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4.49 AVERAGE
4.49 AVERAGE
A beautiful and painful memoir by Fatima Ali of Top Chef Denver fame and her mother. This was a lovely and painful read that made me cry eyes out at the end.
Pakistani chef (and Top Chef fan favorite) Fatima Ali's star was only beginning to rise when she was given a terminal cancer diagnosis. She was determined to complete her bucket list in her last year, traveling the world and eating all the delicious food she'd always dreamed of trying. In this memoir co-written by Ali, her mother, and writer Tarajia Morrell, we hear her life story, her passion for food, and her tragic end at the age of 29.
Sure, I would expect a book about someone who died of cancer at a young age to make me cry. But reader, this book made me SOB. It DESTROYED me. I went through a whole box of tissues. I literally had to take a shower to wash off all the tears and snot after I finished it. Would I recommend it? A hundred times over. It's beautiful and full of so much passion and excellent food writing. Grab those tissues and buckle up.
Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy.
Sure, I would expect a book about someone who died of cancer at a young age to make me cry. But reader, this book made me SOB. It DESTROYED me. I went through a whole box of tissues. I literally had to take a shower to wash off all the tears and snot after I finished it. Would I recommend it? A hundred times over. It's beautiful and full of so much passion and excellent food writing. Grab those tissues and buckle up.
Thanks to the publisher for the advanced copy.
A lot about Savor by Fatima Ali & Tarajia Morrell resonates with me - the cultural context; the immigrant story; the power of food to unite; and the story of a young life sadly cut short. Fatima Ali's story is one I was going to remember even before reading this book. Reading this book and learning of the other challenges she and her mother overcame further reinforces that this is a life to remember.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2024/04/savor.html
#Savor reviewed for #NetGalley.
Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2024/04/savor.html
#Savor reviewed for #NetGalley.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
So here's the thing. I am (always have been, always will be) drawn to books that fully gut me. The ones that I casually think about for weeks after finishing reading them, and feel the waves of pain over and over again. Is this because I'm actually a robot and this is the only instance in which I feel human emotions? Perhaps. We can only speculate.
Having watched a good amount of Top Chef in my day, I can confidently say that Fatima was immediately one of my favorite from the second she stepped onto the screen, and remains in my opinion one of the best people ever to have been on the show. She had such a magnetism to her, that I knew would translate in a book written by her. Her story is, of course, gut-wrenching. She was able to express it in such a way that you really could put yourself in her mindset as she lived through these vastly different chapters of her life. And the descriptions of food throughout the novel, by both Fatima and Farezeh, had my mouth watering the entire time I was reading. There's nothing like a really vivid description of specific plates and flavors... except, I guess, actually getting to experience those things in real life.
This was an exceptionally written memoir, and though I definitely came into it expecting to have my heart strings tugged upon, I didn't think it would hit me quite in the way that it did. In particular, Farezeh's telling of her point of view was really just a semi truck to the feels. My tiniest nitpicks are that I think some of the arrangement of chapters could have been manipulated so that we weren't repeating time periods quite as much, but it was still not difficult to follow along with the timelines of events.
I also typically don't read the acknowledgments at the end of books (tsk tsk, I know), but Mohammed did such a great job on that. It honestly was just as touching as the rest of the memoir was.
If you love food novels, and aren't too scared of having a good cry, I would highly recommend picking this one up as soon as humanly possible.
So here's the thing. I am (always have been, always will be) drawn to books that fully gut me. The ones that I casually think about for weeks after finishing reading them, and feel the waves of pain over and over again. Is this because I'm actually a robot and this is the only instance in which I feel human emotions? Perhaps. We can only speculate.
Having watched a good amount of Top Chef in my day, I can confidently say that Fatima was immediately one of my favorite from the second she stepped onto the screen, and remains in my opinion one of the best people ever to have been on the show. She had such a magnetism to her, that I knew would translate in a book written by her. Her story is, of course, gut-wrenching. She was able to express it in such a way that you really could put yourself in her mindset as she lived through these vastly different chapters of her life. And the descriptions of food throughout the novel, by both Fatima and Farezeh, had my mouth watering the entire time I was reading. There's nothing like a really vivid description of specific plates and flavors... except, I guess, actually getting to experience those things in real life.
This was an exceptionally written memoir, and though I definitely came into it expecting to have my heart strings tugged upon, I didn't think it would hit me quite in the way that it did. In particular, Farezeh's telling of her point of view was really just a semi truck to the feels. My tiniest nitpicks are that I think some of the arrangement of chapters could have been manipulated so that we weren't repeating time periods quite as much, but it was still not difficult to follow along with the timelines of events.
I also typically don't read the acknowledgments at the end of books (tsk tsk, I know), but Mohammed did such a great job on that. It honestly was just as touching as the rest of the memoir was.
If you love food novels, and aren't too scared of having a good cry, I would highly recommend picking this one up as soon as humanly possible.
I’d never watched Top Chef before, but I must have caught the episode of Ellen that Fatima Ali was on because I vaguely knew her story before reading this memoir. I have a lot of admiration for chefs, and I was a fan of the show Chopped, which Fatima won when she was super young—I think she was just out of the Culinary Institute of America and 22 years old.
Fatima earned a degree of fame from being on Top Chef, but before she could move forward with her plans to bring Pakistani street- and upscale-fare to America, she was given a terminal diagnosis of cancer. She decided she wanted to spend the last year of her life traveling and tasting all the greatest restaurants in the world. When her illness hobbled her much more quickly than she thought it would, she decided instead that she would spend her final days writing a book. She writes some of the chapters and her mother writes others and a professional writer helped out in between. Much of this is about Fatima’s childhood in Pakistan. She has a great love for her country and cuisine, but it’s even more sexist than America (somehow being a chef is a testosterone-laden profession that discriminates against women even though traditionally women are the main cooks and bakers at home). Her mother got a divorce, which was a huge scandal for their socioeconomic group in Pakistan.
This memoir is a fast, compelling read about the challenges both Fatima and her mother faced in Pakistan and here in the States. It’s really a tragic story of someone with so much promise having her life cut short way too young.
After I read this, I streamed Top Chef Season 15, which is set in Colorado. It was fun for me to see Denver-area restauranteurs judging these chefs. I kept thinking, oh! I love that restaurant!
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book, which RELEASES OCTOBER 11, 2022.
Fatima earned a degree of fame from being on Top Chef, but before she could move forward with her plans to bring Pakistani street- and upscale-fare to America, she was given a terminal diagnosis of cancer. She decided she wanted to spend the last year of her life traveling and tasting all the greatest restaurants in the world. When her illness hobbled her much more quickly than she thought it would, she decided instead that she would spend her final days writing a book. She writes some of the chapters and her mother writes others and a professional writer helped out in between. Much of this is about Fatima’s childhood in Pakistan. She has a great love for her country and cuisine, but it’s even more sexist than America (somehow being a chef is a testosterone-laden profession that discriminates against women even though traditionally women are the main cooks and bakers at home). Her mother got a divorce, which was a huge scandal for their socioeconomic group in Pakistan.
This memoir is a fast, compelling read about the challenges both Fatima and her mother faced in Pakistan and here in the States. It’s really a tragic story of someone with so much promise having her life cut short way too young.
After I read this, I streamed Top Chef Season 15, which is set in Colorado. It was fun for me to see Denver-area restauranteurs judging these chefs. I kept thinking, oh! I love that restaurant!
Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this book, which RELEASES OCTOBER 11, 2022.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
I received an eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I've been putting this one off because I knew it would make me cry. And cry I did.
I expected this to be a poignant, moving memoir about Fatima Ali's upbringing in Pakistan and the US, her journey as a chef and connoisseur of food, and her time on Chopped and Top Chef. But I didn't anticipate how moving her mother's chapters would be; her additional perspective adds depth to the reader's perception of Fatima, of her strength, conviction, and zeal for life. I also didn't expect to become angrier than I already am at our healthcare system and the joke that is private insurance; the US and Pakistan both fail Fatima in myriad ways during her life, but I am far more incensed at her experience in what are supposed to be some of the best hospitals and medical centers in our country.
If you don't mind crying rivulets of tears (which will manifest the most during the last quarter of this book), pick this one up.
I've been putting this one off because I knew it would make me cry. And cry I did.
I expected this to be a poignant, moving memoir about Fatima Ali's upbringing in Pakistan and the US, her journey as a chef and connoisseur of food, and her time on Chopped and Top Chef. But I didn't anticipate how moving her mother's chapters would be; her additional perspective adds depth to the reader's perception of Fatima, of her strength, conviction, and zeal for life. I also didn't expect to become angrier than I already am at our healthcare system and the joke that is private insurance; the US and Pakistan both fail Fatima in myriad ways during her life, but I am far more incensed at her experience in what are supposed to be some of the best hospitals and medical centers in our country.
If you don't mind crying rivulets of tears (which will manifest the most during the last quarter of this book), pick this one up.
A beautiful memoir that explores the life of a talented queer Muslim woman. I especially appreciated how chapters from her mothers perspective were woven in. The importance of food in her life and this way it was described was so vivid.
emotional
sad
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad