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amanda_lee's review against another edition
2.0
I liked the idea of Tess moving to New York City, getting a good job, and bring introduced to fine wine and food. However, I kept waiting for a plot to show up. There is no plot. There's drinking, cocaine, vomiting, flirting, crying, and that's about it. I grew tired of the constant drinking and snorting, it wasn't enough to carry the story.
I was waiting for Tess to grow up. She was absolutely pathetic and incompetent. I have a hard time believing she'd get a job like that let along keep it. Her favourite food is toast. Really. I didn't care about any of the characters but if I had to choose, i'd say I liked Simone best. She was basically what Tess wanted to be - cultured, sophisticated, mysterious. However, she didn't feel real.
There's so much pretentious drivel I wanted to give up so many times.
I was waiting for Tess to grow up. She was absolutely pathetic and incompetent. I have a hard time believing she'd get a job like that let along keep it. Her favourite food is toast. Really. I didn't care about any of the characters but if I had to choose, i'd say I liked Simone best. She was basically what Tess wanted to be - cultured, sophisticated, mysterious. However, she didn't feel real.
There's so much pretentious drivel I wanted to give up so many times.
ms_hartman's review against another edition
5.0
The fact that so many people don’t like this makes me think people don’t like me lol. Criminal behavior-leads me to believe I would be a very unsuccessful writer.
jadey24's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
paulafschr's review against another edition
3.0
i really don't get why this book is so popular. not in the sense of great (goodreads) reviews or whatever, but in the sense that it was published in 2016 and i still see it all over booktube/bookstagram/booktok. sweetbitter is just a (slightly worse) version of every other "smalltown-girl-goes-nyc"-story that we've all seen/read/heard a hundred times by now. and i get it - it's supposed to be a bit different, because of the food and restaurant descriptions or whatever and because she falls in with these complicated, edgy, flawed people... but let's be honest. they're just losers. sorry, but jake is a 30 year-old bartender (the flag seriously doesn't get redder than that) who forgets to change his underwear days on end (i'm not making this up, it literally says it in the book). how can anyone romanticize that???
the writing was beautiful tho!
still, all i can say is: if you're interested in this book, just watch the trailer for the tv show. it'll be more entertaining and it'll save you a lot of time.
the writing was beautiful tho!
still, all i can say is: if you're interested in this book, just watch the trailer for the tv show. it'll be more entertaining and it'll save you a lot of time.
lemon_y's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
nancyadelman's review against another edition
1.0
I was somehow under the impression that this was a memoir, a nonfiction account of being a waitress in NYC. This book was not what I was expecting, and not in a good way. Firstly, it's a work of fiction about being a waitress in NYC. And it's written mostly in first-person POV, with some jaunts into 2nd person.
The character development is nil. It took nearly 100 pages for me to learn the main character's last name, and even then, all I really know about her is that she's from the midwest, was a coffee barista and a Lit major now working in a restaurant that I'm not sure was ever given a name. Outside of the restaurant, the characters do not exist. There is no outside life. Other characters come and go and there is little to zero detail to be able to tell one character from the next.
Really, most of the first 100 pages anyway, is about wines, grapes, and oysters. As I'm not into wines or oysters, I didn't have much of a point of reference. This book is good if you're into fine foods and wine; if you have just a passing interest in it, you probably will like this book about as much as I did, which is to say NOT.
The character development is nil. It took nearly 100 pages for me to learn the main character's last name, and even then, all I really know about her is that she's from the midwest, was a coffee barista and a Lit major now working in a restaurant that I'm not sure was ever given a name. Outside of the restaurant, the characters do not exist. There is no outside life. Other characters come and go and there is little to zero detail to be able to tell one character from the next.
Really, most of the first 100 pages anyway, is about wines, grapes, and oysters. As I'm not into wines or oysters, I didn't have much of a point of reference. This book is good if you're into fine foods and wine; if you have just a passing interest in it, you probably will like this book about as much as I did, which is to say NOT.
andreoti's review against another edition
1.0
Unfortunately, I have decided to categorize this book as DNF at 26%. I've been trying for months to get back into it but it just does not keep my attention or resonate. Not the book for me, it's a shame because a lot of people seemed really excited about it.
ddillon2's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.25