This book is incredible. It begins with Kit and Piglet, an engaged couple moving into their new apartment in New York, arranging an elaborate dinner party even though they haven't even unpacked. I fell in love with Piglet through her desire to serve everyone a roast chicken before she even bought a table. Her deep desire for pleasure through food is irresistible, and I was right there with her for every meal she ate. When Kit reveals his infidelity two weeks before their wedding, the novel becomes stressful and claustrophobic in a masterful way. Piglet attempts to find satiation as the rest of her world is falling apart, but she is stymied by her WASPy in-laws-to-be who of course are more concerned with her fitting into her wedding dress than her emotional wellbeing. Piglet continues on with her grandiose plans of making her wedding cake--except it's not a cake, it's a CROQUEMBOUCHE--and pushes down her feelings of betrayal in the hopes that if everything else is perfect, she will just figure out how to forgive Kit. The rest of the novel is a fever dream of denial and permission as Piglet tries to consume everything in reach lest she be consumed herself. CW--this book may be difficult for those who have struggled with disordered eating. Take care of yourself!

It's hard to believe that this is a first novel, as I feel it did exactly what it set out to do. It was gross, horrific, and so very relatable. I find it so interesting the way that it made me feel such unease along with the main character, while having very little in common with her other than being a woman and what that means in this world. The way that nicknames and real names are used in this book is a masterpiece, and when you find out Piglet's real name it packs such a punch.

After seeing this book all over my UK friends’ Instagram pages, I was excited to receive an advanced copy thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, Henry Holt.

This book is an unfiltered examination of what happens when a woman puts aside her desires to maintain the picturesque facade she has built up of her life as her wedding approaches. This book had me continuously cringing at the nickname Piglet, while holding my breath as the story unfolded.

I loved the structure of the story, how the surprise is built up in the first section and told through dialogue and food in the other sections. A big secret is revealed, and the first part of the book countd down toward Piglet and Kit’s wedding day. And, we see Piglet struggling as she processes what happened and needs to decide how to proceed.

There are many layers to this novel. While it’s clear that Kit screwed up in a devastating way, this doesn’t just focus on Kit as a bad guy or his wrongdoing, but on how Piglet handles it. The novel speaks to the choices we make, how important asking for help is, and makes you examine family, friend and even co-worker relationships. Should the people in your life stand by you even if they think you’re making a mistake? We see some friends take a rather harsh stand, and we also see some striking generational differences here in the advice Piglet receives from members of her family.

Food is an important part of the book. It speaks to women’s relationships with food and control. Piglet feels most in control when she is cooking for others; yet, when she hits hard times, food controls her as she makes decisions she regrets. This is where the novel does get a bit dark; I read food as a form of self-harm. As she faces the choice between standing up for herself and her happiness and the life she’s built that is falling to pieces, food turned into a form of escapism and even self-harm. Piglet is literally falling apart at the seams, and no one can save her but herself. Will she do it, or will she continue the sham?

I read this book in a day. It was well done, and I’m looking forward to its US release so I can hear what others think!

This novel takes a relatively common story about a woman and a crisis leading up to her wedding but tells it through the lens of food: what we eat and why, how food makes us feel, etc. It looks at how body image and desires are tied to emotions and relationships and focuses on the appetites of women in a completely unapologetic way. All that plus great characters and beautiful prose… I can’t recommend this enough.

Apologies in advance for this review because, to paraphrase an oft quoted on Tumblr line, I somehow both loved and disliked this book at the same time, and I’m still trying to figure out how that could be.

To start, I really loved the writing. The prose was evocative and a lot of the MC’s musings about life, relationships, and family deeply resonated with me. I loved how Hazell explored the topic of staying in a situation (whatever it may be) because, on paper, it’s exactly what you want, but realizing how truly unhappy you are after getting there. And I really enjoyed how the narrative centered around food and nourishing oneself in a myriad of different ways.

But, while I usually like weird books, this one didn’t fully work for me. I was originally put off by the asides at the ends of each chapter because they seemed pointlessly ominous without just stating what was going on, and I don’t like that kind of storytelling. And then Hazell made another choice in how to tell the story that, while a valid option, really didn’t work for me. On one hand, I get what she was trying to convey (or, at least, I think I do), but on the other, that choice combined with the vague references about what was going on just left me feeling frustrated. And I realize this section of my review is also annoyingly vague, but in the interest of avoiding spoilers, it’s the best I can do.

I would still recommend this book because I think it’s well crafted, but I bet it will be a polarizing one. But, if you do choose to read it, please let me know because I am dying to discuss it with someone.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Company and Netgalley for the ARC. Piglet will be released on 2/27!

3.5/5

Piglet thought she was happy, she was about to get married, escaping her somewhat negative family and into a more posh lifestyle that she had grown up in, and she is an up and coming food/cookbook editor. But then her fiance Kit admits to a betrayal two weeks before their wedding. After that, Piglet becomes ravenously and insatiably hungry - the only thing that can fill her empty soul is food; and as the countdown to the wedding begins the reader follows Piglet through her food journey and nothing seems to satisfy her.

This one is weird, weird but good - but not for everyone. I love food so I really enjoyed all of the descriptions but not so much the ingestion of the vast amounts of food, but since I took them to be a metaphor it didn’t bother me as much as it otherwise might have. This novel explores classism, fatphobia, wedding culture, food culture and betrayal within relationships. I loved the audio and switched really seamlessly between the book and the audio. Personally, the novel spoke to me and I looked forward to coming home and reading it.

Thank you to Henry Holt & Co. MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for the ARC to review

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The food descriptions were 10/10 but the characters were all so insufferable and not in a fun way. I feel like this could have been more impactful, it just didn’t go deep enough. 3.5/5

“Poor Pig” her father would say in his loving tone. Wow, this book may make you hungry and enjoy reading interesting recipes, but the binging was a huge turn off. Piglet and Kit were counting the days to be married when he gave her some news. The story flows well, but unfortunately I didn’t connect well with the main characters.
Thank you Net Galley for the ARC.

I understand Piglet. I understand how it feels to have a "pet name" that is also an animal's name, and not a cute one. I understand what it means to know the meaning behind that pet name, even though they smile while saying it. I understand why she thinks food can solve problems. It is better than any other coping mechanism to be honest.

Piglet was getting ready to marry the boy of her dreams. He was the last step in her plan to set up a perfect life. She got out of her home town. She got a good job where people appreciate her and she loves her job. She got the guy who will make her country-side living dreams come true. She had few good friends. Life was good until her fiancé dropped a bomb on her with his little secret. The way he behaved and how his family "forgave" him was enough to break that perfect life into pieces.

Lottie Hazell did us dirty for not telling what was that big secret. I wanted to understand how bad it was to put Piglet through this much trauma. Was that a posh prep school boy thing? Was it totally criminal? It got to be something that make Piglet throw everything away. But yeah, food is always a good medium to paint a picture of your emotions. It doesn't matter how many dresses you rip through

Oh Piglet. This book was so utterly strange and delightful. One thing I absolutely loved about Piglet was how vivid the author’s descriptions were, especially when it came to food. The books main focus is on the plight of the female species. The difficult choices we have to make in the face of love but also something much deeper as those difficult decisions can be destructive and hard to grapple with. Piglet was original and interesting.

Ahhhhhhhhh! I am so thankful to Henry Holt Books, Lottie Hazell, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for granting me advanced physical, digital, and audio access to this Good for Her tale before it hits shelves on February 27, 2024. Piglet loves food and has a good relationship with it, so much so that she's an editor at a cookbook publishing house to share her love for food and baked goods with the world.

The book starts with her cooking a meal for friends to celebrate her engagement with Kit, her brand new fiancé, and as we grow closer and closer to the wedding day, the preparations begin. Still, we ALSO find out that Kit, her ever-loving and devoted partner, has cheated on her, and Piglet goes into a disassociation period of sorts.

Convincing herself that everything is fine and knowing how much money Kit's parents have put into the wedding, she charges onward but with little to no interactions with her cheating soon-to-be spouse. How could he do her so wrong after she's done so much for him? That is what her good friend Margot thinks of the ordeal and begs her to rethink the next few days ahead of her.

The wedding day takes place, but at the reception, she pops off and exposes her fiancé for his wrongdoings to the entire crowd and flees away in her brother-in-law's getaway car to reevaluate her life and do better by HERSELF.

I honestly was rooting for Piglet the whole time. Her resilience in keeping other people happy and showing face was more substantial than I could ever be. When it comes down to it, her resolution focuses back on herself and her love for food which is a trauma response to the crock of shit she's been dealt throughout her entire life, and I'm here for it!

3.5 This book was absolutely INSANE! I am not even sure what exactly to say about this. My mind is still all over the place. This was a very interesting look at the human psyche and just how far we and our minds go under stress. I will come back to edit this once I gather my thoughts.

Thank you for the publisher and Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this story we follow Piglet, a cookbook editor and avid culinary enthusiast on the days leading up to her wedding. Despite her best efforts to control every aspect of her life & follow her carefully constructed plan (or recipe for happiness if you will), a bombshell is dropped on her 13 days before her wedding and she has to decide what’s more important, being truly happy or keeping up appearances. Piglet is left reeling and we watch as the threads of her life begin to unravel.

I absolutely adored this book! What an amazing debut by Hazel. Those of you with anxiety or OCD will feel seen by this book. I could very much relate to Piglet’s extremely high standards for her life and her perfectionistic tendencies which only set her up for disappointment. The story explores themes of family dynamics, class, control, self actualization, & authenticity. I felt so many things reading this including anger, sadness, pity, guilt, and satisfaction. Naturally, there are so many mouthwatering descriptions of food included and I learned a lot about cooking, although I did have to stop and look things up frequently (such as croquembouche and Tarte Tatin)😅. Overall, I highly recommend!

Read if you like:
Amazing descriptions of food, stories about family dynamics and class struggles,

THIS BOOK WAS DELICIOUS. I loved every moment of this book. I loved how Piglet's binge eating was representative of what was going on in her life and how eating food was used as an escape to her problems and what she was going through. The food descriptions were truly CHEF'S KISS 👩🏼‍🍳💋 and made me soooo hungry. The little tidbits at the end of each chapter provided insight to fill in gaps but also were just beautifully written thoughts. On top of the eating metaphor, I loved the juxtaposition between Piglet's lower/middle class family and her fiancé Kit's wealthy upperclass family. It added to the complicated dilemma that Piglet faced in several ways. This will easily be a book that I buy for my shelf and one that I will tell all my litfic girlies about.

I loved it! I have a feeling you will be seeing this book everywhere this spring. It's Hazell's debut novel and I was so impressed with the writing (it's so good!) and her take on women's desire and the ways they so often deny themselves.

Hazell explores Piglet and Kit's relationships and histories with their friends and families. They are so well-drawn as characters that it is easy to understand their motivations and sympathize with them.

Each chapter has an interlude of Piglet's thoughts or a foreshadowing of what will happen. Those tidbits kept me intrigued to know how everything would pan out.

I love a novel about food, and this one will firmly be entered into my list of favorites. The food scenes had my mouth watering (there are some delightful dinner party scenes) in some and my stomach churning with anxiety in others (a scene where Piglet is determined to make a croquembouche the morning of her wedding). Hazell flirts with the horror genre in some of her descriptions of food, which is a testament to how well she takes you on Piglet's emotional journey.

I had to wait to do my review to let my emotions regarding this book settle a bit. I spent a lot of time during the beginning and middle of the book waiting to find out more about Kit's betrayal. Since others have stated this, I will too: we don't find out. Don't waste your time wondering because while you are obsessing over that, you will miss the meat of the story (sorry.....food pun!) like I almost did. This event is just the tipping point as Piglet comes to terms with her own history, the world she thought she wanted for herself, and what she actually wants. What he did doesn't matter! It is merely the catalyst for Piglet's self-reflection. The story is laid out through the meals she makes and the food she stress eats in the weeks leading up to her nuptials. Along those lines, I do not like the multi-layered hamburger cover as it suggests wanton gluttony. Sure, Piglet seriously packs away some food, but I never saw her as shoveling it into her mouth, more just a continual steady stuffing. The donut cover is a bit more to my liking, but I envision a photo focused on a croquembouche with a disaster in the background. This would make a wonderful book club pick! I ended the book wanting desperately to talk to someone about it.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Henry Holt and Co for providing me with an advance e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. Look for it in your local and online bookstores and libraries on February 27, 2024.

Aside from the nickname she was given as a child, Piglet loves her life. She is a cookbook editor at a London publishing house. She has wonderful friends, a fiancé, and a new house. Her life is everything she dreamed it would be until, two weeks before her wedding, her fiancé, Kit, confesses a betrayal. Piglet decides to forgive him and move forward with the wedding, but as the wedding grows closer, Piglet finds the life she so carefully planned spiraling out of control.

This is Lottie Hazell’s debut novel, and I think she has a bright future. Her writing style is different, but it’s also refreshing. Instead of spelling everything out, she leaves a lot up to the interpretation of the reader.

I really liked this book, although I went back and forth on the rating. At times I thought it could be a five star read and other times I thought it might only be three. I settled on four because it was compulsively readable and hard to put down, even when I didn’t love it. This book covers a lot of difficult themes, so please look up content warnings.

I found this to be really underwhelming... I read A Certain Hunger by Chelsea Summers and I think that became my standard for writing about food and it felt it didn't really live up to my hopes. I found the story too to be meandering and slow. There was a lot of build up as to what was so bad that Piglet's husband did, and then do find out it was only cheating had me really disappointed (not because cheating isn't horrible, but because it's predictable in this novel, and especially that it was prolonged cheating, because to me that takes the question of staying out of the question). I found the actions of her friends and family as well to be surprising in a negative way, so really I just couldn't find a character to root for since Piglet didn't seem to me to have any core beliefs or root values herself. I wish this was better but overall I wasn't a fan. I think it did display a complicated relationship with food in an understandable and sympathetic way, however, and would have liked the story to be almost a little more about that than her considering whether to stay with a clearly garbage man.

Piglet is happy in her life, except for the childhood nickname she can’t shake. Until her finance admits to a betrayal two weeks before their wedding. As she prepares for the wedding, she becomes enamored by food and becomes unsettled.

The food descriptions in this book are the best I’ve ever read. I’d love a cookbook version of the fiction story. I kept with the story, interested in figuring out exactly what was going on, but I never really did. There was a lot left out that I felt I missed to fully enjoy the story, plot wise. Emotionally, it was all there. That may not make sense, but if you read it it may.

“How much of this life could be true, when it had been built around a lie.”

Piglet comes out 2/27.

Piglet is a cerebral, detached but emotionally charged novel. Leaving you questions everything and anything about how you want to live in life. Do you do what is expected of you? Or do you want to live the way you want?

This was a reminder of how sometimes - family, friendships, and love varies from person to person and always resulting in taking a different road than expected.