Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Hot Stew

This book is an art piece told by multiple different perspectives. It’s as if they orbit the building as it is the sun, but the building is not their focus. It sometimes does get confusing with all the characters with imo similar names. If you like this I would also recommend Vagabonds (although it is different).

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kellyloubishop's review

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adventurous challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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kirstym25's review

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dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

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teainthelibrary's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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sarahholliday's review

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challenging funny hopeful mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.25

There's so much to this story, it's hard to know where to begin!

If you love books with a large cast of characters and interconnected storylines...
If you love stories that deal with gender, class, money, sex, power, and gentrification...
If you love books that are character-focused, but that move at a nice pace...

...this might be the book for you.

As a historian who has studied prostitution, I loved the nods to London's long history of sex work ("stew" was a historical term for a brothel). It was also great to see a sex worker as a main character, but whose storyline didn't revolve around her work. There's a sense throughout the story that Precious & her fellow sex workers would've been evicted regardless of their employment. Almost all of the storylines and relationships in Hot Stew can be reduced down to economic transactions, judgements about money (and who deserves it), or the decision to live outside of the traditional economy.

If there's a critique to be made, it's that Mozley glides too easily past race & racism as factors in a story about gentrification, sex work, policing, and corruption in government.

Overall, I think Hot Stew is a sharp, witty, Dickensian tale, and an enthralling portrait of London to boot.

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