Author: C Pam Zhang
# of Pages: 240 (hardback)
Genre: Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia
Rating: ★★★☆☆
Synopsis: A smog has spread. Food crops are rapidly disappearing. A chef escapes her dying career in a dreary city to take a job at a decadent mountaintop colony seemingly free of the world’s troubles. There, the sky is clear again. Rare ingredients abound. Her enigmatic employer and his visionary daughter have built a lush new life for the global elite, one that reawakens the chef to the pleasures of taste, touch, and her own body. In this atmosphere of hidden wonders and cool, seductive violence, the chef’s boundaries undergo a thrilling erosion. Soon she is pushed to the center of a startling attempt to reshape the world far beyond the plate.
Review: What a whirlwind. This could be anywhere from a 2 star to a 4 star.
I thought this would be a quick read, but the "abstract"/"artsy" writing style really slowed me down. I had to carefully read each passage to make sure I didn't miss anything amongst the rambling comparisons with food (be prepared for sex and food references to be intertwined - was not expecting to read about cooking and lesbian sex at the same time).
I liked how the book tackles the topic of what dystopia our world would be in with climate change + pollution. I could really feel the desperation and despair, and the ending was much more readable and not too predictable. This made me consider even giving it 4 stars. However, Zhang also addresses topics such as rich vs poor, family, and identity which cluttered the story - I would have preferred Zhang to dive into one or two of these "deep" topics rather than try to address them all.
The progression of the plot slowed a lot in the middle - this already short book could probably be even shorter.
I don't think this book is worth the read.
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