e-Audio,05:54:42
Narrated by: Jen Taylor
Release Date: March 5, 2024
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: March 30- April 1, 2024
Stand-alone
Source: Library’s Libby
TW: Medical Content, Grief, Death of a Parent
For Readers Interested In: Information on Chronic Illness, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, MGAuthor Kirby Larson, and her daughter, debut author, Quinn Wyatt, pen this story that explores what living with a chronic illness is like.
Tess Medina is still dealing with the loss of her father when she starts at a new school. One way she is still able to feel close to him is by doing what she does — baking. He taught her everything she knows. But when tasting her creations causes a deep stabbing pain in her abdomen, she tries to power through and be strong in the same way she powers through her emotional pain. She doesn’t mind too much–she’s okay with sharing her baked goods at school in the hopes of making new friends.
Lucky for Tess, her baking skills attract the right kind of attention, and she assembles a ragtag team to help her taste her new and classic creations in preparation for the Jubilee Flour Junior Baker West Coast competition. This is a chance to redeem herself and prove that she’s a star baker. Above all, Tess is desperate to win first place and make her dad proud.
But leading up to the competition, Tess’s pain gets worse and worse, and, soon, she finds that she’s avoiding so many foods that she’s barely eating. When the physical pain becomes too great, Tess will be forced to confront everything she has been trying so desperately to hide.
*MY THOUGHTS*
Writing this review while I’m going through some tummy issues of my own is like coming full circle. I’ve been having some problems because of my anxiety and it’s literally just as she explained it in this book. This was so informative, but also was just all around good. I really enjoyed this.
I think what I liked most about this was the descriptors. They were all really good. From the stuff she baked to the things she was describing that was happening to her stomach. The authors used words that gave really great visuals and amazing imagery. I liked it alot.
I also liked it because as good as it was it was also informative. I didn’t know hardly anything about Chron’s, but this book explained so much. I knew that there was no cure, but I didn’t know there was a treatment for it. I thought it was just watching what you ate. And y’all know how much I love books that are entertaining but also teach something. And I can almost guarantee that anyone who reads this will walk away having learned at least one thing about this chronic illness.
The actual plot of this one was doing a tad bit too much in my opinion. There was the baking thing, the friend group, the “crush” that didn’t seem like a crush. And it was just a lot going on. There were some holes that were still open and that was what got me. Otherwise, I think I would have given this 5 stars.
Books on chronic illness are usually a hit or miss for me. It’s either too informative and not entertaining enough, or it’s too entertaining and it’s not informative enough. This one was the perfect balance of the two. Yes the plot seemed a little holey, but this is also a middle grade novel, so I didn’t mind it as much. This was a hella fun time and I really loved every second of it. And yes, this includes the author’s note at the end.
Overall, I give this
