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allthatissim 's review for:
Arsenic and Adobo
by Mia P. Manansala
Actual rating: 3.5 stars
I dived into Arsenic and Adobo with lots of expectations. While it was a fun, cosy, one time read, the mystery part felt underwhelming.
Lila Macapagal returns to her hometown to help her aunt run her restaurant, Tita Rosie’s Kitchen, but she finds herself tangled in murder charges for the death of her ex, who was town’s nasty food critic hated by almost everyone. All evidence points to Lila and she seeks help from her friends and a bunch of aunties to solve the murder mystery and prove herself innocent.
The best part of this story was the representation, familial relations, and food. Every mention of Filipino food was mouthwatering (even there are some recipes mentioned at the end of the book).
I am not an ownvoices reviewer for the title, so I can’t fully comment about the representation here. But I loved knowing a Filipino-American family and a bunch of Aunties, whom I believe are essential parts of every Asian circle. The way Tita Rosie cares for everyone’s appetite and shows love through her food is amazing. She reminded me of my own mother whose love language is food too ❤️
The aunties, aka calendar crew, provided some much needed laughter moments in the story.
The things this story lacked starts with the characters itself. I wasn’t able to sympathise with the MC, Lila. In fact, all the characters were pretty dense. There didn’t seem any special connection between them and therefore it was hard to invest in them. Even the romance part was just meh. I don’t think there was a need to include that.
Another disappointment was the mystery. There wasn’t some major revealing plot, but the part detective Park played was pretty plain. He just pinned charges upon charges upon Lila but we didn’t actually see him working toward catching the main killer? It was all left on Lila to found out! That seemed a bit stupid.
Sometimes even the dishes mentioned seemed like they were being spoken straight from a restaurant menu, describing their content rather than actually incorporating that dish into the story.
Overall, if you are looking for a light and fun read filled with food, Filipino culture, and family, you can give this a try. It is fun for sure.
I dived into Arsenic and Adobo with lots of expectations. While it was a fun, cosy, one time read, the mystery part felt underwhelming.
Lila Macapagal returns to her hometown to help her aunt run her restaurant, Tita Rosie’s Kitchen, but she finds herself tangled in murder charges for the death of her ex, who was town’s nasty food critic hated by almost everyone. All evidence points to Lila and she seeks help from her friends and a bunch of aunties to solve the murder mystery and prove herself innocent.
The best part of this story was the representation, familial relations, and food. Every mention of Filipino food was mouthwatering (even there are some recipes mentioned at the end of the book).
I am not an ownvoices reviewer for the title, so I can’t fully comment about the representation here. But I loved knowing a Filipino-American family and a bunch of Aunties, whom I believe are essential parts of every Asian circle. The way Tita Rosie cares for everyone’s appetite and shows love through her food is amazing. She reminded me of my own mother whose love language is food too ❤️
The aunties, aka calendar crew, provided some much needed laughter moments in the story.
The things this story lacked starts with the characters itself. I wasn’t able to sympathise with the MC, Lila. In fact, all the characters were pretty dense. There didn’t seem any special connection between them and therefore it was hard to invest in them. Even the romance part was just meh. I don’t think there was a need to include that.
Another disappointment was the mystery. There wasn’t some major revealing plot, but the part detective Park played was pretty plain. He just pinned charges upon charges upon Lila but we didn’t actually see him working toward catching the main killer? It was all left on Lila to found out! That seemed a bit stupid.
Sometimes even the dishes mentioned seemed like they were being spoken straight from a restaurant menu, describing their content rather than actually incorporating that dish into the story.
Overall, if you are looking for a light and fun read filled with food, Filipino culture, and family, you can give this a try. It is fun for sure.