Welcome to the review tour for Bake Believe by Cori Cooper! This is a book full of delectable baked goods and an interesting family twist. Read my full review and an excerpt from the book before you download your copy. Follow the tour for even more thoughts and sneak peeks inside. Best of luck entering the giveaway!
Cat Anderson doesn't want much out of life. Give her a circle of friends to giggle with, a few boys to flirt with, a cute outfit, and she is good to go! She especially could care less about food.
But food, it turns out, is a very big deal.
In Cat's family there is a secret too fantastic to be real. Something happens when Cat bakes.
Something amazing.
Something impossible.
Can it be true? Or is it Bake Believe?
Read an excerpt:
Robyn saw the look on my face and sat back up. She reached for a corn tortilla and held it in front of my face. “See this?”
I nodded.
“This tortilla, by itself, is muy disgusting.”
Marissa clicked her tongue.
Robyn glanced at her mom but kept talking. “It is super bland all by itself, but if you add salsa or guacamole or something else, it’s deliciouso!” She spooned salsa down the center, rolled it up and took a bite to prove her point.
I nodded again, even though I had no idea what she was talking about.
As soon as she was done chewing, Robyn spread her hands out. “You don’t want a bland tortilla life, Cat; you want life with the salsa!”
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**My thoughts**
My favorite part of this book is definitely all of the fantastic recipes that are interwoven throughout. I love the way that the author puts her personality into the directions for making the various concoctions. They make for a fun collection and I look forward to trying some of them out.
The story was ... interesting. Cat is a lot to take in, especially at the beginning of the book. She's extremely active, loud, and rambles on in that present tense narration where you know every single little detail of what she sees and is doing that is not my favorite. (This does ease up as the story goes on, though.) She's also way overly concerned with what anyone else thinks about her. When I later realized she was just starting the 8th grade, that part made a lot more sense and the abrasiveness eased. I also think that Cat calmed down a bit more.
Her mother is extremely odd. She has a complete aversion to cooking or baking and refuses to let anyone in her household do either. They eat prepackaged foods or order out. Mom also seems to zone out. The teacher in me started getting very concerned about this poor girl and her family.
But then when school starts, everything starts to change. Cat ends up in a Culinary class, thanks to a weird mix-up with the schedules. And then halfway through the book, we find out why her mom is so weirded out about cooking and baking. Everything finally starts to make sense and then I found myself really enjoying the second half of the book. I especially like her interactions with Tobey and her lessons with her Aunt Marissa.
This is definitely a book geared toward younger teens. So if you're not used to that age group, I think you're going to have a hard time enjoying it. But I think kids around the same age as Cat and her friends will like it a lot. And again, the recipes alone are worth it. I do wonder if there will be more with Cat and company in future books?
Thank you to the author and Goddess Fish for fulfilling my request for a review copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I'm a mama of four witty, movie quoting, awesome sauce kids - three teens and one preteen. Yes, they end up in my novels! Don't worry, names are changed to protect the innocent and everything is always GREATLY exaggerated! That's my super power.
I'm also wife to the cutest guy in the whole world. It's true! I'm not bias at all, really. We met in Middle School and got married after he served a mission for our Church. It's been a wild ride, but I wouldn't miss it for a plate full of Cinnamon Rolls.
Or anything else, actually!
I hope you have as much fun reading my stuff as I have writing it. The creative process is so fantastic, I just love every part of it!
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Cori Cooper will be awarding a Bake Believe Apron (US Only) to a randomly drawn winner via rafflecopter during the tour.
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Thanks for hosting!
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your thoughts on the book.
ReplyDeletecute cover
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review and for hosting Bake Believe!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a very good book.
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