The concept of The Recipe Club is a fantastic idea for a novel – a story of a lifelong friendship combined with more than eighty recipes. At the book’s center are Lilly and Val, who form a two-person “recipe club” in which they write letters back and forth and include a recipe in each one. The club provides a nice distraction from their real lives, as both of the girls have less than ideal sets of parents. Lilly and Val’s friendship sustains many trails and tribulations over the years, until their early twenties when a catastrophic betrayal changes their relationship forever.
I absolutely LOVE the idea of this book. I didn’t cook or bake as a child, but I almost wish I did so I could have started a recipe club of my own! When I have a daughter, I would love to encourage HER to start a recipe club, I honestly love the idea that much. 🙂
So, about the book. It was definitely an enjoyable experience for me. Lilly and Val were believable characters and their friendship was very authentic. More different than they were alike, their friendship really illustrates the fact that best friends can sometimes be the most unlikely people – but in this case, it just worked. Their story was very sweet and the struggles they went through were very typical of preteens, teens, and young women, and since the girls were so different the reader was able to see these issues from two opposite points of view, which was entertaining.
I loved the format of the novel – it was done almost entirely in letters, emails, and recipes. It made for a very quick read, and while it somewhat kept the characters at arm’s length, I still felt that I got to know Lilly and Val pretty well.
I have to admit that the ending of the book somewhat disappointed me. First of all, it stopped being told in letters and became a traditional third-person point of view novel, which was very jolting. It took me a few minutes to get re-acquainted with the characters in this new format. In addition, the events in the last twenty pages of the novel were much heavier than those in the first three hundred. It just seemed strange – the rest of the book was lighter and more fun, and at the end there was this huge life-altering event which, to me, just seemed out of place.
All that being said, however, I did still like the novel. The Recipe Club was not perfect in my eyes, but I still found it to be a fun, engaging story about friendship and the recipes that kept that friendship alive. And the bonus is that I now have another cookbook to add to my collection!
What a shame that the epistolary format stopped all of a sudden. I adore epistolary novels, and I know I’d resent the sudden change of pace. :p
What a shame indeed. It really took so much of the charm of this book away for me, and it was so very disappointing.
I’m with you guys — I love epistolary novels, love them! So a shame that it did suddenly end that way — I don’t know why they do that! A reader has gotten comfortable in that style and to change it up — it can almost be jarring. I do want to pick up this book, but I will bear in mind your thought at well!
It was totally jarring! I did enjoy the book, even with that sudden change, but still… I think it would have been better if the format were consistent throughout. Oh well.
I just added this one to my Wish List. I generally have to see a book on a few blogs and see how it is reviewed before I add it.
Thanks for the review!
Deb, I hope you get the chance to read this book and I hope you enjoy it!
I liked this one but the recipes seemed very complex for me, but hey, I can barely boil water!
LOL I agree with you about SOME of the recipes. But others seemed pretty simple, you could definitely pull them off! I only started cooking about 2 years ago so I love reading new recipes and dreaming about trying them out. I will definitely be making some of the stuff from the book so I’ll let you know how it goes. 🙂
Just the cover is enough to draw me in. It sounds like a cool format too!
I love the cover too! How pretty it is.
see this site…its better than book
http://www.movierecipes.net/
I do not take much pleasure from being in the kitchen so it’s hard for me to imagine a friendship based on shared recipes BUT this still sounds like a wonderful book. I’m sorry the end didn’t work for you, but I’m glad that you were a part of the tour!