DNF- Not to my taste, well written and well constructed, I just struggled with the eating disorder, the bullying nickname and the fallout after the confession. I’m sure lots of people will enjoy this novel! Just not for me- sorry!

I always enjoy books that are a bit different, and this was one of them. Quirky and disturbing in equal measure, Piglet was a mix of believable emotions at the turns her life took, and the food she cooked had my mouth watering!
Thank you to netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book

The author loves food! The descriptions of cooking and eating food make you feel like you are there experiencing the tastes and smells. However the story is not so well told. There are gaps in the telling that make this book feel like they missed a few ingredients. We never know what Kit did, and we never really know where her love of food and cooking came from, plus the need to stuff herself in this crisis. Was this a once off, or was there history? Like a badly made soufflé, this doesn't quite rise to the occasion

I’ve never read a book quite like Piglet before, the way Lottie Hazell writes about food is so descriptive and although it made me hungry, I did find myself skimming over some of the long pieces of text describing food.

The book centres around Piglet who in the lead up to her wedding finds out that her fiancé has done something terrible, the tension running up to the wedding made the book very fast paced and I did read it very quickly but the ending sort of fell flat for me.

I think this will be a popular book and lots of people will love it but it just wasn’t for me.

I love a book that goes off piste and doesn't follow the rules, and this has elements of that. From not knowing the main character's real names to never finding out what her fiancé did that was so bad, it challenges writing convention and will no about elicit divided opinions.

The book evoked lots of emotions, pity for Piglet and her sister, hunger as foodie descriptions dominate and anxiety because it took me out of my comfort zone. A fabulous debut novel, I hope the author keeps pushing boundaries.

I came away from this book very hungry, the description of food is sublime! This is an intense and some times confronting read, with some unpleasant and not very likeable characters. That didn’t detract from the ultimate enjoyment of the book though.

Intense and utterly compelling, reading Piglet is a bit like watching a car crash in slow motion that you just can't tear your eyes off.

It's wonderfully uncomfortable, fraught with tension, and written with great pacing and believable characters. Hazell's a skillful author: her prose is palpable, and her descriptions of food find the fine line between sensual and sickening. The story structure and the symbolism of the croquembouche at its heart are absolutely perfect.

Piglet is an astonishing and compulsive debut.

I’m not going to lie I’m a little disappointed!
I must confess I did go into this with high expectations as had seen it everywhere but sadly it just didn’t hit the mark with me.

There were some toxic characters but I think my main issue was I just couldn’t connect to the character and I felt that the plot just wasn’t strong enough.

The authors way of describing food was delicious, I could saver ever bite piglet took but that wasn’t enough to make this plot more than it was for me.
I’m probably going to get lots of hate as I know that people love this book but connection and being able to get lost in a book is everything and for me the content and substance was just not there.
Have you read piglet and if so what did you think?

I read Piglet in a day – sometimes office days are sooo good for this – after seeing a lot of love on bookstagram. The story of Piglet – a cookbook editor engaged to the wealthy Kit, nicknamed thus because of her childhood greediness – is like Supper Club combined with the first half of Melancholia, and I had mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's kind of bog standard sad girl novel and I found it lacking depth in a few ways: Piglet is a bit one-dimensional, we don't know a lot about her life or her and Kit's relationship before the novel begins, the theme of food as a motif for class was sooo interesting but was a bit underdeveloped in my opinion. On the other hand, the days before and surrounding the wedding were so perfectly tense, and made for a really good, wedding-as-horror read. I love reading about weddings and this really delivered, so much so that I kind of wish that had been the whole book? The commingling cruelty and support of Piglet's parents was so believable and complex, and there is a lot about the food/class thing that is really ripe to be explored. I often think, when did everyone learn what all these expensive ingredients are and how to craft recipes with them? Is it just something that wealthy people grow up knowing?

3.5 stars.

An intense read.

Can’t say I really liked the protagonist which can make a book hard to enjoy but I didn’t find that in this case.

Cleverly written and relatable in a lot of ways.

Piglet is living her best life. She has a job editing books about food, she loves to cook and she’s just bought a house in Oxford with her upper class fiancé. Her best friend is about to have a baby and all is right with the world.
Except it really isn’t. When her fiancé confesses something unspeakable a few short weeks before the wedding, all the cracks in this carefully constructed life appear and grow wider.
This book is beautifully written. The food descriptions made me hungry. It also made me so anxious reading it, I almost couldn’t bear it. Piglet’s food obsession is rooted in something dark, the relationships with her working class family and her future in-laws are dreadful in different ways and the stress of her decision to make her own croquembouche nearly tipped me over the edge before everything started to unravel. To start with, she’s not a really likeable character, but the book is about her finding her true self, which she has buried in order to become socially acceptable.
There’s a narrative decision which everyone will be talking about. I found it a bit frustrating but can see why the decision was made, because this is a book about Piglet and her decisions, not about what is done to her.
I really liked this. Thanks to Net Galley for the ARC.

Piglet is about to get married, but her husband to be has a dark secret...funny and smart book, unlikeable characters and plenty of food...let Piglet eat cake!

This was an uncomfortable read, as it was meant to be, no doubt. I think there is something raw and real about how Piglet goes about her life, 'building' it as it were.

This book starts on a very positive note - Piglet and her fiancé have moved into their first home and are hosting a dinner party. All seems happy.

But soon secrets come out - all is not as it seems.

Sadly, I did not enjoy this book very much. The characters didn't quite work for me and I just found it unsatisfactory and rather depressing.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this book. I understand the premise of a girl with food issues after covering for her sister’s anorexia and the impact it has had on her life. Coming up to her wedding “Piglet” a name given to her in her childhood as she ate everything (see reason above) and loving cooking for friends and family but has massive issues of her own. In the run up to her own wedding her fiancé tells her he has done something unforgivable and we watch the downward spiral of “Piglet”.

I feel let down that we were never told what Kit had done as I don’t feel it would have impacted the story at all.

We see the fallout to his confession and the effect on “Piglet” and what happens in the days before and the day of the wedding.

I actually feel cheated that there was no “end” to the story and it was left to the reader to decide what had happened, what the secret was and what happened afterwards. I did like the added touch of Kit calling “Piglet” by her actual name as he left their house for the final time.

The story was very well written and constructed, I just felt it was lacking in certain areas.

There seems to be a lot of great writing this year with young female leads in dysfunctional relationships and Piglet is one such novel. Piglet isn't her real name, but the nickname she acquired in childhood that has stuck with her - and EVERYONE calls her it. Piglet has moved down to Oxford / London - away from the family that embarrasses her, for no other real reason than they don't represent the life she wants to lead. Her new fiance and his family do - they have money, prestige, class. All the things that Piglet thinks she needs.
But 2 weeks before her wedding her fiance Kit drops a bombshell and everything changes......

A story of food, of cooking, of relationships, of friendships, of reassessing your life, your goals, what is truly important. Piglet, you've got this.

I'm not sure what to say about this book. I initially really liked it and I did appreciate the ending but the middle felt very awkward! I guess that was part of the point of the book, and I imagine that this was a metaphor for the emptiness of modern existence and the attempt to fill that with meaningless things - a relationship that looks good on paper but lacks a depth of intimacy; being ashamed of your roots because they're not sophisticated enough; etc.
I think the book wouldn't have lost anything by actually revealing what it WAS that broke the relationship (we assume affair??) or why the protaganist was called Piglet. I'm sure there are very clever reasons but it just didn't feel satisfying for me. 2.5 rounded to 3 for the descriptions of the delicious food!
Thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks, Netgalley, the publisher and the author for an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A very interesting story which in a way ended the way I would've thought it would end but at the same time was I was hoping for more.

I did enjoy the way the food was described, but overall, it felt a bit too much and maybe at the same time too real?!

This book was emotional and I did feel a bit for Piglet, but I wanted this book to give me more, not like a happy ending, which in a way I got, but something more for the main character, Piglet.

Absolutely brilliant, loved it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me an advance copy, I will definitely be recommending.

A really fun read that you can devour in one sitting.
Looking forward to more from Lottie Hazell.
4 stars.