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ohknellah's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Animal death
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Vomit, Eating disorder, Classism, and Death of parent
alleahwebb's review
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Classism, Confinement, Colonisation, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pandemic/Epidemic, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Blood, Physical abuse, and Violence
kaiyakaiyo's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
a bit literary for my personal tastes; i expected this to be stranger and more speculative than it was. i also don’t love time skips; the last 50 pages felt like watching a movie with the second speed of fast forward on.
that being said, i liked this! at risk of sounding silly, i like books about girlfailure, bc lowkey i feel like im in a low point in life and like reading about other people waiting for their next upswing. the chef mc is at a really low point and only a brush with insane rich people can snap her out of it. also her emotional support cat is so real.
im being goofy but truly i felt so much of her hopelessness, lack of luster, lack of drive. she let that dark cloud (literally and figuratively) push her into a place where her living was carved out solely at the expense of others, the exclusion of others, and became more miserable as a result. reconnecting with humanity both at a grand level and individually gave her what she needed, and sometimes that’s the exact push i need: to go outside and share an aisle with people at tj maxx. to go out for drinks when im tired. feeling less like an individual and more like a community, a true community, really does bring the color back into life, and that was beautifully rendered in this book.
the descriptions of food are lovely, though if you are as uneducated as i am, have a dictionary out lol. the prose is crisp but not overly so, and the descriptions are sensory in just the right way for a book based on pleasure and joyfinding. thank you to my local bookstore for a quick 2nd read of the year
that being said, i liked this! at risk of sounding silly, i like books about girlfailure, bc lowkey i feel like im in a low point in life and like reading about other people waiting for their next upswing. the chef mc is at a really low point and only a brush with insane rich people can snap her out of it. also her emotional support cat is so real.
im being goofy but truly i felt so much of her hopelessness, lack of luster, lack of drive. she let that dark cloud (literally and figuratively) push her into a place where her living was carved out solely at the expense of others, the exclusion of others, and became more miserable as a result. reconnecting with humanity both at a grand level and individually gave her what she needed, and sometimes that’s the exact push i need: to go outside and share an aisle with people at tj maxx. to go out for drinks when im tired. feeling less like an individual and more like a community, a true community, really does bring the color back into life, and that was beautifully rendered in this book.
the descriptions of food are lovely, though if you are as uneducated as i am, have a dictionary out lol. the prose is crisp but not overly so, and the descriptions are sensory in just the right way for a book based on pleasure and joyfinding. thank you to my local bookstore for a quick 2nd read of the year
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Violence, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Racism, Misogyny, and Vomit
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