Review: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

Author: Aimee Bender

Genre: Fiction (2010)

About: A young girl, Rose, can taste the feelings in the food of the people who make it.

Descriptive Words: Family dysfunction, bizarre abilities, emotions, coming of age, acceptance

Thoughts: I enjoyed the writing more than the story. The author writes in a sing-songy, rhythmic and easy to read way. The story was strange. Just when I accepted that people's feelings could be tasted (huh?!), the author added another character with an unusual ability, the girl's brother, but I liked in the end how that all came together. Although the tone of the characters was drab and boring and their quirky personalities irked me halfway through, each was distinct and well formed. One comment I related to and laughed at was when Rose said her brother Joe wished there was a Breakfast pill, a Lunch pill, and a Dinner pill. I thought that was funny, and it pretty much sums up my relationship with food.

Overall, I'm glad I read it, but if you don't get to it because of your overflowing stacks, it's not the end of the world.

Source: Library

Why I Chose: I wanted to know what the buzz was about.

Recommend? Yes. Although it's the same kind of bizarre as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime and The Unnamed - neither of which my brain could wrap around - the literary aspect was brilliant.

Rating: 4/5

Other Reviews:

Book Nut
Bibliophile By the Sea
S Krishna's Books
Booking Mama