js-bp

~jumps up and down~ I finished! I finished! Good Gawd I finished the book!! A Particular Sadness for Lemon Cake is a combination of unique, disturbing and unorganized. I have no other words to describe this novel as I found myself tuning in and out of the events as they were slapped together in a messy sort of way that made me feel tossed around from scene to scene in a random fashion. First off, it took me a few chapters to even achieve mild interest, but then when Part II came along all the way to the conclusion, I was completely lost and confused with the shift in the story’s theme. Classic examples of an author who is unable to carry her original story concept all the way through the book. Bummer… I understand developing a novel around a girl’s ability to taste the emotions of people through food is a rather limited concept to develop, so this book would have been better served as a short story without the bizarre events involving Rose, Joseph, her mother and father and all sorts of nonsensical happenings that served as wasted fluff. When the story commences, Rose is turning nine years old and she realizes upon eating a lemon cake her mom made for her birthday that she can sense the sadness her mother was experiencing while baking the cake. From then on, she takes a careful approach to eating as a full gamut of emotions can be conveyed to her from her brother’s frustration when she nibbles on his toast to the despair her mother is feeling when she eats the dinner that was prepared. In my opinion, nine year old Rose is a too young of a narrator to carry the first part of the story. I say that because I have a feeling that the author truly underestimates a child’s ability to communicate at that age and it just resulted in frustration for the reader… in my case at least. I know because I have nieces and nephews that are quite verbose in expressing their feelings and let’s just say they can come across loud and clear. I was extremely frustrated when Rose was unable to explain to her mother that the food she eats drives all sorts of feelings in her, and I wanted to shake the mother and say, “Can’t you see when she eats your pot roast she becomes upset because she knows you’re having an affair!?!’ Gah! So the voice of the MC is all wrong IMHO for the first 120 pages or so, or possibly just poorly executed. Then when the setting of the story shifts to seventeen year old Rose, it takes a turn down bizarre avenue. I suspected all along that her brother Joseph had some form of autism, and I was leaning toward Asperger syndrome. Okay I know… I’m no doctor, but his lack of interest with social interaction and focused, repetitive behaviors and interests led me down that path. I wish Aimee Bender would have worked that angle rather than play out that bizarre scene with Joseph and the chair in his apartment and his multiple disappearances. What a hot mess and a ginormous WTF! A CHAIR!!! Holy hell, I won’t even waste my time contemplating what that was all about. Another thing that really bugged me… Rose’s mother is having an affair and Rose figures it out at the age of 12. So, she tells her daughter she’ll stop the affair if Rose wants her too… errr… not because it’s wrong…. errr….. not because she feels bad about it… but only if Rose tells her to stop, which BTW Rose tells her to carry on with her love fest. Someone, please tell me I’m not wrong in fuming about this idiotic situation… Finally… FINALLLY when the story mercifully comes to a close and I believe Rose is now around twenty-two, I can’t say it’s wrapped up with much success because I was just left with a feeling that I wasted my time with this book and that’s always a disappointing experience. One more thing… “I’m fine… Just fine.” Someone please hit me upside the head if I ever say those words in that order ever again… So finally, let me try to extrapolate at least one thing I gleaned from The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, I did find myself wondering if my relationship with my family and friends would be different if I could truly know what they are feeling as many of us keep our honest emotions hidden deep down. Overall though, I didn’t care for this one for many reasons...

2023-07-27 13:37