When this book was first released, I was one of those who got swept up with the hype. The book sounded amazing, it looked amazing, and everyone seemed to be giving it five-star reviews, so when I was gifted the book, I was over the moon and more than ready to pick it up despite reading half a dozen others at the time. And let me just say, this is a book that was hyped up for no reason other than it being pretty and POC, in my personal opinion.
The book itself seemed to have no exact storyline besides if Emoni was ever going to raise enough money for her class trip to Spain, yet it's written with such a positive undertone that I didn't need to read the two hundred-odd pages that confirmed it.
Throw in a small sprinkle of bland romance when it comes to a new boy in school Malachi and you have a book that centers around food, schoolwork, and looking after a baby. Yet to me, I felt like we never saw Emma. Sure she was mentioned, but it constantly felt like she was pushed to the side. She was either sleeping, or her grandmother was looking after her, you never really got moments where Emma and Emoni truly bonded, instead it was Emma refusing to get dressed, Emma getting reading to head to her dad's. Emma was always somewhere doing something else that doesn't rely on her being totally present at the moment, so as I read it I was left with this vibe of this kid just being the weird background character in a show that has one or two lines.
Another weird feeling with this book was the chapters. They just never made sense to me. They're all really short, which I'm a super big fan of, but they're written in a way that feels like a diary entry. It just feels like any problem that is brought up in that two-page chapter is wrapped up by the end. It's like writing 'Dear Diary, my crush said hi to me today. I think he likes me. Okay bye.' Nothing seemed to really carry over into the next one besides her maybe feelings for Malachi and if she'd raise enough money. It was boring and made the book easy to put down. Overall, the hype was definitely not worth it for me, but the food she cooked did sound nice so I'll give the author points for that.
The book itself seemed to have no exact storyline besides if Emoni was ever going to raise enough money for her class trip to Spain, yet it's written with such a positive undertone that I didn't need to read the two hundred-odd pages that confirmed it.
Throw in a small sprinkle of bland romance when it comes to a new boy in school Malachi and you have a book that centers around food, schoolwork, and looking after a baby. Yet to me, I felt like we never saw Emma. Sure she was mentioned, but it constantly felt like she was pushed to the side. She was either sleeping, or her grandmother was looking after her, you never really got moments where Emma and Emoni truly bonded, instead it was Emma refusing to get dressed, Emma getting reading to head to her dad's. Emma was always somewhere doing something else that doesn't rely on her being totally present at the moment, so as I read it I was left with this vibe of this kid just being the weird background character in a show that has one or two lines.
Another weird feeling with this book was the chapters. They just never made sense to me. They're all really short, which I'm a super big fan of, but they're written in a way that feels like a diary entry. It just feels like any problem that is brought up in that two-page chapter is wrapped up by the end. It's like writing 'Dear Diary, my crush said hi to me today. I think he likes me. Okay bye.' Nothing seemed to really carry over into the next one besides her maybe feelings for Malachi and if she'd raise enough money. It was boring and made the book easy to put down. Overall, the hype was definitely not worth it for me, but the food she cooked did sound nice so I'll give the author points for that.