Reviews tagging 'Body shaming'

Muttermilch by Melissa Broder

341 reviews

w0rmonastring's review against another edition

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fast-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? It's complicated

1.5

i went into this knowing that i wasn't the target audience for this novel but still came out at the end of this book feeling like i had been through something extremely off-putting. it's a psychosexual obsessive and heavy-handed story with just an uncomfortable level of descriptive Freudian fantasization. 

there were a lot of interesting ideas from the author but not a single one of them felt fully explored, probably because there wasn't a single 3-dimensional character to flesh them out. it felt flat and repetitive and anti-climatic.

also, my favorite quote from the entire novel turned out to just be a Yiddish proverb.

<i> "Ah! For a little love, you pay all your life." </i>
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erinpoo's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

“My mother had never known me either, though it wasn't because I hadn't given her a chance. I'd given her a lot of chances. What was saddest was that she didn't seem to want to know me, not as I was on the inside. I wasn't even sure if she could grasp that I had an inside, that I was real.” 

usually when consuming media that involves sexual (or particularly erotic) content—and this comes with occasional exceptions and whatever—i am either  bored or ready to snap into autopilot mode so as to persevere it easier. but as sensual as half this book is, i found myself tearing up during the moments of intimacy, as well as stunned by broder’s crisp, fresh descriptions. i laughed during parts i didn’t think i’d laugh over, understood things i had never thought of before, felt for the characters even in the times where they were rather insufferable. 

this was an emotionally confusing experience, but also memorable. how our protagonist looks for a mother figure in all the wrong and unlikely places, struggles with the parts of herself she represses, grapples with her issues and insecurities and self-image.. that hit home. 

a whip-smart, darkly comic whirlwind of a book :)
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livmoulick's review against another edition

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

3.5

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jg34's review against another edition

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

3.0

I agree with many of the other reviews stating that the first 30ish % was really good then it really started to lose me. I wasn’t very sold on the love story part of things and maybe that was the point, that is was actually lust (or hunger????). I was a bit confused about how the eating disorder was handled. There was one part where Rachel was thinking something along the lines of “should I tell Miriam I used to have an eating disorder?” Which first of all, USED TO is not correct just because she’s been eating what she wants for like 2 weeks. I think we saw a lot of the struggle but none of the resolution with both the eating disorder and with her relationship with her mother. 
Also I’m open to a bit of weirdness but please the line about Miriam’s shit traumatized me
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pebbletown'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? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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gtutu5's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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ochrestar's review against another edition

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fat phobia 
incest 
and dumb
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sperigo's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective 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

4.0

Everything Melissa Broder writes is genius, and Milk Fed is no exception. This book didn’t hit me quite as hard as The Pisces did, but it’s beautiful in its own right.

Please heed the trigger warnings for an eating disorder and fatphobia! This book has the potential to be very triggering. 
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hopecory's review against another edition

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emotional funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • 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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lizmauz's review against another edition

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

5.0

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