Milk Fed

This is a unique, semi-serious/semi-tragic romp through a love affair based on frozen yogurt and in the breaking of religious boundaries. Rachel is 24 and living with an extremely exacting eating disorder to keep herself thin and immune to her mother's constant criticism and her comparisons to the "really thin" women of LA. At a yogurt shop for her tiny daily indulgence, she meets Miriam, an Orthodox Jewish daughter of the owner, who is lusciously fat (her self-description) and just gaw-guss to Rachel. They fall in love over kosher Chinese food and even weather an introduction to Miriam's large family, until the matriarch sniffs out Rachel's erotic attraction to Miriam. Rachel keeps eating and she and Miriam enjoy their erotic show more encounters to the benefit of both women. Both the sex and the food are voluptuously described, and there's a hilarious undercurrent (Rachel does standup comedy on the side) that makes this novel great big oversized fun. show less

Not gonna lie, I went into this expecting lactation fetish smut.
Instead I got confronted with my own eating disorder internal monologue and some of my own self-hating queerness experience.
When this came out people talked about how 'weird' it was. I really don't understand why. It's just a story about a woman coming to terms with the different aspects of her identity and becoming an adult. And part of that involves a same-sex relationship.

This is a little more um...explicit/erotic than books I typically choose, but it had stellar reviews and I have to say the concept and the writing are phenomenal. So a little prudish discomfort/squirm is on me. The way Broder describes protagonist Rachel's relationship to food, her mother, other people is insightful and intuitive. Rachel lives in Hollywood where she works in a nondescript job for a talent agency and sidelines in stand-up comedy on the side. This is the aspect of her I wish we saw more of. She is also a compulsive calorie counter with a past of eating issues and mommy issues. She is on a detox from calls from her mother and that past influence on her body image is truly sad and disturbing. She describes: "My mother was show more what the universe was really about. My mother the sun, my mother the rules, my mother, god herself! My mother the high priestess of food, the religion of our household abstain, abstain, abstain!" (7) She has a lot of recovery to do and with the help of her therapist has made progress. In her final session, she creates a clay replica of herself that is bloated, and disproportionately big and when she meets a 'zaftig' woman working in the fro-yo shop who believes more is better, Rachel considers she may have created a golem. Miriam is an Orthodox Jew, while Rachel is non-practicing, but under Miriam's self-acceptance, loving family and initial friendship, Rachel begins to let food and pleasure back into her life. She also finds she is sexually attracted to her and they start a relationship that changes Miriam in a way parallel to the way Rachel has changed. There is a theme here of hunger and appetite and how to fulfill those in ways that are safe/healthy for self and others. show less

Author Melissa Broder explores the three-way intersection of food, sex and love in this comic novel. Narrator Rachel's restrictive eating disorder has defined her adult life, but she finally eases up on her compulsive calorie counting when she meets Miriam, the zaftig daughter of an Orthodox Jewish family. Their lesbian relationship, which is described in graphic detail, frees Rachel to embrace herself, her body, and even her soul.

This novel is sharply written, funny, and filled with wise observations about women, daughterhood, and food, even if the sex scenes get a little redundant. Recommended.

3.5 stars, rounded up bc so much of this prose smacked me in the gut. This is a book abt food (with a HARD cw for disordered eating, I absolutely do not rec it for anyone not in a good place in recovery if you’ve dealt with that), and sexuality, and faith, and relationships (both familial and not), and being lonely and stuck and unsure and needing SOMETHING, deeply, aching for it, craving it wildly and not knowing how to navigate that in any healthy way.

I loved a lot abt it, and, it’s gonna stick with me for a while. It’s def not going to be for everyone, but I for one appreciated how explicit and honest and weird everything abt it was. I felt that the ending was the slightest bit abrupt and I wanted a little more resolution show more there, which is why it’s a 3.5 and not a 4 read for me, but I rounded up instead of my usual down bc so much else of the book and the writing hit me where I needed it too. show less

What a joy this was to read--a thoughtful, smart and hilarious escape. Rachel is an incisive yet vulnerable narrator-- candid about her complicated relationship with her mother, eating disorder, skepticism about her therapist, (in part because she accepts Rachel’s insurance, LOL). The story unravels beautifully. Broder combines cultural/religious/food/nourishment-related themes making the journey incredibly rich. I loved watching Rachel INDULGE after denying herself actually good food for so long. The budding relationship with Miriam felt grounded but still exciting. I also appreciated how Rachel questioned elements of Judaism (namely, Israel). The ending gave me a feeling of closure and satisfaction. I will certainly reread. I think show more this is Broder’s best work yet. show less

Thanks to @librofm for the ALC!

I listened to Milk Fed on audio and it took me a while to get through it because it is not like anything I've ever read before. The best way to describe is that it is an experience. a very weird one.

I still don't know exactly how I feel after reading it. I can't say with certainty if I liked it but I'm not sure if I hated it either. The writing was graphic and packed a punch. There were times that I laughed out loud and others where I cringed and wanted to run away. I questioned if this was real life or if it was a psychedelic dream during several points in the story. The super descriptive details about food, consumption and purging were horrifying sometimes. There were plot points that felt so show more emotionally real, I wanted to put a call in to the protagonist's therapist.

In essence this was a book about the different types of hunger you encounter in the human experience:
🍨 Hunger for human connection
🍩 Hunger for spiritual connection
🎂 Hunger for identity
🧁 Hunger for intimacy and sexuality
🥧 Hunger for maternal love and acceptance

WARNING: If you have any issues with food or eating disorders stay far away from this one. If you want to experience a wild ride that will leave you confused, check this one out.

Bookdragon rating 🔥🔥🔥🔥

#MilkFed #MelissaBroder #reading #bookstagram #audiobooks #ALC #Bibliophile #bookworm #bookish
#bookishmug #booksandflowers #shelfie #bookphotos #booklover #bookdragonreviews #bookfeature #listeningIsReading #BooksofIG #eatingdisorder #bookactivity #booksbooksbooks #bookaddict
#librofm show less