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juanat77's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
amelianotthepilot's review against another edition
3.0
our main character Iris, is a chef from London, her mother has recently passed away and she’s escaped a manipulative ex boyfriend and now is living in NYC trying to live the dream. She’s found work at a noodle restaurant who’s owner is her gay male best friend 🙄 (what a tired trope) and she also lives in the building. After a series of events she ends up helping our leading man, Gio, an italian american restaurant owner, figure out his family’s lost gelato recipe which Iris happens to know.
first off it starts with a random chapter set on valentine’s day of Iris being rude to a random man (guess who this turns out to be) cause he took the last book at a bookstore.
The book then jump cuts to September’s San Genarro festival in Little Italy and doesn’t bring up this bookshop moment until wayyyy later at which point I literally thought it wasn’t coming back.
I also feel like there was a weird confusion around her parents and the love interest’s parents that left me thinking half of the book that this might turn out to be an incest plot 🙅🏼♀️🙅🏼♀️🙅🏼♀️ maybe i just wasn’t paying attention enough but Iris’s mother was in a band together with two men who were a guitarist and a drummer. Her mother also dated one of the guitarist’s brother, who is the restaurant owner and Gio’s uncle that he calls papa. For me it was unclear that Iris’s mother had the baby with the drummer not the guitarist, and that the guitarist is Gio’s dad. Very confusing tbh and I spent have the book in fear it was incest
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Alcohol
meggiemeggie52's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
And now I want gelato.
Moderate: Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Death of parent, and Alcohol
Minor: Cancer, Sexual content, Vomit, and Abandonment
FMC has an emotionally abusive ex. FMC and MMC had someone important to them pass away, and it/their grief is mentioned often. Sexual content is present, but "behind closed doors" (aka nothing graphic/explicit).theespressoedition's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Sexual content, Grief, and Alcohol
csl4240's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Grief and Death of parent
Minor: Cursing, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, and Alcohol
laheath's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A sweet romance that develops around a family's secret gelato recipe. It sounds simple, but the recipe is not the only secret from the past preventing the two lead characters from getting together. The glimpses of NYC, beyond the typical tourist stops, were wonderful.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Sexual content and Toxic relationship
Minor: Cursing, Medical content, and Alcohol
meredith_williams_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The winter city setting and family dynamics in this book were enjoyable. I also liked Gio as a love interest and thought the dual timeline between Iris’s present and her mothers past were interesting. However, the secret that serves as the main conflict in the book was simply not that serious. It caused a lot of unnecessary miscommunication between the love interests and it made Iris’s character hard to root for at times.
Ultimately, this book was as vanilla as the gelato that Gio’s family is known for. It’s good if you want a little something sweet, but you’ll be wishing it had more flavor by the time you’re done.
Graphic: Emotional abuse and Death of parent
Moderate: Cursing, Sexual content, Grief, and Pregnancy
Minor: Vomit and Alcohol
readingwithmeredith's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship