“When Lars first held her, his heart melted over her like butter on warm bread, and he would never get it back. When mother and baby were asleep in the hospital room, he went out to the parking lot, sat in his Dodge Omni, and cried like a man who had never wanted anything in his life until now"
Eva is born to a loving father, passionate chef and loyal husband. His loyalty isn't enough to keep Eva's mom from leaving both Eva and her father a couple months after she is born but none the less, Eva grows into a girl with a remarkable pallet and a passion for food and cooking that rivals even her father's.
I think I might have been destined to dislike this novel from the start. Great Kitchen's of the Midwest is written in that quirky format where we hear from people that have interacted with the main character in some big or small way. We hear from her high school boyfriend, her cousin, a competitor in the chef world, and her father. I think of all the books I have read in this format, this was both the best in terms of writing and the most successful in terms of execution. I still wasn't a fan unfortunately. The part of this particular narrative style that trips me up is the way I feel so disconnected from the main character and her story. I get an attitude with the author over it because I am super mature like that. If the character didn't matter enough to the author to allow an unobscured view of who she is, why should I care?
I will be a lifelong reader of anything J Ryan Stradal writes because The Lager Queen of Minnesota has my heart forever and can borrow tools from my garage whenever it wants without asking. This just wasn't my favorite due to pre-existing format pet peeve I have developed! The imagery and characterization was still just as strong as I would expect from Stradal so it wasn't a complete loss in my opinion. Please go read The Lager Queen of Minnesota first. I know it is his second book, but it is so lovely and I know whoever you are reading this right now, you will love it.
⭐️⭐️/5 stars
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