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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
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:
Yes
This book was a true delight! I love any book where food is a main character, especially Indian food. This book was filled with flawed, complicated characters and the best stories of redemptive relationships despite some deep ugliness in others. As a fan of Austen, I enjoyed it, but also feel this book stood as its own story. I thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it.
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Ashna Raje is struggling. Her restaurant could use some major renovations, and she can barely fill thirty of the dining room’s one hundred tables on a good night. She never seems to see eye-to-eye with her very successful mother, who lives in India and rarely makes time to visit Ashna in the San Francisco Bay Area. And now, Ashna’s cousin and best friend want her to star on a celebrity cooking show, where she’ll be paired off with a famous partner and have the chance to win enough money to turn her restaurant around. The restaurant is all that remains of her father, so determined to hold onto it, Ashna reluctantly agrees.
Frederico “Rico” Silva is also struggling. A recent knee injury led him to an early retirement as a world-renown FIFA player. At his teammate’s bachelor party, Rico begins reminiscing about all the women he’s ever dated and finds himself fixated on the one girl with whom he never found closure. A quick internet search reveals she’s to be a contestant on the Food Network’s upcoming celebrity cooking show, and before he allows himself time to reconsider, Rico picks up his phone and asks his agent to book him the gig.
Despite this lighthearted premise, Recipe for Persuasion is not the romantic comedy its description makes it out to be. While it contains some upbeat moments, including Ashna and Rico’s TV cook-offs or Ashna’s close relationships with her cousins, the book explores several heavier topics that better categorize it as a drama. Ashna and Rico’s romance is one of rekindled love that forces them to reexamine their past relationship as they fall for each other again; however, in doing so, they must revisit the severe traumas they respectively faced as children that impacted their breakup.
The book also heavily focuses on Ashna’s strained relationship with her mother, Shobi, and includes many chapters from Shobi’s point of view, past and present. This element serves well to tie-in the series’ overarching theme of the Raje family’s intricate relationships and offers a revealing look at the older generation who came before Ashna (and Trisha, for those who read [b:the first book|41154302|Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors|Sonali Dev|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539890985l/41154302._SY75_.jpg|64328109] in this series).
Fans of Trisha’s story will not be shocked to hear that Ashna’s tale also contains somber topics, nor will they be surprised to know that Sonali Dev‘s beautiful and poignant writing will take you on an emotional roller coaster. It was lovely seeing how Ashna and Rico found home in one another after being lost for so long. Although the Raje family drama overshadowed their romance, Ashna’s heart-wrenching, vulnerable examination of herself and her relationship with Shobi and even with her father is where this book truly shines.
Lastly, I’m looking forward to Dev’s retelling of Sense and Sensibility, as I don’t think the appearance of sisters China and India Dashwood in this book was simply a coincidence.
Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers via Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
Frederico “Rico” Silva is also struggling. A recent knee injury led him to an early retirement as a world-renown FIFA player. At his teammate’s bachelor party, Rico begins reminiscing about all the women he’s ever dated and finds himself fixated on the one girl with whom he never found closure. A quick internet search reveals she’s to be a contestant on the Food Network’s upcoming celebrity cooking show, and before he allows himself time to reconsider, Rico picks up his phone and asks his agent to book him the gig.
Despite this lighthearted premise, Recipe for Persuasion is not the romantic comedy its description makes it out to be. While it contains some upbeat moments, including Ashna and Rico’s TV cook-offs or Ashna’s close relationships with her cousins, the book explores several heavier topics that better categorize it as a drama. Ashna and Rico’s romance is one of rekindled love that forces them to reexamine their past relationship as they fall for each other again; however, in doing so, they must revisit the severe traumas they respectively faced as children that impacted their breakup.
The book also heavily focuses on Ashna’s strained relationship with her mother, Shobi, and includes many chapters from Shobi’s point of view, past and present. This element serves well to tie-in the series’ overarching theme of the Raje family’s intricate relationships and offers a revealing look at the older generation who came before Ashna (and Trisha, for those who read [b:the first book|41154302|Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors|Sonali Dev|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539890985l/41154302._SY75_.jpg|64328109] in this series).
Fans of Trisha’s story will not be shocked to hear that Ashna’s tale also contains somber topics, nor will they be surprised to know that Sonali Dev‘s beautiful and poignant writing will take you on an emotional roller coaster. It was lovely seeing how Ashna and Rico found home in one another after being lost for so long. Although the Raje family drama overshadowed their romance, Ashna’s heart-wrenching, vulnerable examination of herself and her relationship with Shobi and even with her father is where this book truly shines.
Lastly, I’m looking forward to Dev’s retelling of Sense and Sensibility, as I don’t think the appearance of sisters China and India Dashwood in this book was simply a coincidence.
Thank you to HarperCollins Publishers via Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed are my own.
emotional
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:
Yes
This was a bit of an unexpected delight after the first book in the series, which I liked but wasn’t over the moon about. I now want to hunt down every Persuasion retelling I can get my hands on.
emotional
reflective
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:
Yes
I loved this book! So much tension and feeling. I was on a roller coaster ride with main characters. Mother daughter conflict, guilt and unresolved family tragedies. I would recommend this book if you want your inner romantic to come back.
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book is…. Interesting. I don’t think this is a good adaptation of Jane austen’s persuasion. Cooking competition doesn’t lend itself quite well to the category of Jane Austen remakes, especially persuasion. The character growths was pretty good. My biggest gripe is they had a Korean character (Song Jiwoo)- now if you pay attention to Korean naming conventions, they typically write names in the Last Name, First Name order and additionally a lot of the time the first name is two syllables. So essentially what’s happening is the author constantly is referring to the character by last name only.
DNF at 20%
Initially I was loving this—I was into the story about a young woman who was trying to save her deceased fathers restaurant while overcoming her fears and doing some radical UNTIL I was introduced into her ex-boyfriend and this great strong woman book turned into a mundane “the one that got away story” and quickly traversed into the same, tired, and exhaustingly predictable and unrealistic love story I wish authors would stop wiring.
I’ve been enjoying books about Indian women, and had hoped this would fill my craving, and while I LOVE Ashna, I can’t with this “plot.” I only half-liked #1 in the series (and for the life of me I cannot see how this is a #2 or related) so I’ll DNF before I’ve wasted more time.
Initially I was loving this—I was into the story about a young woman who was trying to save her deceased fathers restaurant while overcoming her fears and doing some radical UNTIL I was introduced into her ex-boyfriend and this great strong woman book turned into a mundane “the one that got away story” and quickly traversed into the same, tired, and exhaustingly predictable and unrealistic love story I wish authors would stop wiring.
I’ve been enjoying books about Indian women, and had hoped this would fill my craving, and while I LOVE Ashna, I can’t with this “plot.” I only half-liked #1 in the series (and for the life of me I cannot see how this is a #2 or related) so I’ll DNF before I’ve wasted more time.
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes