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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
An interesting and entertaining story that will make you hungry.
I liked the well thought cast of characters, the vivid descriptions of the places, the romance, and the plot that flows.
A good read, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I liked the well thought cast of characters, the vivid descriptions of the places, the romance, and the plot that flows.
A good read, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I was fully prepared to make a joke like, and they were stepsiblings! oh my god they were stepsiblings.....
but then I read the author's note where she said her stepsons inspired the "Hot Spaniard", the male love interest, and my soul left my goddamn body. what the fuck
but then I read the author's note where she said her stepsons inspired the "Hot Spaniard", the male love interest, and my soul left my goddamn body. what the fuck
Really enjoyed this book. Loved all the food/cooking/recipe referances. Enjoyed Cuevas writing style and found it an easy enjoyable read. It did take a little bit to get into but once past this just a joy to read. Loved the characters and they felt really believable. Would recommend as a Spring/Summer read for those who enjoy teen/coming of age fiction and anything to do with cooking/resturant experiences.
This is a cute story. The characters grew on me, though it took me a little bit to get into the book. The descriptions of food are fantastic, and I was hungry the whole time I was reading the book. I also enjoyed the setting of the story! I recommend this book, especially to those who are into good foods! Do yourself a favor and bring a snack along with your copy when you go to read it.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
Listened to the audiobook version through the AudioSync 2021 summer reading.
Such a cute and uplifting story. Warning: do not read while hungry!
Girl power book that urges you to find your passion and what makes you happy, living life on your own terms in the culinary world. Only gripe was the love interest part. Felt a little forced, but so glad that it was not the central focus of the story. Other than that, a beautiful story about family, forgiveness, food, and love.
Such a cute and uplifting story. Warning: do not read while hungry!
Girl power book that urges you to find your passion and what makes you happy, living life on your own terms in the culinary world. Only gripe was the love interest part. Felt a little forced, but so glad that it was not the central focus of the story. Other than that, a beautiful story about family, forgiveness, food, and love.
Salty Bitter Sweet is a moving, introspective, and DELICIOUS read! It’s about Isa, a French-Cuban American girl who speaks three languages and is a talented cook who grew up learning her grandma Lala’s recipes, like her county fair famous apple pie.
What I loved about this book is that Isa isn’t a plain white girl who thinks she’s better than everyone because she has talent in the kitchen. Ugh what a cliche. Isa is French-Cuban and works damn hard to be a good cook and baker. She toils hard in the kitchen to make sure she gets the recipes correctly. She doesn’t think she’s the best cook there is, but she wants to be the best she can be. I liked that it didn’t just come easily to her. I always hate when main characters are talented but don’t work hard to be good at their talent. That’s not to say she isn’t talented though because Isa is enrolled at a renowned and competitive kitchen apprenticeship.
Isa works hard in the kitchen due to the fact that her life has gone through some serious changes recently: her grandma Lala passing away, her parents getting divorced, and now her dad is having a kid with her new stepmom. It would be tough for any teen to deal with, so it makes sense that Isa turns to cooking.
I like Isa as a character because she works hard at cooking, she’s friendly and kind, cares deeply for people, and thinks a lot about the past and the things she would’ve done differently. Despite the upheaval of her life courtesy of her dad and her new stepmom not warming to Isa (and vice versa), Isa still cooks for her dad and her new stepmom. She isn’t a grumpy, moody teenager. She takes the steps to be there for her dad and be kind to her stepmom.
And Diego! OMG! I liked him right from the get-go! Yes, he’s Isa’s stepmom’s stepson, (that’s a mouthful!) but it isn’t creepy or weird at all. Isa and Diego aren’t related and don’t even live in the same house. Diego, and his cute dog Beluga, lives in the guest house. He’s fun and adventurous and kind and he’s there for Isa.
And the FOOD! I wanted everything that Isa cooked or ate throughout the book, from her grandma Lala’s apple pies to the foods she tortured over at the apprenticeship to the bakery goods she ate with Pippa and Lucia to the meals she shared with Diego. *drool*
A few minor things I didn’t like: that it seemed like the tension between Isa and her dad never really got resolved. Their relationship got better with time, but she was so hung up about why he left her mom and that was never resolved. Or at least to me it didn’t seem like it. And why was her mom barely in this book? No phone calls or texts or visits. She went to visit her mom once and it was so quick. It was just weird to me.
I really enjoyed reading this and seeing what it’s like to be a chef apprentice and compete again other talented cooks in France. It was moving and fun and made me want to eat all the things!
*Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.
What I loved about this book is that Isa isn’t a plain white girl who thinks she’s better than everyone because she has talent in the kitchen. Ugh what a cliche. Isa is French-Cuban and works damn hard to be a good cook and baker. She toils hard in the kitchen to make sure she gets the recipes correctly. She doesn’t think she’s the best cook there is, but she wants to be the best she can be. I liked that it didn’t just come easily to her. I always hate when main characters are talented but don’t work hard to be good at their talent. That’s not to say she isn’t talented though because Isa is enrolled at a renowned and competitive kitchen apprenticeship.
Isa works hard in the kitchen due to the fact that her life has gone through some serious changes recently: her grandma Lala passing away, her parents getting divorced, and now her dad is having a kid with her new stepmom. It would be tough for any teen to deal with, so it makes sense that Isa turns to cooking.
I like Isa as a character because she works hard at cooking, she’s friendly and kind, cares deeply for people, and thinks a lot about the past and the things she would’ve done differently. Despite the upheaval of her life courtesy of her dad and her new stepmom not warming to Isa (and vice versa), Isa still cooks for her dad and her new stepmom. She isn’t a grumpy, moody teenager. She takes the steps to be there for her dad and be kind to her stepmom.
And Diego! OMG! I liked him right from the get-go! Yes, he’s Isa’s stepmom’s stepson, (that’s a mouthful!) but it isn’t creepy or weird at all. Isa and Diego aren’t related and don’t even live in the same house. Diego, and his cute dog Beluga, lives in the guest house. He’s fun and adventurous and kind and he’s there for Isa.
And the FOOD! I wanted everything that Isa cooked or ate throughout the book, from her grandma Lala’s apple pies to the foods she tortured over at the apprenticeship to the bakery goods she ate with Pippa and Lucia to the meals she shared with Diego. *drool*
A few minor things I didn’t like: that it seemed like the tension between Isa and her dad never really got resolved. Their relationship got better with time, but she was so hung up about why he left her mom and that was never resolved. Or at least to me it didn’t seem like it. And why was her mom barely in this book? No phone calls or texts or visits. She went to visit her mom once and it was so quick. It was just weird to me.
I really enjoyed reading this and seeing what it’s like to be a chef apprentice and compete again other talented cooks in France. It was moving and fun and made me want to eat all the things!
*Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.
What a great YA book with diversity as a central theme. If you love to cook or bake or both you will love this coming of age story of Isa and how her family has play a huge part in her life choices. It comes with all of Isa's notes on all the foods mentioned in the book.
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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:
Complicated
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.
Salty, Bitter, Sweet is a wonderfully nuanced coming of age story that will definitely leave you hungry! It also features a prickly young heroine who, among other things, finds love. I suspect some mixed or
negative reviews will be due to this "unlikeable" (but realistic?) teen girl character. Prickly girls need love too guys! Honestly, this was little slow to get into, but it really crept up on me and I ended up loving it. It tackles complicated family dynamics, grief, love, identity, and learning to balance what is and isn't worth sacrificing for the career that you want. It really feels like a book for teens and I hope many of them read it. This is #ownvoices for the Latinx representation.
Isabella is and aspiring chef of mixed identity, finding herself at the intersection of Cuban, American, and French. She is in France competing for a highly coveted culinary apprenticeship, while also dealing with the loss of her Cuban grandmother, the end of her parents marriage, and the imminent arrival of a new half-sibling born to her fathers mistress turned new wife. Isa is a culinary perfectionist, determined to win the sole spot in the apprenticeship, but the arrival of Diego, a very handsome yet frustrating boy (the son of her step-mom's ex-husband, in case things weren't complicated enough) throws a wrench in some of her plans. To be clear, Isa and Diego are in no way related, did not grow up together, and he is not even related to her stepmom.
Isa is incredibly dedicated to her work in the kitchen, but slowly awakens to the realities of highly competitive, Michillin starred kitchens and must grapple with whether the pressure of being at the top is really what she wants for herself. Throughout the story we also learn more about her relationship with her (wonderful) abuela and the importance of food and recipes to her family history and sense of community. The food descriptions are often mouthwatering, but are also deeply rooted in culture, love, and community. It's incredibly rich, much like all of the French desserts that I am now dying to try!
I love the nuanced discussion here of deciding what is really important to you and what you are willing to sacrifice. And there aren't black and white answers. What might be right for Isa isn't necessarily right for another character. I also loved how this brings in an issue that is too rarely discussed with young people- the difficulty of having work/life balance in high-pressure careers. We meet a side character who had been a top ranked chef with her own restaurant who had to re-evaluate her career when she had her first child. She didn't abandon it, but the realities of motherhood did necessitate some degree of shifting priorities so that she could keep her sense of joy in both career and family. I don't know that teens are always prepared for how true to life that will be when they grow up under such pressure to achieve and be the best. I applaud the author for tackling this in such a practical way.
I could go on, but suffice to say that I think this book is well worth picking up. It is very self-aware and has a lot to unpack. Isa certainly isn't perfect, but she has a clear arc of growth and I can definitely relate to having been a more difficult teenager who needed to develop greater empathy. I received an advance copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
CW include divorce, discussions of parental infidelity, high-risk delivery scare with stepmother's pregnancy, colorism, loss of a loved one due to hepatitis from a needle.
negative reviews will be due to this "unlikeable" (but realistic?) teen girl character. Prickly girls need love too guys! Honestly, this was little slow to get into, but it really crept up on me and I ended up loving it. It tackles complicated family dynamics, grief, love, identity, and learning to balance what is and isn't worth sacrificing for the career that you want. It really feels like a book for teens and I hope many of them read it. This is #ownvoices for the Latinx representation.
Isabella is and aspiring chef of mixed identity, finding herself at the intersection of Cuban, American, and French. She is in France competing for a highly coveted culinary apprenticeship, while also dealing with the loss of her Cuban grandmother, the end of her parents marriage, and the imminent arrival of a new half-sibling born to her fathers mistress turned new wife. Isa is a culinary perfectionist, determined to win the sole spot in the apprenticeship, but the arrival of Diego, a very handsome yet frustrating boy (the son of her step-mom's ex-husband, in case things weren't complicated enough) throws a wrench in some of her plans. To be clear, Isa and Diego are in no way related, did not grow up together, and he is not even related to her stepmom.
Isa is incredibly dedicated to her work in the kitchen, but slowly awakens to the realities of highly competitive, Michillin starred kitchens and must grapple with whether the pressure of being at the top is really what she wants for herself. Throughout the story we also learn more about her relationship with her (wonderful) abuela and the importance of food and recipes to her family history and sense of community. The food descriptions are often mouthwatering, but are also deeply rooted in culture, love, and community. It's incredibly rich, much like all of the French desserts that I am now dying to try!
I love the nuanced discussion here of deciding what is really important to you and what you are willing to sacrifice. And there aren't black and white answers. What might be right for Isa isn't necessarily right for another character. I also loved how this brings in an issue that is too rarely discussed with young people- the difficulty of having work/life balance in high-pressure careers. We meet a side character who had been a top ranked chef with her own restaurant who had to re-evaluate her career when she had her first child. She didn't abandon it, but the realities of motherhood did necessitate some degree of shifting priorities so that she could keep her sense of joy in both career and family. I don't know that teens are always prepared for how true to life that will be when they grow up under such pressure to achieve and be the best. I applaud the author for tackling this in such a practical way.
I could go on, but suffice to say that I think this book is well worth picking up. It is very self-aware and has a lot to unpack. Isa certainly isn't perfect, but she has a clear arc of growth and I can definitely relate to having been a more difficult teenager who needed to develop greater empathy. I received an advance copy of this book for review. All opinions are my own.
CW include divorce, discussions of parental infidelity, high-risk delivery scare with stepmother's pregnancy, colorism, loss of a loved one due to hepatitis from a needle.