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cheekylaydee's review against another edition
4.0
A beautifully told story of a family in crisis.
Freya has a seemingly perfect life with a loving husband and two girls who she adores. That it until anorexia takes hold of her baby girl and it has a death grip. This is especially hard for Freya. As a food writer, her life has been about food and nutrition. She cooks for others to show her love. How could her little girl of all people be so petrified of food? Nothing they do seems to help, no amount of coaxing, shouting, screaming or crying can seem to get through to her.
I don't know if Amanda Prowse has personal experience of anorexia. If not she's done some brilliant research, portraying the illness in a way that leaves the reader feeling as desperate and frustrated as her characters.
Brilliantly portrayed.
Freya has a seemingly perfect life with a loving husband and two girls who she adores. That it until anorexia takes hold of her baby girl and it has a death grip. This is especially hard for Freya. As a food writer, her life has been about food and nutrition. She cooks for others to show her love. How could her little girl of all people be so petrified of food? Nothing they do seems to help, no amount of coaxing, shouting, screaming or crying can seem to get through to her.
I don't know if Amanda Prowse has personal experience of anorexia. If not she's done some brilliant research, portraying the illness in a way that leaves the reader feeling as desperate and frustrated as her characters.
Brilliantly portrayed.
lisawhelpley's review against another edition
3.0
I don't think the writing flowed as well as it could have. Characters seemed flat. That's my reason for three stars.
ellyrarg's review against another edition
3.0
I was unprepared when I picked this book up. It took a bit to get into, but it was a bit like waiting in line before you get on the rollercoaster, because I devoured the rest of the book.
There was a lot of grief, and a lot of pain and befuddlement as people struggle to deal with their emotions differently. It was touching to see how everyone moved through from denial into determination and acceptance at what they wanted to do and what they could do. It felt real.
What didn’t feel real was the anti climatic end. I felt we were being geared up for death and the grief felt so genuine, but it felt like the author swerved at the last minute, unable to pull the trigger. Even worse was that we were pushed into the future without seeing the struggle and process that clawing herself back from mental illness would have taken. The ending felt hallow, and after such a brilliant ride I was disappointed.
The bigger story would have been to see how L did it, and I’m sad we were denied that. It was like being left on a cliffhanger and skipping to the episode after.
Still, the bulk of it was well written. The characters fairly three dimensional and bar the slow beginning and disappointing end it was a decent read.
There was a lot of grief, and a lot of pain and befuddlement as people struggle to deal with their emotions differently. It was touching to see how everyone moved through from denial into determination and acceptance at what they wanted to do and what they could do. It felt real.
What didn’t feel real was the anti climatic end. I felt we were being geared up for death and the grief felt so genuine, but it felt like the author swerved at the last minute, unable to pull the trigger. Even worse was that we were pushed into the future without seeing the struggle and process that clawing herself back from mental illness would have taken. The ending felt hallow, and after such a brilliant ride I was disappointed.
The bigger story would have been to see how L did it, and I’m sad we were denied that. It was like being left on a cliffhanger and skipping to the episode after.
Still, the bulk of it was well written. The characters fairly three dimensional and bar the slow beginning and disappointing end it was a decent read.
ja3m3's review against another edition
2.0
This book had a lot of potential to show how anorexia can impact and shatter a family. The details regarding Lexi living with and hiding her anorexia from her family were painfully interesting. but I had a real problem with and was distracted by the mother. How many times does she have to be shown that the only way to begin to help her daughter is to admit her to the hospital, get her fed and then begin working on the psychological reasons? You can't help someone cope and live with a mental illness, if they are dead. I felt like I had read the same scene of the mother's denial at least five different times. I just wanted to shake her and tell her to grow-up and be a mom.
I was also a little angry with the countdown clock of the hours which manipulates the reader into thinking something horrible or important is going to happen, but then nothing... just a lead to a happy-ever-after epilogue.
I was also a little angry with the countdown clock of the hours which manipulates the reader into thinking something horrible or important is going to happen, but then nothing... just a lead to a happy-ever-after epilogue.
liss_reads_lots's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
eaamd's review against another edition
4.0
Detailed look at a family dealing with the illness of anorexia. Provides different viewpoints and a wonderful thoughtful look at how this effects a whole family.
portybelle's review against another edition
5.0
In The Food of Love, Amanda Prowse has written another superb insight into a normal family whose life has been unexpectedly and dramatically turned upside down. Freya is very content with her family and her life. She adores her two teenage daughters and is still crazy about her husband Lockie. Then, out of the blue, their happy family is sent reeling when it becomes apparent that her youngest daughter Lexi is having issues with food. This is particularly ironic as Freya is a food writer and Lockie photographs food for magazines. She has always tried to make sure that her family eats healthily and it hasn't crossed her mind that anyone in the family would ever have problems with food. The book follows the heart-breaking journey of the family as Lexi's battle with food takes her to the brink and back so many times.
What Amanda Prowse does so brilliantly as always, is to write about a family which could easily be mine or yours. I have two teenage daughters pretty much Charlotte and Lexi's age and I have been married for 19 years, just like Freya and Lockie. Anyone with teenage daughters will know how important body image is to them and will know doubt worry about the unrealistic images presented in the media. They will also know, like Freya, how sometimes you feel like you are walking on eggshells trying to give advice without coming across as preachy. I could sympathise with Lockie initially wondering if giving Lexi's condition a name was in fact pandering to her and making it more of an issue than it was. And I could definitely relate to Freya who was just bewildered by what her 'baby girl' was doing to herself and, though terrified, was sure that she could help her through this difficult time in her life. My heart also went out to older daughter Charlotte, sitting her A-levels, applying for university and feeling she was being neglected by her parents whose focus was understandably on her sister and her problems.
I felt so many emotions when reading this book and felt like I had lived through the fear, worry and dread that it was all a never-ending cycle along with Freya. Amanda Prowse is so skilled at taking a situation and putting her reader right there experiencing everything alongside her characters. I am thankful that eating disorders are not something which have affected my family but am all too aware how easily it could happen to anyone. This novel, which must have been so carefully researched, was a real insight into what it must be like living with this condition and how it affects all the members of the family, not just the person battling the condition.
I genuinely could not put this book down, reading late into the evening then picking it up again as soon as I awoke the next morning. The situation and characters played on my mind and I found it a totally compelling read. Once again, Amanda Prowse has proved that she can get right to the heart of contemporary issues and make her reader understand more about situations which could affect any one of us.
What Amanda Prowse does so brilliantly as always, is to write about a family which could easily be mine or yours. I have two teenage daughters pretty much Charlotte and Lexi's age and I have been married for 19 years, just like Freya and Lockie. Anyone with teenage daughters will know how important body image is to them and will know doubt worry about the unrealistic images presented in the media. They will also know, like Freya, how sometimes you feel like you are walking on eggshells trying to give advice without coming across as preachy. I could sympathise with Lockie initially wondering if giving Lexi's condition a name was in fact pandering to her and making it more of an issue than it was. And I could definitely relate to Freya who was just bewildered by what her 'baby girl' was doing to herself and, though terrified, was sure that she could help her through this difficult time in her life. My heart also went out to older daughter Charlotte, sitting her A-levels, applying for university and feeling she was being neglected by her parents whose focus was understandably on her sister and her problems.
I felt so many emotions when reading this book and felt like I had lived through the fear, worry and dread that it was all a never-ending cycle along with Freya. Amanda Prowse is so skilled at taking a situation and putting her reader right there experiencing everything alongside her characters. I am thankful that eating disorders are not something which have affected my family but am all too aware how easily it could happen to anyone. This novel, which must have been so carefully researched, was a real insight into what it must be like living with this condition and how it affects all the members of the family, not just the person battling the condition.
I genuinely could not put this book down, reading late into the evening then picking it up again as soon as I awoke the next morning. The situation and characters played on my mind and I found it a totally compelling read. Once again, Amanda Prowse has proved that she can get right to the heart of contemporary issues and make her reader understand more about situations which could affect any one of us.
gswain's review against another edition
5.0
I thought this was a well written book on the chaos and struggle of mental illness for a family. The parents at the beginning angered me but they were just ignorant. We need to educate youth on mental illnesses but also parents and grandparents.
adrianajj517's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed this read. There are certain parts that I wasn't too crazy about, but not everyone deals with situations like I think I would. Clearly the book was pretty good because I did finished it. I would recommend this book to my book club friends.
spyralnode's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sick to my stomach, I kept on reading. This is such a supremely engaging read, it truly hooks you in, yet it's also very graphic, so I do have to give out content warnings for eating disorders and self-harm.
It would be tricky to say this is an enjoyable book - it's not. It's at times disgusting, at times heartwrenching, and throughout genuinely sickening. I physically didn't feel right reading it because the imagery is so strong. That is not to say that the writing is stupendous, as the author herself says, she sees scenes unfolding as in a film and then she puts them on page. I couldn't look away, I had to continue, even if disturbing developments were unfolding. Yet there is an emotional, loving tone to it too, a ray of hope in the midst of everything falling apart.
The focus is on Freya, food writer, happily married for 19 years and mother of two teenage daughters. When she is asked into school for a discussion with a teacher about her youngest, Lexi, she can't believe the insinuation that Lexi might be suffering an eating disorder. She's told that she fainted, seems to have lost a lot of weight, and is encouraged to take action and speak to a specialist. Yet Freya insists she knows her daughters best, they can talk about anything, something this major wouldn't escape her attention, especially because she has been instilling a love of food, especially of wholesome, healthy ingredients and products in her family. But she is forced to face reality upon finding plastic bags of vomit under Lexi's bed. She is thrown into a web of lies and deceit that come unexpectedly as her daughter quickly becomes smaller and smaller, anorexia threatening the well-being of her entire family.
I find the topic of eating disorders extremely interesting. I know more women than not who at some point have struggled with their relationship with food, me included. Between the dream of the skinny body, highlighted in media everywhere you look, to comments from those around you who think it's a public right to comment on someone else's body, to new diet fads that seek to minimise food intake and analyse every calorie, this is what many people face, especially women. Both the internal and external factors play a major part, and this book brings both into perspective. Freya as a mother blames herself, how she has pulled at an inch of skin around her waist, how she has applauded her daughter for not getting a second helping at dinner. And we are also show the internet microcosm of anorexia idolisation, advice on how to survive on 160 calories a day, that evolving into a much darker truth of self-loathing and a wish to stop existing.
'The Food of Love' is also deeply emotional. Everyone cares for Lexi, and that also means they are confused on how to best help. Her mother tries to find food she might like, attract her with appetising descriptions of meals. She is afraid of pushing her too hard, especially upon seeing how frial, how fragile she becomes. And this was probably one of the trickiest things to read about, how Lexi's features become too big for her proportions, her gray face, breaking bones, as her illness takes a toll on what should be a developing young body. Doctor's comment on how she is losing bone, how her system is feeding on her muscle, including her heart, thus weakening everything that is keeping her alive. This draws a wedge between her parents too, with her father reproaching her mother for her not involving him sooner, thinking she knows best, and not drawing enough hard lines. Charlotte, the older sister, is also put on a backburner, no longer prioritised by her parents, having to rapidly gain the maturity she needs to fend for herself.
But while the content is strong, there were also elements I found were lacking, most notably the education of the characters. Throughout her treatments, Lexi is only told she has to eat, not why, not how nutrition works, how her body functions, what might happen if she doesn't. So until she faces the consequences on her own, she is only told to go through the motions. Days after a diagnosis, Freya still doesn't know the difference between bulimia and anorexia, even though this is told modern day, with access to the internet.
And the main part I thought was disappointing were the characters. We are continuously told how kind Lexi is, but we don't really see that, her defining characteristic is her eating disorder and that is the only lens we see her through. We are shown she has dyslexia, but I'm not sure why, that was never relevant to the plotline. And especially at the beginning of the story we observe their interactions as a family, were the parents sound completely immature, speaking in clichés and unrealistic dialogue, so I didn't anticipate I woulda appreciate this book nearly as much as I did. Some even act out of character, such as Freya, who cooks everything from scratch, wanting to buy soup from the supermarket. Lockie, the father, reads as more of a supporting cast member than a part of this family, even though he is described by other's as Freya's rock.
So while definitely not perfect, it is a deeply emotional read, reminiscent somewhat of the film 'To the Bone', but never glamorising eating disorders, but rather shedding light on how they affect everyone around the ill person, destroying lives and relationships.
It would be tricky to say this is an enjoyable book - it's not. It's at times disgusting, at times heartwrenching, and throughout genuinely sickening. I physically didn't feel right reading it because the imagery is so strong. That is not to say that the writing is stupendous, as the author herself says, she sees scenes unfolding as in a film and then she puts them on page. I couldn't look away, I had to continue, even if disturbing developments were unfolding. Yet there is an emotional, loving tone to it too, a ray of hope in the midst of everything falling apart.
The focus is on Freya, food writer, happily married for 19 years and mother of two teenage daughters. When she is asked into school for a discussion with a teacher about her youngest, Lexi, she can't believe the insinuation that Lexi might be suffering an eating disorder. She's told that she fainted, seems to have lost a lot of weight, and is encouraged to take action and speak to a specialist. Yet Freya insists she knows her daughters best, they can talk about anything, something this major wouldn't escape her attention, especially because she has been instilling a love of food, especially of wholesome, healthy ingredients and products in her family. But she is forced to face reality upon finding plastic bags of vomit under Lexi's bed. She is thrown into a web of lies and deceit that come unexpectedly as her daughter quickly becomes smaller and smaller, anorexia threatening the well-being of her entire family.
I find the topic of eating disorders extremely interesting. I know more women than not who at some point have struggled with their relationship with food, me included. Between the dream of the skinny body, highlighted in media everywhere you look, to comments from those around you who think it's a public right to comment on someone else's body, to new diet fads that seek to minimise food intake and analyse every calorie, this is what many people face, especially women. Both the internal and external factors play a major part, and this book brings both into perspective. Freya as a mother blames herself, how she has pulled at an inch of skin around her waist, how she has applauded her daughter for not getting a second helping at dinner. And we are also show the internet microcosm of anorexia idolisation, advice on how to survive on 160 calories a day, that evolving into a much darker truth of self-loathing and a wish to stop existing.
'The Food of Love' is also deeply emotional. Everyone cares for Lexi, and that also means they are confused on how to best help. Her mother tries to find food she might like, attract her with appetising descriptions of meals. She is afraid of pushing her too hard, especially upon seeing how frial, how fragile she becomes. And this was probably one of the trickiest things to read about, how Lexi's features become too big for her proportions, her gray face, breaking bones, as her illness takes a toll on what should be a developing young body. Doctor's comment on how she is losing bone, how her system is feeding on her muscle, including her heart, thus weakening everything that is keeping her alive. This draws a wedge between her parents too, with her father reproaching her mother for her not involving him sooner, thinking she knows best, and not drawing enough hard lines. Charlotte, the older sister, is also put on a backburner, no longer prioritised by her parents, having to rapidly gain the maturity she needs to fend for herself.
But while the content is strong, there were also elements I found were lacking, most notably the education of the characters. Throughout her treatments, Lexi is only told she has to eat, not why, not how nutrition works, how her body functions, what might happen if she doesn't. So until she faces the consequences on her own, she is only told to go through the motions. Days after a diagnosis, Freya still doesn't know the difference between bulimia and anorexia, even though this is told modern day, with access to the internet.
And the main part I thought was disappointing were the characters. We are continuously told how kind Lexi is, but we don't really see that, her defining characteristic is her eating disorder and that is the only lens we see her through. We are shown she has dyslexia, but I'm not sure why, that was never relevant to the plotline. And especially at the beginning of the story we observe their interactions as a family, were the parents sound completely immature, speaking in clichés and unrealistic dialogue, so I didn't anticipate I woulda appreciate this book nearly as much as I did. Some even act out of character, such as Freya, who cooks everything from scratch, wanting to buy soup from the supermarket. Lockie, the father, reads as more of a supporting cast member than a part of this family, even though he is described by other's as Freya's rock.
So while definitely not perfect, it is a deeply emotional read, reminiscent somewhat of the film 'To the Bone', but never glamorising eating disorders, but rather shedding light on how they affect everyone around the ill person, destroying lives and relationships.