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j_schley's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
If you enjoy unreliable narrators, moral ambiguity, and questions of ethics, this is absolutely a story you’ll want to pick up. It’s grimy and gritty and dark but provokes many questions about the mercurial nature of human morality and the tenuous bonds of dysfunctional families.
I also don’t advise reading this book while eating, despite its innocuous title.
Graphic: Mental illness, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Fire/Fire injury, Xenophobia, and Violence
Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Gore, Blood, Racism, Rape, Classism, and Racial slurs
sylvestra's review
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Mental illness and Murder
Moderate: Violence and Medical content
hannahpeterson's review against another edition
- 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
2.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Medical content
Minor: Pregnancy and Abortion
torturedreadersdept's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Medical content, Dysphoria, Gaslighting, Cursing, Toxic relationship, Blood, Chronic illness, Death, Violence, Murder, Alcohol, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Child death, Sexual harassment, Racism, Abortion, Sexual content, and Addiction
Minor: Pregnancy and Pedophilia
beklovesbooks's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Physical abuse, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, Panic attacks/disorders, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcohol, Medical content, Sexism, Sexual content, Blood, Death, Torture, and Cursing
clemrain's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book takes course through one dinner. An important dinner and discussion between difficult characters that are strong in their beliefs and will act on them. That is a threat.
The narrator, Paul, is astonishingly written. A wild ride of inner dialogues and anecdotes that are placed in just the right places. Koch uses great pacing and placements of Paul’s recounts. Paul is of the best unreliable narrator’s I’ve read.
The Dinner is such a real depiction of racism, prejudice and privilege. That doesn’t catch on until it does and then it just settles. I can’t explain it. Koch does such a good job. You really get put into the disillusionment of these people. It’s astonishing. These are some well written and realistic characters though majority of them, I really don't like.
I wish I could read this book in its original language. I wonder how much it would’ve differed. The pacing the wording. Either way, I do think this translation is effective.
The ending
This book is frustrating and for most of it I was just trying to understand what the point was. But there is a point and I wonder if it’ll ever be understood by the people this book is about.
Graphic: Hate crime, Medical content, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Racism, Death, Blood, and Murder
Minor: Infidelity and Body horror
webb_beb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Violence and Medical content
Moderate: Homophobia, Murder, and Racism
hollymich's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Murder, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Racial slurs, and Hate crime
Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, Classism, Medical trauma, and Medical content
kashby's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
Minor: Alcohol, Death, Medical content, Murder, and Violence
buecher_und_huehner's review against another edition
- 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
I felt like I should add that, because, as I said, from a literary standpoint, this short novel does what it set out to do. If you love to read about twisted, despicable characters and the moral abysses that can lurk behind the façade of the "normal, happy family", I'd recommend this book. It just wasn't for me, at least not for now...
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Chronic illness, and Medical content
Minor: Abortion