more so of the volume of it a subtle way of highlighting the binge eating aspect.

What resonated with me most was page 239, "he was pulling her forward and I had to fight the urge to yank back twist my arm out of his, a child refusing, the beginnings of a tantrum". I felt the exact same with first fiancé years ago. You just want to run as soon as you know it's not right but for some reason you don't ever do it soon enough.

The transition between Piglet and Mrs. Edwards was the fever pitch of the novel. Her brother-in-law shows up for her in a great way towards the end and you can really see the family come together to be in her corner at this point.

It concluded a little abruptly but in a perfect way in my opinion.

Overall a good read. Very melancholic, very reflective on society today. If recommend it to anyone who likes reading slice of life and downward spirals.

Content Warnings

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
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

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