A review by wardenred
Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love by Elsie Chapman

emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

There’s a quiet sort of pride there, creating things with your hands that people take pleasure in.

Rating anthologies is always really hard for me, because practically in each, there are stories I absolutely love, stories that are good but not great, and stories I could do without. This one is no exception. What I absolutely loved about the entirety of it, though, is the concept: the fact that all the stories are loosely interlinked and take place in the same restaurant-packed quarter. This felt a bit like playing an exploration-based videogame where you roam across a vast location, enter places, and learn the stories of their occupants. There is even a map included, with all the numerous restaurants from the book marked on it!

It was also great to be exposed to so many different cultures and culture-specific foods. I swear this book did wonders for my appetite. :D There is so much cooking here, all of it done with love and purpose and a dash of magic that I believe is always present in the kitchen. I loved seeing all the mouth-watering culinary variety and learning some new stuff about the various cultures, not even always linked directly to food.

What was the anthology's strength for me (the fact that all the stories are interlinked) has also proved to be a bit of a weakness, though, because there are a number of genres presented here. Some of the stories are these quiet introspective pieces, contemporary with just a bit of magical realism. Others are much more high-stakes, with conflicts based around rather dangerous ghosts or even mafia wars. The way the stories are arranged in the book makes for some really dramatic mood shifts, which made it sometimes difficult to read a few stories in a row.

All in all, though, I think this is a solid four stars. If I had to pick my favorite story, I think I'd go with Moments to Return by Adi Alsaid: a beautiful piece focused on overcoming the ever-present fear of death, or rather, learning to live with it and despite it.