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panderkins's Reviews (279)
Even a decade after publication, this history of processed food is fascinating and stands the test of time.
I like the idea of it better than the actual book, which fell kind of flat, but the theme and basic enjoyment made me finish. The romance is a disappointment and the ending is depressing for many reasons. A lot of the last 25% was tedious.
Kind of cute, kind of forgettable. I don't like reading a summary that says something tragic happens in a book then waiting around for it to happen. Why do summaries always have to give it all away. Reading it was like experiencing hours of anticipatory grief. The characters are very likable especially the one who dies. It was a little boring but basically a nice story and a quick read.
I loved the characters and found the book hard to put down. But there is a lot to agree with in the 2 star reviews. Overall I am rating high because despite its faults it was entertaining. As for plot, I wish I'd seen her get a real cat, the development of her friendship with Annie, and his art career, rather than a second fight. I skimmed the last 15% but I don't think those things ever happened. The sex stuff is hot at first. Then gets repetitive and gratuitous.
Too humorless to be satire, more of a modern Gothic.
Andrew Borygna's Victim is a much more nuanced, interesting take on the topic of race and publishing, also in a fast paced, compelling story, but that one gets 5 stars from me!
This author wrote a great villain, but are we supposed to hate June for being white on top of everything else? I can't shake that impression at the end, and it takes the book down several notches for me.
Andrew Borygna's Victim is a much more nuanced, interesting take on the topic of race and publishing, also in a fast paced, compelling story, but that one gets 5 stars from me!
This author wrote a great villain, but are we supposed to hate June for being white on top of everything else? I can't shake that impression at the end, and it takes the book down several notches for me.
I didn't know any novelists were brave enough to challenge woke nonsense these days and I'm so glad Boryga did. I heard Sherman Alexie praise this book in an interview about whether modern literature has cancelled itself. I think this novel has given Alexie, other reviewers, and myself, hope. Best novel of 2024!
Most books in this genre make me feel bad about what I am not doing or do not feel like I CAN do. That is how I felt reading this. It has a lot of dense, good information but the style was hard to read. Sometimes I felt lectured at. I don't know what to do about that chemical in toothpaste she mentions...I can't afford a sleep tracker or stop the antipsychotics that help me sleep...I can't get my heart rate as high as she recommends because of chronic pain. I am already doing some things she recommends but this book seems like a prescription for perfection.
Communist history was the missing link for me. Because of this book I now understand all the parts that eluded me for years from within the American education system even after graduating UCLA. In my high school years in the 1980s you would've thought they'd teach us something about it but they never did. I can't express how grateful I am to have received the education in this book. The only thing I didn't like is the ending. I was expecting some final insights but there is a paltry little, poorly worded paragraph to end it on. Michael Malice does not at all come across like his goofy online charicatures; this is the work of a scholar.