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3.64 AVERAGE
3.64 AVERAGE
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The Sullivans have their issues — like all families— struggling to recover and find their way after the loss of their patriarch, Bud.
Funny with interesting and real characters. It has a historical fiction vibe even from 2016.
Sautéed garlic probably can save the world.
Funny with interesting and real characters. It has a historical fiction vibe even from 2016.
Sautéed garlic probably can save the world.
I can fully own that part of why I’m so infatuated with this book is because I am deeply missing Chicago and my grandparents!!!! This book is like if This Is Us and Parenthood was funny and featured actually likable characters. Had me literally LOLing
Tbt to the 2016 election man that was a god awful time to be alive
Tbt to the 2016 election man that was a god awful time to be alive
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
funny
medium-paced
funny
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I loved this book. It’s messy and real and so well-written. Will certainly be looking for more of her books in the future. I loved every character and how it examines the fallout of the 2016 election and what it did to families? Perfection. It’s something I’ve generally not enjoyed reading about but this book nailed it — it wasn’t the crux of the thing, but it was the undercurrent of it all.
I also loved that it ends not with the grandkids taking over the family business but by starting their own. It felt more genuine, honestly, and somewhat relatable with our farm. And that Jane leaves her husband for real and embraces her anger and that Riley’s storyline with the assault and viral video doesn’t get wrapped up neatly. Things spill over the ending but in the most natural way imaginable.
“He chopped garlic, set a pot of water to boil on the stove, and poured a healthy amount of kosher salt into it. He threw the garlic in a pan and let it sizzle for just a minute before taking it off the heat. The smell began to relax all of them and Gretchen and Jane settled themselves at his counter and watched him cook. He poured them both large glasses of red wine and watched as their bodies physically relaxed. He could see the tightness in Jane’s jaw go away and he smiled. It was hard to feel bad about the world when the air smelled like garlic, when pasta and cheese were being prepared, when you had a good glass of red. Sautéed garlic could save the world.”
“She knew that once she was gone, they would sometimes talk about her like she’d come unhinged, like she was a crazy liberal. Maybe it was a mistake to even bother engaging them, but Jane was tired of staying quiet to be polite, tired of trying to avoid mistakes. Her muscles were sore from teetering on the edge, from staying inside the lines. It didn’t seem worth it anymore.”
“The world could change on a sliver of a second — one dropped ball, a smattering of votes, a thirty-second delay before starting CPR. mistakes were made all over the place, all around her, all the time, and she couldn’t live her whole life with the sole purpose of not messing up. She didn’t know if it would be a mistake or not, she had no idea at all. Jane just knew she had to go.”
“It was this simple: when she was with Bud, she wasn’t scared. All the same dangers were there — the loss of control, the possibility that you could fall to the ground in a ball of flames — but with him next to her she felt at peace. If the plane went down, she thought, they’d be together.”
“He chopped garlic, set a pot of water to boil on the stove, and poured a healthy amount of kosher salt into it. He threw the garlic in a pan and let it sizzle for just a minute before taking it off the heat. The smell began to relax all of them and Gretchen and Jane settled themselves at his counter and watched him cook. He poured them both large glasses of red wine and watched as their bodies physically relaxed. He could see the tightness in Jane’s jaw go away and he smiled. It was hard to feel bad about the world when the air smelled like garlic, when pasta and cheese were being prepared, when you had a good glass of red. Sautéed garlic could save the world.”
“She knew that once she was gone, they would sometimes talk about her like she’d come unhinged, like she was a crazy liberal. Maybe it was a mistake to even bother engaging them, but Jane was tired of staying quiet to be polite, tired of trying to avoid mistakes. Her muscles were sore from teetering on the edge, from staying inside the lines. It didn’t seem worth it anymore.”
“The world could change on a sliver of a second — one dropped ball, a smattering of votes, a thirty-second delay before starting CPR. mistakes were made all over the place, all around her, all the time, and she couldn’t live her whole life with the sole purpose of not messing up. She didn’t know if it would be a mistake or not, she had no idea at all. Jane just knew she had to go.”
“It was this simple: when she was with Bud, she wasn’t scared. All the same dangers were there — the loss of control, the possibility that you could fall to the ground in a ball of flames — but with him next to her she felt at peace. If the plane went down, she thought, they’d be together.”
Reasons to Read:
New Fiction in the heart of Chicago
Family love, drama, and worklife
Cubs fans galore
Love and loss
Individual growth
Multiple POV's
Navigating life during challenging times
New Fiction in the heart of Chicago
Family love, drama, and worklife
Cubs fans galore
Love and loss
Individual growth
Multiple POV's
Navigating life during challenging times
Solid for about 75% through, and then it kind of fell off towards the end for me!
Marrying the Ketchups delivers on compelling characters, family drama, and descriptions of a traditional Irish restaurant that leap off of the page. I was very hooked to the different narratives of the three main characters Gretchen, Teddy, and Jane (although I found Teddy to be the weakest link) and loved learning of the different family dynamics of the Sullivans and their definitive Chicago native traits and traditions.
Where the book fell short for me is what I felt to be unexplored relationships between different family members who were not one of the three main characters and an abrupt ending that seemed to wrap everything up in a too-perfect little bow.
The book takes an interesting approach of setting the story in late 2016/early-mid 2017, with the Trump election, travel ban, and other global events loosely tied into the plot. I personally liked the references, but felt they could be better integrated and explored further. For instance, our white protagonists muse over how Trump being elected President would be bad for many marginalized people, but the book doesn't exactly explore HOW it would effect them, nor do the characters seem to take much action to address it or try to rally for awareness.
Ironically, for characters who claimed to be progressive and an ally, the Sullivans do not seem to check their own privilege of being white with substantial financial resources and connections. I think the characters would have reached more fulfilling character arcs if they had done this and tried to rally support for people less privileged than them.
As for the title, I understand the connection that Marry the Ketchup conveys between family bonds/marriages and the restaurant world, but for me it didn't really seem to connect that strongly to the themes and events of the book. Something like "The Sullivans" would have made much more sense.
Aside from these nitpicks, Marrying the Ketchups makes for a pleasant, escapist read that did leave me hungry for more! I'm glad I read it. It was a nice break from reading books that have more morbid material recently!
Marrying the Ketchups delivers on compelling characters, family drama, and descriptions of a traditional Irish restaurant that leap off of the page. I was very hooked to the different narratives of the three main characters Gretchen, Teddy, and Jane (although I found Teddy to be the weakest link) and loved learning of the different family dynamics of the Sullivans and their definitive Chicago native traits and traditions.
Where the book fell short for me is what I felt to be unexplored relationships between different family members who were not one of the three main characters and an abrupt ending that seemed to wrap everything up in a too-perfect little bow.
The book takes an interesting approach of setting the story in late 2016/early-mid 2017, with the Trump election, travel ban, and other global events loosely tied into the plot. I personally liked the references, but felt they could be better integrated and explored further. For instance, our white protagonists muse over how Trump being elected President would be bad for many marginalized people, but the book doesn't exactly explore HOW it would effect them, nor do the characters seem to take much action to address it or try to rally for awareness.
Ironically, for characters who claimed to be progressive and an ally, the Sullivans do not seem to check their own privilege of being white with substantial financial resources and connections. I think the characters would have reached more fulfilling character arcs if they had done this and tried to rally support for people less privileged than them.
As for the title, I understand the connection that Marry the Ketchup conveys between family bonds/marriages and the restaurant world, but for me it didn't really seem to connect that strongly to the themes and events of the book. Something like "The Sullivans" would have made much more sense.
Aside from these nitpicks, Marrying the Ketchups makes for a pleasant, escapist read that did leave me hungry for more! I'm glad I read it. It was a nice break from reading books that have more morbid material recently!
hopeful
reflective
relaxing