Whew!

Well known fairy tales get a twist. In these modern version they’re gritty and dark and the heroines are left to struggle through the lingering trauma.

Five women are contacted to join a group therapy to help them process their experiences, but the therapist Will is not who he seems.

An interesting take on how the stories of victims are exploited for views, clicks and ultimately money.

"Drawing people into a story is a way of ensuring they'll bear witness," notes Will.
"People should listen because they want to understand, says Bernice, "not because they're voyeurs or amateur sleuths."

This was an odd one. From the monologue styled writing, to the lotion and meatsuit it was all weird. How to Be Eaten tries to modernize old fairytales but loses the magic of them in the process. The overarching plotline was weak. The reasoning for all of them to be in group therapy was unbelievable and the twist was bizarre but not surprising. I know the author had to come up with a way for all of these women to get together but it didn't work for me.

While each women's story holds it's own I found the therapy conversations surrounding them to be pointless. I do not care about cookies being eaten and hangnails being bitten at, just continue telling me about your tragedy. There's a million different fairytale retelling's out right now some with points to make and others for pure enjoyment. I didn't feel like How To Be Eaten ever got around to making a point and overall, I can't say I enjoyed it either. I'd recommend finding something else.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for giving me an advance readers copy in exchange for a honest review. All quotes come from an arc and may change.

In the heat of the New York City summer, five women come together to share their stories and if all goes to plan, resolve their lingering trauma. In the presence of the therapist who brought them together, they share, judge and help each other, but at a higher cost than planned.

As a lover of all things retelling, this book instantly drew my attention. Five modernized fairytale women getting feminist rewrites of their tales? The concept was catching.

For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I wish the author had modernized the tales more in the sense of taking out the fantastical elements of the story or making them allegories for realistic stories. Like making Ruby’s wolf a representation of a predator, etc. The stories that did get more modernized interpretations were fun to pick apart to figure out what tale was being told and how to new elements represented that tale.

As for the twist at the end, I saw it coming from a mile away. The potential this book had got lost in the need to have a shocking plot twist ending and overall, it did nothing for the overall book.

Lots of potential missed on this one, but still a fun read.

I love the idea behind this book. I love the message it aims to convey. I love that it hits on a number of problematic aspects when it comes to violence toward women, including the fact that both society and other women engage in victim blaming.

This was a highly anticipated read for me. I could hardly wait to get started on it. It truly pains me to say that despite the ideas I loved, I hated the execution. I found it boring, grating, and strange.

I’m stunned to realize that I was not the right reader for How to be Eaten, but I hope it lands in the hands of its perfect audience.

I am immensely grateful to Little, Brown and Company for my digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

Terryfing and darkly humorous. So many women hurt by so many different types of men. And the incredibly beautiful way they try and help each other heal.

How To Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann is a debut novel that reimagines classic fairytale characters as modern women attending a support group for trauma.

Wary of joining the group, Bernice, Ruby, Ashlee, Gretel and Raina slowly reveal their stories and subsequent traumas that have made them infamous. As each woman unfolds the thoughts and events that led to their notorious tale, the reader is given insight to the women's perspective and must reconsider everything they may have thought they knew about their classic stories.

I really enjoyed this book. It was dark, witty, sharp and incredibly creative. The women were dynamic and each struggled with universal thoughts, feelings and circumstances (minus the fantastic elements). As their stories continued they became more dimensional and relatable and less like token characters. Adelmann did a great job at using each woman to flush out a greater lesson - to have empathy and to acknowledge that things are complicated and a victims suffering does not end as quickly as the news cycles and stories they may be found in.

I think some larger truths can be plucked from this book and applied to so many current events and modern movements but this isn't the time or the place. Instead, I will continue to remind myself that we may know of people, but do we know them?

Thank you Netgalley, Little, Brown and Company and Maria Adelmann for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of How To Be Eaten.

Highly recommend!! This book is a definite page-turner! You'll be left thinking about the story long after you put the book down. First book to read by this author but definitely not my last!

What a great story! Familiar fairy tales intertwine with real life to explore the aftermath for those who survive.
The women of this book begrudgingly open up to one another in a group meeting, telling the stories that changed their lives. They explore the truths that are easier to see in one another than in themselves and face the overwhelming criticism and censure they experience from the world. Fantastical elements mix seamlessly with a realistic depiction of our modern patriarchal world, leaving the reader with an honest but hopeful impression for our future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Little Brown and Company, and Maria Adelmann for providing me with the opportunity to read How to be Eaten before publication.

This creative reimagination of some of our favourite well-known characters goes far beyond the premise of “fractured fairytale.” It is gruesomely dark and frighteningly gritty (and, at times, laugh-out-loud funny).

While I enjoyed attempting to map Adelmann’s characters onto the traditional source material by looking for clues and embedded references throughout the book, I would encourage readers to come with an open mind. Embrace Adelmann’s characters as fully formed individuals rooted in reality. The clever nods to each woman’s fairytale origins is a compelling point of entry but their trauma and stories are weighty enough to stand alone.

Thoroughly readable. 3.5 Stars.