Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - Supper Club

Read it quickly and enjoyed most of it, feeling feels throughout. The themes felt very spelled-out , too much so in some parts. Author loves the word “languish”. It sort of felt like a better version of Conversations With Friends.

I struggled with the character’s relationship with her body—the descriptions of weight gain/fatness felt incomplete, like the author herself had never been larger than a size 8 and still has a lot of internalized fat phobia (I have no idea, fwiw). Her obsession with thinness made me tired.

The thread around female friendships, the push-and-pull of romantic vs platonic(ish) love, and the character seeking out moments of catharsis were what kept me engaged and invested. Worth a read, but didn’t quite meet my expectations.

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youngluteplayer's review against another edition

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dark funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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evasophias's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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ladynavalon's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

Varias cosas sobre este libro:
1) sí, me ha gustado, es una lectura que me ha absorbido, pero eso no significa que sea un libro que me parezca buena o que recomendaría.
2) un libro no es feminista solo porque aparezcan mujeres haciendo cosas que normalmente no hacen las mujeres en los libros, en este caso, comer, drogarse y dañar la propiedad ajena. Mucho menos es feminista con las relaciones disfuncionales de las integrantes del club.
3) mención aparte merece la relación tóxica de Roberta con Stevie y con cualquier persona que la rodee, en realidad.
4) lo del club es secundario, no acaba de explicarse, de entenderse, de tener un cometido.
5) este libro va en realidad de Roberta, que tiene trauma pro el abandono de su padre y no sabe relacionarse con la gente, no sabe entablar relaciones ni expresar sus sentimientos, así que hace lo que mucha gente, acallar sus sentimientos con comida y desarrollar un tca. Se arrastra por relaciones con chicos que ni le gustan y ni la tratan bien, todo por castigarse por el sentido de culpabilidad que siente con su padre. Sigue obsesionada con su aspecto ficio y su quilos de más mientras sigue dándose atracones, eso es un TCA. Cambia de personalidad para encajar con quien sea, una amiga, una compañera de trabajo o un novio. Y en ningún momento recibe la atención psicológica que merece.
6) Stevie es despreciable, pero aún así la autora es incapaz de contar por qué todo el mundo la desprecia y por qué Roberta y ella se hacen amigas, la sensación es que nadie más las aguanta. Se enfadan sin razón, sin hablar y lo arreglan todos por qué si.

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angewilliamson's review against another edition

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slow-paced

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

0.25

This books sucks. It sucks so bad that I hope no one ever attempts to read it. If you want to hate someone, Roberta is the perfect character because she has very little redeeming qualities, so little that I can’t even think of something nice to say about her right now. This book has random inserts of sexual thoughts that DO NOT fit in with the previous thought accompanying it. Seriously, Lara Williams must have thought of every negative stereotype that effects women and decided to reinforce them rather than diminish them. These women have so much potential to be utilized in this story and they just aren’t. It makes you wonder what their point even is, which probably just boils down to them being “diversity” points.

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owenwilsonbaby's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

"I thought about how I was carrying only that weight, how I was responsible for no weight other than my own. All I had to carry through life was myself."

I mistakenly absorbed the information that this was a female cannibalism novel and was pleasantly surprised and intrigued when I realised it wasn't! There are a lot of different ideas here but for the most part I enjoyed it. The university strands were at times very moving and familiar. There was something less than cohesive about the novel as a whole but ultimately I did enjoy the character work and luscious descriptions of food preparation.

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akira_outofthegravity's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This is like dark academia with food.

Honestly the food metaphors are incredible, the subtlety of the food reflecting the story arc is really cool. I loved Roberta, I loved her journey. I loved the imagery and I loved analysing this book.

I wish we knew what she chose, but I think it’s fairly clear that she chooses Adnan. I also think Stevie is a total controlling bitch, but she has her moments.

I like the themes of nonconformity, of trying to be yourself. Overall this is a really easy read, and a really interesting one.

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