Thomas's Reviews > Milk Fed

Enjoyed a lot of the themes in this novel: difficult mother/daughter dynamics, the struggle to recognize and satisfy our desires (e.g., for food, for connection), the invisibility and repression of queerness. Melissa Broder’s prose was as per usual sharp and engaging. The main character struggles with disordered eating and is obsessed with monitoring her food intake. At the same time, I liked reading about her hard-won path toward growth, through setting boundaries, working through her mother-based transference, and doing things that feed her spirit even when they feel hard. One scene in particular that pushed me toward a four-star rating over a three-star one is when Rachel speaks up about (view spoiler)[Zionism at the dinner table with Miriam’s family, fighting against anti-Palestine ideology (hide spoiler)], a gusty move and a topic I don’t see featured in fiction too much. I would also highly recommend Post-Traumatic by Chantal Johnson to those who resonate with Milk Fed!