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What Members Thought

Amy Rosa
Jan 30, 2011 rated it it was amazing
Excellent book. I sat down and read it within two days. It is about this young girl who discovers she can taste what people are feeling in their food that they have cooked. She sadly has to grow up much too fast when she learns hidden secret emotions in her mothers cooking and the community at large. I really enjoyed the whole theme of so much hidden feelings in people that you would never notice on the surface but that people could push into something else such as cooking or baking. I also real ...more
Kent Winward
Sep 02, 2013 rated it liked it
I can handle Haruki Murakami's magical realism, because I know he is playing off of aspects of Japanese culture and mythology, as well as his own fictional peccadilloes that I can relate to, yet Ms. Bender's magical realism centers around food and some type of sci-fi that just didn't go down easily for me. I know the heightened "powers" are supposed to be illustrative of social and family issues, but heightened emotional intuition wasn't enough to carry the story for me and the older brother's a ...more
Nikki Morse
Mar 29, 2013 rated it really liked it
Oh, I just love Aimee Bender. It's been a decade since I last read her, but those earlier characters are vivid and these new ones will stick with me for a while. Her stories have a strange and fantastical twist -- In this one a character can taste in anything she eats the hidden emotions of the person who cooked it. Bizarre, compelling, and a lovely quick read. Sigh, now back to grad school reading. ...more
Tanya
Jun 12, 2010 rated it did not like it
Shelves: 2010
Comments from the author about why she doesn't use quotes to highlight the dialog..."Yeah, I often don't and I don't in this book. Kind of aesthetic choice in certain way because I like how it looks, but it also feels like that line between her internal and external world is a little blurry, which I think is kind of her deal." http://www.npr.org/templates/story/st...

Her comments also seem to explain the way the brother blurs and disappears.

I didn't like the book. I don't recommend the book. I d
...more
Windy
Sep 12, 2012 rated it really liked it
story of a family with extraordinary "gifts" which verges on the supernatural. A beautifully written book which explores familial relationships, the things we hide, the things we don't say. ...more
Daisy
May 29, 2010 marked it as to-read
Shelves: la-hollywood, food
I've never read her before. ...more
Sera
I loved this book, but the odds are, that you won't :) ...more
Jessica
I'm not quite sure what I was expecting coming into this one, and coming out of it I'm not quite sure that I even understand it. Bender writes very well and you feel for Rose in a deep way, but it sort of sputters out to nothing in the end. I would come bad to Bender again, but probably in a short story format that tightens the focus just a hair. ...more
Lisa
Jul 20, 2010 rated it liked it
Shelves: read-adults
Good... but extremely depressing and sad...
Tracyene
Jun 07, 2010 marked it as to-read
Kathy Jo
Jun 15, 2010 marked it as to-read
Christy
Jul 04, 2010 rated it liked it
Shannon Wallner
Jul 19, 2010 marked it as to-read
Stephanie
Jul 20, 2010 marked it as to-read
Kat
Jul 22, 2010 rated it it was ok
Shelves: 2011
Anika
Aug 29, 2010 rated it really liked it
Jenna
Dec 31, 2010 added it
Shelves: kindle
Tammy AZ
Jan 27, 2011 rated it it was ok
Rebecca
Feb 28, 2011 rated it it was ok
Shelves: 2000s, fiction, adult
Julie
Mar 10, 2011 rated it liked it
Amanda R
Apr 27, 2011 rated it really liked it
Lea
Aug 18, 2011 rated it it was ok
Liz
Jan 12, 2012 marked it as to-read
Soelo
Feb 06, 2012 rated it liked it
Shelves: ebook
Stacey Matson
Mar 08, 2012 rated it it was ok
Sam
Aug 30, 2012 marked it as to-read
Brenda
Jan 02, 2013 marked it as to-read
Dana Arbelaez
Jan 17, 2013 marked it as to-read
Ginger
Aug 26, 2013 marked it as to-read
Wendy
Jul 17, 2014 rated it it was ok