Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Cursed Bread

TL;DR: extremely slow; horny, but not in the fun way; dark and descriptive, inching towards profundity without ever getting there.

I was so excited to read this book and was so disappointed. It is extremely slow. The audiobook is only 5 hours and I listened on 1.25 speed but it still took me over a month to finish. I kept reading thinking the pace might pick up and because I was interested in the characters, but the prose was flowery without real substance.

Content Warnings

carmina_r's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

savvylit's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

"Nobody, at the beginning, believes they will debase themselves for love. Nobody believes in anything else but joy."

Cursed Bread is a tale of violent obsession and the narrow line between hatred and love. Narrator Elodie is infatuated with Violet, a wealthy housewife who recently moved to town. Neglected by her own husband, Elodie focuses all of her sexual frustration into her obsession with Violet. As she and Violet get closer, Elodie covets every aspect of Violet's life, eventually hoping to become her.

Sophie Mackintosh is undoubtedly an incredibly talented writer. Her ability to create settings and characters is evocative and dreamlike. Cursed Bread, as a story, had a strong start with its unsettling and unreliable obsession narrative. Yet, as it progressed, I felt that something was missing. The entire narrative alludes to and builds towards a climax based on a real-life mystery. But the execution of that climax was rushed. I know that we, the readers, were only ever able to know as much as Elodie herself. However, the vagueness of the characters' motivations ultimately left me somewhat unsatisfied.

Thank you @netgalley and @doubledaybooks for the advanced reader copy of Cursed Bread in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Content Warnings

feebles640's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.25

Content Warnings

serendipitysbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

Cursed Bread is set in a small village in France in the 1950. Elodie is the wife of the local baker and she’s very frustrated since her husband is obsessed with making the perfect loaf of bread and not at all interested in her. When the American ambassador and his glamorous wife Violet move into the village Elodie is soon fascinated with them and falls under their spell. Meanwhile strange and dark things start occurring in the village. This Women’s Prize longlisted book that was more of a miss than a hit for me. While I could appreciate its literary merits, the sometimes beautiful writing and imagery, this book is often described as a fever dream and I’m not the sort of reader who enjoys fever dreams. I knew the story was inspired by true events and the beginning of the book had me intrigued. The more the story progressed the darker and less easy to comprehend it became. It’s combination of desire, obsession, deceit, and violence plus the level of uncertainty about who to believe and what actually happened meant it didn’t align with my readerly tastes, but it will be perfect for other readers.

Content Warnings

More...