Review of Eating Bull
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Michael Dipboye
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Review of Eating Bull
[Following is a volunteer review of "Eating Bull" by Carrie Rubin.]
Eating Bull by Carrie Rubin is a book about a 15-year-old boy named Jeremy Harjo Barton who weighs a little over three hundred pounds. The story begins with Jeremy waiting for his mother to get home from work so she can take him to the emergency room. A boil has grown on Jeremy’s inner thigh and has gotten too painful for him to ignore any longer. In the time between waiting on his mother and being treated at the hospital, the reader learns that Jeremy is being hounded about his weight by his live-in grandfather and his mother’s recent boyfriend, as well as the nurse and doctor who treat him in the emergency room. It seems everyone has a problem with Jeremy’s weight, including Jeremy. Until Sue Fort, a nurse employed at the health department and a weight loss clinic, steps in with her own agenda. She believes Jeremy is the perfect poster child for her newest cause: to sue the food industry for their participation in helping people gain weight. Sue knows that individuals make their own choices in what they eat, but she also believes the food industry is partly responsible for ensuring those choices. While Jeremy is involved with the case, Sue also talks him into participating at the weight loss clinic to begin his long journey of losing weight. Little does Jeremy or Sue knows, but there is a killer in their town, and this killer, only known as Darwin, is choosing obese people as his targets. Once the court case goes public, Darwin sets his sites on Jeremy as a poster child towards his own cause: taking out as many obese people as possible!
Even though the first few chapters of Eating Bull were slow as the author established the characters of the story, the story quickened its pace soon into the book. I found not only did I care for Jeremy and his friend Tito as the story progressed, but I also developed feelings for Sue and Jeremy’s mother Carrie. Dan Folsom, a character introduced later in the book, is extremely likable and delivers the best lesson found in the story with his opinion on the measure of a man. I wanted to keep reading the story because the entertainment value was high. I enjoyed reading the book and would be interested in reading another one of Carrie Rubin’s books in the future. Another interesting feature of the book was that the author used Jeremy, Sue, and Darwin to headline the chapters, so the reader knows who the chapter is about before they begin reading it. As for the issues of being overweight and in high school, I believe the author nailed the social problems that Jeremy has to go through and the consequences of those problems. We all have moments in life where we want to escape, and Jeremy chooses to escape with the help of food and video games. There were no errors within the book that I noticed, and the book was professionally edited.
However, there were a few negative aspects within the book. Already mentioned, the book did have a slow start. I believed the author wanted the audience to know and understand who these characters were before she really began accelerating the storyline. The problem this presents is that someone may not give the book a fair chance before deciding it is not for them. Also, I had issues with the character Darwin. There is no likeability with him. I know that he is the killer in the story, but I never felt any compassion for him, for his background, or his clean freak habits. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to, but there didn’t seem to be any real substance to him. Furthermore, there was a lack of scientific basis to back up the accusations against the food industry, and I wanted more facts on their role within the obesity problem.
Overall, I give Eating Bull by Carrie Rubin 3 out of 4 stars. Even though there were aspects I didn’t like, I know this is a story that will stay in my mind long after reading it. It may even help to inspire better day-to-day eating habits. Putting all the facts and opinions aside the book helps to generate, the story is very entertaining, and it leaves a positive impact on the reader.
People who like simple thriller novels without a lot of mystery would enjoy this book. I also think teenagers who are suffering from obesity and the parents of such children and teenagers would also benefit from reading it. The book does a good job of giving a simple summary of what it is like to be obese.
******
Eating Bull
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Eating Bull by Carrie Rubin is a book about a 15-year-old boy named Jeremy Harjo Barton who weighs a little over three hundred pounds. The story begins with Jeremy waiting for his mother to get home from work so she can take him to the emergency room. A boil has grown on Jeremy’s inner thigh and has gotten too painful for him to ignore any longer. In the time between waiting on his mother and being treated at the hospital, the reader learns that Jeremy is being hounded about his weight by his live-in grandfather and his mother’s recent boyfriend, as well as the nurse and doctor who treat him in the emergency room. It seems everyone has a problem with Jeremy’s weight, including Jeremy. Until Sue Fort, a nurse employed at the health department and a weight loss clinic, steps in with her own agenda. She believes Jeremy is the perfect poster child for her newest cause: to sue the food industry for their participation in helping people gain weight. Sue knows that individuals make their own choices in what they eat, but she also believes the food industry is partly responsible for ensuring those choices. While Jeremy is involved with the case, Sue also talks him into participating at the weight loss clinic to begin his long journey of losing weight. Little does Jeremy or Sue knows, but there is a killer in their town, and this killer, only known as Darwin, is choosing obese people as his targets. Once the court case goes public, Darwin sets his sites on Jeremy as a poster child towards his own cause: taking out as many obese people as possible!
Even though the first few chapters of Eating Bull were slow as the author established the characters of the story, the story quickened its pace soon into the book. I found not only did I care for Jeremy and his friend Tito as the story progressed, but I also developed feelings for Sue and Jeremy’s mother Carrie. Dan Folsom, a character introduced later in the book, is extremely likable and delivers the best lesson found in the story with his opinion on the measure of a man. I wanted to keep reading the story because the entertainment value was high. I enjoyed reading the book and would be interested in reading another one of Carrie Rubin’s books in the future. Another interesting feature of the book was that the author used Jeremy, Sue, and Darwin to headline the chapters, so the reader knows who the chapter is about before they begin reading it. As for the issues of being overweight and in high school, I believe the author nailed the social problems that Jeremy has to go through and the consequences of those problems. We all have moments in life where we want to escape, and Jeremy chooses to escape with the help of food and video games. There were no errors within the book that I noticed, and the book was professionally edited.
However, there were a few negative aspects within the book. Already mentioned, the book did have a slow start. I believed the author wanted the audience to know and understand who these characters were before she really began accelerating the storyline. The problem this presents is that someone may not give the book a fair chance before deciding it is not for them. Also, I had issues with the character Darwin. There is no likeability with him. I know that he is the killer in the story, but I never felt any compassion for him, for his background, or his clean freak habits. Maybe I wasn’t supposed to, but there didn’t seem to be any real substance to him. Furthermore, there was a lack of scientific basis to back up the accusations against the food industry, and I wanted more facts on their role within the obesity problem.
Overall, I give Eating Bull by Carrie Rubin 3 out of 4 stars. Even though there were aspects I didn’t like, I know this is a story that will stay in my mind long after reading it. It may even help to inspire better day-to-day eating habits. Putting all the facts and opinions aside the book helps to generate, the story is very entertaining, and it leaves a positive impact on the reader.
People who like simple thriller novels without a lot of mystery would enjoy this book. I also think teenagers who are suffering from obesity and the parents of such children and teenagers would also benefit from reading it. The book does a good job of giving a simple summary of what it is like to be obese.
******
Eating Bull
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: America Dies - When Based Upon Lies by Moswee M. Peach
