Review of Elizabeth Rankin, “A Hint Sugar,” Luna Station Quarterly 61 (2025): 57-75 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.
Content note: Dieting, calorie counting, fatphobia.
Norah is a baker whose sweet treats are under threat from the newest development in DNA modification: A new diet induced by a shot that changes how sweet things taste.
I confess, I didn’t quite get how this was supposed to work: Is the idea that after such a shot, people would stop eating sugary things because they no longer taste sweet? Why would that be the behavioral change rather than people eating way way more sugar because they could no longer taste it was sweet? (After all, I’m pretty sure sugar’s addictive qualities are not due to its taste, but do to the impact it has on the body.) My constant thoughts about this conundrum unfortunately prevented me from engaging with the story itself as I might otherwise have.
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