Reviews

Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love by Elsie Chapman

laurenb's review against another edition

2.0

Yikes. It took me way too long to finish this. I liked some of the stories, but definitely not all.

I liked:
Rain
Kings and Queens
Moments to Return
Gimme Some Sugar
The Missing Ingredient

And I didn’t like the other 8 all that much. Some were ok, and some were just not my thing.

paulineerika's review against another edition

emotional hopeful inspiring relaxing medium-paced

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

3.5

Food is a love language and this book shows that in a variety of ways through the different short stories. The stories weren't all what I was expecting (hello, "Kings and Queens"), but the themes of family, community, and love are clearly woven throughout.

I thought Lila deserved more meaty of a story, for all that she shows up in everyone else's.

Favorites: "Kings and Queens," "The Grand Ishq Adventure," "The Slender One," "Gimme Some Sugar," and "Hearts a la Carte." 

smisaacs's review against another edition

lighthearted medium-paced

4.0

tangerinereads's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

heartprint's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective relaxing medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

5 stars 

this was a book that told me "you have a place at the table". Hungry Heart Row is warm and above all, so very kind. there were still some surprises in the line-up of chapters but for the most part, these stories are about growth and taking care of ourselves. we are important to people and people are important to us. 

darkdiamond8989's review against another edition

funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.0

It was cute

celestial_being's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing fast-paced

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

4.25

Loved the romance stories, they were cute. 

noelle7pages's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted 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

4.5

daenknight's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

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

4.5

blogginboutbooks's review against another edition

4.0

I'm not a big fan of short stories. I prefer a greater depth of character, conflict, and setting than can really be achieved in fiction of this length. However, I needed to read an anthology/short story collection for a couple of reading challenges, so I grabbed HUNGRY HEARTS. I knew the collection had to do with food and romance, but I was pleasantly surprised by the variety of stories it offers—not only does it address different kinds of love (between siblings, parent/child, and romantic) there are also a few different genres: family dramas, a mystery, a ghost story, magical realism, and more. It's also a diverse collection, with a lot of different ethnicities represented. As far as the stories themselves, some are kind of blah, one is flat-out weird, and several were swoony and sigh-worthy. Since I'm a mystery fan, my favorite one was "A Beautiful Film." Overall, I didn't love HUNGRY HEARTS. I really liked some of the stories, didn't care for others, and felt ho-hum about several. As a whole, I would give this collection 3 1/2 stars if I could. I can't, so I'm rounding up.