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A review by jadeeby
How to Eat a Cupcake by Meg Donohue
4.0
Originally posted at my blog Chasing Empty Pavements
As one of my last reads of 2011, this book was a pleasant surprise. The blurb made me think it was going to be nothing more than a superficial romance type of book. It was actually a lot deeper than that and I found myself thoroughly sad when the book came to an end.
The Good: First off, I LOVE the cover. It makes me perfectly hungry for a great cupcake. Speaking of cupcakes...the descriptions of the cupcakes in this novel are mouth-watering. I'm not lying. Here's an example,
"For Ogden, I selected a Moroccan Vanilla Bean and Pumpkin Spice cupcake. I saw the exact moment in Ogden's eyes that the dash of heat- courtesy of a healthy pinch of cayenne-hit his tongue, and the moment a split-second later that the sugary vanilla swept away the heat, like salve on a wound."
Ummm? Gorgeous? Not only for the beautiful sentence structure but for the yummy taste it elicits. So now that I've raved about the cupcake descriptions, I have to admit that I fell in love with the characters. Almost all of them. Even snooty-patootie Julia. She is your typical rich-bitch type of character but the difference is that by the end of the book, she knows she has been one and she's willing to change. In fact, she's been willing to change the entire book she just wasn't given the chance to. Annie on the other hand is a kindred spirit that I adore. She is curvy, snarky and completely cynical. And why shouldn't she be after what she's gone through? The thing I really liked about this book is that the romance was the PERFECT amount. There were some subtle hints at romance here and there, just enough to get a taste and then when the romance between characters picked up it wasn't extreme or out of the ordinary. It was honestly, so perfect because it felt like real life situations. I thought Donohue did GREAT with that aspect. I also thought the conflict in the novel was done very well. There was the wedge between the two main characters Julia and Annie. There were conflicts with the "perfect" idea of a cupcakery and then there were a couple of side conflicts that fit into the novel well. I really thought this was an excellent, fun, contemporary adult read!
The Bad: As much as I adored the characters, they did get somewhat annoying at some points. I wanted to shake Annie and tell her to just let shit go. Honestly, must you dwell on the stupid things? Move on girl. Julia on the other hand, I would have just slapped in the face if it were real life. She was acting like a whiny baby who acted like she didn't do anything wrong. But that's just nitpicky really...
Overall, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel! It went by REALLY fast and believe it or not, I read the cupcake parts while doing the elliptical and I was so interested in the book that I went further than I had intended to when I was working out. *That never happens btw* I give this book a B+!!
**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
As one of my last reads of 2011, this book was a pleasant surprise. The blurb made me think it was going to be nothing more than a superficial romance type of book. It was actually a lot deeper than that and I found myself thoroughly sad when the book came to an end.
The Good: First off, I LOVE the cover. It makes me perfectly hungry for a great cupcake. Speaking of cupcakes...the descriptions of the cupcakes in this novel are mouth-watering. I'm not lying. Here's an example,
"For Ogden, I selected a Moroccan Vanilla Bean and Pumpkin Spice cupcake. I saw the exact moment in Ogden's eyes that the dash of heat- courtesy of a healthy pinch of cayenne-hit his tongue, and the moment a split-second later that the sugary vanilla swept away the heat, like salve on a wound."
Ummm? Gorgeous? Not only for the beautiful sentence structure but for the yummy taste it elicits. So now that I've raved about the cupcake descriptions, I have to admit that I fell in love with the characters. Almost all of them. Even snooty-patootie Julia. She is your typical rich-bitch type of character but the difference is that by the end of the book, she knows she has been one and she's willing to change. In fact, she's been willing to change the entire book she just wasn't given the chance to. Annie on the other hand is a kindred spirit that I adore. She is curvy, snarky and completely cynical. And why shouldn't she be after what she's gone through? The thing I really liked about this book is that the romance was the PERFECT amount. There were some subtle hints at romance here and there, just enough to get a taste and then when the romance between characters picked up it wasn't extreme or out of the ordinary. It was honestly, so perfect because it felt like real life situations. I thought Donohue did GREAT with that aspect. I also thought the conflict in the novel was done very well. There was the wedge between the two main characters Julia and Annie. There were conflicts with the "perfect" idea of a cupcakery and then there were a couple of side conflicts that fit into the novel well. I really thought this was an excellent, fun, contemporary adult read!
The Bad: As much as I adored the characters, they did get somewhat annoying at some points. I wanted to shake Annie and tell her to just let shit go. Honestly, must you dwell on the stupid things? Move on girl. Julia on the other hand, I would have just slapped in the face if it were real life. She was acting like a whiny baby who acted like she didn't do anything wrong. But that's just nitpicky really...
Overall, I was really surprised at how much I enjoyed this novel! It went by REALLY fast and believe it or not, I read the cupcake parts while doing the elliptical and I was so interested in the book that I went further than I had intended to when I was working out. *That never happens btw* I give this book a B+!!
**I received this book free from the publisher through www.netgalley.com. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.