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[This is a discussion topic for the March 2016 book of the month Eating Bull by Carrie Rubin.]


Overall, how do you like the book? What do you like most about it? What do you like least? Do you recommend it to others? Why or why not?

Please make sure you have added your rating on the Eating Bull Bookshelves page.


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I liked it. I wavered between a three and four for a little while, and while I would give it more than a three, I couldn't give it the full four.
I found it both entertaining, and enlightening, but was pretty sure who "Darwin" was pretty early on, though I wavered a few times, it was never for long. (I tend to do that, which is why I don't read much mystery/suspense.)

I actually felt it had a nice pace, and I enjoyed the alternating chapters. Darwin's actually reminded me of another murder mystery I read a while back, which I mean as a compliment as I love the author I'm refering to.

I think any mystery/suspense reader would enjoy it, as well as anyone who's interested in the subject matter.

I liked the book as well, and rated it 3 stars. I thought it was rather slow-paced at times, but I found it a good read overall.

I suspected the identify of Darwin too, but wasn't so sure till the end. I enjoyed both sub-plots, but thought the story of Darwin was the more intriguing one.

I certainly would recommend it as it was a solid thriller dealing with some important themes.

I definitely have and will continue to recommend this book to others. I liked that the character had a major hurdle to jump and that in the end he made it over that hurdle. He made friends on the way too. It was a very thrilling book.

I enjoyed it as a mystery thriller, but as Muscogee person it kind of made my skin crawl when the author described a fictional powwow....those are very sacred things to us and when non-natives write about our religious and cultural events, it makes me want to vomit a little. I've grown up attending powwows and my tribe is a huge part of my life. I dunno. Maybe I just take that part of me too seriously.

Overall, I enjoyed the writing style, the characters were nice. I really loved Sue. I feel like Connie really did care about Jeremy. Jeremy was very easy to relate to for me (I myself am considered obese via BMI, which is kind of bullcrap) however his way of thinking kind of put me off. It was just okay. It didn't really capture me the way I wanted it to, but not every book can be The One haha.

I rated the book three stars; I enjoyed it. I actually finished the book in one day, which is EXTREMELY rare for me. It was funny in the right moments, grotesque when it should have been, and serious when it needed to be. The author had a good working knowledge of what she was writing about, which is always welcome.

I did feel there was some misleading political/social manipulation, which is evidenced in the good guy/bad guy dichotomy. The only static character that had a differing opinion than the protagonists and was not portrayed as evil was Al, and his role was extremely minor. That's why it got three stars from me.

However, it was a very good read, and Carrie Rubin is on my watch list henceforth.

Overall I enjoyed this book. It took me a little while to get into the book since there was too much going on in the first half. There are a lot of characters and I felt the first half was slow-paced with character development and setting the stage for the different themes in the book - Jeremy and his family members, the Health Department's role in controlling overeating (Juney Andrews) and other health issues (Brent Johnson's HIV), Sue and her family, Darwin, Tito and his family, Calvin the bully, etc. Did I really need to know so much about Sue's polka-dot tote and her yellow kitchen? It's usually great to have characters fleshed out, but there were so many characters and the plot went off track a lot in the first half.

Everything flowed better in the second half as there wasn't as much detail about every single character, even the minor ones. The plot moved full steam ahead and I couldn't put the book down in the second half. Darwin and Jeremy are great characters, but I thought Sue's character was far-fetched and over the top. I thought the subplots about Jeremy's dad and Brent Johnson's HIV story were unnecessary and just added to the busy plot. Overall the premise of the story was creative and the author had a nice writing style. Rating: 3 out of 4 stars.

I would give the book a three over all. It was certainly not the best book I have read, but not the worst either. Jeremy was a sympathetic character who made you want his life to be better. Having each chapter told from a different character's point of view was interesting also. While I realize the issue of obesity is a main theme of the book. It seemed that the characters were either fanatically healthy or lived completely off of junk food.

Overall, I liked the book. Darwin was also very easy for me to guess. I wasn't a total fan of the main theme of obesity, just because there seemed to only be extremes in the book. The author, however, did a pretty good just of presenting the theme while maintaining the flow of the plot and the likability of most of the characters. Overall, I'd give it 3 out of 4 stars.

I have not finished the book, I just started yesterday, actually. I do find it very well written. Can't wait to finish the rest of the book!

To be 100% honest, I got bored of Borderlands The Pre-Sequel and came by the forums here to see what I was missing... I had no idea what this book was even about, but even just from the forum topics associated with it I'm really intrigued and I think I'm gonna have to read it! I regularly game with some younger kids on Xbox and chat with them on Twitter, and my fiancée has some nephews and a niece that come over frequently. The topics of parenting, sugar and caffeine linked to ADHD (or ADHD-like traits) and bullying are frequently on my mind because of these circumstances. Yep, I'm gonna have to find and read this!

Overall, I enjoyed this book. The beginning was a little hard to get into. There were so many characters being introduced and various sub plots within the story, that I got distracted from the main point of the book. By the second half of the book, things really moved along and became a real thriller. There were a couple of scenes that were very gory and disturbing to me. I was glad Jeremy grew as an individual and overcame several hurdles in his life. I gave this book a 3 star rating.

I really enjoyed this book, and gave it 4 stars. The characterization was impressive. The story was well done. Even though it was very "busy" at the beginning, with a lot of characters, I was able to keep track and not get confused about 99% of the time. Considering that I've had problems lately with a couple of books that had numerous characters, I felt this author did a really good job.

Oh God, yes! I was waiting for this topic. I LOVE this novel. I couldn't put it down! I definitely give it a 4/4 stars! The plot was very engrossing, the characters were very well developed, the twist was neat, the villain was realistic. Honestly I don't have anything really all that bad to say about this novel. There were a couple of characters that really grated on me, but they were good characters nonetheless. I can't see myself changing anything at all about this book. I have already recommended it to several of my friends, hoping they would pick it up! I wish more books were as enveloping as this one was. I'm going to have to go back and reread this one.

I enjoyed reading this book. I give a 3 out of 4 stars as well.

The parts I liked involve getting to know Jeremy, his background, and struggles. I liked when people didn't hold Jeremy's obesity against him (Tito and Lacey), even though that was the norm in school. Also, I liked how the author portrayed losing weight as a difficult task. Some people struggle with this more than others, and I believe that is very accurate and reaistic.

There were parts that I didn't like as much. I typically don't read many books that involve murderous scenes, so those were a bit harder to pull through. I also felt the beginning had a lot going on, but was able to keep track throughout most of it.

I would recommend this book to those who like suspense novels and reading about a character's ability to overcome his/her own life struggles.