The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

I just finished reading this book by Amy Bender which I borrowed from my step-mom. It's about a girl named Rose who can taste what people are feeling by eating food that they've made. It seems magical but actually hinders her quite a bit. However, even though this is the selling point plot aspect, I found that for a lot of it, that part sort of took a backseat, and instead the book concentrated more on Rose's family dynamic: Rose, her genius but extremely introverted brother, her enthusiastic but lonely mother, and her friendly but somewhat awkward father.

The first half of the book (the parts taking place when Rose is nine and twelve) I absolutely loved. The imagery was clear, the prose was lovely, the characters were complex, and the story was interesting. However, sadly, the second half I did not enjoy as much. It got into this weirdness with her brother, and I guess the characters started to feel farther away to me. There were still some really nice sections, but I just didn't enjoy it as much. I wish it had lived up to the fantasticness of the first half. Overall, I give this book 7.5 pretzel bites.

KAY