I struggled what to rate this book, 3 or 4? I had trouble connecting to the MC. She just lacked something that made it hard for me to empathize for her. I’m not sure if it’s because the author didn’t delve into how she was feeling enough, but it felt like being an observer with no understanding of where her head was. Because of that, her connection to the MML felt… meh. There was no real heat between them, no tension. Even her anger/grief felt disjointed. Her “love” for cooking could have been used as a way to express… anything?

I also was frustrated with the lack of information on the time period. It was a bit all over the place and I wished they had spent a few paragraphs on that. I kept flip flopping on the time and was getting confused. Was this early 1900s? The 1800s? Earlier than that still? Only the lone “ice box” told me it could be anytime between 1802 and idk, 1920?

While I’m really going in on this book, it still was a very fun read. Such a cool idea for a book! I will definitely be reading the second one. I encourage you to give it a try because the story was still very interesting. Even if it sits as a 3 stars on your bookshelf.