Reviews tagging 'Eating disorder'

Butter: A Novel of Food and Murder by Asako Yuzuki

20 reviews

kimib79's review

dark mysterious slow-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? It's complicated

3.0

This book started off strong and then just dragged on and on. It could have been 300 pages or perhaps fewer. Her married friend is bat crap crazy, fyi. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Fatphobia and Body shaming

Minor: Blood, Fatphobia, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Grief, and Toxic friendship

franzi_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Sexual harassment, and Mental illness

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Injury/Injury detail, Eating disorder, Infertility, and Body shaming

sterredinah's review against another edition

inspiring reflective tense 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Misogyny, Fatphobia, and Body shaming

Moderate: Murder and Death of parent

Minor: Suicide, Infertility, and Pedophilia

caseyreadslol's review against another edition

reflective slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.75

decent enough prose to (just barely) slide me over the finish line but otherwise imagine reading narrative and character arcs structured like this https://youtu.be/kJqZCa-xXvQ?si=wW2WZls8a6tU5cMf . for nearly 500 desperately in need of cutting down pages

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Fatphobia, Eating disorder, and Grief

Moderate: Misogyny

book_artiste's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Enjoyed the inclusion of feminist themes and think they were insightful from the perspective of women in Japan, but otherwise there were no "hot-takes" or new information for me in terms of this theme. Really enjoyed, however, how the plot was so well linked to this theme and did well to address many different issues in a natural way (didn't feel forced/performative). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Infertility, Murder, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Abandonment, Classism, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Child abuse, and Mental illness

NOTE: mislabeled trigger warnings as graphic, these are mainly moderate to mild but be aware these themes exist in the book

teaandbooksnuggery's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Toxic relationship, Body shaming, Infertility, Pedophilia, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Toxic friendship

heather_harrison's review

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Our protagonist Rika, a female journalist in her 30s, finds her life and her identity tipped upside in the task of interviewing accused murder Kajii. 

Butter delves into the concepts of misogyny, expectations of women, loneliness & isolation in society, and pleasure. 

The novel is long, and I found myself struggling in middle as the plot begins to thicken. The ending was delicious. 

This book touts itself as being inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, "The Konkatsu Killer” - and it seems accurate and as well as stranger than fiction.  

With thanks to NetGalley and 4th Estate for my e-ARC of Butter. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, Eating disorder, Sexism, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Murder

Minor: Infertility, Sexism, Grief, Infidelity, and Mental illness

der_marvins's review against another edition

dark reflective tense slow-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Eating disorder

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This was a really cozy mystery, a slow burn.

The is novel opens with Rika she is a journalist who has the opportunity to interview Kaji who is waiting for a retrial for three murders she was convicted of. The author also includes a side plot of Rikas friend Reiko and their journey as well.

I came into this story expecting a little bit more of the murder plot and figuring out if Kaji actually murdered three men. However, this book very much focuses on Rika and her discovery to know more of herself as she goes through these series of interviews with Kaji that focuses on great cuisine and its nuances.

The author uses this story to really ask the question, what is indulgence, especially when it comes to Japanese women, food, and relationships. In fact this book probably could have been 100-200 pages shorter without the extreme focus on every meal Rika either ate or made. Her coming of age story as an adult woman was definitely the highlight of the story. Kaji was used to help her break out of the traditional norms society places on women and to help her come to terms with childhood grief.

The writing was very descriptive and beautiful and the translation was well done. I would often want to get up and eat something extremely buttery as I read this story. However if you are looking to read this for more thrill or horror this is not the book. 

I definitely recommend that you read this book with a nice steaming bowl of buttery rice and soy sauce. It will not disappoint!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Misogyny, and Fatphobia

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Eating disorder

woodsybookworm's review

dark emotional mysterious tense 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

5.0

🧈 Butter 🧈

Rating: 🧈🧈🧈🧈🧈 

5 Sticks of yellowy emulsified goodness 😋

I have not read a book about food that's made me quite literally drool while reading since Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto. This book was a love letter to the culinary arts. I had to pause at one point to make a batch of cookies just to stop from salivating 🤤 

The story follows Rika, a young journalist looking to become the first woman in her office to gain an official writer's seat with her paper. Rika decides her best bet for a career making story would be to gain an exclusive interview with serial killer Manako Kajii, a gourmand mistress accused of killing three of her patron lovers and defrauding many more.

Rika writes to the convicted serial killer, on the advice of her closest friend Reiko, asking for advice on recipes - Kajii's excellent cooking skills being a major factor in the downfall of her supposed victims. That simple letter snowballs into an unlikely friendship and perhaps a mutual obsession. But who is really in control - the interviewer or the interviewee? 

This novel blends food with questions of class and gender politics that are relatable not only to those in Japan but to women around the world. Unique yet relatable characters fill the story and Asako Yuzuki's prose was utterly (udder-ly? Lol 🐄) investing.

This book made me homesick for Japan - the country, my friends, the food. Any book that brings out that kind of reaction in me, that nostalgia, is going to be a five star read. 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Death of parent, Blood, Fatphobia, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault