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The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie - For Those Who Have Finished
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I finished it yesterday and here's my review:I'm generally not a big fan of whodunits, but I decided to give this one a chance because the heroine of the story seemed to be quite atypical and interesting. That's why I'm giving this book 3 stars: the plot itself I didn't particularly enjoy, but Flavia and the cornucopia of beautifully crafted and funny sentences greatly redeemed it.
That pretty much sums it up. I thought the plot itself was quite weak and a lot of the time just a little too convenient. Flavia just happened to run into someone who could answer her question, the librarian just happened to be the cousin of a murdered victim, etc etc. This book does not seem to be about being realistic, which is not absolutely necessary but annoyed me a little sometimes. The story itself was quite boring too, it's basically a standard whodunit plotwise. What I did love about it was the main character, Flavia. She's totally weird and I love that. I also thought the book was really funny, not because of the plot, but because of the choice of words and the way the sentences are put together. Just a little thing, but I did feel that Flavia talked about chemistry too much. I absolutely hate chemistry and all the explanations about it starting grating on me after a while.
I didn't think the plot was that weak. I've read worse. I really like this series and don't mind the chemistry talk and whatnot. Flavia is fantastic, and the secondary characters are quirky too. Things might work out a little too well, but that doesn't bother me so much. There was no deus ex machina or anything. The second in the series is great too, it is actually probably better.
I just finished this book, and I really enjoyed it. I thought Flavia was an amazing narrator. Though, as much as I enjoyed reading about her, I probably wouldn't like her if I knew her in real life. I think she would get on my nerves. I would especially hate having her for a little sister-the way she tortured Ophelia! (I'm so glad I'm the youngest in my family and never had to deal with that-ha,ha)I actually loved all the chemistry references. Chemistry was one of my favorite subjects in high school and I still enjoy reading about it from time to time.
Ah, but Ophelia is SO AWFUL to her! The entire first scene was Flavia trying to escape from the closet, where her sisters tied her up! Haha.
Tahleen wrote: "Ah, but Ophelia is SO AWFUL to her! The entire first scene was Flavia trying to escape from the closet, where her sisters tied her up! Haha."True, but don't you think Flavia deserved it a little? I'm sure she did something awful to them before they tied her up (though I can't remember if that's mentioned in the book or not). They were all just being sisters, I guess (all about payback). :)
I guess I'm mostly thinking of the second book here, which isn't fair haha. They tell her some things that really, really bother her (lies, but she's not sure).
I think the character of Flavia was pretty interesting. She's quirky and cute and fun to read about. But her whole family dynamic was off. I get her father is upset about losing his wife, but he doesn't do anything. He holes up in his office and mostly ignores his kids. He's apparently rich enough to not have to work and hire several people to help out around the house, why not hire a nanny for the kids? Also, was anyone clear on the time period this takes place in? Parts of it seemed current and other parts seemed like the could have taken place in the 1800's. Or maybe they're just all really outdated since they live in a small town in the middle of England.
Chris: It's set in the late 1940s. :)I agree with Tahleen on the sister dynamic. I definitely think that what Ophelia does to Flavia is way worse than what Flavia does to Ophelia. It's not so much that she pulls mean pranks (that's what Flavia does), but she says some really incredibly vicious, hurtful things.
I just finished the book yesterday and I really liked it. I loved Flavia and thought she was a wonderful and quirky character.The sisters are a little awful to each other, but it never really gets to the point of real harm I think; I feel like the end of the book really shows that. Ophelia and Flavia may be awful to each other (and rescuing Flavia did have the payback element to it), but in the end it was Ophelia with Dogger who did the rescuing. I feel like they probably don't take a lot of what the other says to heart, that it's sort of their own form of sibling banter. Although it sounds from Tahleen's comment like it may be worse in the next book, so I may change my mind on that...
But anyways, all in all I enjoyed the book. I'll definitely read the next one.
Jessica, the older sisters do say things that deeply hurt Flavia, but I'm not sure if I misinterpreted the banter; it just seemed terrible to me.
You all are making me really want to read the second one!
Do it!! I have the third waiting for me at the library, but I'm worried I won't get to it in time. :/ Maybe I'll try to get the audio.
Some general starting questions:
Did you like or dislike the book? Did you like the ending? Favorite characters? Favorite quotes? Did you like the author's style? Were you confused by anything in the book? etc.
Feel free to post any discussion questions that are more specific to the book once you have finished. The moderators and discussion leader will try and facilitate the discussion but since everybody's reading schedule/life schedule are different, they may not be able to do so at the beginning of the month. So, any discussion questions are welcome! :)