Reviews

Supper Club by Lara Williams

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lydia_woolf's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

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

2.0

cowgirlcrybaby's review against another edition

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DNFing a little over halfway, TW: ED, SA — was promised a juicy wagyu steak of female hedonism but in turn got a cheap cut of SA recovery and disappointment……. perhaps harsh as i didn’t finish but reviews aren’t super promising, should have known the disordered eating would be a lot but combined with choppy storytelling and an unexpected and very detailed SA and periodic retelling I cannot continue. loved the premise and prose, saddened by the execution

jacyjean's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad medium-paced

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

4.5

testingmywilltolive's review against another edition

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medium-paced

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

2.5

meghan_plethoraofpages's review against another edition

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4.0

3.5 rounded up

Supper Club is one of the more interesting books I’ve read this year; I loved parts of it and cringed at others. I feel muddled.

This book is about Roberta, following her through two different times of her life - in her university years and ten-ish years later in her late twenties. She and her first close friend Stevie start a secret society that hosts Supper Club, where women come together to eat with abandon, untethered by societal constructs about politeness; they eat to satisfy cravings both literal and figurative, and to thwart their perceived expectations that men have for them. They eat to grow, to take up space.

There were so many parts of this book I loved. There are profound quotes aplenty. I think messaging about female apologizing, appetite, loneliness, expectations, and female friendships was well done. While some of the millennial issues that Roberta, Stevie and others were experiencing were somewhat cliche, I still felt like the writing was clear and I felt connected to the anxiety and despair they were feeling, for the most part. I loved the descriptions of cooking & food, the art and meaning of it; this author needs a side hustle working for a food magazine or something because she’s absolutely fantastic at it.

I felt like the whole Supper Club evolved into something less positive and more self indulgent. I was frustrated by Roberta’s choices at times. The conclusion was unsatisfactory; yes we are all a work in progress, but I really didn’t see how the other women in the Club faced fears. I didn’t see enough to be attached to their stories or see their growth. They were uninhibited and took drugs and threw food around, but, so what? I appreciate that Roberta was able to begin to heal from the trauma she endured, but everything else felt unresolved.

I would actually recommend this book, but I don’t think everyone would enjoy it.
[Trigger warnings for rape and self harm]

sakisreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional slow-paced

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

4.0

This kept coming up as a recommendation for me, so I tried it. I’m glad I did, although I will say I found it very triggering and definitely thought about not finishing it at times 😳 (Content warnings to explain why will be below.)

An ode to human, messy friendships and relationships, Laura Williams doesn’t shy away from the horrible person that Stevie can be and from Roberta’s hurt that comes out through her actions.
Supper Club sounds kind of fun though 😂 I’d be down to try it 👀

I THOROUGHLY loved Roberta’s reunion with Arnold, where she TALKS OVER HIM and says ‘I’m not interested in talking about that’ whenever he brings up some shitty spiel. THE CONFIDENCE 🔥

4 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨

Content Warnings