This was a great read! See all of your favorite classic fairytale characters in a therapy group together trying to unravel what f**ked them up in the first place.

The writing was excellent and brought amazing voices to each woman in the group.

In a world full of fairy tell retellings this feels like a unique take, even if the book won't be for everyone. For me, it felt like it had 4-5 star potential if things had been fleshed out a little more. It felt like some of our heroines didn't get the full stories that they deserved. An intriguing debut novel for sure.

What a delightful and creepy morsel! I really enjoyed this book-- it has dark fairy tales told by women in a support group for trauma, many of whom are victims of rather public cases. The premise alone won me, but I really enjoyed the writing, the unique voices for each women, and the chilling twists that came when I least expected them. Definitely recommend this one!

As someone who loves fairy tale retellings, this book was definitely for me. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to send fairy tale princesses to therapy, than this book is for you too.

This was a book that I wanted to love. I like the concept of various fairytale characters getting together for therapy and support. The problem is that the execution was not good. Of the five main characters, I only found myself really able to care about two of their stories. And I absolutely hated the ending of this book. It’s disappointing because the bones of a good story are there, but the author fumbled the execution.

Synopsis
In this gritty, modern-day retelling of some of our most beloved fairy tales, all is not happily ever after. Five women, including Little Red and Gretel, come together to share their stories and work through their trauma.
My Overall Thoughts
I started out thinking I would really enjoy this book, but it quickly went downhill for me. I was expecting more fantasy and I feel this belongs more in the horror genre, of which I am not really a fan. I do wish the blurb would have made that a little more clear. Had I known more about it, I would not have chosen this book. I knew it would be dark, but was prepared for dark comedy. Humor would make this story palatable, but, sadly, there is none.

What I Didn't Love

This book really suffers from a lack of humor. Case in point -- Red wears the wolf as a coat. This should be funny in a dark, creepy sort of way. But it's not. It's just sad.

All five women relate their horrific tales of abuse. Then, when they should find solace and healing, the story just takes a weird turn. It's just hard to take that much misery without some levity for balance.

Potentially Offensive Content

Graphic Sex
Language
Graphic Violence
Abuse
Child abuse
Vulgarity
Sexism
Disability discrimination
Religious discrimination

What I Loved
I did really like the premise. The blurb drew me in. I looked forward to reading this book and really wanted to love it. This story could have been written so much better.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

. It's quite an imaginative framework exploring fairy tales and the cost of others twisting your story. This was definitely creative and intriguing, filled with several twists and turns. What a fun retelling of classic fairy tell heroines in the modern day world AND in group therapy together.

This was a slow and drawn-out reading experience. While my intrigue was high in regard to where the story was going to be taken. However, there wasn't enough to support the mildly confusing plot. Thank you to Netgalley for allowing early access in exchange for a honest review.

A deft and intriguing pushon to some fantastic fairy tales, this novel moves swiftly and contains beautiful writing. The story unravels through the different voices of the characters and Alelmann stays true to each one's voice. The ending brought the novel home in fantastic fashion.

This was a strange reading experience for me. I found that once I put it down it was hard to pick back up, but then once I got reading I didn't want to put it down again. I ultimately was left a little unsatisfied by this novel because the wraparound of the reality show didn't come through the way it maybe should have in order to pull everything together. There also didn't feel like there was much resolution for anyone but Raina, which is fine, I don't need resolution, but it seems strange to offer it for one character and not the others. By the end of the book, everything that came before felt like just set dressing for Jake and Raina's story. I do like the way this was written and what the book did with interrogating the trauma of these people who were only known for one part of their stories.

The individual retellings in this story are incredible and I absolutely loved how innovative, lyrical, and provocative they are. The frame story falls flat and it would have been better without it- the "gotcha" reveal doesn't add anything and the stories themselves were so good, which is why I took a star off.

This is the book that has stuck with me the most this year; I think about it all the time. It is such a cool way to reimagine fairy tales, and the way that they're all threaded together with the reality show at the end was such a good reveal that I didn't see coming!

A group of women meet to support and deal with trauma. It is this group premise that offers the reader a look at the authors view and review of well worn children’s tales. They are at times disturbing and yet you cannot stop reading and talking about the possibilities. It’s humor is selective and chuckle worthy. Happy reading

Ok yes YESSSS this book was so fun and weird and edgy and perfect. Maria Adelmann is 100% a must-read author for me, especially after loving her short story collection last year. HOW TO BE EATEN, her first novel, is a modern retelling/mash-up of a bunch of fairytales where the heroines are in a trauma support group, each sharing their story one week at a time. However, this support group is not all that it seems and the twists to this story are completely out of left field and absolutely delightful.

I went into this blind, and that truly is the best way to do it. I will say, though that as a view of the Bachelor franchise, it was a real unexpected treat. This book is pretty dark, but in the bst way, as you will gasp and cringe and love every minute if you are into that sort of thing. The book could have been 100 pages longer and I would have been happy about that, which is honestly one of the best reviews I can give.

Modern fairy tale reimaginings can be really tricky to pull off, especially those that incorporate multiple stories into one novel. But How to Be Eaten does it beautifully and in a manner that is both unusual and fresh while still being true to the stories from which it draws its material.

A support group for fairy tale heroines sounds like the sort of thing that’s a great idea in practice but can’t survive in execution, but it worked very well here, and provides us with a modern reimagining of what characters like Red Riding Hood and Cinderella might look like in our world, and how our own societal issues might relate to those grim (or Grimm) tales of old. This is also the first time I’ve seen an author successfully incorporate reality tv into this type of novel. Many have tried and zero have succeeded until now.

In all, the story is tremendously clever in its use of standard fairy tale material, a little bit sweet but never too saccharine, and sharply humorous and observant.

This book was good, but I honestly thought I was going to like it more than I actually did! The plot of the novel itself is super cool and unique because it focuses on a support group for women who have experienced trauma, but these women happen to be reimagined fairy tale characters. I really love fairy tale retellings, so I was excited to read this one, especially because the novel focused on women who come to get to know each other better through their participation in the support group. I really enjoyed Ruby and Bernice's parts in the book the most, but I found it difficult to read some other parts of the story, just because they did not capture my attention as much as these characters' stories did. I also had trouble getting the "big picture" of the novel and connecting all of the different parts of it to the wider story. However, I will say that this book is very innovative and I think that the story will appeal to a lot of people.


Thank you to NetGalley for granting me access to this novel!

This book took me so long to finish. I picked it up and gave up many many times. I finally sat down and finished it last night and it was not at all what I expected. The description of it is way off but overall I’m glad I finished it because it was a good book.

I admit that I had a hard time with this book, I kept picking it up and putting it down from the moment that I downloaded it. The story itself was interesting, I liked learning about the characters and their stories. But, at the same time the story didn't hold my attention all that well. I had a hard time with the settings, they were not really well described so it felt like the characters never moved from their therapy sessions. I also wasn't a fan of the fantasy elements of the book, I was expecting it to be fully based in reality, so when th0se aspects came out it just felt off.

Dark fairytale retellings have become sort of my jam. I intentionally held off reading my advanced copy of How to Be Eaten for an October read and boy oh boy I sorta wish I would have read it right away. The story here revolves around a new form of experimental group therapy. All of the ladies have responded to an email directed to public figures who had suffered some form of personal trauma. Some of the faces are immediately familiar like Red, Gretel and . . . a contestant from The Bachelor???? (Just go with it..)

The moral of the story is quite simple . . .

"Be patient, be kind, be good, say please, say thank you, don’t speak unless spoken to, don’t forget to smile, don’t give it all away, don’t disobey your teachers, your boyfriend, your husband, your producers. But don’t, you know, follow them blindly either. Hold this key, but don’t go in there. Don’t you dare open that door. Don’t cross the street without looking both says, but don’t dawdle. Yeah, don’t get distracted on your way. Or, actually, you know what? Maybe don’t even be out there, on the street, not if it’s dark, not if you’re alone, not if you’re a kid, not if you’re a woman, not without a rape whistle around your neck, not without pepper spray clutched in your hand, not, anyway, if you’re wearing that outfit. But, I mean, don’t be a prude either."

I’m all about awarding points for fresh voices and originality. While this may have been a new take on old subject matter – it felt 100% brand new. It was not, however, funny. Dear Publicists – stop calling things funny when they aren’t. kthxbai.