Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck & Fortune by Roselle Lim

e-Audio, 10:30:56
Narrated by: Catherine Ho

Release Date:  June 11, 2019

Published by:  Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Read from: June 21-26, 2019

Stand-alone

Source: Library (Overdrive/ Libby)  

TW: 

For fans of: Romance, Contemporary Little to no sex, Realistic Fiction, Diversity, POC MC, Magical Realism, Adult 

     At the news of her mother’s death, Natalie Tan returns home. The two women hadn’t spoken since Natalie left in anger seven years ago, when her mother refused to support her chosen career as a chef. Natalie is shocked to discover the vibrant neighborhood of San Francisco’s Chinatown that she remembers from her childhood is fading, with businesses failing and families moving out. She’s even more surprised to learn she has inherited her grandmother’s restaurant.
     The neighborhood seer reads the restaurant’s fortune in the leaves: Natalie must cook three recipes from her grandmother’s cookbook to aid her struggling neighbors before the restaurant will succeed. Unfortunately, Natalie has no desire to help them try to turn things around–she resents the local shopkeepers for leaving her alone to take care of her agoraphobic mother when she was growing up. But with the support of a surprising new friend and a budding romance, Natalie starts to realize that maybe her neighbors really have been there for her all along.

*MY THOUGHTS*

     Berkley keeps coming with the hits and now you can add Natalie Tan to the list. This book was special and I really liked listening to it. From the characters to the romance, to the recipes, this was a very special book that I hope everyone will read!

     Natalie Tan moves back to her hometown after her mother passes away. When she arrives she finds out so many things she didn’t really know about her agoraphobic mother; that she missed Natalie more than she ever let on and that she had so many other secrets. Natalie decides to stay around and give her mother the proper burial, she realizes that the very people she blamed for leaving her mother, were the very people who never left her side. 

     The best thing about this for me was the hint of magical realism. The reason being? Because it was through the food. Most comfort foods make you feel the way Natalie’s made the characters feel, so it seemed so real. I mean comfort foods aren’t going around and changing people’s luck around, but it can make you feel warm and wonderful on the inside. 

     As for the romance, even though I’m usually all about the romance, this one featured a light romance and I was actually glad about that. I liked that this was more about her neighbors and trying to figure things about herself out. The romance was of course part of the story, but it wasn’t the biggest one and for me, that worked best for this story. 

     And then there were the other characters. I LOVED meeting everyone and seeing what they did. I loved that they all had their own story and that Lim developed them all. Lim brought them to life and I swear I felt like they were all also my neighbors. This neighborhood would be a great place to live or visit. 

     The one thing I didn’t care for was all the recipes. It seemed like at least once an hour she was making something and we heard all the ingredients and the way to cook it, etc. It just seemed a bit excessive to me. Like I wouldn’t mind in a paperback or hardcover, but in the audio it’s just measurements and ingredients the whole time. I wanted to see more of her writing style vs reading books about ingredients.  

     This book has received so much hype and I heard it’s going to become a tv series too? It’s not normal that I say this, but it most certainly deserves all this praise and more. I can’t wait to see what how the show develops and what else Lim has in store for us fans!

Overall, I give this