Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - The Arctic Curry Club

Thank you Netgalley and Avon Books for the gifted book!

I thought this would be a fun wintery rom com and while it was a fun read, it is actually a book about a woman, Maya, coming into her own identity dealing with her anxiety and facing the truth hiding in her past through cooking the forgotten foods of her childhood. The descriptions of food make my mouth water and I was so rooting for so many characters throughout this book. Plus I was transported to a land of cold darkness and felt the stress of Maya as she learns to navigate her newfound life.

Some steamy scenes.

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chalkletters's review

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adventurous emotional 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? No

3.5

I picked up The Arctic Curry Club because my dad’s street has a ‘curry club’ and I was amused by the coincidence. From the blurb, I wasn’t entirely sure what kind of book I would be getting, or whether I would like it, but the snowy arctic setting of Longyearbyen in Norway made it seem like an appropriately wintery read for this time of year.

It took some time for me to get invested in Maya. At first, her negativity created a barrier, making it difficult to sympathise with the hardships she was going through. The sudden journey to India, taking us away from the main plot and into a family mystery subplot that I could probably have done without was also pretty jarring.

But then Maya returned to the arctic and her life started to change in really compelling ways. I love character development, and Maya’s really kicked off around this point. Suddenly, I was reading chapter after chapter, ignoring my page goal for the day to keep uncovering Maya’s story. Dani Redd continued to include the history subplot, which never fully engaged my interest, but it did tie up with the main plot at the end in a way I could appreciate.

I thought about sending this to my dad, purely because of the coincidence with the name, but in the end I decided it wasn’t really his kind of book. Besides, I wasn’t willing to part with it, which is surely an indication of just how Dani Redd managed to turn things around.

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asourceoffiction's review

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emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

3.0

On the face of it this doesn't sound like a concept that would work - a curry club in the midst of semi-permanent arctic night?! But much like a decent curry, it merges these distinct flavours into something new and incredibly palatable. And yes, all of my posts contain this level of witty repartee, thanks for asking.

Maya's anxiety is a huge part of the story, and the struggle she faces when it threatens to overwhelm her felt really authentic. I also liked the lists peppered through the book as a source of calm, it connected me to Maya's character.

I particularly loved the end; one of the things I often struggle with in cosy books like this is having everything neatly tied up at the conclusion, which just doesn't feel authentic. But there's none of that here; there are resolutions but everything and everyone is still very much a work in progress, and it's not all clean cut and predictable.

Warning though: do not read this book without quick access to curry in your house! I had serious food envy and loved experiencing Maya's cooking with her.

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