A review by imamandaaa
Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune by Roselle Lim

3.0

I enjoyed the book! It was a nice read and a bit fantastical that I haven't read in any other story. It drew on a lot of Chinese traditions and cultural traditions which I love! The recipes were nice and though I'm not a cook I can't pretend that those were unique and delicious recipes. But it did help push the narrative. I actually didn't read the recipes word for word just a quick skim and went back into the story. I love the idea of food uniting a community especially in terms of gentrification and how Chinatowns across the US is getting smaller and less unified. This was a good story based on a very real problem facing the Chinese American community and I like that. The love story wasnt the focal point but it didn't feel nice. It felt quick and almost needless. There were a lot of missing threads that I wish the author had time to cover so that relationship didn't feel as organic as I would like it to be. The helping the folks in the community come together was the main plot and that was really well done. Overall, a nice read and was respectful of Chinese culture and traditions and a good story about unifying a community.