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roadtripreader 's review for:
The Golden Spoon
by Jessa Maxwell
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Man what a chore. Which is disappointing because I was looking forward to this book. I took copious amounts of breaks for a book that is barely 280 pages. Why? Because it was so dreadfully boring. Are you trying to ruin Bakeoff for me? Because you very nearly did. Honestly, a cozy mystery should not drag ridiculously like a drifting car in the Fast and The Furious and yet...this one did.
Here are the bones I need to pick:
1. Why is Betsy Martin's story told through third person narrative whilst all the bakers share their story through first person narrative? There seems to be no point other than an identical structure to the Nancy Warren series with the exception that it follows one contestant's point of view not the lot of them. Oh and WHY is Betsy the Judge and host, what blasphemy is this?
2. Why are there only six contestants and only six days of filming. Don't know what that is, but it aint no Bakeoff. The expected timeframe for suspension of disbelief is cutting it too close and does not feel at all like Bakeoff. And hey, this is coming from someone who read a book about witches baking in a bakeoff style competition - I can suspend some disbelief easy peasy.
3. Why are the contestants / characters on the Bake Week so dreadfully boring? I cared not one iota for any character. I didn't hate them. I didn't root for them. This book did not emotionally connect with any part of me. I just felt like a scientist observing a rather boring experiment with mild interest but really ready to go hunting for some theory that can't be proven just to wake me up from the slumber.
Look, Nancy Warren did this WHOLE Bakeoff-murder thing and she did it with the right amount of quirk, murder, magic and cozy. So I have to ask, was this meant to be a full on mystery but was marketed as cozy or is it just a flop in my eyes? Is it just moi? It tries way too hard with the jump scares and I just couldn't be bothered to feign interest.
I built this book up in my head and it just failed to deliver like dough that hasn't risen and churns out dense dry Danish pastries during Pastry Week.
Here are the bones I need to pick:
1. Why is Betsy Martin's story told through third person narrative whilst all the bakers share their story through first person narrative? There seems to be no point other than an identical structure to the Nancy Warren series with the exception that it follows one contestant's point of view not the lot of them. Oh and WHY is Betsy the Judge and host, what blasphemy is this?
2. Why are there only six contestants and only six days of filming. Don't know what that is, but it aint no Bakeoff. The expected timeframe for suspension of disbelief is cutting it too close and does not feel at all like Bakeoff. And hey, this is coming from someone who read a book about witches baking in a bakeoff style competition - I can suspend some disbelief easy peasy.
3. Why are the contestants / characters on the Bake Week so dreadfully boring? I cared not one iota for any character. I didn't hate them. I didn't root for them. This book did not emotionally connect with any part of me. I just felt like a scientist observing a rather boring experiment with mild interest but really ready to go hunting for some theory that can't be proven just to wake me up from the slumber.
Look, Nancy Warren did this WHOLE Bakeoff-murder thing and she did it with the right amount of quirk, murder, magic and cozy. So I have to ask, was this meant to be a full on mystery but was marketed as cozy or is it just a flop in my eyes? Is it just moi? It tries way too hard with the jump scares and I just couldn't be bothered to feign interest.
I built this book up in my head and it just failed to deliver like dough that hasn't risen and churns out dense dry Danish pastries during Pastry Week.