Reviews - Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

3.44k reviews for:

Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe

Fannie Flagg

4.14 AVERAGE

poweravocado's review against another edition

0.25

slow-paced

aliceinchains's review against another edition

4.25

emotional funny reflective medium-paced

spartanguard's review

4.75

funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted 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

I grew up watching the movie but had never read the book until now. When I borrowed it from my mom, she prefaced it by saying it was better than the movie—which was completely accurate. Vivid characters and settings, bit of humor, lots of love. Doesn’t gloss over some of the harsher things (particularly race relations) of that era, but it’s all the more realistic for it.

larasam's review against another edition

3.5

Enjoyable story, fun epistolary style, relatable characters, thought some of the parts didn't age all that great.

saribo's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous lighthearted medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

There are bits of this book that are really lovely. In ways it's a quintessential "feel good" story, even the bits that are sad. But I found myself uncomfortable with the way a lot of the Black characters were portrayed — all of the characters are archetypes and a little flat, but that reads really differently with the Black characters in a book so thematically interested in racism.

koeeoaddi's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 for gumption, garrulousness and good INsurance.

snj27's review against another edition

5.0

This book is absolutely amazing. I had watched the movie a handful of times, and decided I needed to read the book to see if it could compare-- and found that it was even better. Though it follows the same basic plot as the film, the book dives into topics like race, religion, homelessness, and sexuality that the film only glances over.

I 100% recommend this to all readers.