Reviews

Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal

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sbn42's review against another edition

5.0

Don't read this when you are hungry! Food is wrapped through the whole story and neatly pulls it all together. Eva's mother abandons her as an infant. Her life scudders along a rough surface as she finds what truly makes her complete. The book will tug at the memories of all who grew up in the Midwest years ago. Very enjoyable read with an unexpectedly pleasant ending.

evaward's review against another edition

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2.0

Now I'm hungry

adam_vandeusen's review against another edition

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

4.25

shelbywilson's review against another edition

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5.0

Any book with a first chapter titled "Lutefisk" gets an A+ from meeee

sagewa8's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.25

kmthomas06's review against another edition

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3.0

3.5 stars. I liked this when I was sitting to read it but once I put it down, nothing really dragged me back to it. I do like the construction of books like this where a single character brings all the stories together though she herself might not be the main character for that chapter. The writing was a bit "try hard" at times; this is the book equivalent of Oscar bait. And with books like this, written in a more vignette style, I enjoyed some chapters more than others based of the characters in them. I did like how the "main" character is mostly an unknown. We know her through how the world sees her, not how she sees herself. Only one chapter of the entire book is from Eva's POV so I will give a kudos for the fact that she is someone you root for, and give the benefit of the doubt to, for the rest of the book even though you only had a short time with her. The author falls short with his female characters in my opinion (they tend to be stereotypes out of Hollywood casting for the most part and Hollywood is not kind to women most days) but in keeping Eva on the periphery, he actually does her a great service in her characterization.