Absolutely brilliant - tragic, funny, eccentric and so perfectly suited to this particularly weird time. Claire Kohda takes the vampire trope and makes it her own in a way that feels fresh and original. Serious issues of race, disability, misogyny, body image, sexual abuse are handled with subtlety, insight, and a lightness of touch. The spell this novel casts is so complete I feel utterly, and happily, bitten

? Ruth Ozeki (2021)

Witty and thought-provoking ? Stylist

Unsettling, sensual, subversive, Woman, Eating turns the vampire trope on its head with its startlingly original female protagonist, caught between two worlds. It is a profound meditation on alienation and appetite, and what it means to be a young woman who experiences life at an acute level of intensity and awareness. Claire Kohda's prose is biting, yet lush and gorgeous. I was uncomfortably smitten ? Lisa Harding, author of BRIGHT BURNING THINGS (2022)

Blistering ... Tells us a lot about the ways we're all searching for belonging ? Glamour UK

A modern day vampire thriller that also covers race, social isolation, unrequited love and parental loyalty ... Lydia battles not only her vampire hunger but also to find her place in the world ? BBC

We've seen sexy vampires, scary vampires and psychic vampires, but never one quite like the one in this ambitious debut. Lydia is a 23-year-old, mixed-race artist whose appetite can only be sated with a tall serving of blood. With wit and a poet's eye, Kohda examines cravings, desire and emptiness ? New York Times

The most unusual, original and strikingly contemporary vampire novel to come along in years ? Guardian

A vampire book that will scrub any trace of Twilight from your mind - Claire Kohda's debut follows a young vampire dealing with all kinds of hunger: for acceptance, for artistic success, and for sushi ? Glamour US, Best Books for 2022

A surefooted, art-filled and wholly 21st-century take on bloodsucking ? Observer

Meaningful and illuminating.... The vampire novel has been done many ways, but Woman, Eating, Claire Kohda's intelligent and irreverent take, makes for an enjoyable read ? Sunday Times

What Stoker did for the vampire at the end of the nineteenth century, Claire Kohda does for it in our own era ? Times Literary Supplement

A playful debut that pumps fresh blood into the horror genre... [It] playfully revitalises a tired tradition, riffing on its clichés while delivering a gripping contemporary fable about embracing difference and satisfying hunger ? The Times

The way food wends its way throughout this piece is such a fascinating way to explore hunger, various appetites, and even identity. I regret to inform you that this one's not out until the spring, but I believe it's well worth the preorder ? Book Riot

Woman, Eating puts a deliciously fresh spin on a vampire narrative, while mining serious themes of race, misogyny and body image with pitch-perfect subtlety ? Waterstones

Kohda makes clever use of her premise to explore weighty topics-including cultural alienation, disordered eating, emotional abuse, sexual assault, the stressors of navigating adulthood, and caring for an aging parent-with sensitivity. Lydia's achingly vulnerable first-person narration gains momentum as she achieves self-acceptance-and, ultimately, self-empowerment. Subversive and gratifying ? Kirkus

A delicate, consistently surprising riff on the vampire narrative, and a stealthy, subversive story of one young woman's declaration of self ? Library Journal (starred)

A delicious debut ? Publishers Weekly

Woman, Eating is a long-overdue recalibration of the genre: a brilliant, subversive inquiry into the very politics of desire and denial, and a twisted testament to the depths of female appetite ? The Skinny

The book playfully revitalises a tired tradition, riffing on its clichés while delivering a gripping contemporary fable about embracing difference and satisfying hunger. ? The Times
Claire Kohda is a writer and musician. She reviews books for publications including the Guardian and the TLS, specialising in books from and about East Asia. As a violinist, she has played with musicians and ensembles including Jessie Ware, RY X, Pete Tong, the London Contemporary Orchestra and The English Chamber Orchestra, and on various film soundtracks.