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kim_j_dare's review against another edition
4.0
An absolutely delicious read. I fell in love with Emoni, and appreciated her efforts to balance her responsibilities as a teenage mother with her dreams for the future. Acevedo’s foray into prose rather than free verse works beautifully. Emoni is fiercely loyal— to her abuela, her best friend, her young daughter—and most of the secondary characters are fully fleshed. My one small quibble is that Chef Ayden, the culinary arts teacher, is a bit too good to be true (is manic pixie dream chef a thing?). Overall, though, this is a lovely exploration of family and identity and stepping into adulthood and taking risks, and it’s sprinkled with just enough magical seasoning to stay with readers for a long time.
harmonj3's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dominiquexalana's review against another edition
5.0
One of the easiest 5 stars I could give to a book.
wanderinglynn's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.5
I'm not the demographic for this book. But even as I teen, I think I would have mostly thought the same thing. This book is mostly forgettable.
First, the chapters were ridiculously short. A couple of pages at most, some shorter than that. What is it about YA and short chapters? Is it because YA authors think that teens don't have the attention span for longer chapters? (Or more complex sentences for that matter?) It just seems that authors keep dumbing it down for teens, which is one of the reasons I hate the YA genre. When I was a teen, I was reading authors like Le Guin, Tolkien, H.G. Wells, Doyle, Phillip K. Dick—none of whom dumbed it down.
Second, why does every YA have to have romance? In this case, the romance felt formulaic, as in if you write YA, you must include romance. Given Emoni's backstory and her personality, it would have made more sense for her to keep him in the friend zone.
I also felt that at nearly 400 pages, I really didn't read anything at all. Partly because I didn't care or connect to the MC, Emoni. While I appreciate that this book features an underrepresented MC (black/Puerto Rican female), I just didn't care for her. She was judgey despite the fact that she had been judged a lot and knew how it felt. The most real dialogue in the entire book was between her and Leslie (who Emoni called "Pretty Leslie" the <i>entire</i> time. And if that's not judgey, then . . .) when Emoni finally gets that Leslie's life isn't all prettiness (despite the fact being told a couple of times by Malachi) and Leslie gets that Emoni isn't a stuck up, better-than-everyone-else suck up.
But I think it was Emoni's behavior about being in the culinary arts class and having to follow the Chef's rules that I checked out of this book. After that I started skimming the book, skipping entire chapters and never missed anything.
Sadly, this book was not my cup of tea.
First, the chapters were ridiculously short. A couple of pages at most, some shorter than that. What is it about YA and short chapters? Is it because YA authors think that teens don't have the attention span for longer chapters? (Or more complex sentences for that matter?) It just seems that authors keep dumbing it down for teens, which is one of the reasons I hate the YA genre. When I was a teen, I was reading authors like Le Guin, Tolkien, H.G. Wells, Doyle, Phillip K. Dick—none of whom dumbed it down.
Second, why does every YA have to have romance? In this case, the romance felt formulaic, as in if you write YA, you must include romance. Given Emoni's backstory and her personality, it would have made more sense for her to keep him in the friend zone.
I also felt that at nearly 400 pages, I really didn't read anything at all. Partly because I didn't care or connect to the MC, Emoni. While I appreciate that this book features an underrepresented MC (black/Puerto Rican female), I just didn't care for her. She was judgey despite the fact that she had been judged a lot and knew how it felt. The most real dialogue in the entire book was between her and Leslie (who Emoni called "Pretty Leslie" the <i>entire</i> time. And if that's not judgey, then . . .) when Emoni finally gets that Leslie's life isn't all prettiness (despite the fact being told a couple of times by Malachi) and Leslie gets that Emoni isn't a stuck up, better-than-everyone-else suck up.
But I think it was Emoni's behavior about being in the culinary arts class and having to follow the Chef's rules that I checked out of this book. After that I started skimming the book, skipping entire chapters and never missed anything.
Sadly, this book was not my cup of tea.
popkulturalnakociara's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
cici1722's review against another edition
5.0
Perfection!
as a Philly girl, traveler, and a self proclaimed chef/foodie I’ve loved every thing about the story. It’s truly heartfelt, and I found myself laughing, giggling and ugly, crying along the way.
as a Philly girl, traveler, and a self proclaimed chef/foodie I’ve loved every thing about the story. It’s truly heartfelt, and I found myself laughing, giggling and ugly, crying along the way.
kmmk21's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
erinrebecca922's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This was a rather enjoyable YA book about a high schooler who is a mother but dreams of being a chef.
jenmangler's review against another edition
3.0
I've never read a young adult book that centers so much on food and the culinary arts, and I liked it a lot.