Sweetbitter

One of my favourite books this year. Don't get me wrong—a part of me hated this book. This gritty cocaine-infested lifestyle was not easy to read. But Sweetbitter held so much deep truth of human nature, and was depicted and dramatized so well, it delighted me. The writing was fabulous, even with the adverbs. The deep dive into the restaurant business was fascinating. I've never seen the matriarchal dynamic Danler explores depicted in any other book I've read—but I know it, I've experienced it, and I thought she captured it with precision. A singular book I'll never forget.

hoe have you considered that YOU are the problem? insufferable twat

DNF @ page 182

I enjoyed it, but I have absolutely no idea why. Connecting with characters is important to me, but I couldn't connect with a single character in the book. Maybe it was the dream of New York that kept me reading.

I had a long, heartfelt, time consuming review that was part love letter part rant, but I am tired and I think that Alex McKenna was fantastic.

It was fantastic, but then cliche and I wanted to cry.

Maybe I will try to revive my previous review but it might be healthier to let it go.
I would consider listening again to the first part, but right now I feel like the book broke up with me, it made lovely promises and was so good at whispering sweet-nothings, but ultimately disappointment.

it was just ok.

The huge overload of positive gushy blurbs on back cover really should have been my clue that this one would be massively boring and poorly written. (A book that's actually well written and interesting just does not need that many blurbs swearing it's great in order to lure readers.)

Reading this was as painful as mowing a large lawn in the height of a South Florida summer with blisters all over every inch of your feet and hands. I didn't care about any character on any page. Didn't seem like the author did, either. I wish negative stars were an option.

A plot that gets as exciting as falling down the stairs or the arrival of a health inspector, borderline glamorized abusive relationships, petty emotions, and constant jealousy-induced complaining. Also includes some nice passages describing food and a few monumental lines, usually borrowed from poems the character has remembered, that spark interest.

My first two star rating. I was bored, and ended up skimming the second half just to see if anything ever actually happens. Nope. It still counts as one book read this year, right?