How to Be Eaten

Books | Fiction / Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology

3.8

(65)

Maria Adelmann

One of NPR's Best Books of the Year: This darkly funny and provocative novel reimagines classic fairy tale characters as modern women in a support group for trauma. In present-day New York City, five women meet in a basement support group to process their traumas. Bernice grapples with the fallout of dating a psychopathic, blue-bearded billionaire. Ruby, once devoured by a wolf, now wears him as a coat. Gretel questions her memory of being held captive in a house made of candy. Ashlee, the winner of a Bachelor-esque dating show, wonders if she really got her promised fairy tale ending. And Raina's love story will shock them all. Though the women start out wary of one another, judging each other's stories, gradually they begin to realize that they may have more in common than they supposed . . . What really brought them here? What secrets will they reveal? And is it too late for them to rescue each other? Dark, edgy, and wickedly funny, this debut for readers of Carmen Maria Machado, Kristen Arnett, and Kelly Link takes our coziest, most beloved childhood stories, exposes them as anti-feminist nightmares, and transforms them into a new kind of myth for grown-up women. *Belletrist June Book Club Pick* Named a Best Book of May by TIME Magazine & Glamour One of NPR's Best Books of the Year

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Author

Maria Adelmann

Pages

304

Publisher

Little Brown

Published Date

2022

ISBN

0316450847 9780316450843

Community ReviewsSee all

"I love reimagining of fairy tales, so this was right up my alley. The topics were heartbreaking, interesting and real. I loved the prose and I think my favorite story was Bernice’s and my least favorite was Raina’s. But they were all really good stories."

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Zariah Grant

"How to be Eaten is a modern take on classic fairy tale stories, highlighting the inequalities of said stories, while also providing a scathing look at the manipulative nature of reality tv. The main takeaway from this book is the same of most fairy tales, you can not always take what you see at face value. The setting of the boom places classic characters like Red Riding Hood (Ruby), Gretal, Cinderella (Ashlee), among others in a group trauma therapy meeting were the women discuss their stories l, what happened to them and what they can learn from. The group dynamics and interactions together are the best part of the book. Each “chapter” is a week with someone else from the group telling their story, with group discussions (led by Will, the mysterious but charming therapy leader) among the women cutting in. These are definitely not based on the Disney version of these tales and are based off the Grimm style, so just like those this book’s fairy tales are dark and not always a happy ending. There are some adult themes here, so definitely consider a content warning before diving into this book. Maria Adelmann does a fantastic job in her debut novel (having written short story collections before this) with the only complaint I have is sometimes the plot of the women’s stories being kinda hard to follow, especially on the two fairy tales I did not know much about. Besides that I really did enjoy this and I probably will never look at reality tv the same again."

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Cody Crumley

"I loved this book. It was such a unique premise and funny in a very dark way. I actually had to look up Bluebeard - I had never heard that fairy tale. Thank you to the Belletrist book club - I would never have heard about this book or picked it up if it hadn't been the June selection."

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"Literally inhaled this book in less then a week!!!!! Loved it!!!!!☺️☺️☺️"