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marshmallowbooks 's review for:
The Glass Kitchen
by Linda Francis Lee
I rounded up to 4 starts, but would like to give it 3.5. I rounded up because I really liked the plot of Portia figuring out her "knowing" with food, following impulse and intuition to make food just when someone needs it most. It was unique and engaging. It was fun to find out which character - major or minor - would benefit from what she made and why they needed it just then.
Ariel's story, which I'll call a sub-plot, although it was given almost equal page-time, was also interesting. Even though she's only 13, she has information and situations weighing her down beyond her years. She wants so badly to keep her family from knowing how much she hurts because she doesn't want to be more of a burden when they've already got so much going on. That works out well for her, until it really doesn't - as is the case with most secrets.
The one thing I wish had been dealt with differently is the romance between Portia and Gabriel. What could have been a classic rom com-like relationship, was not as satisfying. Gabriel just seemed to not want to admit to anyone including himself that he liked Portia, and that's not a good situation to be in. And I got a bit bored with Portia just always giving into the "heat throughout her body" each time Gabriel looked at her, even if he was angry, because of his self-loathing issue. Plus, each time they got together, he was just pretty demanding and it had the attitude of "I'm going to get what I want, no matter what you want." It's not like Portia was non-consensual, so not a rape situation, and while some people are fine with that, I really didn't like it.
But, I did love the Glass Kitchen concept, the way the sisters worked on it together. And Stanley and Marcus were introduced way too late in the story and should have had bigger roles because they were my favorite.
Ariel's story, which I'll call a sub-plot, although it was given almost equal page-time, was also interesting. Even though she's only 13, she has information and situations weighing her down beyond her years. She wants so badly to keep her family from knowing how much she hurts because she doesn't want to be more of a burden when they've already got so much going on. That works out well for her, until it really doesn't - as is the case with most secrets.
The one thing I wish had been dealt with differently is the romance between Portia and Gabriel. What could have been a classic rom com-like relationship, was not as satisfying. Gabriel just seemed to not want to admit to anyone including himself that he liked Portia, and that's not a good situation to be in. And I got a bit bored with Portia just always giving into the "heat throughout her body" each time Gabriel looked at her, even if he was angry, because of his self-loathing issue. Plus, each time they got together, he was just pretty demanding and it had the attitude of "I'm going to get what I want, no matter what you want." It's not like Portia was non-consensual, so not a rape situation, and while some people are fine with that, I really didn't like it.
But, I did love the Glass Kitchen concept, the way the sisters worked on it together. And Stanley and Marcus were introduced way too late in the story and should have had bigger roles because they were my favorite.