The Art of Starving by
Sam J. Miller
My rating:
3 of 5 stars
This was an intense read. I wanted to love this. The premise is solid. The format is interesting. The content is important. There’s lots of diversity, and it has a unique perspective. I see how this should be an excellent story. All signs pointed towards this book being a perfect read for me.
Unfortunately, I still struggled to connect with this story. It is relatively well-written, though the side characters are underdeveloped, and their motivations and intentions were rarely clear to me. The pacing also felt off to me, and I wasn’t that into the subplots. Honestly, I kind of just wanted to cut away some of the excess and focus more on the heart of the story, which was valuable and intriguing.
I think the supposed powers were a confusing distraction for me, as I thought they were all due to the inner-workings of Matt’s mind, as he struggled with his mental illness, which was upsetting but also fascinating. Then, some things occurred that suggested that it may not be all in his mind, which had me questioning if this is supposed to be magical realism, instead of contemporary, and that unsettled me. I think I spent so much time feeling awkward and uncertain about this that it left me holding the story at arms length, instead of fully embracing it.
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The Rest of the Story by Sarah Dessen
