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dominiquexalana's review against another edition
5.0
One of the easiest 5 stars I could give to a book.
wanderinglynn's review against another edition
slow-paced
2.5
I'm not the demographic for this book. But even as I teen, I think I would have mostly thought the same thing. This book is mostly forgettable.
First, the chapters were ridiculously short. A couple of pages at most, some shorter than that. What is it about YA and short chapters? Is it because YA authors think that teens don't have the attention span for longer chapters? (Or more complex sentences for that matter?) It just seems that authors keep dumbing it down for teens, which is one of the reasons I hate the YA genre. When I was a teen, I was reading authors like Le Guin, Tolkien, H.G. Wells, Doyle, Phillip K. Dick—none of whom dumbed it down.
Second, why does every YA have to have romance? In this case, the romance felt formulaic, as in if you write YA, you must include romance. Given Emoni's backstory and her personality, it would have made more sense for her to keep him in the friend zone.
I also felt that at nearly 400 pages, I really didn't read anything at all. Partly because I didn't care or connect to the MC, Emoni. While I appreciate that this book features an underrepresented MC (black/Puerto Rican female), I just didn't care for her. She was judgey despite the fact that she had been judged a lot and knew how it felt. The most real dialogue in the entire book was between her and Leslie (who Emoni called "Pretty Leslie" the <i>entire</i> time. And if that's not judgey, then . . .) when Emoni finally gets that Leslie's life isn't all prettiness (despite the fact being told a couple of times by Malachi) and Leslie gets that Emoni isn't a stuck up, better-than-everyone-else suck up.
But I think it was Emoni's behavior about being in the culinary arts class and having to follow the Chef's rules that I checked out of this book. After that I started skimming the book, skipping entire chapters and never missed anything.
Sadly, this book was not my cup of tea.
First, the chapters were ridiculously short. A couple of pages at most, some shorter than that. What is it about YA and short chapters? Is it because YA authors think that teens don't have the attention span for longer chapters? (Or more complex sentences for that matter?) It just seems that authors keep dumbing it down for teens, which is one of the reasons I hate the YA genre. When I was a teen, I was reading authors like Le Guin, Tolkien, H.G. Wells, Doyle, Phillip K. Dick—none of whom dumbed it down.
Second, why does every YA have to have romance? In this case, the romance felt formulaic, as in if you write YA, you must include romance. Given Emoni's backstory and her personality, it would have made more sense for her to keep him in the friend zone.
I also felt that at nearly 400 pages, I really didn't read anything at all. Partly because I didn't care or connect to the MC, Emoni. While I appreciate that this book features an underrepresented MC (black/Puerto Rican female), I just didn't care for her. She was judgey despite the fact that she had been judged a lot and knew how it felt. The most real dialogue in the entire book was between her and Leslie (who Emoni called "Pretty Leslie" the <i>entire</i> time. And if that's not judgey, then . . .) when Emoni finally gets that Leslie's life isn't all prettiness (despite the fact being told a couple of times by Malachi) and Leslie gets that Emoni isn't a stuck up, better-than-everyone-else suck up.
But I think it was Emoni's behavior about being in the culinary arts class and having to follow the Chef's rules that I checked out of this book. After that I started skimming the book, skipping entire chapters and never missed anything.
Sadly, this book was not my cup of tea.
popkulturalnakociara's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
cici1722's review against another edition
5.0
Perfection!
as a Philly girl, traveler, and a self proclaimed chef/foodie I’ve loved every thing about the story. It’s truly heartfelt, and I found myself laughing, giggling and ugly, crying along the way.
as a Philly girl, traveler, and a self proclaimed chef/foodie I’ve loved every thing about the story. It’s truly heartfelt, and I found myself laughing, giggling and ugly, crying along the way.
kmmk21's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
erinrebecca922's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
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? No
3.75
This was a rather enjoyable YA book about a high schooler who is a mother but dreams of being a chef.
jenmangler's review against another edition
3.0
I've never read a young adult book that centers so much on food and the culinary arts, and I liked it a lot.
breegall02's review against another edition
4.0
I relate to this book a lot because I love to cook. I understand when she talks about her being in a zone while she cooks.