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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
*Provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
I had high hopes for this book. It seemed like the kind of thing I would fall into and yet I found myself a little disappointed.
My main issue is that for the majority of the book, I didn't really like Isa as a character. I kept waiting for her to become more likable and yet, there were very few scenes that I actually liked her in.
The pacing felt a little slow, while not a lot seemed to be happening.
I feel like this book had a lot of potential but fell a little short. Had it been a little more fleshed out with a bit more depth to the characters. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
As it stands, I liked few parts of it and like I said, the story had a lot of potentail.
I'd give it a 2.5/5.
I had high hopes for this book. It seemed like the kind of thing I would fall into and yet I found myself a little disappointed.
My main issue is that for the majority of the book, I didn't really like Isa as a character. I kept waiting for her to become more likable and yet, there were very few scenes that I actually liked her in.
The pacing felt a little slow, while not a lot seemed to be happening.
I feel like this book had a lot of potential but fell a little short. Had it been a little more fleshed out with a bit more depth to the characters. I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more.
As it stands, I liked few parts of it and like I said, the story had a lot of potentail.
I'd give it a 2.5/5.
I have debated numerous times about the star rating for ‘Salty, Bitter, Sweet’ by Mayra Cuevas and after reminding myself that I am not the typical target audience, then perhaps, I should give the book the benefit of the doubt and opt for 3 stars.
The story is about a Cuban American girl, Isabella, who at the age of 17, desperately wishes to become a professional chef and is now embarking on a life changing training/internship at the famous Grattard restaurant in Paris. Isa is battling with her grief at the recent lost of her abuela Lala, and the startling breaking up of her family. And now, just when she needs to focus her attention is torn by the attractive Diego and the competitiveness of the competition.
After finishing this book, I stopped at our local French patisserie as I was absolutely starving for a delicious pastry and this is testament to the wonderful descriptive writing of Cuevas, when writing about the food and cuisine that she clearly loves.
On numerous occasions, I found myself becoming frustrated with Isa and her lack of comprehension for her new family situation – and this is where I had to remind myself that the book is aimed at a considerably younger audience. And in this way, I applaud Cuevas. Isa is not without her flaws and when she deliberately sabotages her competitor (and friend) Lucia, the author does not hesitate to point out this error to the protagonist via the reactions of other characters. The author reminds Isa of the importance for the female competitors to work together, rather than infighting. A good lesson in life for females of any age!
Towards the end of the novel, there is a considerable learning curve for Isa and while I have my doubts about her relationship with Diego (for me, their relationship is a little too obvious and the signpoints are there from their initial meeting), overall, this is an enjoyable story, which falls into the genre of ‘OwnVoices’ and provides the reader with some lessons about life when you are not the standard – Caucasian Irish/ American etc.
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of the eArc of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
The story is about a Cuban American girl, Isabella, who at the age of 17, desperately wishes to become a professional chef and is now embarking on a life changing training/internship at the famous Grattard restaurant in Paris. Isa is battling with her grief at the recent lost of her abuela Lala, and the startling breaking up of her family. And now, just when she needs to focus her attention is torn by the attractive Diego and the competitiveness of the competition.
After finishing this book, I stopped at our local French patisserie as I was absolutely starving for a delicious pastry and this is testament to the wonderful descriptive writing of Cuevas, when writing about the food and cuisine that she clearly loves.
On numerous occasions, I found myself becoming frustrated with Isa and her lack of comprehension for her new family situation – and this is where I had to remind myself that the book is aimed at a considerably younger audience. And in this way, I applaud Cuevas. Isa is not without her flaws and when she deliberately sabotages her competitor (and friend) Lucia, the author does not hesitate to point out this error to the protagonist via the reactions of other characters. The author reminds Isa of the importance for the female competitors to work together, rather than infighting. A good lesson in life for females of any age!
Towards the end of the novel, there is a considerable learning curve for Isa and while I have my doubts about her relationship with Diego (for me, their relationship is a little too obvious and the signpoints are there from their initial meeting), overall, this is an enjoyable story, which falls into the genre of ‘OwnVoices’ and provides the reader with some lessons about life when you are not the standard – Caucasian Irish/ American etc.
Disclaimer: I got a free copy of the eArc of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sometimes everything needs to fall apart so we can find the life we are meant to live.
The food descriptions are drool-worthy and I had the biggest craving for flan and patatas bravas once I finished. However, I wish I liked this more.
3.5/5 stars
This book took a long time to grow on me, but in the end I did enjoy it and shed many tears because it was an emotional ending. My main issue with the book was Isa's inner dialogue about her love interest because it got so annoying hearing her talk about how arrogant he seemed, how much she didn't want to like him and she could never be with him ... Like yeah, we get it.
I enjoyed how this book dealt with grief and learning to embrace the memories of your departed loved ones and how they live on in your actions. I thought it was beautiful. Likewise, Isa's journey into embracing her actual love for cooking for fun and realising she doesn't want to be in a the stressful life in a highly-esteemed restaurant.
Overall it was a good read, though I wish there had been less focus on the romance and that Isa had come to the realization she didn't want this life without the need for a white savior to push her into this realisation.
This book took a long time to grow on me, but in the end I did enjoy it and shed many tears because it was an emotional ending. My main issue with the book was Isa's inner dialogue about her love interest because it got so annoying hearing her talk about how arrogant he seemed, how much she didn't want to like him and she could never be with him ... Like yeah, we get it.
I enjoyed how this book dealt with grief and learning to embrace the memories of your departed loved ones and how they live on in your actions. I thought it was beautiful. Likewise, Isa's journey into embracing her actual love for cooking for fun and realising she doesn't want to be in a the stressful life in a highly-esteemed restaurant.
Overall it was a good read, though I wish there had been less focus on the romance and that Isa had come to the realization she didn't want this life without the need for a white savior to push her into this realisation.
I had the chance to read an e-arc of this book, thanks to Netgalley. I know the title sounds really tasty and unique.The book satisfied by reading appetite as well.
My thoughts :
• I am so glad I stumbled upon this book! I love cooking shows and everything related to food, so reading a book with a protagonist who’s an aspiring chef seemed really interesting to me. Imagine how delighted how was when certain scenes about cooking delicious desserts came into the pages of the book? The addition of a beautiful European landscape on the background created an amazing bookish recipe for me. Mayra Cuevas’ writing style was really mesmerizing. The way she described different places of Europe in the storyline made me feel like I had been travelling with the characters too! France is one of my dream places to visit someday, and after reading Salty, Bitter, Sweet, I wish to go there even more than before.
• Now, let’s talk about the characters.
Isa was a complex character, which is acceptable due to her complicated family history. I wanted to hug her a lot of times throughout the story because of how cruelly life treated her at times. Apart from that, her passion for the culinary arts was really inspiring. Her character development made me really happy and proud. One of my favorite parts of the book was seeing her bloom into the best version of herself. She taught me that being afraid is okay, as long as you choose the right thing for yourself in the end. The sticker quotes in the bookstagram photo I took shows Isa’s qualities perfectly.
• The romance was ummm…kinda weird because of how the guy came into the story. I really wish the author chose a different route to introducing Diego in the plot. The romantic part of the book would have been perfect then. That being said, I really loved Diego as a character. He was a really sweet guy! I loved how he cared for Isa and how he played an important role on taking Isa through the right path ~ a path filled with happiness in her life. 
• The other side characters, specially Isa’s friends Lucia and Pippa were really likable too! The way they supported Isa was really heart-warming.
• Isa’s relationship with her Abuela, her grandmother I mean, was my absolute favorite part of Salty, Bitter, Sweet! I loved the intricate pattern in which the author showed how Abuela shaped Isa’s passion for cooking through flashbacks and their connections to Isa’s present life. It made me really emotional a lot of times too.
• I really wish Isa’s mom was mentioned more in the book. It would have been meaningful considering how much she inspired Isa. Their relationship was a missing part of the book sadly. I wanted to know more about them.
• The storyline is filled with important life teachings throughout the book. I really liked the learning aspect of Salty, Bitter, Sweet and how title of the book perfectly matched the story’s outcome – Life can take many salty and bitter turns, but it’s upto us to cook the sweetest ending to it. The author’s love for food was clearing expressed in the book, and that made the story a whole lot enjoyable. Overall, this book was really good read! If you are a fan of Elizabeth Acevedo’s book “With The Fire on High” , don’t forget to pick this up!
Best wishes to the author.
My thoughts :
• I am so glad I stumbled upon this book! I love cooking shows and everything related to food, so reading a book with a protagonist who’s an aspiring chef seemed really interesting to me. Imagine how delighted how was when certain scenes about cooking delicious desserts came into the pages of the book? The addition of a beautiful European landscape on the background created an amazing bookish recipe for me. Mayra Cuevas’ writing style was really mesmerizing. The way she described different places of Europe in the storyline made me feel like I had been travelling with the characters too! France is one of my dream places to visit someday, and after reading Salty, Bitter, Sweet, I wish to go there even more than before.
• Now, let’s talk about the characters.
Isa was a complex character, which is acceptable due to her complicated family history. I wanted to hug her a lot of times throughout the story because of how cruelly life treated her at times. Apart from that, her passion for the culinary arts was really inspiring. Her character development made me really happy and proud. One of my favorite parts of the book was seeing her bloom into the best version of herself. She taught me that being afraid is okay, as long as you choose the right thing for yourself in the end. The sticker quotes in the bookstagram photo I took shows Isa’s qualities perfectly.
• The romance was ummm…kinda weird because of how the guy came into the story. I really wish the author chose a different route to introducing Diego in the plot. The romantic part of the book would have been perfect then. That being said, I really loved Diego as a character. He was a really sweet guy! I loved how he cared for Isa and how he played an important role on taking Isa through the right path ~ a path filled with happiness in her life. 
• The other side characters, specially Isa’s friends Lucia and Pippa were really likable too! The way they supported Isa was really heart-warming.
• Isa’s relationship with her Abuela, her grandmother I mean, was my absolute favorite part of Salty, Bitter, Sweet! I loved the intricate pattern in which the author showed how Abuela shaped Isa’s passion for cooking through flashbacks and their connections to Isa’s present life. It made me really emotional a lot of times too.
• I really wish Isa’s mom was mentioned more in the book. It would have been meaningful considering how much she inspired Isa. Their relationship was a missing part of the book sadly. I wanted to know more about them.
• The storyline is filled with important life teachings throughout the book. I really liked the learning aspect of Salty, Bitter, Sweet and how title of the book perfectly matched the story’s outcome – Life can take many salty and bitter turns, but it’s upto us to cook the sweetest ending to it. The author’s love for food was clearing expressed in the book, and that made the story a whole lot enjoyable. Overall, this book was really good read! If you are a fan of Elizabeth Acevedo’s book “With The Fire on High” , don’t forget to pick this up!
Best wishes to the author.
reflective
slow-paced
CW: colorism, death of a relative from hepatitis, grief, ableism (especially in regards to addiction).
DNF @ 40%
Even though I promised myself last year that I will be more liberal with DNFing books I am not liking, here I am still feeling bad about doing it but at least, I'm getting better at it, right? SALTY BITTER SWEET sounds amazing on paper, a book about a French-Cuban American girl who is trilingual, passionate about cooking and wants to make a career out of it, who also faces complicated a fresh parental divorce, complicated family dynamics and grief over her grandma's passing, when said grandma was the center of her world. On paper. But the execution of it all left a lot to be desired, at least in the 40% that I read before I gave so bare in my mind that this is a review strictly of what I read and not of the entire book as I don't know what happens later on.
SALTY BITTER SWEET does have some positives to it. Although the story didn't really manage to grip me in the beginning, I chalked that out to it not being written for me as I'm not a teenager and have been recently growing out of YA contemporary, so I didn't really fault it for that, I could still see everything that it did well. First is all the cooking parts had me salivating, so much focus on the kitchen and our main character being laser focus on her passion and getting into an apprenticeship that would open up many many doors for her, while I could also see that her focus didn't solely stem from passion but it also also a way for Isa to escape her dysfunctional family dynamics, with a father who seems to have done a 180 on everything that made her the man she grew up around her whole life, a stepmom who barely acknowledges her existence and seems to dislike everything she does, and a boy, Diego, who is making it all worse. To top it all off, this whole family is very dismissive of her endeavors that they don't take seriously and downright undermine at times.
I saw a few reviews say that the romance is ~taboo~ because a stepbrother/sister romance but I'll have to disagree. Diego is the son of Isa's stepmom's ex-husband. So he's not even related to her, let alone to Isa? And they didn't grow up together nor know of each other's existence until the book started. So you'll have to excuse me if I think that's a bit of a stretch. And I say this as someone who wasn't really fan of the romance in the bit that's I've read, not only because it was barely budding when I stopped reading but also because they're mutually assholes to each other. Isa dislikes him right off the bat for no real reason but then he starts hindering her kitchen progress and not really taking her hurt seriously. All of this is fine as I might have continued reading but then a couple things made me stop:
- There was this passage where the main character encounters people struggling with addiction (not saying how or where because spoilers), but although there are a few of them but the only one whose race is pointed out is the Black man in a way where the MC thought to herself "I can't believe that Bubba, the sweet Black man I've known for so long had an addiction problem too", and this rubbed me the wrong way for two reasons. 1/ Addiction doesn't have a "look" to it, there isn't one type of person that struggles with it, so the fact that she's shocked "a sweet man" struggles with it is...not it. 2/ Why was it necessary to have the Black man's race pointed out when no one else's was? it didn't bring anything to the story and enforces stereotypes. I shrugged this off on account of it being such a fleeting minor part of the story, but then a trope I despise showed up.
- Isa suffers from the "Not like other girls" syndrome. There were bits and pieces of it sprinkled in the beginning but nothing to make me think that the book would go all out with the cliché but then this quote happened and I just needed to cut my loses especially since I wasn't really invested in the story to begin with:
In 2020? really? it's great to be passionate about cooking, and it's also great to like makeup, but flash news, some people also like both??
Like I said I didn't read enough to see if the MC grows and changes her ways so I don't know if this is a pattern throughout the whole book. I saw a couple reviews say that the second half is much better which I sincerely hope is true because this book has some potential to be a teaching moment for the MC and have a really great character growth ARC, but I'm sadly not invested enough to push through the things I disliked to find out.
DNF @ 40%
Even though I promised myself last year that I will be more liberal with DNFing books I am not liking, here I am still feeling bad about doing it but at least, I'm getting better at it, right? SALTY BITTER SWEET sounds amazing on paper, a book about a French-Cuban American girl who is trilingual, passionate about cooking and wants to make a career out of it, who also faces complicated a fresh parental divorce, complicated family dynamics and grief over her grandma's passing, when said grandma was the center of her world. On paper. But the execution of it all left a lot to be desired, at least in the 40% that I read before I gave so bare in my mind that this is a review strictly of what I read and not of the entire book as I don't know what happens later on.
SALTY BITTER SWEET does have some positives to it. Although the story didn't really manage to grip me in the beginning, I chalked that out to it not being written for me as I'm not a teenager and have been recently growing out of YA contemporary, so I didn't really fault it for that, I could still see everything that it did well. First is all the cooking parts had me salivating, so much focus on the kitchen and our main character being laser focus on her passion and getting into an apprenticeship that would open up many many doors for her, while I could also see that her focus didn't solely stem from passion but it also also a way for Isa to escape her dysfunctional family dynamics, with a father who seems to have done a 180 on everything that made her the man she grew up around her whole life, a stepmom who barely acknowledges her existence and seems to dislike everything she does, and a boy, Diego, who is making it all worse. To top it all off, this whole family is very dismissive of her endeavors that they don't take seriously and downright undermine at times.
I saw a few reviews say that the romance is ~taboo~ because a stepbrother/sister romance but I'll have to disagree. Diego is the son of Isa's stepmom's ex-husband. So he's not even related to her, let alone to Isa? And they didn't grow up together nor know of each other's existence until the book started. So you'll have to excuse me if I think that's a bit of a stretch. And I say this as someone who wasn't really fan of the romance in the bit that's I've read, not only because it was barely budding when I stopped reading but also because they're mutually assholes to each other. Isa dislikes him right off the bat for no real reason but then he starts hindering her kitchen progress and not really taking her hurt seriously. All of this is fine as I might have continued reading but then a couple things made me stop:
- There was this passage where the main character encounters people struggling with addiction (not saying how or where because spoilers), but although there are a few of them but the only one whose race is pointed out is the Black man in a way where the MC thought to herself "I can't believe that Bubba, the sweet Black man I've known for so long had an addiction problem too", and this rubbed me the wrong way for two reasons. 1/ Addiction doesn't have a "look" to it, there isn't one type of person that struggles with it, so the fact that she's shocked "a sweet man" struggles with it is...not it. 2/ Why was it necessary to have the Black man's race pointed out when no one else's was? it didn't bring anything to the story and enforces stereotypes. I shrugged this off on account of it being such a fleeting minor part of the story, but then a trope I despise showed up.
- Isa suffers from the "Not like other girls" syndrome. There were bits and pieces of it sprinkled in the beginning but nothing to make me think that the book would go all out with the cliché but then this quote happened and I just needed to cut my loses especially since I wasn't really invested in the story to begin with:
Once I entered high school, the pretty girls were so predictable, daubing on lip gloss in the bathroom mirror or styling their hair with a curling iron until it has the "messy-after-sex" look. I never knew what they meant, And what's so special about using lipgloss and curling irons? Ask any of them to make the perfect lemon zest whipped cream and they would probably go to the stopre and get a tub of Cool Whip, an artificial imitation
In 2020? really? it's great to be passionate about cooking, and it's also great to like makeup, but flash news, some people also like both??
Like I said I didn't read enough to see if the MC grows and changes her ways so I don't know if this is a pattern throughout the whole book. I saw a couple reviews say that the second half is much better which I sincerely hope is true because this book has some potential to be a teaching moment for the MC and have a really great character growth ARC, but I'm sadly not invested enough to push through the things I disliked to find out.
2.5/5 stars
Like its title, SALTY, BITTER, SWEET is indeed salty, bitter, and sweet. This is not the kind of story that pulls you in right from the get-go, nor is Isa a particularly sympathetic main character, but there’s still something special about the book that made me want to see it through.
I was eager to begin the book as I tend to feel an immediate fondness for stories about mixed-race main characters. I, too, grew up mixed-race—never Chinese enough, but never quite White enough either—so I felt an instant connection to Isa. (That being said, I’ve always been white passing so I’m definitely not trying to say that our experiences were the same.)
Initially, I felt frustrated by Isa’s character; she was too, in my opinion, unrealistically single-minded when it came to cooking. As I read and learned more of Isa’s story, however, I realized that perhaps her single-minded obsession is realistic given the grief she’s experiencing and the other-ness she feels in her own home—cooking is her escape and her pursuit of perfection gives her something to channel all of her energy into. It’s also how she maintains her connection with her Lala—her grandma.
The story felt too busy and I think it would have benefited from less plot lines. Isa’s apprenticeship, Diego, and the loss of her Lala would’ve been enough; add to that the new family structure, the tenuous relationship with her stepmother, and the dynamic with her Mamie and mom and it became too much. No one story line was given enough room to fully develop or come to fruition.
Overall, I appreciate what Cuervas was trying to accomplish with this story and I do think that some folks will enjoy it, I just think it wasn’t for me.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. This has not impacted or influenced my review or my opinions.
For more reviews, check out my Instagram and my Blog!
Like its title, SALTY, BITTER, SWEET is indeed salty, bitter, and sweet. This is not the kind of story that pulls you in right from the get-go, nor is Isa a particularly sympathetic main character, but there’s still something special about the book that made me want to see it through.
I was eager to begin the book as I tend to feel an immediate fondness for stories about mixed-race main characters. I, too, grew up mixed-race—never Chinese enough, but never quite White enough either—so I felt an instant connection to Isa. (That being said, I’ve always been white passing so I’m definitely not trying to say that our experiences were the same.)
Initially, I felt frustrated by Isa’s character; she was too, in my opinion, unrealistically single-minded when it came to cooking. As I read and learned more of Isa’s story, however, I realized that perhaps her single-minded obsession is realistic given the grief she’s experiencing and the other-ness she feels in her own home—cooking is her escape and her pursuit of perfection gives her something to channel all of her energy into. It’s also how she maintains her connection with her Lala—her grandma.
The story felt too busy and I think it would have benefited from less plot lines. Isa’s apprenticeship, Diego, and the loss of her Lala would’ve been enough; add to that the new family structure, the tenuous relationship with her stepmother, and the dynamic with her Mamie and mom and it became too much. No one story line was given enough room to fully develop or come to fruition.
Overall, I appreciate what Cuervas was trying to accomplish with this story and I do think that some folks will enjoy it, I just think it wasn’t for me.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. This has not impacted or influenced my review or my opinions.
For more reviews, check out my Instagram and my Blog!