Mayra Cuevas

A driven 17-year-old girl whose family life has fallen apart after the death of her Cuban abuela and the divorce of her parents turns to a kitchen apprenticeship in Lyon, France, as the only means to bring order back to her life.

Salty, Bitter, Sweet

Cute and fun with great food and fantastic representation ❤️

Thank you to Libro.FM and the publisher for granting me an audio copy in exchange for an honest review!

Becca Futrell

Thank you to Blink and TLC Book Tours for providing me with a copy of Salty, Bitter, Sweet in exchange for an honest review!

Food made from the heart will nourish the soul. I can’t think of anything better to do with my life.

CW: Grief, Addiction (Heroin), Colorism

I’m going to come out & say it: this book isn’t something that will be enjoyed by everyone. It definitely comes with issues. However, by the end, my heart was warm and it rounded up to somewhere between a 3.5 to a 4-star read.

Isabelle Fields: When I started this read, I thought it was going to turn into another A Love Hate Thing situation for me. Isabelle, but goes by Isa, is so incredibly rude to Diego & there’s absolutely no reason for it. As time goes by, Isa realizes that she was wrong and offers a delicious peace-offering & things are completely fine after that. Salty, Bitter, Sweet didn’t focus too heavily on the relationship factor; it, for the most part, sat on the back-burner.

This isn’t the only time that Isa kinda really sucks; later, she betrays one of her friends & it becomes this entire ordeal. I understand readers not liking Isa, but for me — she really does grow as a person. & that’s what your teen years are about, right?

Food & Personal Relatability: I love books that focus on food. As a person who absolutely adores cooking and presenting food to my loved ones, I find books such as this inspiring. In fact, after reading this, I decided I’m going to try my hand at ratatouille & macarons.

For those who do not know, I once worked in a kitchen. Granted, it wasn’t a huge high-end restaurant such as in Salty, Bitter, Sweet. Instead, it was a nice local restaurant/bar. I truly loved it there, but the stress was overwhelming and I hated who I had become. I was constantly angry & at some point, I figured out that the high-paced & demanding kitchen life wasn’t for me.

In Salty, Bitter, Sweet, Isa goes through this journey learning the same thing. For me, this made it extremely relatable which is why I think I enjoyed this book so much.

Love & Family: Isa has some major family drama. There’s love, there’s loss & in the end, there’s some coming together. Although there’s heartbreak weaved throughout these pages, readers can guarantee walking away with their heart pieced back together.

Sarah Williams

2.5/5 stars

Like its title, SALTY, BITTER, SWEET is indeed salty, bitter, and sweet. This is not the kind of story that pulls you in right from the get-go, nor is Isa a particularly sympathetic main character, but there’s still something special about the book that made me want to see it through.

I was eager to begin the book as I tend to feel an immediate fondness for stories about mixed-race main characters. I, too, grew up mixed-race—never Chinese enough, but never quite White enough either—so I felt an instant connection to Isa. (That being said, I’ve always been white passing so I’m definitely not trying to say that our experiences were the same.)

Initially, I felt frustrated by Isa’s character; she was too, in my opinion, unrealistically single-minded when it came to cooking. As I read and learned more of Isa’s story, however, I realized that perhaps her single-minded obsession is realistic given the grief she’s experiencing and the other-ness she feels in her own home—cooking is her escape and her pursuit of perfection gives her something to channel all of her energy into. It’s also how she maintains her connection with her Lala—her grandma.

The story felt too busy and I think it would have benefited from less plot lines. Isa’s apprenticeship, Diego, and the loss of her Lala would’ve been enough; add to that the new family structure, the tenuous relationship with her stepmother, and the dynamic with her Mamie and mom and it became too much. No one story line was given enough room to fully develop or come to fruition.

Overall, I appreciate what Cuervas was trying to accomplish with this story and I do think that some folks will enjoy it, I just think it wasn’t for me.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. This has not impacted or influenced my review or my opinions.

For more reviews, check out my Instagram and my Blog!

Tabassum Irin Zaman

I had the chance to read an e-arc of this book, thanks to Netgalley. I know the title sounds really tasty and unique.The book satisfied by reading appetite as well. 

My thoughts :

• I am so glad I stumbled upon this book! I love cooking shows and everything related to food, so reading a book with a protagonist who’s an aspiring chef seemed really interesting to me. Imagine how delighted how was when certain scenes about cooking delicious desserts came into the pages of the book? The addition of a beautiful European landscape on the background created an amazing bookish recipe for me. Mayra Cuevas’ writing style was really mesmerizing. The way she described different places of Europe in the storyline made me feel like I had been travelling with the characters too! France is one of my dream places to visit someday, and after reading Salty, Bitter, Sweet, I wish to go there even more than before.

• Now, let’s talk about the characters.

Isa was a complex character, which is acceptable due to her complicated family history. I wanted to hug her a lot of times throughout the story because of how cruelly life treated her at times. Apart from that, her passion for the culinary arts was really inspiring. Her character development made me really happy and proud. One of my favorite parts of the book was seeing her bloom into the best version of herself. She taught me that being afraid is okay, as long as you choose the right thing for yourself in the end. The sticker quotes in the bookstagram photo I took shows Isa’s qualities perfectly.

• The romance was ummm…kinda weird because of how the guy came into the story. I really wish the author chose a different route to introducing Diego in the plot. The romantic part of the book would have been perfect then. That being said, I really loved Diego as a character. He was a really sweet guy! I loved how he cared for Isa and how he played an important role on taking Isa through the right path ~ a path filled with happiness in her life. ￼

• The other side characters, specially Isa’s friends Lucia and Pippa were really likable too! The way they supported Isa was really heart-warming.

• Isa’s relationship with her Abuela, her grandmother I mean, was my absolute favorite part of Salty, Bitter, Sweet! I loved the intricate pattern in which the author showed how Abuela shaped Isa’s passion for cooking through flashbacks and their connections to Isa’s present life. It made me really emotional a lot of times too.

• I really wish Isa’s mom was mentioned more in the book. It would have been meaningful considering how much she inspired Isa. Their relationship was a missing part of the book sadly. I wanted to know more about them.

• The storyline is filled with important life teachings throughout the book. I really liked the learning aspect of Salty, Bitter, Sweet and how title of the book perfectly matched the story’s outcome – Life can take many salty and bitter turns, but it’s upto us to cook the sweetest ending to it. The author’s love for food was clearing expressed in the book, and that made the story a whole lot enjoyable. Overall, this book was really good read! If you are a fan of Elizabeth Acevedo’s book “With The Fire on High” , don’t forget to pick this up!

Best wishes to the author.

Salty, Bitter, Sweet

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