Jenn's Review: Slim to None

Summary:  Abbie Jennings is Manhattan's top food critic until her expanding waistline makes staying incognito at restaurants impossible. Her cover blown on Page Six of the New York Post, her editor has no choice but to bench her and suggest she use the time off to bench-press her way back to anonymity. Abbie's life has been built around her career, and therefore around celebrating food. Forced to drop the pounds if she wants her primo gig back, Abbie must peel back the layers of her past and confront the fears that have led to her current life.


Review:  You may have noticed I'm on a Food-lit kick as of late.  Author Jenny Gardiner did, and suggested her book, Slim to None.  Of course, I purchased it immediately.

Abbie Jennings is not at home in her own skin which made it hard for me to be comfortable with her.  No doubt, weight is a sensitive subject for most women, but that's not what made me uncomfortable.  (For me, the person I see in my head is not the same as the one in the mirror... but I am fitting into some clothes I haven't worn in a while so... that's good, I guess.)  No, it has to do with the same reason I can't watch most comedies; I have an abundance of empathy.  I don't find embarrassing situations humorous, I find them highly distressing.  Abbie doesn't know who she is,which can be okay if one is at peace with that, but Abbie isn't.  She's not thinking and she's making bad decisions ~honestly, I just want to help her.  I think this says quite a lot about Ms. Gardiner's writing style that I feel this strongly about her main character.


That said, I do love the interweaving stories and the respective characters.  As a matter of fact Slim to None isn't so much about food as it is about relationships (with people and food).  It's more women's lit with some food thrown in rather than food-lit.   I thought the recipes, though befitting a food critic, were a little over the top for my personal repertoire and, though appreciated, almost a little extraneous.  There are some lovely twists to the plot making a happy ending seem dubious.  I love when an author can keep me guessing on that front.  


It's not often I feel this entangled with a character, even if it wasn't necessarily all positive.  Jenny Gardiner has a great 'voice' and it permeates the novel.  If you are looking for a solid read about relationships and being comfortable with yourself, Slim to None is for you.  


Final Take:  3.75/5