The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

May 25, 2010 Jessica Haider rated it really liked it

Shelves: love-will-tear-us-apart, magical_realism, fiction, food

I have an affinity for food-related reads and also for magical realism novels. That and the fact that I really enjoyed the 2 previous Aimee Bender books that I've read, lead me to seek out her latest "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake." While at its heart, "Sadness" isn't about food as much as some other food-focused novels, this novel does present an interesting concept. At the age of 12, Rose can start tasting the emotions of the person who made the food she is eating. This leads her to dis ...more

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Jan 26, 2011 martha rated it it was ok

Shelves: year-2011

I thought I would really like this book. I really truly did not. [Vague spoilers below, but nothing specific.]

THINGS I DID NOT ENJOY ABOUT THIS BOOK:

-- The premise is far too thin for the length of the book, or frankly for trying to stretch over the plot framework of a novel at all. It's like she had the idea, and it's presented on the first page, and then it just sits there, cooling, going nowhere. I am perfectly content with dreamy, meandering books with no action, but oh my god, the core idea I thought I would really like this book. I really truly did not. [Vague spoilers below, but nothing specific.]

THINGS I DID NOT ENJOY ABOUT THIS BOOK:

-- The premise is far too thin for the length of the book, or frankly for trying to stretch over the plot framework of a novel at all. It's like she had the idea, and it's presented on the first page, and then it just sits there, cooling, going nowhere. I am perfectly content with dreamy, meandering books with no action, but oh my god, the core idea has to be robust enough to make me feel like I'm reading a book, not the outline of a book.

-- Rose's life was so unbelievably, endlessly, goddamn BLEAK. Utterly shut out by her father and brother, and with a mother who essentially tells her constantly that she's not the favorite, all of whom ignore her very blatant attempts to get them to connect with her, basically friendless, every meal every day a living hell..... good lord, this isn't a coming of age story, it's a torture chamber.

-- There were two points in the story where it's clear she's tasting something very significant that the reader is supposed to get -- once when she eats something her brother made, once when she eats the first meal she's cooked herself -- but the writing is SO MYSTERIOUS about what it's trying to describe that it's indecipherable. And I've read Ulysses. ;P

-- The thing with her brother CREEEEEPED me out........ but was ultimately so odd and disconnected from her talent, or anything else in the aesthetic universe of the story that it just fell totally flat for me. It was such a random skill it seemed like a mad lib drawn to a tortured extreme.

-- How the book slid all over the magical realism scale in terms of people's reactions. Either this is a book grounded in a reality so pragmatic that no one will ever believe her magical skill or whatever it is [the general framework driving the book], OR it's one where you tell people and they react with casual interest and total belief [like the woman at the restaurant bar, the restaurant owners, that one girl in high school, etc]. You can't have it both ways!

-- The book was SOOOOOOOOOOOO SLOOOOOOOW for the first 200 pages, and then gets very intense and weird, and then the end is a rush of revelations. Pacing!

Two stars for George, and how intense the scene in her brother's apartment was. ...more

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Jul 05, 2014 Melissa rated it liked it

It was interesting enough to keep me reading and wanting to know what would happen next. However, it is confusing in the way things are described or conceptualized and I had to read sentences and paragraphs multiple times to understand what was going on. Also, the use of quotation marks would have been helpful. I really liked George. The parts where he was involved stood out the most to me.

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Aug 04, 2010 Lindsey rated it it was amazing

Amazing book! This is definitely one of the best books I'll read all summer (and maybe all year). The main character, Rose, is so easy to connect with and like. The book flows so well, and I was a little sad to see it end. ...more

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Aug 25, 2010 Christina, Join Me on Storygraph! rated it liked it

Shelves: 2010

This book was incredibly engaging and I read it very quickly. I kept wanting to know what the heck was going on, but I think I just didn't GET it. It was kind of strange for me, and although I get the big picture of the story, I feel like I must have missed something in the details. ...more

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Jan 25, 2011 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: literaryfiction

Glad I finally picked this up, because it's rather charming. It felt very redolent of other novels to me, somehow, despite the unique premise. When You Reach Me comes to mind. Everyone is special after all, though this family is a bit more special than most. ...more

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