Not So Well Read | How to Be Eaten: A Novel
How to Be Eaten: A Novel
Maria Adelmann
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One of NPR's Best Books of the Year: This darkly funny and provocative novel reimagines classic fairy tale characters as modern women in a support group for trauma.
In present-day New York City, five women meet in a basement support group to process their traumas. Bernice grapples with the fallout of dating a psychopathic, blue-bearded billionaire. Ruby, once devoured by a wolf, now wears him as a coat. Gretel questions her memory of being held captive in a house made of candy. Ashlee, the winner of a Bachelor-esque dating show, wonders if she really got her promised fairy tale ending. And Raina's love story will shock them all.
Though the women start out wary of one another, judging each other’s stories, gradually they begin to realize that they may have more in common than they supposed . . . What really brought them here? What secrets will they reveal? And is it too late for them to rescue each other?
Dark, edgy, and wickedly funny, this debut for readers of Carmen Maria Machado, Kristen Arnett, and Kelly Link takes our coziest, most beloved childhood stories, exposes them as anti-feminist nightmares, and transforms them into a new kind of myth for grown-up women.
Belletrist June Book Club Pick
Named a Best Book of May by TIME Magazine & Glamour
One of NPR’s Best Books of the Year
Posts about this title from Not So Well Read
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Courtney
• Mar 10 2024
Books with Netflix's Damsel Vibes
Love it or hate it, the vibes in Netflix’s adaptation of Damsel were immaculate. Here’s some other books full of revenge-fueled anti-heroines and dark fairytale vibes.
The Fireborne Blade and Someone You Can Build A Nest In will be published later this spring, but I love them both too much to not include.
What are your favorite anti-fairytales?