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3.6 AVERAGE
3.6 AVERAGE
I received an advanced copy of this book through NetGalley and the publisher for an honest review. This book isn't just a cooking competition, it's a story about love: between grandmother & granddaughter, father and daughter, boy and girl. The 2nd half was definitely more enjoyable as Isa gained footing in the competition at a high end restaurant in Lyon, France. This novel took me away from my humdrum existence to France, delicious foods, traditions and memories. Isabella has a strong connection to her lala, her Cuban abuela. The story starts after she has gotten to France from her native Chicago to live with her dad and his new wife. She feels like the only place she fits is in the kitchen. Terrific representation here and a sweet, surprising love story, as well as strong supporting characters Pippa and Lucia. Isabella carves out a path that makes sense for her cooking style. An interesting read, for sure. Now someone bring me coq au vin and pie.
I enjoy books about cooking and family, so I was looking forward to reading this book. I love the cooking descriptions. Isabella's passion is contagious. The settings of the kitchens and restaurants were vivid and interesting. I also thought the idea of passing recipes through generations was lovely. I appreciated that her parents were from different cultures and how that influenced her, and sometimes how people judged her. But quite a few things bothered me. I listened to the afterword, so I got that the author wanted girls to know they could do things are their own terms. But the execution left me with the opposite impression. Pretty much everyone is unkind to the main character and tries to talk her out of her dream. I explain more in the spoilers below.
****** SPOILERS *******
The parts that bothered me:
The two girls in her prestigious cooking group--one goes on a drunken rant. Isabella never calls her out. Hurt, Isabella retaliates. And the way she retaliates is fine because students aren't supposed out help each other out. Better she ignored her than mislead her. But still, the "friend" questioned her right to cook French food because she only had one French parent and basically called her a terrible chef. Being drunk and saying those things doesn't give you a free pass. Then Isabella spends a lot of the book feeling bad, apologizing, and never telling the other girl how she hurt her. The love interest never bothers to find out why she loves cooking and pushes her not to be ambitious until it's clear she'll cook for family over being ambitious. His pressure was constant and obnoxious. He started the book by mansplaining and caused a fire. He never apologized. And then he joked (not funny) about needing a fire extinguisher when she cooked at the end of the book. The father and boyfriend eat an important dessert she needs for school--they don't apologize. The new wife is a jerk to her; father doesn't care. Instead of studying, the love interest is insistent and petulant about Isabella taking a trip, on the weekend before the exam. Isabella throws the exam at the end because everyone told her she had to do something else and she made it her wish too.
What if felt to me was like internalized sexism. One baker tells the main character she had to walk away from her Michelin-star position because she had husband and a kid and you can't have it all. NOBODY ever says this to men. Another female chef talked about how the male chef took her glory. The only kitchen Isabella witnessed was borderline cartoonish because few could afford to keep making their staff cook and throw away large quantities of food. There was no example of successful woman chefs in a man's world or a regular restaurant with a normal atmosphere. The message was to find your own way because men won't make room. I say a better message is make your own room.
****** SPOILERS *******
The parts that bothered me:
The two girls in her prestigious cooking group--one goes on a drunken rant. Isabella never calls her out. Hurt, Isabella retaliates. And the way she retaliates is fine because students aren't supposed out help each other out. Better she ignored her than mislead her. But still, the "friend" questioned her right to cook French food because she only had one French parent and basically called her a terrible chef. Being drunk and saying those things doesn't give you a free pass. Then Isabella spends a lot of the book feeling bad, apologizing, and never telling the other girl how she hurt her. The love interest never bothers to find out why she loves cooking and pushes her not to be ambitious until it's clear she'll cook for family over being ambitious. His pressure was constant and obnoxious. He started the book by mansplaining and caused a fire. He never apologized. And then he joked (not funny) about needing a fire extinguisher when she cooked at the end of the book. The father and boyfriend eat an important dessert she needs for school--they don't apologize. The new wife is a jerk to her; father doesn't care. Instead of studying, the love interest is insistent and petulant about Isabella taking a trip, on the weekend before the exam. Isabella throws the exam at the end because everyone told her she had to do something else and she made it her wish too.
What if felt to me was like internalized sexism. One baker tells the main character she had to walk away from her Michelin-star position because she had husband and a kid and you can't have it all. NOBODY ever says this to men. Another female chef talked about how the male chef took her glory. The only kitchen Isabella witnessed was borderline cartoonish because few could afford to keep making their staff cook and throw away large quantities of food. There was no example of successful woman chefs in a man's world or a regular restaurant with a normal atmosphere. The message was to find your own way because men won't make room. I say a better message is make your own room.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The opportunity of a lifetime that could launch her into the career she has been working herself to the bone to achieve lands her in a summer program in France in the kitchen of an esteemed, ruthless chef. She arrives while wrapped in grief over the loss of her beloved grandma, the loss of the family dynamic she had always known, and the frustration over where she could fit—if at all—in the new family created once her father cheated on her mom, married the mistress, and is expecting a baby.
Her drive, pain, whirling brain, and the way she wrestled with grief and want are fascinating. The food and family and friendship rich. So good.
If you liked “Never Have I Ever” on Netflix, you’ll want to read this.
Her drive, pain, whirling brain, and the way she wrestled with grief and want are fascinating. The food and family and friendship rich. So good.
If you liked “Never Have I Ever” on Netflix, you’ll want to read this.
A fun romantic story that ticks a lot of boxes - like bilingualism, like thinking you know what is important and where your life is going and what you're striving for and then finding out that it's not all it was advertised.
Cute and fun with great food and fantastic representation ❤️
Thank you to Libro.FM and the publisher for granting me an audio copy in exchange for an honest review!
Thank you to Libro.FM and the publisher for granting me an audio copy in exchange for an honest review!
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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:
No
A coming-of-age novel about an American teenager who is living in France with her father and attending a high-caliber cooking program. With dreams of becoming a Michelin-star chef, a troubled relationship with her father and his new family, and a love-interest, Isabella has her plate full. A charming story with a lot of heart and some amazing food descriptions.
Isa had the misfortune of witnessing her father kissing a woman who wasn’t her mother. Following the incident were months of fighting, a divorce, and eventually her father remarrying and the couple becoming pregnant with a baby who will be seventeen years Isabella’s junior.
The frustration, betrayal, and hurt Isabella feels is confusing to Isa. Now, she’s living with her father and step-mother in France while attending her apprentice program. But it doesn’t help that she can’t seem to connect with her step-mother, Margo. Isabella expresses love and connection through food, but Margo won’t eat a bite of what Isabella cooks.
So when Isabella meets Diego, the step-son to her step-mother Margo, things quickly derail even further. Isa is trying to hold it together in her apprentice program despite less than stellar performance relative to the others, when she finds herself in a hate-to-love relationship with the brazen and attractive Diego.
Salty, Bitter, Sweet is a lovely coming-of-age novel with a diverse cast of characters and a flawed but redeemable leading character who I really felt for. I loved learning more about Isa and her connection to food and cooking and heritage. I also loved the prevalence of women in this male-dominated industry. Isabella isn’t perfect—not even close—but she is a young woman coming into adulthood who ultimately grows so much through the book.
A quick pace and a great story make this a fun young adult novel that many will love. Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Blink YA for my copy. Opinions are my own.
Isa had the misfortune of witnessing her father kissing a woman who wasn’t her mother. Following the incident were months of fighting, a divorce, and eventually her father remarrying and the couple becoming pregnant with a baby who will be seventeen years Isabella’s junior.
The frustration, betrayal, and hurt Isabella feels is confusing to Isa. Now, she’s living with her father and step-mother in France while attending her apprentice program. But it doesn’t help that she can’t seem to connect with her step-mother, Margo. Isabella expresses love and connection through food, but Margo won’t eat a bite of what Isabella cooks.
So when Isabella meets Diego, the step-son to her step-mother Margo, things quickly derail even further. Isa is trying to hold it together in her apprentice program despite less than stellar performance relative to the others, when she finds herself in a hate-to-love relationship with the brazen and attractive Diego.
Salty, Bitter, Sweet is a lovely coming-of-age novel with a diverse cast of characters and a flawed but redeemable leading character who I really felt for. I loved learning more about Isa and her connection to food and cooking and heritage. I also loved the prevalence of women in this male-dominated industry. Isabella isn’t perfect—not even close—but she is a young woman coming into adulthood who ultimately grows so much through the book.
A quick pace and a great story make this a fun young adult novel that many will love. Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Blink YA for my copy. Opinions are my own.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a good read. Predictable, yet fun. It makes you think about your priorities in life.
*4.5 Stars*
Never have I read a book that has made me so hungry. I love YA books centered on food and am quite the foodie despite not really cooking much myself (I blame an obsession with Food Network shows) so I adore books about aspiring chefs. I've read quite a few over the years and have never found one with such vivid food descriptions as Salty, Bitter Sweet. In addition to the mouthwatering food descriptions, I genuinely enjoyed the story, which follows a half Latinx protagonist spending the summer in Europe...this book really had almost all of my favorite things!
The novel follows Isa, an aspiring teenage chef spending the summer in France in summer intensive cooking program at a Michelin Star restaurant, vying for a coveted internship position. Meanwhile, she's also dealing with a ton of family drama, as she's living with her dad and his new girlfriend on a cheery farm in France and trying to acclimate to her family's new "normal," when just six months ago she was living in Chicago with both of her parents. As the novel progresses, Isa's family history is explored, especially her relationship with her Cuban grandmother, Lala, who is Isa's biggest source of inspiration in the kitchen, from her traditional Cuban recipes to her "blessed" pies. There are flashbacks to Isa's time with her Lala as she works through her grief and tries to reconcile her dreams and aspirations professionally with the type of life and relationships she wants personally.
I loved the exploration of Isa's family relationships in this novel and her rich family history. Isa is American with Cuban and French roots, and it was so interesting to see how her relationships with her French and Cuban grandmothers were different yet still both formative for her, especially from a food perspective. It's wonderful to see Isa embrace all of her different cultures and I really enjoyed seeing her pride in both her French and Cuban heritages, and how it inspired different dishes she made and the meanings they held in her family. I also really enjoyed learning about her Lala's history of immigrating from Cuba and how she ended up the wife of a farmer in Kansas, becoming an integral and compassionate member of her community while still keeping her island roots alive- I could read a whole historical fiction book about her!
I also adored how in depth the book went on the food element. I was really convinced Isa lived and breathed her recipes. The author also wasn't afraid to get technical with what went on in the kitchen, from the intensity of their assignments (down to the centimeters of their slices!) to the look at the sexism and struggles that pervade the high stakes culinary world. The food descriptions were incredible too! Absolutely mouthwatering, and I loved that the author treated the food and act of cooking with so much respect and not just as a backdrop for the plot.
The setting of the novel was incredibly immersive. Reading it while sheltering-in-place was such a treat, because I truly FELT like I was in France, walking through cherry orchards and strolling into patisseries for the most mouth watering pastries. I've always had Paris on my bucket list of places to travel in France, but now there are so many more areas I want to add to my list (and don't even get me started on Barcelona! That rooftop private dinner scene was AMAZING!)
As with most YA, coming of age novels, there was a romance involved. The romance was so-so. I liked Diego and his emphasis on consent and self discovery but think the book could have been fine without him. The friendship dynamics, however, were really interesting, especially when Isa is juggling friendship and competition with Lucia, another girl in the program, and also having to weigh the importance of "getting ahead" with sticking together with other women in the kitchen. I also liked that when there were friendship problems, it was due to the behavior of everyone involved and not just because of one person.
Overall: Salty, Bitter, Sweet is a new favorite for me. I adored the food descriptions, was fully immersed by the settings and loved it's focus on diversity through a culinary lens. I can't wait to check out future novels but the author (and selfishly hope she keeps writing stories centered around food!) Seriously, if you like books with food descriptions you must read this!
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages
Never have I read a book that has made me so hungry. I love YA books centered on food and am quite the foodie despite not really cooking much myself (I blame an obsession with Food Network shows) so I adore books about aspiring chefs. I've read quite a few over the years and have never found one with such vivid food descriptions as Salty, Bitter Sweet. In addition to the mouthwatering food descriptions, I genuinely enjoyed the story, which follows a half Latinx protagonist spending the summer in Europe...this book really had almost all of my favorite things!
The novel follows Isa, an aspiring teenage chef spending the summer in France in summer intensive cooking program at a Michelin Star restaurant, vying for a coveted internship position. Meanwhile, she's also dealing with a ton of family drama, as she's living with her dad and his new girlfriend on a cheery farm in France and trying to acclimate to her family's new "normal," when just six months ago she was living in Chicago with both of her parents. As the novel progresses, Isa's family history is explored, especially her relationship with her Cuban grandmother, Lala, who is Isa's biggest source of inspiration in the kitchen, from her traditional Cuban recipes to her "blessed" pies. There are flashbacks to Isa's time with her Lala as she works through her grief and tries to reconcile her dreams and aspirations professionally with the type of life and relationships she wants personally.
I loved the exploration of Isa's family relationships in this novel and her rich family history. Isa is American with Cuban and French roots, and it was so interesting to see how her relationships with her French and Cuban grandmothers were different yet still both formative for her, especially from a food perspective. It's wonderful to see Isa embrace all of her different cultures and I really enjoyed seeing her pride in both her French and Cuban heritages, and how it inspired different dishes she made and the meanings they held in her family. I also really enjoyed learning about her Lala's history of immigrating from Cuba and how she ended up the wife of a farmer in Kansas, becoming an integral and compassionate member of her community while still keeping her island roots alive- I could read a whole historical fiction book about her!
I also adored how in depth the book went on the food element. I was really convinced Isa lived and breathed her recipes. The author also wasn't afraid to get technical with what went on in the kitchen, from the intensity of their assignments (down to the centimeters of their slices!) to the look at the sexism and struggles that pervade the high stakes culinary world. The food descriptions were incredible too! Absolutely mouthwatering, and I loved that the author treated the food and act of cooking with so much respect and not just as a backdrop for the plot.
The setting of the novel was incredibly immersive. Reading it while sheltering-in-place was such a treat, because I truly FELT like I was in France, walking through cherry orchards and strolling into patisseries for the most mouth watering pastries. I've always had Paris on my bucket list of places to travel in France, but now there are so many more areas I want to add to my list (and don't even get me started on Barcelona! That rooftop private dinner scene was AMAZING!)
As with most YA, coming of age novels, there was a romance involved. The romance was so-so. I liked Diego and his emphasis on consent and self discovery but think the book could have been fine without him. The friendship dynamics, however, were really interesting, especially when Isa is juggling friendship and competition with Lucia, another girl in the program, and also having to weigh the importance of "getting ahead" with sticking together with other women in the kitchen. I also liked that when there were friendship problems, it was due to the behavior of everyone involved and not just because of one person.
Overall: Salty, Bitter, Sweet is a new favorite for me. I adored the food descriptions, was fully immersed by the settings and loved it's focus on diversity through a culinary lens. I can't wait to check out future novels but the author (and selfishly hope she keeps writing stories centered around food!) Seriously, if you like books with food descriptions you must read this!
Blog | Twitter | Instagram | Goodreads This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages