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garvsy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
4.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexism, Misogyny, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, Child death, Mental illness, and Pregnancy
Minor: Racism
tashtasher's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Rape, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Fatphobia, Medical content, Murder, War, Child death, Racism, Grief, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol, Eating disorder, Colonisation, Abortion, Animal death, and Classism
kirstym25's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Death, Animal death, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape
Minor: Fatphobia
yuripiano's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.75
Unfortunately, this was mainly because I was astounded at how ridiculous this book was.
I don't really think it's a bad book, but, it's definitely not a book for me, I suppose? I just, like... GAH, I've never been so frustrated with a book before (outside of maybe Good Omens).
The magical realism? Like. Wow. Just. I don't see how it added anything to the story, which is weird because a lot of events happened because of the magical realism fueled things, but like...
...
there wasn't.. really.... a point to it? To any of it?
Like, the cooking and the recipes and stuff did nothing for the story itself, in my opinion, and then suddenly people would have some great emotional effect from eating the food, but to what end? Idk, I can't even coherently phrase why I disliked this book so much without massive spoilers for everything in the book, but I guess I can sum it up as:
This book markets itself as "A novel in Monthly Installments with Recipes, Romances, and Home Remedies". If this book were just a novel, that could have been interesting. If it were just a set of 12 recipes, one for each month, with descriptions and home remedies thrown in, it would be a culturally unique cookbook of sorts. Instead we got a disappointing mix of these alongside one of the most infuriating romances I've ever read. That said, there's a review on the back of the book likening it to a "soap-opera romance", and I guess if that's your jam, then this might be an okay read for you.
Maybe my mom would like this book, but, I just.. couldn't recommend it for any reason.
Still an easier read than Good Omens though.
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
jodzy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
2.75
Minor: Sexual assault and Rape
tokki_reads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Death, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Sexism, Fire/Fire injury, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail
booksanna's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Interestingly, this book likes to blend long descriptive chains of paragraphs with the plot of the story. For example, at one point you have a character describing how they meticulously cut onions to minimize crying, and the next the same character is getting slapped by their mother. The author really mastered mixing the 2 elements so skillfully that I was unable to tell how the plot was going to develop at all. I loved all the descriptive chains of text about food as they added a lot more uniqueness and depth to the story. The writing style was beautiful and eloquent with a lot of figurative elements.
For a book that heavily relies on magical realism elements, I felt that the characters and their personalities were very realistic and representative of all the ranges of human emotions. I loved Gertrudis, she had the best character development of all
Just when I thought the book was becoming predictable/normal, I was horrifically surprised with the next plot twist. At some point the book became so outlandish and chaotic that the heavy topics in the book became the norm. No emotion or build up happened when any of the characters died or got hurt. The story moved right along like nothing happened.
The magical realism aspect was a very heavy presence adding more confusion and drama to the story. Although I am not a fan of magical realism, I will say that it was a lot better than the plot of the book. The magic elements really elevated the story and added a physical manifestations of our main character’s emotions. There was so much drama from the magic.
Speaking of emotions, this book was full of lust.
The ending was even more wild.
Overall, if you love drama, I recommend.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Sexual content
Moderate: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Terminal illness, Rape, Suicide, and Violence
mangopassion555's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Minor: Violence, Rape, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Physical abuse, Death, Fatphobia, Fire/Fire injury, and Infidelity
phantomgecko's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I just really love magical realism. Here are some things that are impossible, but this is a true story so they happened. Great stuff.
I'll admit I mostly skimmed the cooking bits. But honestly, they were a fantastic device for storytelling.
Also, while this book is labeled as lighthearted, it had some heavy stuff. Like gut punches in one sentence and moving on with the next. Kinda disconcerting but still a likeable read.
Moderate: Fatphobia, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Blood, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Animal death, Child death, and Fire/Fire injury
asolis's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
Moderate: Emotional abuse
Minor: Fatphobia, Pregnancy, Death, Infertility, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Animal death, Sexual assault, Child death, Death of parent, War, and Violence