Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of The Appetites of Girls

The Appetites of Girls
reviewed on + 379 more book reviews


This is an engaging, multi-layered debut novel by a talented writer. Four young women, whose disparate backgrounds have been explored in the early chapters, meet for the first time as suitemates at the beginning of their freshman year at prestigious Brown University. This arbitrary assignment provides a friendship that extends throughout their years at Brown and into adulthood. The role of their eating habits, body images and views of food are examined in their relationships with their families, especially their mothers, and with each other. I probably would have overlooked this book had I seen it on a shelf due to its cover and title, which do it an injustice in my opinion.