(This is a guest review by Heather. To submit your own, use the button in the column to the right.)

Link: amzn.to/zevzBL

Grade: B+

L/C Ratio: 40/60
(This means Heather estimates the author devoted 40% of his effort to creating a nonfiction work of art and 60% of his effort to creating a commercial bestseller.) 

Thematic Breakdown:
50% - Humor
30% - Travel
10% - Politics
10% - Romance

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I picked up The Sex Lives of Cannibals since it’s non-fiction and about some island in the Pacific I had never heard of, but it was a compelling and enjoyable read.

Troost is a very witty writer and at times can be laugh-out-loud funny; my favorite passage was a description of the author’s attempts to take a semi-feral male cat to the veterinarian across the island in his pickup truck.

The author describes situations in a way that both makes you laugh and makes you think. He forces you to consider a different perspective of life in the United States and how it compares to and influences other cultures, even those as remote as the tiny island of Kiribati.

Troost succeeds at making you question various norms of our society without ever coming off as preachy or condescending. I also enjoyed his approach to writing about his relationship with his fiancée – rather than forcing the romantic angle down the reader’s throat, he gently mixes it into the text to add an interesting dynamic to the story.