Book Review: “Salt and Sugar” by Rebecca Carvalho

“Salt and Sugar” by Rebecca Carvalho (2022)

Genre: Romance, YA, Contemporary, Fiction

Page Length: 368 pages (electronic review edition)

Synopsis:

Lari Ramires has always known this to be true. In Olinda, Brazil, her family’s bakery, Salt, has been at war with the Molinas’ bakery across the street, Sugar, for generations. But Lari’s world turns upside down when her beloved grandmother passes away. On top of that, a big supermarket chain has moved to town, forcing many of the small businesses to close.

Determined to protect her home, Lari does the unthinkable—she works together with Pedro Molina to save both of their bakeries. Lari realizes she might not know Pedro as well as she thought—and she maybe even likes what she learns—but the question remains: Can a Ramires and a Molina truly trust one another?

Review:

A Romeo and Juliet romance? ✔️

Pages filled with many mouthwatering recipes?✔️

A cozy novel about the healing powers of food?✔️

Salt and Sugar is a wonderful YA novel set in Brazil which features two young aspiring chefs. Lari is a girl who doesn’t know how to cook but has the willingness to learn and carry on her family’s bakery. Pedro is a young chef who would love to take over his family’s bakery but they aren’t willing to try his new ideas. When then these two rivals end up entangled in their family feud and in the cooking club at school can they put aside their differences and get along?

If you love Romance novels about food and family this story will surely appeal to you. It’s a beautifully written story that showcases the beauty and culture of Brazil through sights, sounds, and smells. I myself wanted to travel to Lair and Pedro’s cozy little town and taste the food Salt and Sugar were creating. I was so envious of the cooking club (since they didn’t have one at my school growing up) and loved the friendship and teamwork they developed through making food.

This novel is a testament to food and the healing powers that it can give by bringing people together and creating memories to last a lifetime. Lari especially struggles with grief and the impact of losing her grandmother while trying to carve out her own journey. She grows through great character development as she’s trying to figure out what she wants. It’s endearing to see her connect to her grandma through food as I do with my own grandma.

The enemies-to-lovers romance was so sweet and I loved seeing their vulnerability of letting down their walls and opening up together. They work hard to try to heal the decades-long rift that has hurt both families and hope that they can work together in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and it was such a joy to read. It left me with a fuzzy warm feeling, the romance was sweet, and now I have even more recipes on my list that I want to try making in the future.

Final Verdict: