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A review by beholderess
Devil's Food by Kerry Greenwood
5.0
I am really in love with the series. The main strengths (unapologetically fat heroine who enjoys her food and is adored by her boyfriend, quirky and likeable cast of characters, the setting one would love to live in, adorable and imperious cats, delicious muffins) and the main weaknesses (lacklustre mystery and no no possibility for the reader to figure it out themselves because the author withholds information) remain the same.
What is interesting in this instalment is that here the author tries to tackle what it is to be a fat person in the current fat-hating society more thoroughly. It was a bit unrealistic (though positive) in the previous books that the heroine behaved as if she was unaware of the stigma surrounding her body type, and here the author attempts to confront it. With very mixed success.
The topics of weight in the mysteries themselves felt very gimmicky and uninspiring, so I wouldn't consider that a successful approach. But some of the heroine's reactions, especially the body-positive speeches she was giving herself, praising her body for strength and capability and for being hers, are spot-on and very needed.
Another thread running through this book in the series is the sense of community. The inhabitants of Insula are becoming a very close-knit bunch - a kind of weird, hard-working, supportive and amusing family, and it is heart-warming to see.
What is interesting in this instalment is that here the author tries to tackle what it is to be a fat person in the current fat-hating society more thoroughly. It was a bit unrealistic (though positive) in the previous books that the heroine behaved as if she was unaware of the stigma surrounding her body type, and here the author attempts to confront it. With very mixed success.
The topics of weight in the mysteries themselves felt very gimmicky and uninspiring, so I wouldn't consider that a successful approach. But some of the heroine's reactions, especially the body-positive speeches she was giving herself, praising her body for strength and capability and for being hers, are spot-on and very needed.
Another thread running through this book in the series is the sense of community. The inhabitants of Insula are becoming a very close-knit bunch - a kind of weird, hard-working, supportive and amusing family, and it is heart-warming to see.