Reviews with content warning for Murder - a certain hunger

For a book about cannibalism, it turned out to be surprisingly uneventful. Not at all what I was expecting from this book, I must say I'm disappointed. The pacing is increeeeedibly slow, making it a tedious read. The main character is insufferable; while I understand we are meant to dislike her because she's a murderer, her annoying personality made me almost give up on the book. Also, the way Dorothy describes sex made me want to vomit.

"As I tasted the bleach-and-umami flavor of his precum" —girl, what?

It felt more like reading a pretentious early '90s food magazine than a novel about a literal psychopath.

Content Warnings

ganesteh's review against another edition

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dark reflective tense medium-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

3.0

i get that it's part of the main character's personality, but the writing felt a little too pretentious and try-hard for me. i also felt like some of the story got a little repetitive and not necessary. my favorite aspect of the story was dorothy's friendship with emma, i wish the author spent more time on that

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amalauna's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark funny informative reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

Content Warnings

emmas_reads_'s review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

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

2.5

wow. this book was long. but short (thank god for that)! Summers sure knows how to write pretentious, unlikeable, unstable characters. and that is exactly what dorothy daniels is.

dorothy daniels is a sex-loving, borderline women-hating, antisemetic, racist, lesbophobic, and classist food snob. this book is supposed to be about dorothy critiquing women’s role in society. she brings up how she thinks monogamy is boring, that she won’t have kids, that she refuses to marry, that men are useful for sex, food, and manipulation and that’s about it. it honestly felt like dorothy hated women who decided to decided to do all of these things with men - the amount of times i wrote “just say you hate women and go” is astonishing for a book critiquing women’s gender roles in society.

the feminism in this book is more outright and blatant instead of the subtle critique i was hoping for. this felt just like the barbie (albeit with a cannibalistic serial murderess) - feminism 101.

the writing is…something. the author often shows what is unnecessary (food descriptions) and tells what is (emma and dorothy’s friendship developments). representations, descriptions, and comparisons are made with one of two things: food or genitalia. it’s very offputting - not necessarily uncomfortable but i did think it got excessive. i think the pretentiousness of the writing fit with dorothy’s characterization though, so even if it was a slog to get through i appreciate it.

i did enjoy the cannibalism (of which i do wish there was more of) and murder though. it’s why i bought this book in the first place. that part definitely delivered, and for that i’m thankful. delightfully sickening!!

Content Warnings

beeword's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Definitely an interesting read. It took me longer to finish than a typical 250 page book and I think there were a couple of factors at play.
1. The main character doesn't experience a lot of emotions, which are usually what really invest me in a story.
2. The main character is a gourmand, and her tastes are far richer than what I'm familiar with. Many of the author's analogies and invocations use dishes or wines that my nugget-loving palette cannot comprehend.
I was keenly aware that I was missing out on nuanced portions that a more informed foodie could probably grasp with ease.
That being said, I loved this refined take on a female psychopath, and how unapologetically she was written.
If you want an FMC who is incredibly intelligent, driven, sexual, and pretentious, this book is for you!

Content Warnings

the_reading_vampire's review against another edition

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dark funny medium-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

river23's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

2.0

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