Reviews with content warning for Abortion - Soul Food

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Soul Food by Elizabeth Acevedo

34 reviews

teetea's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

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

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This book was gifted to me by Kate from the book club I'm in as part of a gift exchange for Summer. This book has been on my priority TBR for the longest time, and I enjoyed Poet X, so I was buzzed to start this. I am so thankful for Kate for buying me this book as it did not disappoint.

This book is based on seventeen-year-old Emoni and ever since she’s got pregnant, her life has been about making the tough decisions – doing what has to be done for her young daughter and her grandmother. Keeping her head down at school, trying not to get caught up with the new boy Malachi. The one place she can let everything go is in the kitchen, where she has magical hands – whipping up extraordinary food that is beloved by everyone. Emoni wants to be a chef more than anything, but she knows it’s pointless to pursue the impossible. There are rules she has to play by. And yet, once she starts cooking, and gets that fire on high, she sees that her drive to feed will feed her soul and dreams too and anything is possible.

I think this is one of the first books I’ve read which involves a teenage pregnancy and it wasn’t so negative all the time. I just wanted to hug Emoni so much throughout this book, I remember what it was like in the months leading up to leaving school and having no clue what to do and never mind the fact that she has a child and wants to do something high pressure related such as being a chef. I loved the storyline and I found it so beautiful. I loved Emoni’s best friend and how she was so real with her but also had her own issues with her sexuality and her anxiety with getting into art school.

I didn’t like the short chapters; I understand why it was with the style of writing. But small chapters just drive me nuts. It's one of my personal pet peeves with books. At times, I felt like this book dragged mainly because there was no major conflict – yes, Tyrone was being a dick, yes, she was struggling to get the funds, yes, she liked Malachi and she didn’t know how to handle that, yes, she had daddy issues and her grandmother was struggling. There was a lot of repetitive information that I found myself skimming over. I would have liked one main conflict or one main bad guy besides Tyrone’s mother because there is protective and then judgemental and sexist.

I would have liked this book to carry on once we knew what her future was going to look like, I felt like a majority of the book was about what Emoni’s was going to do but I would have loved to see her getting settled in college and work and how it worked with Emma. Hopefully there will be a book two in this series whether it’s when Emoni is a full-time chef or Emma in high school.

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k_fry's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I love how tenderly Acevedo wrote teen perspectives, giving them so much dignity, maturity, and growth that felt realistic. It’s not often that I come across a YA where there isn’t at least one unbelievably written character but every one of them in this story had wonderful depth. Of course, mistakes are made but they’re teens so it’s expected - the beauty of the story is how they react or learn believably.

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taleofabibliophile's review against another edition

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hopeful lighthearted reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.75

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frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I could not stop listening. I wanted to know more about what happens and I kept rooting for everyone. The food felt like a beautiful buttercream icing on a solid and delicious cake.

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carrot2025's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is by far one of my favorite books by Elizabeth Acevedo. It's a wonderful story about how the only mistake you can make in life, is not following your dreams. It's was so amazing getting to ready a story about a single teen mom and her struggles growing up as a poor mixed kid. Watching her grow from a more quiet girl who does what she can to please everyone around her while also feeling guilty for all the pain she's caused into a girl who is willing to do what she has to for her daughter and her own happiness. I love that at no point she's ever told that can't be a chef just because she has a daughter.

It's an amazing read and I highly recommend it to anyone.

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