Welcome to Litsy!

This book is a story about power, about food and love, it‘s a complex and sensual and creative. I did find it hard to read though, taking several weeks to finally make my way through it. This book made me hungry with its intense descriptions of food, but it also left me a bit cold, in that I wanted to feel more for the unnamed chef, I wanted to care more, but I didn‘t. So it‘s not quite Pick and not quite So-so

This sounded like my kind of book: in a near future climate change catastrophe, a chef finds work at a rich people safe haven. Unfortunately, the sometimes outlandishly sensual descriptions of fancy foods left me mostly bemused. The depiction of the chef's employer never gelled for me, and the results of the hunt near the end of the book were truly horrifying. Maybe it's because I'd just as soon eat cereal for dinner, but this book wasn't for me.

I found the first part far more engaging than the last bit. It‘s a really interesting concept - and maybe feels like it‘s something that‘ll happen in the not-too-distant future - but it was a little too neatly wrapped up at the end.

There was a lot I loved about this book: the post apocalyptic setting, the effect of worldwide scarcity on the rich, the incredible descriptions of the food. I wasn‘t as keen on the ending - which seemed abrupt and too pat - but I‘d definitely read more by this author. A soft pick.

Dystopian, food-centric, and apathetic. I enjoy Zhang‘s writing but I didn‘t enjoy being with the main character, a chef who‘s been invited to cook for a billionaire in the mountains of Italy where freezers are stocked full of exotic and extinct species of all sorts and dignitaries/celebrities/wealthy come for dinner parties. I‘d read this for the food descriptions alone, but I would have liked more dystopian details and less pining and whining.

Bridgerton tea and macarons for this post apocalypse book that centers a chef and food.
The beginning was enthralling and then I just got a bit bored. I don't know if I had ever wished a book was a short story before but was wanting that from this one.
I do think for what she meant to do it was well written and good world building, it was probably a right book but wrong time issue, I just couldn't get myself to pick it up.

This story felt (sadly) less dystopian and more a story about a likely series of events as the impact of climate change becomes more severe. It started out a bit slow but then picked up and I was hooked and couldn‘t look away. I‘m not sure I would describe the book as “fun” like some reviews; I found it very sad most of the time. But the descriptions of food, love and intimacy were exquisite. Overall a pick.

Third bail in a row. What‘s wrong with me? I normally love dystopian novels but this one felt so far-fetched from the start. After 70 pages I still have no clue what the book is about and I‘m giving up.
Tomorrow I‘ll start a thriller, my go to genre when nothing else can hold my attention!

I really enjoyed the first 2/3 of this dystopia wherein a chef finds herself in a job in a mysterious spot run by a wealthy man who feels he can outsmart climate catastrophe. It is fascinating and chilling and made me seriously want some strawberries. But the final third or so is a little weak and the end becomes a bit belabored, dropping this to a low pick for me.

When an industrial accident creates smog that causes world-wide crop failure it leads to mass animal & human death. The MC is a chef who takes a job at a mysterious mountain-top restaurant serving only the best food for the rich & secretive.
I can see this being a good book for starting a conversation about food scarcity & how nothing is out of reach for the rich, I didn‘t care for it. I would‘ve preferred a different POV & punctuation was weird.

Told myself I‘d only buy the tagged but Carmilla looked so cool!

#bookhaul #brooklynbookfest

Smog has destroyed most of the world‘s crops and food has become scarce. A young chef joins a mysterious mogul in his mountain eyrie in Italy, where seeds and crops are brought back to life and rich food is plentiful. She builds a relationship with the mogul‘s charismatic daughter, but what happens when she is asked to give more than expected.

This book really made me think, covering dystopian themes of scarcity and greed at the end of ⬇️

In the near future, a chef applies for a position in an elite, guarded community atop a mountain after a worldwide smog outbreak causes wide-spread crop destruction and famine. Here, animals and food available nowhere else are carefully curated in underground labs. But what secrets are her employer and his daughter hiding? And how do they lead to the community's eventual destruction? #NetgalleyBingo @Larkken

Netgalley Bingo: Publishing in 2024

@Larkken just shared this fun Netgalley bingo board for August! My life is wild at the moment but I think it'd still be fun to see how many I can do! I managed to get through several arcs during #JuneofARC so I figure it's worth a try. Reading the tagged book right now #NetGalleyBingo