Hannibal meets American Psycho

Even though it is not particularly original it is very well written peppered with dark humour and seemingly well researched with interesting details on various rather macabre subjects assuming that the information is correct. The narrator does a great job as well

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Boring

Narrator was abit annoying but you can't please everyone. I did struggle to finish the audio because of this.

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Not as powerful as expected

Having read some of the author's articles I knew she had an impressive talent for observation and analysis and a wicked turn of phrase. But for me her talent didn't quite make the leap into fiction. This was mainly because the characterisation fell so flat. The narrator is a hyped-up caricature of Summers herself - middle aged urban journalist, opinionated, frank, hedonistic and wry - and although she labels herself a psychopath (which I don't believe Summers is, obviously), the traits that make psychopaths so eerie don't really come through in the writing. She's more like, well, a caricature, and her motives and drives are indistinct and inconsistent. Some of the prose feels over-egged too, with a metaphor or simile every other clause and a style that paints all the characters and locations in superlatives. It's what kids call "extra". Everything is extreme... yet it lacks a solid core. None of the slimy abjection of Humbert Humbert, no Patrick Bateman icy detachment, not even the inscrutable motive of Hannibal Lecter. All that said, I am enjoying its cartoonish plot and gory shenanigans. It's funny. P.S. A more substantive read (or listen) about female psychopathy is Boy Parts by Eliza Clark, which is deeper, darker and equally witty.

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3 people found this helpful

I loved it.

I wasn’t disappointed at all. The story might not be wildly original but it doesn’t stop it from being enjoyable.
The narrator is clever, full of ego and most of the time painfully self aware.
The writing in my opinion is beautiful, very descriptive but still flowing and doesn’t bore the reader.
The story telling kept the pace and the tonality of the voice fit the character perfectly.
I loved it.

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Even better than I expected

I joined Audible specifically for this novel because I will read anything by CGS. I was apprehensive at first as I am not an audiobook listener naturally but I think this is a wonderful book made even more wonderful by the masterful narration. The pace, richness and life (or beautiful Italian!) it brings to Dorothy could not have been created in my head as easily.

I knew this would be a book about men, sex, food and female power. What I did not expect also was a love letter to the messy joy of Italy or the wonderful thread of female friendship that underpins the different stages of Dorothy's life.

It is gory and wordy and delicious and I listened it to it greedily in every spare moment until it was finished because it kept me captivated and made me laugh out loud with an evil cackle more times than I could count.

I could not recommend highly enough to listen to this and I intend to devour it in a different way when it comes out in print.

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3 people found this helpful

intriguing

this was an interesting and intriguing tale, the narrator was very good. still a bit confused tho

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Okay

The performance was good but the story fell short. The protagonist goes on too many tangents for my liking

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Pretentious, patronising, overly verbose, and absolutely brilliant

I’m not sure what to say about this exactly, other than the fact that I loved it. This type of story isn’t usually my genre, but I thoroughly enjoyed this. The narration was brilliant, and you could feel Dorothy’s superiority thick and luxuriant. Well done!

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Fun story with cringy performance

I found the story fun and different, and did enjoy it, but the way the performer did the italian accent and exaggerated words was so cringe inducing it took a big chunk out of the enjoyment.

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More please

Very sad to have finished ACH this morning, beautifully read (and I am an Italian speaker, always ready to flinch at a badly pronounced word) in Huber's arch drawl. Dorothy Daniels is a wry, compelling Humbert Humbert (without the pedofilia) of a narrator, impossible to dislike as she regales us with her story of food, murder and cannibalism. The novel succeeds in the gargantuan task of combining in depth knowledge of the history of food and drink, informed critique of the US food chain, social commentary, criminal minds, butchery, etymology, architectural history and spicy erotic writing in a wonderful, fast-paced and light-handed novel, never lapsing into the stentorian or tedious. The writing is poetic, particularly about the joys of food and eating, and the prose is caressing and lush. Loved this, standing ovation from my kitchen in Tuscany where I will be experimenting with fennel and legumes this afternoon (not some of the other recipes though...).

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5 people found this helpful