Evidentially this book must be the classic marmite conundrum… you either love it or hate it, and sadly I fall into the latter. I had hoped to love this book as it had recieved such high praise. Had it not been one of my 25 books to read in 2025, I would honestly would have DNF’d.  

Whilst the food aspect of this book was well written , both rich and mouthwatering, sadly it completely watered down the plot and the pacing of the story itself as it was just so detailed. 

The plot for the first 50% of the book didn’t have enough for me to ‘sink my teeth into’ as it progressed slowly. Where I had hoped for a rich dark crime dive story … instead it was a more of a reflective piece of the misogyny and fat-phobia within Japanese culture. I absolutely tried to get on board with this reflective view but found the points to be drawn out and repetitive without adding any new depth to it. 

I feel had this book been condensed down significantly perhaps it would have been more impactful … sadly just not for me.