Let’s be honest, I picked up this book because I loved the title- and I was excited to read about Calum’s experiences travelling around the world!
However, ‘Eat, Gay, Love’ provided a rich, insightful and thought-provoking look at the LGBTQIA+ community across the world.
Alongside detailed, funny stories about Calum’s travels, this book was an unexpected and refreshing look at the differing attitudes towards the community in different countries, as well as the issues sadly facing LGBTQIA+ people in every corner of the world.
Calum starts the book in his home town, recently separated from his fiancé and after a bit of adventure.
He travels to Italy first, staying with a welcoming and traditional Italian family. Calum speaks about his feelings for the family’s eldest son, as well as discussing the country’s complicated relationship with religion and LGBTQIA+ rights.
I found it really interesting to understand the relationship between Calum and his host, Giuseppe. It is clear that Giuseppe has traditional, often homophobic, views towards the community- and yet the family embrace Calum as a son.
Calum then moves through places such as the Alps, Germany, Ibiza, India, Thailand and Spain as he continues to explore the world and find his people.
The reader follows Calum as he experiences his first sex club, gets involved in local Pride celebrations, sleeps with strangers, tries party drugs for the first time, works with tigers and settles in Spain with his parents for a short time.
I think a highlight of this book for me was the wide range of people Calum meets along the way.
I love that he explores the LGBTQIA+ community in all countries, finding people from the community everywhere he goes- whether they express their sexuality openly or not.
He speaks about the fact that he doesn’t know many LGBTQIA+ people in his home town, and so finding this community across the world becomes an important as part of his journey.
Calum meets such an incredible range of people, from Drag Queens in Ibiza to Kathoeys in Thailand.
I absolutely this book- and I read it so fast!
You get transported to each country through Calum’s narration, and it is amazing to read about all of his experiences, including work with endangered animals in Thailand, teaching English in Italy and even getting mugged in India.
This book was such an insightful look at the LGBTQIA+ community everywhere.
As a cis-gender, straight woman, ‘Eat, Gay, Love’ made me understand the inherent discomfort LGBTQIA+ people must feel about their sexuality around others, not able to speak openly until they know they will be completely safe.
I really recommend reading this book for a fantastic mixture of important discussions, rich description and hilarious stories!
Have you read ‘Eat, Gay, Love’ by Calum McSwiggan? Do you have any thoughts on this book? What is your favourite book at the moment?
Let me know all your thoughts in the comments below!
Happy reading x
Picture credits here
Not-So-Modern Girl 
Fab review glad you enjoyed it! x
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Thank you Nicki!
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Loving the openness of this book. Our community needs this kind of reflective thinking.
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I completely agree, I really do recommend this book as an open, honest portrayal of the LGBTQIA+ across the world. It’s sad, poignant, uplifting and reflective
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It is a great title! I’ll be honest I tend to stay away from YouTuber books now but this sounds really refreshing and something really different to come out of the industry as well as containing a lot of imported cultural insights!
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Agreed! I hope you give it a go at some point for those reasons 🙂
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It sounds like a really beautifully explorative book and it’s so good to see that LGBTQ2S+ voices are shared through it. Here in the US this book would likely face challenging/banning for it’s content so it is great to read to see it is being shared here!
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Thank you Molly 🙂 I really recommend it, it’s an individual’s experience of travel and the LGBTQIA+ community, but it also shines a light on the community as a whole. I’m sorry to hear that this book would face discrimination elsewhere
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This definitely sounds like a book I would give a try as it sounds really interesting to hear about lgbtq+ experiences in different countries. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and experience. Ps. The title is definitely a winner for me!
Lauren x
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It’s great isn’t it? I completely agree, while there are lots of fun stories about Calum’s travels, the insight into the worldwide LGBTQIA+ community (and how it affects Calum) is what I loved about this book 🙂
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Definitely!
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Sounds like an interesting book to read. Even the title sounds catchy. Thank you for sharing.
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Thank you for reading Fadima 🙂
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Aw love this!! I hadn’t heard of it before and it looks like a nice different perspectives on traveling as a LGBTQ person. I will have to check it out thanks for sharing!
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Yes it’s a great read! Thank you Andrea x
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Thank you Nadia!
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This book sounds great! Might considering reading it too!
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I really recommend it!
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I will check where I can buy and then read it!
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Great review. Sounds like a fun book, going to add it to the list.
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It’s fantastic! I really recommend checking it out x
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This is interesting, I haven’t read this book but from your review, I’m curious about the funny stories and everything in it.
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It is a great mixture of fun stories and important insight about the LGBTQIA+ community across the world x
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This sounds like a really good read! I loved reading your review Eleanor x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
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Aw thank you so much Lucy x
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love the title! thanks for sharing this review with us. I didn’t know about this book until this review. will def check it out!
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I really recommend it! Thank you for commenting x
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I haven’t read this book, but it does sound like it would be interesting to read about Calum’s experiences in the different countries he stayed in and the LGBTQIA+ community there.
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Yes it was a really interesting insight. Thank you for commenting 🙂 x
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