e-ARC, 352 pages
Release Date: June 18, 2019Published by: Simon Pulse
Read from: June 7-12, 2019Anthology (Stand-alone)Source: Publishers (I received a copy of this book from the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)TW: Mentions drugs in one story.For fans of: Fantasy, Contemporary, Paranormal, Foodies, YAFrom some of your favorite bestselling and critically acclaimed authors—including Sandhya Menon, Anna-Marie McLemore, and Rin Chupeco—comes a collection of interconnected short stories that explore the intersection of family, culture, and food in the lives of thirteen teens.
A shy teenager attempts to express how she really feels through the confections she makes at her family’s pasteleria. A tourist from Montenegro desperately seeks a magic soup dumpling that could cure his fear of death. An aspiring chef realizes that butter and soul are the key ingredients to win a cooking competition that could win him the money to save his mother’s life.
Welcome to Hungry Hearts Row, where the answers to most of life’s hard questions are kneaded, rolled, baked. Where a typical greeting is, “Have you had anything to eat?” Where magic and food and love are sometimes one and the same.
Told in interconnected short stories, Hungry Hearts explores the many meanings food can take on beyond mere nourishment. It can symbolize love and despair, family and culture, belonging and home.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Hungry Hearts was an anthology like no other that I’ve read. There’s friendships, family, culture, love, all of these things depicted in so many different stories. And the coolest thing about it all? They all intertwine! I hope there will be many more anthologies like this one to come out!
The coolest thing about this is the way there are so many different authors and so many different cultures, and yet they all intertwine. In some stories there’s a character that ends up in many other stories, and in others there’s just the mention of something that might have happened in a previous story. No matter how it was, I was always impressed. I’ve never read a book like this and I enjoyed picking out all the little surprises I found in each story.
As a foodie, when I heard about this book I jumped on the chance to review it. I just knew there were going to be recipes and descriptions that were sure to make me hungry. And I’m happy to say, I got both. There are definitely a couple I want to try and either recreate OR make their version of it.
As with any anthology, there were some stories I enjoyed (like Jay Coles’ and Caroline Tung Richmond) and others I didn’t. And there were a few authors I haven’t read yet, so now after reading this I’m more likely to think to give them a shot a lot quicker. And because it was by so many different authors, I did find myself struggling with the writing style of some, but for the most part, I liked all of them.
Last thing, I will warn you, don’t read this on an empty stomach! If you don’t heed my warning, there is nothing I can do when you’re craving “Soup No. 5” and delicious, magical pastries. This book has something for everyone, so even if you want to only read a couple of them, make sure you pick this up and give it a try!
The coolest thing about this is the way there are so many different authors and so many different cultures, and yet they all intertwine. In some stories there’s a character that ends up in many other stories, and in others there’s just the mention of something that might have happened in a previous story. No matter how it was, I was always impressed. I’ve never read a book like this and I enjoyed picking out all the little surprises I found in each story.
As a foodie, when I heard about this book I jumped on the chance to review it. I just knew there were going to be recipes and descriptions that were sure to make me hungry. And I’m happy to say, I got both. There are definitely a couple I want to try and either recreate OR make their version of it.
As with any anthology, there were some stories I enjoyed (like Jay Coles’ and Caroline Tung Richmond) and others I didn’t. And there were a few authors I haven’t read yet, so now after reading this I’m more likely to think to give them a shot a lot quicker. And because it was by so many different authors, I did find myself struggling with the writing style of some, but for the most part, I liked all of them.
Last thing, I will warn you, don’t read this on an empty stomach! If you don’t heed my warning, there is nothing I can do when you’re craving “Soup No. 5” and delicious, magical pastries. This book has something for everyone, so even if you want to only read a couple of them, make sure you pick this up and give it a try!
Overall, I give this
(I came up with this number by adding up all ratings I gave each story and finding the average!)