Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Mrs. Quinn's Rise to Fame: A Novel

Mrs. Quinn becomes a contestant on Britain Bakes and with each recipe, she recalls moments in her life and how they shaped her, particularly a secret she has kept from her husband for almost 60 years. The last 20-25% of the book focuses on the revelation of this secret but I would have liked more depth with the ending.

Content Warnings

hannuhreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective relaxing sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4 stars.

🍰 The vibes:

baking competition
77 year old FMC
coming of age / finding yourself
flashbacks
secrets

🍰 My thoughts:

So as yall know I typically go into books fairly blind. I generally know tropes if someone I follow mentions any - but that’s typically all I know. I knew nothing about this book other than looking at the cover.

🍰 I went into it thinking this would be a happy, cozy book about baking. Yes, it’s that. But it’s also sad and quite heavy in a lot of aspects- and I feel like that’s important to know going into it.

🥧 Jenny is 77 years old and is about to celebrate 60 years of marriage to her lovely husband Bernard. As she looks back on her life, Jenny wonders if she really has achieved all that much. In effort to squeeze every opportunity out of life, she enters a baking competition thinking there’s no way she will ever make it. Well she does. And so begins a journey of fun baking times with delicious descriptions of baked goods. But the journey isn’t all sweet baking moments, because Jenny has a secret that she’s held onto her entire life that’s starting to come to the surface.

🥧 In this baking competition- with every new bake that Jenny bakes, it takes her back to memories of her past. Through each bake, we see Jenny begin to process her greatest secret and trauma. So of course that will pull on your heart strings. So buckle up.

🍰 I’m not sure why but I really have a hard time when a character knows a secret the entire time and keeps dangling it in front of me while NOT telling me. I’ll chase for a bit but then I just get sassy. Just tell me already.

🍰 There are secrets in this book. Deception. And it made me so uncomfortable but I was also invested for sure. It almost felt like watching a train wreck in some ways. I was emotionally damaged and was shaking my fists a bit, but was I intrigued? Yes.

🖤If you love the baking show vibes in this, but want a romance more than a drama- try Rosaline Palmer Takes The Cake. Or if you want a baking show competition in a thriller format- try The Golden Spoon. I really loved both of those books and recommend.

‼️ check TW for this one if you have concerns.

🎧 I did half audio / half ebook and while the narration was great, the flashback scenes were very confusing to differentiate on audio whereas it was obvious on page (italicized). Because of this, I think I would recommend avoiding audio and sticking to reading this one.

Content Warnings

jennifermreads's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense fast-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

4.5

Warning: Do not read while hungry!

Just like watching Great British Bake Off, I found myself craving the concoctions. The baked goods will have you drooling and I adored reading the behind-the-scenes of the filming of a baking competition. The plot is a nice combination of light and airy with flashbacks bringing the drama. While every character was one I could have read an entire book about, I was delighted to be reading a story starring a seventy-seven-year-old main character who was approaching her sixtieth wedding anniversary. It all came together to make one heck of a delightful read.

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memusings's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This is a delightful British Bakeoff tale, with a serious heavy side.

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jwoj24's review against another edition

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hopeful reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Content Warnings

hesticht's review against another edition

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emotional lighthearted sad medium-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? No

4.0

Content Warnings

fkshg8465's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.0

Really cute. Emotive. Mad me laugh. Mad me angry. Mad me sad. Mad me full. Stayed up all night to read it before it was due back to the library. It was somewhat predictable, but the relationship between Jenny and Bernie was what made the book complete magic.

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