Reviews with content warning for Eating disorder - De supperclub

Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

De supperclub by Lara Williams

63 reviews

vitacat11's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.75

Started off amazing, I devoured the first half. As someone who is in recovery for an ED, the flashbacks felt realistic and too true. However, it's when Roberta and Stevie start gaining weight that I saw this book veer off into fantasy. A book where the main character has lived with an ED, and points out how the point of eating was to reclaim space and be purposeful of it, but no mention of the struggles that come alongside it? The slip ups and self-loathing that come hand in hand with recovery? The lack of that really made this book more surface level on the main theme to me. Then, the misgendering of Sash in her past before she realized she was trans didn't really help it either. Although, the relationship between Stevie and Roberta really feel queerbait-y to me sometimes, so.

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antonsi's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

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savvylit's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

Supper Club is a reflective and often very sad slice-of-life novel. University student Roberta is desperately lonely and preyed upon by men. Late twenties Roberta is doing a bit better but she still carries the insecurities that have haunted her since school.

Supper Club as a whole shines the brightest through its primary concept: the club itself. The sections where new members are introduced were some of the most interesting and empathetic portions of the whole book. And the club meetings themselves were quite entertaining! As many women know, there is still an abundance of gender norms that can be difficult to escape. Imagining the women of this novel doing so and being gluttonous & unrestrained was delightful.

Eventually, however, the titular Supper Club fades into the background when Roberta enters into a serious monogamous relationship. At this point, I lost interest a bit. I understand the inclusion of this relationship as an obstacle to Roberta's friendship with Stevie. However, that didn't make it any less frustrating to read. Too much time was wasted describing the (frankly lackluster) relationship. Not to mention that diverting from the emphasis on sisterhood and radical norm-busting was a mistake, in my opinion. Eventually, the ending redeemed this choice... but not really.

Content Warnings