Review: The Appetites of Girls by Pamela Moses

Title: The Appetites of Girls
Author: Pamela Moses
Format: Paperback
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Publish Date: June 26, 2014
Source: I received a copy from the publisher; however, this did not affect my review.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Self-doubting Ruth is coddled by her immigrant mother, who uses food to soothe and control. Defiant Francesca believes her heavy frame shames her Park Avenue society mother and, to provoke her, consumes everything in sight. Lonely Opal longs to be included in her glamorous mother’s dinner dates—until a disturbing encounter forever changes her desires. Finally, Setsu, a promising violinist, staves off conflict with her jealous brother by allowing him to take the choicest morsels from her plate—and from her future. College brings the four young women together as suitemates, where their stories and appetites collide. Here they make a pact to maintain their friendships into adulthood, but each must first find strength and her own way in the world. "


My Two Cents:

The appetites of girls is the story of for college aged women: Ruth, Francesca, Opal, and set Sue. I was with so many of us in college, these girls are thrown together and a dorm Sweet where the beginnings of lifelong friendships are born. The title of this book deals with the fact that each of these women has dealt with both a physical appetite having to do with actual food and a mental appetite having to do with desire. This multi-fold theme is woven throughout the book.

This book is broken up into three parts. First, we get the brat background story of each character. Each character has had A different dealing with food. And it has affected the way that each character deals with the world. Second, we the readers witness each of these characters experience in college and how they are affected by the stories of their past. The third section books at these women as full-fledged adults after they have been friends for a long time. This is sort of a hard book to explain and it definitely took a while for it to grow on me by by the end of the book after seeing each character go through so much, I really enjoyed this book. If you do try those book, I suggest giving it a little while to see how it all comes together.

One of the things that really struck me in this book is the way that the author was able to create a really unique voice for each character. This can be really difficult for others to do when it they are counting on the characters to show the reader the story. At first I did feel as if I was being held at arms length but as I read on, The author has a really nice way of slowly opening up the characters to the reader.

And a lot of ways, at this book is very quiet but powerful. I think it's a really good book for anyone who feels like they are always dealing with the past and someway and looking for ways to overcome it.