Reviews

Cinnamon and Gunpowder: A Novel by Eli Brown

doogsley's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

a charming, ghastly, and swashbuckling romp of brigandry, grief, delectable meals, and fucking up colonizers. unfortunately, this is the second pirate book that nearly slumped me this year haha. but i am SO glad i pulled through - i loved this offbeat, violent cast of pirates and our flawed and privileged mc. the tale was both adventurous and mundane, and the food porn was incredible. i will definitely revisit this book again in the future - it has a very distinct and unique flavor that i’ve not captured in other stories. so grateful i had this hiding in the depths of my kindle library. i hope it gets a grotesque lil miniseries one day! 

leahslibrarycard's review against another edition

2.25

this was me stepping outside my comfort zone. i am stepping back in. there were many things that rubbed me the wrong way. the first being the main character, owen wedgewood, which for some reason i couldn’t connect with. he was very unlikeable. obviously you don’t need a main character to be likable, but, since there was nothing else going on, it would’ve been nice to have something i could grasp onto. wedgewood did have his food descriptions going for him though.

there are important issues briefly mentioned in this book - the opium trade, slavery, and racism. these issues are not fully addressed beyond saying anyone who exercises these ideas are bad. for a novel with a light plot i wish these topics were talked upon more.

i enjoyed hannah as a character. to me, she stood as an empowering female lead - something rarer for the time, especially when written by men. i just wish she didn’t die at the end. it takes away from her role as a strong female character. the romance between her and wedgewood also felt incredibly forced.

with all the bad comes some good. i loved joshua and his discussions surrounding language and grief to be so moving.

lines : 

“if i were to learn about his family, it would be in his words, not mine”

“she had fed and loved it, and now it’s flesh would become hers and mine, and in this way i understood that all beings lived only to feed one another as even the lion lies down for the worm”

jellybird25's review against another edition

3.0

I cant say I didn't have a good time. But I wish he had realized the situation sooner. And there really was a lot of violence, which decreased the likeableness of some characters. Sort of gave the remains of the day vibe in a weird way

trin's review against another edition

5.0

A fantastical combination of a humorous piratical romp mixed with food porn, and a very serious story about the consequences of colonialism, the evils of the slave trade, and the nature of grief. Brown skillfully walks a very high and thin tightrope, and succeeds, I think, on the strength of his POV character, whose voice is distinct, ridiculous, sympathetic, and lovable.

This is both romantic and Romantic, and I was utterly swept away.

smbrisco337's review against another edition

adventurous challenging lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

kshiner's review against another edition

adventurous dark lighthearted tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

mdwsfa's review

adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-paced

4.25

lindsayaunderwood's review against another edition

4.0

Yes. This is what I'm talking about people. THIS is an adventure. It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows me that I loved this book.

sydthewitch's review against another edition

adventurous funny informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A narrow-minded albeit accomplished chef is kidnapped by a larger-than-life pirate captain to serve as her personal chef ... And my heart exploded several times over. 

(I also learned A LOT, and that's always neat. :) )

betseyboo's review against another edition

4.0

Charming book.