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morethanmylupus 's review for:
The Golden Spoon
by Jessa Maxwell
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I’ve been a big Great British Bake Off fan since before it was trendy, so I was super excited about a book that is essentially based on the show. The baking competition in Golden Spoon definitely mirrors GBBO, tent and all. Then we get what is essentially a locked room murder mystery thrown in. It all takes place in a slightly creepy old manor house.
The murder pops up at the beginning and at the very end. In between we mostly get drama of the show progressing and a bit of a mystery around a woman who once disappeared. That was fine but it was underwhelming and didn’t really build up to the murder at all. The murder almost felt thrown in again at the end in order to wrap everything up in a nice little bow. I also struggled to remember that the book was set In Vermont. With the GBBO parallels, the old Victorian manor house setting, and the Britishisms (keen, supreme bore, etc) sprinkled into the writings it might as well have been set somewhere in England.
Overall this ended up being an enjoyable read more because I love a good cooking of baking competition, and less because of the murder mystery.
A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
The murder pops up at the beginning and at the very end. In between we mostly get drama of the show progressing and a bit of a mystery around a woman who once disappeared. That was fine but it was underwhelming and didn’t really build up to the murder at all. The murder almost felt thrown in again at the end in order to wrap everything up in a nice little bow. I also struggled to remember that the book was set In Vermont. With the GBBO parallels, the old Victorian manor house setting, and the Britishisms (keen, supreme bore, etc) sprinkled into the writings it might as well have been set somewhere in England.
Overall this ended up being an enjoyable read more because I love a good cooking of baking competition, and less because of the murder mystery.
A huge thank you to the author and the publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault