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Devoured this book in almost one sitting, as if I was Piglet herself, sitting at a table having ordered too much food for one person and yet eating it all anyway.

I was a little dubious at first. I almost always read books totally cold, knowing nothing going in. But sometimes I will check Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ after a chapter or two to see what I'm getting into and decide if it's worth it. I checked in on this book because, well, Piglet was annoying. Piglet had the absolute Instagram facade life of a 20-something that feels like it's all surface and no depth and I wasn't sure I would care about a character like that. But, turns out, that is the whole point! This is exactly what Hazell is doing, she is setting you into Piglet's life and then, happily, totally dismantling it. Piglet gets some devastating news (the details are never given) and the entire facade begins to crack.

There is, of course, her name, which we learn right away no one calls her, this one bestowed by her family thanks to her childhood habit of overeating. It is such a sneaky little move. Because it tells you there is something very old and pretty messed up in Piglet's past, something that somehow she and everyone in her adult life has accepted as normal. It makes you wonder. And when you do meet Piglet's family, just absolute perfection. Well they're not, they're awful, but Hazell is perfection. They are so beautifully drawn, you can see immediately where Piglet has come from, why she ran away from it, and how this sense of self-importance is such an important tool for her to keep a distance between herself and her family.

There is some wonderful food writing in this book. (I laughed out loud when on the author page at the very end it notes that Hazell has done academic research on food writing in 21st century fiction.) Food everywhere. This is not an eating disorder book, Piglet doesn't have that. What she does have is a total lack of coping mechanisms and a feeling of safety and control in food. She loves food--she works at a cookbook publisher--and she loves making food for people, she always goes a little overboard. But Piglet's rebellions here are in stark contrast to the way she likes to present herself, as tasteful, talented hostess and chef. It is quite different to sit down at a chain restaurant and order all 7 of the burgers on their menu. Just for yourself.

This is such a smart book because, well, it feels like you have met a lot of Piglets before. Or maybe you haven't met them, maybe you just follow them on Instagram. It's understandable how Piglet got herself into this situation, especially once you know how she grew up. She has moved up a class or two, she has discovered a world bigger than the one she came from, and her ability to fit in there and present herself as a part of that other world has become a core of her identity. It has subsumed who she is as a person so that she has focused entirely on that presentation of self instead of actual self. And it's a brilliant book in that it doesn't have her family step in at the end to help lift her back up. Her friends do not immediately make everything better. That is the stuff of stories and Hazell is much more focused on the stuff of real life.

There is plenty of juicy drama here, never fear. Piglet is ambitious and we start the novel in the countdown towards her wedding, so of course she is in high gear and it is the absolute worst time for it all to fall apart. The better for us.

It gets just a little too on the nose at the end, telling instead of showing, but otherwise truly a joy. Just a delightful train wreck of self-sabotage leading to self-awareness. My very favorite plot arc, I think. So happy to have my first Best Book of 2024.