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A review by blogginboutbooks
All You Knead Is Love by Tanya Guerrero
3.0
I'm not sure I've ever read a book set in Barcelona, so I found the setting of ALL YOU KNEAD IS LOVE to be unique and refreshing. The blend of Spanish and Filipino cultures is a fun story element, giving the story an original flair. I also enjoyed the novel's emphasis on community, family, acceptance, and forgiveness/second chances. Although it deals with some tough subject matter, overall the tale is hopeful and empowering.
I didn't love Alba, who spends most of the story acting self-centered and victim-y. She's sympathetic, but I got tired of everything being about her own pain and suffering. She does grow over the novel, becoming more likable in the end, but I still didn't care for her much. The other characters in the book are colorful and fun, which helped balance out Alba's more annoying qualities.
As far as pacing goes, ALL YOU KNEAD IS LOVE feels slow and overly long. The plot (Alba's quest to save the bakery) doesn't really start until around page 200 and even then, it really doesn't cause THAT much conflict. As a result, the story gets dull in places, sagging with too much detail and too many unnecessary scenes. I hung in there, but I'm not sure a middle grader would.
All in all, then, ALL YOU KNEAD IS LOVE ended up being just an average read for me. While there were a lot of things I liked about the novel, there were a number of things that irritated me, dampening my overall enjoyment of the book.
I didn't love Alba, who spends most of the story acting self-centered and victim-y. She's sympathetic, but I got tired of everything being about her own pain and suffering. She does grow over the novel, becoming more likable in the end, but I still didn't care for her much. The other characters in the book are colorful and fun, which helped balance out Alba's more annoying qualities.
As far as pacing goes, ALL YOU KNEAD IS LOVE feels slow and overly long. The plot (Alba's quest to save the bakery) doesn't really start until around page 200 and even then, it really doesn't cause THAT much conflict. As a result, the story gets dull in places, sagging with too much detail and too many unnecessary scenes. I hung in there, but I'm not sure a middle grader would.
All in all, then, ALL YOU KNEAD IS LOVE ended up being just an average read for me. While there were a lot of things I liked about the novel, there were a number of things that irritated me, dampening my overall enjoyment of the book.