2/5 stars
Walker Childrens, 2013
334 pages
YA Contemporary
Source: Received an e-ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
I adore cooking shows despite not being much of a chef or gourmet eater. But as a reader, I also love reading about cooking so discovering that this book was about a competitive cooking game show (in my beloved YA category) had me very excited!
Right away I found myself drawn into Nora's world of cooking, eating up all the setup before she arrives at the competition. However once she's there, the takes a turn for the worse when Nora instantly finds herself disliking fellow competitor Christian. Now I'm not saying he gives the best first impression but her instant hate seemed extreme to me. Their relationship continues to be filled with childish bickering and put-downs as the competition heats up.
There have been times when I've really liked characters that other bloggers/readers find unlikable; those characters are difficult people often flailing in a world where they feel misunderstood. That is not the case here as I felt both characters were supposed to seen as charming and appealing by the reader, while I was increasingly turned off. I was especially exasperated by Nora's frequent use of "ho-bag" and such words to describe her roommate (who is certainly mean but does not warrant the other terms). Nora is just so judgmental and it really wore on me; Christian is really no better and since they take up the majority of the page space, the fact that I couldn't stand them substantially lowered my rating.
The other characters don't add much either. Sometimes a great secondary character can save the day but Gigi, Nora's friend and competitor, while cool, ultimately fails to do so for reasons that would be full of spoilers to spill. No other character gets enough page time to make up for Nora and Christian's sniping.
On the bright side, I love the bright colors of the cover and that recipes are included at the back. I'm not much of a cook but I do love looking at recipes (if only there were pictures!)
Overall: A solid start quickly deteriorates with extremely unlikable characters ruining an interesting premise.
Other Opinions:
Finding Bliss in Books
Princess Bookie
The Bookshelf Sophisticate
Aw, sorry the characters didn't live up to the premise
ReplyDeleteI just ended up thinking they were such awful people and that's a dealbreaker for me.
DeleteAwe, I thought this one was going to be good. Sorry it wasn't all that great for you.
ReplyDeleteLuckily I've seen some other reviews that agreed with me so I don't feel too out of step.
DeleteI actually liked this one quite a bit, but I can see why the characters wouldn't work for you.
ReplyDelete(I mostly disliked that in the end Christian is going to keep working with his awful father.)
I just read your review and could see how this would work for you-I'm not sure I was in the best headspace at the time of reading.
DeleteOh no, this sounded so cute! But unlikeable characters would turn me off too, especially in a story that's supposed to be fluffy and fun.
ReplyDeleteWendy @ The Midnight Garden
I just wanted to love the characters and yet I found them so annoying!
DeleteI do love cooking shows, too, even though I suck at cooking. This sounds like it should be an adorable read -- sorry it wasn't as happy and perky and fun as it could have been.
ReplyDeleteDo you think it's wish fulfillment that motivates us? I wish I had the confidence to stride into the kitchen like that but I tend to be too timid.
DeleteI am obsessed with the Food Network so I had high hopes for this, but I'm getting the feeling this may not be for me. When you said this:
ReplyDelete"There have been times when I've really liked characters that other bloggers/readers find unlikable; those characters are difficult people often flailing in a world where they feel misunderstood. That is not the case here as I felt both characters were supposed to seen as charming and appealing by the reader, while I was increasingly turned off."
I was nodding like crazy. I love those prickly, misunderstood characters and I'm often suspicious of the ones who ooze charm. And I really don't like when female characters in books call each other sluts and whores.
I was actually thinking of you when I wrote that! I know sometimes we see something very human in these kinds of characters but I just didn't get that vibe here.
DeleteI've read some other pretty negative reviews about this book. The premise sounds so promising and it is too bad it didn't live up to that.
ReplyDeleteI love books with cooking and food descriptions and recipes and it is nice to see that in teen fiction but of course it won't save a book when the main characters are difficult to like.
I think a lot of us bloggers are turned off by Nora's words and actions but Liviana for example above liked it so it may still be worth giving a read.
DeleteAw I'm sorry that this didn't work out for you when it seemed like it should tick so many boxes. I recently read a few ice hockey romance novels cos I love ice hockey and thought they'd be fun while I was travelling: some of them were pretty damn disappointing which is a real shame.
ReplyDeleteOoh I will need to check out your blog for recommendations-I'm really into sport romances lately!
DeleteYuck. This is the second review along this vein of this one. The other review I read basically said it had a strong start but went way downhill. I WAS really looking forward to this one because of the premise but it seems like one I'll have to hope my library gets, instead of splurging on or anything. (I didn't make time to get/read an ARC like I'd hoped to.)
ReplyDeleteOnce Upon a Prologue
Yep, started well, plummeted down. Definitely more of a library read than buy.
DeleteOh ugh, these characters definitely don't sound like my cup of tea either! I hate when they make derogatory comments like that and use such ugly words. Ho-bag is definitely one of the worst.
ReplyDeleteThanks to some bloggers I follow, I've become more attuned to that kind of slut-shaming language and it disgusts me how often I see it pop up in YA lit-not the kind of thing I like to see.
DeleteBummer! I have this one too and was debating on actually reading it. I am big on likeable characters or at least ones that have a good reason for being unlikeable, but this doesn't seem the case here. I may start it just so I have something to tell NetGalley. We'll see how far I get.
ReplyDeleteTressa @ Tressa's Wishful Endings
The beginning is good and those feelings may be able to sustain you through the rest-I would be interested to see how it turns out for you.
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