Tender Morsels

Margo Lanagan's take on the Snow White and Rose Red fairytale was a massive disappointment.  Tender Morsels follows Liga, a young girl who lives in the woods with her abusive father, but branches out to tales of a witch and her greedy companion, and boys that turn into bears on 'bear day', the core story in Tender Morsels was hurt by the multiple POV's. 

Tender Morsels is brutal and doesn't shy away from giving characters the worst possible life (ever) but it felt that Lanagan kept on trying to ply her characters with obstacles without resolving previous ones.  Quite a few times plot lines are dropped and never spoken of again.  The ending felt rushed and confused, with too many ends left loose.  Which is bizarre, as the middle section felt overly long.  I struggled with this book, and it was hard work to keep reading until the end.  After finishing I had many questions including: Was the narration from the bears needed? The change for first person, to omniscient third person? Was this to highlight that only the men were in control of their own voices, while the women's life had to be described by someone else?   Unfortunately my main question was why did I bother?