4,5 stars and 3 Cheers for my new Hero, Bob, the Sourdough-Starter.
Bob, you can go now and take your place next to The Lugagge. ♡ (Yes, you should hav4,5 stars and 3 Cheers for my new Hero, Bob, the Sourdough-Starter.
Bob, you can go now and take your place next to The Lugagge. ♡ (Yes, you should have been given your own medals too, but let's face it, you would have eaten them. ;)...more
3,33 "this could very well have stood on its own legs as a solid, though melodramatic story" stars
I started wondering almost from the beginning why th3,33 "this could very well have stood on its own legs as a solid, though melodramatic story" stars
I started wondering almost from the beginning why there was a need to sell this book as a Pride and Prejudice Retelling, which it isn't BTW. Because, obvious marketing and financial aspects aside, all authors who choose this path, dig their own smaller or bigger holes and jump into them, turning the reading experience into an exercise for the reader to watch whether they can climb out, or at least avoid digging deeper.
Either they are bending over backwards to try and shoehorn the P&P plot and characters into their particular setting or just grab some elements while still brand it as a modern P&P, or an attempt at something that is in-between these. Either way, they are inviting the reader to compare their struggles to Austen's genius, which is a surefire way of failing spectacularly.
As mentioned at the start, this book absolutely did not need even the small traces of P&P its author used, it would have been just fine without, hell, it would have been much better without, because it would have avoided the get-yourself-compared-to-Austen-and-fail snare.
In the end I decided to treat it as a "slightly inspired by P&P story with gender swap", because that way I could partially avoid the irritation of how much Trisha did not resemble Darcy (having a spine IS a requirement, after all) or how unlike DJ was to Elizabeth (no, being a big d*ck does not count as an Elizabeth move). If it wasn't for this, I may have been tempted to give the book 4 stars, because it made me feel things and care for its main and secondary characters despite the OTT sensational ridiculousness of their backstories that rivalled the corniest daytime TV soap-operas.
If you think of the original Pride and Prejudice like this:
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then this book compares to this:
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Other reviews also mention this excess that once again harmed the story, because the overdramatic baggage all (and I mean all!) the characters were dragging around would have caused the conveyor belts in the world's biggest airports to break down.
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It was too much and there were lots of "just give us a break, will ya?!" and "pur-lease!!" moments.
Still, it was mostly a fun ride while it lasted, even though I was glad to finally disembark. And I wouldn't even be averse to taking up book 2 in Dev's The Rajes series some time.
Very good narration by Soneela Nankani and gorgeous food stuff included in the book....more
An overindulgence in supercringe-worthylisticexpialidocious moments. Bleurrgh.
Having read Alex Brown before, I knew that2 stars on my Grinch-O-Meter
An overindulgence in supercringe-worthylisticexpialidocious moments. Bleurrgh.
Having read Alex Brown before, I knew that she had a fondness for creating lots of awkward knicker-flashing accidents for her clumsy and befuddled MCs, but you can have too much of a good thing. This could be a fixation of hers or a kind of signature-plotting or .... something. Be that as it may, I found the knicker-flashing incident in this book (as a first encounter between the would-be couple - awwww, meet-uncute) so gross that I almost dnf-ed on the spot and not all the cosy bread-baking and Christmas-prep that followed could make up for that traumatic experience, especially as it is brought up on all possible occasions, if it weren't enough once. (view spoiler)[It is a bit of a blur, as mercifully I blacked out at that point, but... If trying to make a desperate wee among the ice cold sand dunes in the dark with your HO-HO-HO knickers off while suddenly accosted by your would-be love interest's dog and your 6-year-old-daughter pointing out that you have a BIG WHO-WHO-WHOLE in your knickers is your idea of unbound hilarity, fine, I guess. (hide spoiler)]
I feel rather generous in giving a 2nd star, but peace on earth and all that jazz.
While reading this book, I realised how repetitive Brown's style is & that despite the different set-ups, her main characters all feel/act/sound the same. It's like reading the same book all over. You have these tiresomely accident-prone, overzealous, overdramatic characters without an ounce of common sense and once the love interest turns up, their behaviour pattern revves up even more. The 1st person narration does not help, as you are forced to spend all page-time in their heads, which is pretty exhausting.
Sadly, the point of no return has arrived for me: I have fallen out of like with this author. :(...more
This book is in perfect line with what is now tagged as "cosy fantasy" (courtesy of an article I read in Book Riot), undemanding, low-angst/stakes (thThis book is in perfect line with what is now tagged as "cosy fantasy" (courtesy of an article I read in Book Riot), undemanding, low-angst/stakes (though this may vary), containing "slice-of-life" events which can be extremely comforting or extremely boring according to your booktastes. I am mostly all for this type of reads, but book-chemistry being what it is, we do not always click, as you can see from my original review below.
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2,5 stars
Mixed feelings and reading experience.
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When I started listening to this story, I thought I would be able to give it 4 stars, but by the last third the author unfortunately lost the plot (that wasn't that much to begin with) and my attention as well as my goodwill by letting it dissolve into a completely silly and annoying will-they/won't-they/why-the hell-just-don't-they-so-we-can-FINALLY!!-get-to-the-interesting-bits. (The chemistry between the would-be couple was nonexistent, btw, so that made this all the worse.) I really enjoyed the book until about 40-50%, but after the cosy-comfy feelings it originally evoked in me, it let me down by the thin plot being dragged out interminably into precisely nowhere.
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The clumsy attempts by the author to insert all the critical issues of our day and age were very worthy in themselves, but they did not mix well with this particular, middle-ages-ish fantasy background as written by them. Instead of being organic to the whole story, they felt forced and crude, and sometimes downright silly. (view spoiler)[I mean "royal employee appreciation day"? Oh, pur-lease!! (hide spoiler)] The "humourous" bits were the slapstick kind which may entertain a 10-year-old, felt also totally out-of-place and were repeated to the point of ridiculousness.
To say that the 472!!-page-long book ends on a cliffhanger would be unmerited flattery. But I just checked out to see how Book 2 is going on and it is clear both from the reviews and the cover blurb that the going-nowhere-very-slowly is still there and there will be a book 3, so I just returned Book 2 to Audible, because I do not want to go on with the series.
Anyways, to give praise where it is due, the narrator did a very good job of a very messy book....more
This has been my first ever story (novella) by author Kelly Harms & I really liked it. There is drama and emotions, but also lots of humour and insighThis has been my first ever story (novella) by author Kelly Harms & I really liked it. There is drama and emotions, but also lots of humour and insight of character to balance it. And there's an imperfect, but realistic and satisfying happy ending (or new beginning).
If I want to be very strict, I would rate it 3,5 stars. Had I simply read it, instead of listening, it would be 3 only, but the story was very much enhanced by the listening experience. Narrator Lauren Fortgang did a superb job, because in all honesty, the MC Sophie, was not at all likeable, but with her voicing Sophie, I only started to realise this somewhere around the middle of the story, which is no mean feat. It would have been more obvious from the page.
The story, told entirely from Sophie's POV, covers 4 years and 3 thanksgiving dinners. We start in 2016 while restaurant-owner Sophie is preparing Bruce the turkey (named after her latest ex) and waiting for her family -her 2 older brothers and their wives- to turn up for the meal. Sophie is a spiky introvert, addicted to her work & devoted to her family. Her brother Pete and his wife, Keiko are expecting their first child. Her best friend, Anette, is married to her younger-older brother Charlie. It's kinda happy families all round, until the bad new explodes: Anette's terminally ill and only has some months to live.
2 years later, another thanksgiving meal is being prepared, with Turkey Rick in the oven this time. And another bomb is about to hit Sophie's world: Charlie is bringing a girlfriend to the sacred family event & Sophie finds it very hard to cope, especially on arrival of Emily with 2 terrible kids in tow. Emily is the complete opposite of Anette, a mess in every sense of the word, with mortgages & an agressive ex and does not seem to suit Charlie, a professor of biochemistry, in the least. So the dinner is anything but a success, from Sophie's POV at least, even though she has a handsome & caring guy around her, however, she hardly notices him.
With the excellent narration, it's only at this point when you start to realise how self-absorbed & judgemental Sophie actually is. While on one hand, you can understand that the loss of her best friend hit her really hard and feel for her (even agree that Emily is just NOT THE THING!), on the other, her perfect selfishness and unawareness about anything else than her own thoughts and feelings, just makes you want to shake & shout at her to wake up.
Things come to a climax at the third Thanksgiving meal, which takes place in Emily's and Charlie's house, to Sophie's utter revulsion and at 1 point you think that a disaster will truly strike this time, but the tension and conflicts are lead to their proper channel, Sophie thankfully starts realising her mistakes and is offered many things to be thankful for in the end....more
Can you drown in coziness & fluffiness? Apparently, you can. Maybe I am just getting too old for this chick-lit type of romance, but I found it repetitCan you drown in coziness & fluffiness? Apparently, you can. Maybe I am just getting too old for this chick-lit type of romance, but I found it repetitive & boring. Clearly, I am in the minority with my rating, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't like this book.
Full review to come.
ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review....more
A book with an interesting, substantial plot, memorable characters and scrumptious, irresistible food.
Cousins Addie & Sam Jaworski -with Poli 3,5 Stars
A book with an interesting, substantial plot, memorable characters and scrumptious, irresistible food.
Cousins Addie & Sam Jaworski -with Polish roots- were both born and raised in Michigan. For them moving to Detroit to open their Welcome Home Diner in one of the more desolate parts of town seems the most natural thing in the world, while their families & friends are mostly horrified. But Addie and Sam believe in each other, in their Polish heritage from their beloved grandmother Babcia as well as in giving "The D" a chance. They hope that the establishment of their Diner will give boost to the renovation and revitalisation of their neighborhood.
But while their restaurant seems to go from strength to strength & is immensely popular among "outsiders", the local Afro-American community -apart from the co-workers of the Diner- are conspicuous by their absence, no matter how hard Addie and Sam are trying to reach out. There is also an enemy lurking behind the anonymity of cyberspace: trying to undermine the good reputation of the place through various social media attacks.
And the time comes when both Addie and Sam are put to the test and have to face their fears & past mistakes if they want to go on.
I have to admit that in the beginning I struggled to get into the book. I could not relate either to Addie or to Sam, through whose alternating POV the story unfolded. They both appeared too self-absorbed and not very understanding towards each other, though we were told they were close like sisters. But slowly they started to grow on me. Their compassion towards their employees, their willingness to give both Detroit and its inhabitants a second chance was very appealing.
The atmosphere of the Diner was very alluring and the food described just made me drool over my kindle.
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Arc provided by the Publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review....more
A DISTASTEFUL BOOK FROM AN OBNOXIOUS WOMAN WHO SHOULD BE OFFICIALLY BANNED FROM ANY KITCHEN INCLUDING HER OWN.
I saw the lovely film before reading theA DISTASTEFUL BOOK FROM AN OBNOXIOUS WOMAN WHO SHOULD BE OFFICIALLY BANNED FROM ANY KITCHEN INCLUDING HER OWN.
I saw the lovely film before reading the book (or trying to read it anyway) & I could not understand why Julia Child did not want to meet Julie Powell... Now I know & agree completely: I would/do not want to meet her either. Her / the book's only merit is her apparent honesty, though the fact that she thinks this kind of honesty is witty and hilarious as opposed to vulgar and cringeworthy rather diminishes it.
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