Kitchens of the Great Midwest

Not at all what I expected. The first few chapters were very much about Eva, whereas the last half of the book was more about the people around Eva.

Intriguing characters and lovely writing. An interesting narrative device, too.

Hated it. As soon as you might start to get into a character it switches to a new one, never to return. Braque and Jordy chapters were the worst. I pushed through and for what, the least satisfying ending of all time?

Loved this book! The characters were complex but relatable and the story had me hooked from the beginning.

Enjoyed the writing, but hated every single character!

I know many loved this debut and maybe my experience with it was skewed as I had the good fortune of coming to this novel after reading The Lager Queen of Minnesota, but this was just a touch above ok for me. Some of the quirkiness that made Lager so great is there and there are glimpses of character development, but there are too many vignettes of characters for me. I'm hoping the trajectory from Kitchens to Lager continues and I eagerly anticipate his next book to see if that holds true.

Being a lover of food, and the Midwest locations mentioned, I enjoyed this story. I loved how the author took one person and made a complete circle of her life in order to tell such a great tale which includes love, heartbreak, life and death. Of course the recipes added to my delight.

This was such a fun and original read! Kitchens of the Great Midwest pulled me in right away, and I loved it the whole way through.

I had heard about this book in a couple different ways. I'm not sure how I originally found it and added it to my list (I think I saw it locally, in Minneapolis somewhere), but then I heard about it when Anne Bogel of Modern Mrs. Darcy recommended it in her podcast. Luckily for me, when I added it on Goodreads, my friend and fellow LQ contrib Janna let me know she had the book and would lend it to me. Huzzah!

So, thanks to Janna, I got my hands on this one and dove in.

Each chapter is a short story, narrated by a different character. The characters all have something in common – they're somehow connected to Eva Thorvald. She's born in the first chapter and narrates the second chapter, and then we follow her life's trajectory through the characters around her in the following chapters. I've never read something quite like this before, where all the stories are different but fit together so well.

It was hard to believe each story was written by the same author, put in the same book, and still fit perfectly with each other. Each character had such a different voice – there was a really unique feel to each chapter. Some of them made me giggle, some of them made me gasp. Some of the characters I loved, some of them I thought were terrible people. I think that's how the author wanted it to be...at least, I hope 😉

Read the full review at http://www.literaryquicksand.com/2016/08/review-kitchens-great-midwest/

Reading Challenge category: a book you can read in a day.

Loved it the first time, loved it the second time.

So good and fun and hunger-inducing!

I listened to this on audiobook which had a quite delightful narrative. The Midwestern accent really sold it. This is the best novel about food that I've read since Like Water For Chocolate. While they are nothing alike, I think this novel represents a food culture in the same way LWFC does. It's cyclical, acerbic, refreshing, luxurious... The perspectives are unique while still sharing a common wit. I will say that the pacing wasn't necessarily momentous, but it was really nice to enjoy this in breaths.

Practically perfect in every way.