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A review by msmarlena
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
Did not finish book. Stopped at 48%.
I should've known this would be gross when I learned the author is thin.
Miriam, the speaker's fat lust object, is written as just that, to the point that the speaker repeatedly wonders whether she created her out of clay in a therapy session, a Jewish monster, a golem, a manifestation of her worst fears.
Miriam, a fat, happy, funny woman of faith with a large family, doesn't actually exist outside of the part she plays in the protagonist's self-obsessed journey from starving to binging.
It absolutely strains credulity that Miriam doesn't hesitate to invest energy in encouraging and cheering on the thin woman who panics when her sugar-free froyo exceeds the lip of the cup.
She stewards her through new experiences eating endless courses of Chinese food, snacking at the movie theatre, eating with her family... All openness and nurturance, as though she has no self-preservation instinct, no idea what this woman thinks of fat people. Ughhh.
Manic pixie dream girl only make her fat. I'm so disappointed that Carmen Maria Machado vouched for this book.
The speaker is a deeply unlikeable person, and I wasn't able to sympathize with or relate to her in any way. I felt like I needed a long shower after hanging out with her and her toxic inner monologue for these few hours.
Like honestly. There are plenty of people who were slightly ("softly") chubby as children, and/or had emotionally abusive mothers, (The protagonist even has joyful, food-loving grandparents! A supportive father!) and still manage to become adults who have even one friend, who have more than one facet, who believe they deserve to buy themselves a damn rug for their bedroom.
If I want simply to read Mommy/girl kink fantasies or genuinely, unreservedly adoring descriptions of a fat woman's body, I know now where not to look.
Miriam, the speaker's fat lust object, is written as just that, to the point that the speaker repeatedly wonders whether she created her out of clay in a therapy session, a Jewish monster, a golem, a manifestation of her worst fears.
Miriam, a fat, happy, funny woman of faith with a large family, doesn't actually exist outside of the part she plays in the protagonist's self-obsessed journey from starving to binging.
It absolutely strains credulity that Miriam doesn't hesitate to invest energy in encouraging and cheering on the thin woman who panics when her sugar-free froyo exceeds the lip of the cup.
She stewards her through new experiences eating endless courses of Chinese food, snacking at the movie theatre, eating with her family... All openness and nurturance, as though she has no self-preservation instinct, no idea what this woman thinks of fat people. Ughhh.
Manic pixie dream girl only make her fat. I'm so disappointed that Carmen Maria Machado vouched for this book.
The speaker is a deeply unlikeable person, and I wasn't able to sympathize with or relate to her in any way. I felt like I needed a long shower after hanging out with her and her toxic inner monologue for these few hours.
Like honestly. There are plenty of people who were slightly ("softly") chubby as children, and/or had emotionally abusive mothers, (The protagonist even has joyful, food-loving grandparents! A supportive father!) and still manage to become adults who have even one friend, who have more than one facet, who believe they deserve to buy themselves a damn rug for their bedroom.
If I want simply to read Mommy/girl kink fantasies or genuinely, unreservedly adoring descriptions of a fat woman's body, I know now where not to look.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Body shaming, Toxic relationship, Addiction, Child abuse, Dysphoria, Fatphobia, and Self harm