I Eat Men Like Air

I Eat Men Like Air is a line from a Sylvia Plath poem called Lady Lazareth which is about multiple suicide attempts and the art of dying. And it is a fitting title for this book because all of the characters in the book suffer from some form of angst. The story occurs in 2017 and first introduces readers to a crime and murder podcaster named Tyler who is tagging along with his friend, Detective Sean Strickland in the investigation of a wealthy young man named Alex Sable who was found dead in a bathtub. Although it looks like a suicide, Tyler thinks otherwise and sets about interviewing the deceased’s friends.

What I really enjoyed about this book were the characters. The story should really be about Will and Jessica’s wedding, but instead, Alex, the obnoxious, always-under-the-influence-of-something-or-another friend steals the show. The book’s chapters toggle back and forth between each time the group visits the mansion where Will and Jessica are to be married. The visits are full of drugs and alcohol, discussions about a guy who Alex got convicted of rape, and the various problems of young, rich people. Lulu, the Instagram Influencer, is getting over a relationship and gets bitchy when Victoria complains that her own breakup was much worse than Lulu’s because she invested more time in it. Rob, Will’s best friend, has a hard time falling into the character of being a rich person. He still wears J. Crew, after all, and the guys never let him live that down. Alex is the volatile addict who will tilt a woman’s head back and pour absinthe into her mouth before she can consent. The doctor of the group, and the one character who actually has any standards, Yael, learns this the hard way. But she is not without her faults. Sleeping with a soon-to-be-married man does not exactly show a good moral compass. Then there is Maxie. Maxie is married but never sees her husband, Freddie. Then there are the bride and groom, Jessica and Will. From the start, it is clear that these two don’t really go together. They are just two people stepping into their roles.

I have to say, a lot of the dialogue was quite entertaining and downright comical. The author does a fantastic job of creating the voice behind each character. The reader will be wondering if Alex really did commit suicide or if this group of immoral, unethical, rich kids were behind something a lot more sinister. This book is dark, yet has a lot of nonchalant humor thrown in. There are several side storylines and plot twists that will keep the reader’s attention stuck to the page.