The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake in Reading with Style

May 02, 2011 Connie G rated it liked it

Shelves: california, magical-realism

This is an unusual book about a young girl who discovers she has a special talent of tasting the emotions of the people who prepare the food she eats. It becomes a curse since she lives in a dysfunctional family. She tries to connect with them and figure out the emotions of her family members. She finds that it's best when she eats processed factory-made food, untouched by human hands, so she is not overwhelmed by people's emotions.

Her brother is especially unusual. At first, I thought he might ...more

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Nov 06, 2010 MizCreatrix NY rated it it was ok

Bland and mostly disappointing.

The premise of the story had some genuine potential, yet as events played out, the theme of the story seemed to wander aimlessly and go nowhere. I love the genre of magical realism and am intrigued by plots that play with notions of "what is real/what is not". But for some reason, this magic element in this plot got buried underneath the utter dullness exhibited in the portrayal of the main characters. For god's sake, could Rose be any flatter in affect?? She has ...more

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Jan 18, 2021 Kim rated it it was ok

Shelves: libby, food, contemporary, alzheimer-autism, coming-of-age, family

2.0/5.0 - Here I am 16 books into the new year and no 5 star ratings yet. This book was at best okay, literary fiction not being my thing. I think it was a case of judging a book by the cover. Rose has a gift, when she eats, she can tell you extraordinary things about the ingredients (what factory made something, if the eggs were organic, etc.), as well as what the thoughts and emotions of the person who cooked it. But like many gifts of insight, it is not always a blessing, as she sees things a ...more

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Feb 01, 2011 Ann rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2011-books-read, first-reads

Free ARC through Goodreads First Reads

The way Bender writes about the smallest, most fleeting moments is heartbreaking (in a good way). This was my first Bender book, and based on the flow and rhythm of writing alone, I know it will not be my last. This was a joy to read.

The plot itself is very odd - a girl develops the truly horrible skill of being able to taste emotions in food. Everything she eats is tainted with the baggage of the cook, the farmer, anyone who had contact with an ingredient. ...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Melanie rated it it was ok

Was not feeling this book as much as I thought I would. It would be "magical realism," except it didn't really...go anywhere. Or resolve anything. And the "magical" parts didn't serve as a good metaphor/allegory/etc. for anything. Plus it just felt kind of hipster-y. Can't explain it any other way. And hipsters annoy me. Two stars because it was a quick read and kept me entertained enough as I unpacked (listening to the audiobook). ...more

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