There are many issues I had with this book but the main one was with Butter himself. I got the impression Lange intended the reader to sympathize with the protagonist but the only emotion I felt was pure rage. I really didn't like Butter as a character, either, and it wasn't just because of the inadequate writing. He was mean. He lashed out at everyone, even people that truly cared about him. And understand that being as obese as he was can have psychological symptoms like depression, but that doesn't mean he's has the right to be an asshole. He just wasn't a very nice guy. It's everything in balance and moderation”, says Martin. “We have this obsession in the UK, this up and down with weight, while the rest of Europe and the whole world eats butter. They consume more of it than us and they don’t have the issues that we do. At the end of the day, it's a natural ingredient, not manufactured”.

Butter - James Martin Chef

In fact, while he was shooting ITV’s Islands to Highlands, he almost bought an islandin Shetland - presumably the 64-acre Linga, one of the Scalloway Islands, which was up for sale recently. Then one day, Butter decides he's going to stand up for himself. He's going to eat himself to death. Online. So everyone can watch. When word gets around about this, Butter finds himself suddenly in with the popular group. But only because they aren't sure he'll actually do it. And hell, Butter doesn't know if he'll do it either. Butter was a character that I felt for, he was unhappy in his own skin and he had just given up on trying to get better. He felt that he had passed the point of no return and was wallowing in what could have been. I totally understood his helplessness, once you tip the scales at 423 lbs it's not exactly easy to lose it. While I of course didn't agree with where he decided to go with it, I at least understood his motives, and with a very over the top plot such as this, that's saying something. I've personally had people who suffer from both ends of this spectrum in my life and I thought the little things were handled perfectly; Butter's mothers attempts to appease him through food and the vicious cycle that creates is something that I have seen every day. But even if I hadn't connected with Butter, I would have kept reading, because the concept makes this book impossible to put down. The whole idea is morbid and disgusting and just wrong - and completely intriguing. I was disgusted and horriefied, but I couldn't stop reading; I needed to know whether Butter would actually go through with it. There's an underlying sense of tension and fear of what Butter will do, the knowledge that there is no way this could end happily, that had me on the edge of my seat throughout.Butter is the most insufferable person I’ve ever had the misfortune of reading about. A subplot of the story is that he has a secret online identity in which he is speaking to Anna, a pretty, popular girl he goes to school with, but Anna doesn’t know who he is on accounts he’s been weaving a web of lies for months, feeding her the wrong name (J.P.) and manipulating her to believe he’s a star athlete at a private school thirty minutes away from the one they both actually attend. I’ll get onto the dangers of the internet and how this can negatively influence impressionable readers soon, but this action alone made my blood boil. This girl is trusting this boy and he doesn’t even have the decency to shed an ounce of truth. He continues to lie to her over and over, having her fall in love with a person who doesn’t exist and if there’s one thing I cannot stand, it’s dishonesty. But why would you want to? How does homemade butter differ from store-bought? Why you should make your own butter I’ve used that ingredient quite a bit on TV over the last 30 years. The publishers wanted something about cooking at home, and I thought, why don’t we do an ingredient-led book”, says Martin, who presents ITV’s James Martin’s Saturday Morning, from his house. “The response has been massive”. Final product: Softer and creamier than butter made using a mixer, since it retains more of the buttermilk. Let’s get on with things. This is the story of a boy called Butter. (I’ll let him tell you how he got that moniker.) . . . .

Butter by Erin Jade Lange | Goodreads Butter by Erin Jade Lange | Goodreads

I'm glad that I read this book because the story is one I won't likely forget. In fact, there wasn't anything big which stands out for me as a dislike. The reason I didn't go higher on the rating is because Butter himself didn't always come across as genuine, and his crush Anna seemed very cardboard (neither one of them were very interesting characters). However, the overall book itself is worth the read. Stories like this and others such as Hate List are ones which schools would benefit from making required reading. Actually, I think stories like these are just good to remind us all, regardless of age, that compassion is much-needed in this world.The answer, thankfully (or not-so-thankfully, if you're into that sort of stuff), is no. After that initial scene, Lange does a really good job of making sure this book is NOT written for the feederism community to fap behind. It is not about binging and weight gain as a fetish and it's not gonna get anybody off and you aren't going to be uncomfortably wondering if you're gonna go to hell or not. You've got the ultimate larder”, he says. “Whether it's fruit, potatoes or seafood. I'm very jealous”.