Cover Image: The Chicken Sisters

The Chicken Sisters

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Member Reviews

This book was right up my alley – sisters, family drama, reality tv, and a small hometown. It was a great book and I can see why Reese picked it for her book club.

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Amanda gets the reality tv show Food Wars to come to the small town of Merinac, Kansas to film a food war between the two local chicken restaurants, now owned by her mom and mother-in-law. The two restaurants were started by sisters over a hundred years ago, and the two families have been feuding since. Amanda’s hoping the show will help both restaurants, but when her sister shows up to help her mom, the war seems to really begin. A fun story of family, food, and community.

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⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell’Antonia
A special thanks to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for this title. I voluntarily read and reviewed this title all thoughts and opinions are my own.
The Chicken Sisters it’s about two sisters from a small town in Kansas that carry on the family grudge. Amanda helps manage Frannie’s, the larger chicken restaurant with more on the menu. Frannie’s is owned by her mother-in-law Nancy. After her father-in-law and husband were killed in a car accident she stuck around to help Nancy and raise her two kids.
Mae lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two kids and films a Home organizing show. She wants nothing to do with her hometown her husband has never been there another have her kids. But when Amanda comes up with the idea to get the chicken restaurants on food wars competition she rushes home to be involved at Chicken Mimi’s after losing her job.
There’s lots of drama in this book fights between sisters fights between the sisters and their mother. The competition is fierce as both sisters came to keep their restaurants in first place.
It was a cute book It however did not suck me and like it was hoping it would.

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I absolutely loved the synopsis of this book and couldn't wait to read it. The idea of a family feud involving chicken...what's not to love? Well, unfortunately I didn't love it. The characters weren't likeable or relatable. The main storyline just got lost in a bunch of side stories that never tied together. I am sure that some loved this book, but I just could not connect with it like I had hoped.

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I read this book as part of Reese's Book club. I loved this story of two sisters in a war about their fast food chicken businesses. Think food wars between restaurants. It was fun, quirky and I would love to see a sequel. Highly recommend!

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This book was just okay for me, and I found it a bit silly. It was full of family drama and rivalries over a chicken recipe. The two main characters, Amanda and Mae, were not particularly likable in any way. I struggle to complete a book when I'm not too fond of the main characters. Since this book was one of Reese Witherspoon's Hello Sunshine picks, I thought it would be better.

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This book wasn't up my alley at the time that I read it. I wanted to love it, but it just missed the mark.
It is a smash up of a cooking show and a remodeling show but in real life. Two sisters coming together after years apart to win a cooking competition. Every interaction of the family left me less and less desiring to turn the page from the miss understanding to describing their situations, I only made it only 33% though before deciding this wasn't for me. I know many fellow readers who loved the book and the sister's relationship, so this book will be one I share with library customers looking for these specifics.
Thanks to NetGalley for the free preview copy it did not influence my opinion.

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A great lighthearted read. Really fun book! The author does a great job bringing all of the characters and restaurants to life. Definitely recommend! I loved it!

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What a fun novel this was from the location to the characters to so much more. Loved reading this from the very beginning all the way to the end.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for fair and honest review.

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Amanda and Mae; two sisters who couldn't be more opposite. Both girls were raised running a restaurant with their mother but that's about the only thing they share. Amanda stayed in her hometown to help run her mother in law`s restaurant. Mae left town as soon as she could, landing a job on TV only to lose it. Amanda decides to enter both restaurants in the reality tv show called Food Wars never thinking her sister would come back to town to try to further her career on TV. Total chick lit! 3.5 stars at best.

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I know that many enjoyed this book. And I usually love chic lit but this book was uninteresting to me. I began the book but I quickly sat it down. The writing style was not my favorite and therefore I found it hard to follow. I was sad that I could not connect with this book.

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Great food, a culinary reality show, competing sisters -- it all adds up to a very appealing story that is actually so funny I found myself laughing out loud. This book is feel-good food for the soul!

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Chicken Mimi’s and Chicken Frannie’s are two feuding restaurants in the tiny town of Merinac, Kansas. The restaurants were founded in the 1800’s by two feuding sisters - the restaurants have passed down thru the generation and are now run by Barbara (Mimi’s) and Nancy (Frannie’s). Amanda is the only person who has worked in both restaurants - she’s Barbara’s daughter and Nancy’s daughter-in-law. Amanda applies the restaurants for Food Wars, a reality television competition show with a $100,000 prize. When her sister Mae comes home for the show, the two sisters have to figure out how to work together to keep their family drama off the show.

If you’re looking for a solid women’s fiction book about sisters, you should read this. I’ve read two women’s fiction books lately, and I’ve enjoyed the change of pace from romance.

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I liked this book, but I felt like there was something missing. Maybe I wanted more Nancy and Barbara and their stories, or maybe just less drama. I think I had a hard time getting emotionally invested in either Mae or Amanda and wasn't really "rooting" for either of them. Overall, a quick and easy read, just not exactly my cup of tea.

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Amanda, tired of being in limbo, writes to the producers of the Food Channel's Food Wars shows to win a spot on the show for the family restaurants she's linked to. Both restaurants founded 100+ years ago by two sisters.
Today her mother, Barbara, runs the chicken shack that serves a limited menu to loyal customers while her mother-in-law, Nancy, runs the full service restaurant. Amanda's sister, Mae, returns to help their mother and the competition begins. Sibling rivalries, 100 years apart but as strong as ever. Flawed but very likeable characters brought repeated smiles to my face. Totally enjoyable.

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Being one of Reece Witherspoon's book club choices, I was excited to read this book; however, I was a little disappointed. The novel is basically a lot of family turmoil and heartache. I mean, I know not every family has a life of rainbows and unicorns (mine included!) but I really thought this was going to be a lighter read. The humor that was included in the novel was greatly overshadowed by divorce, death, hurt, anger, and bitterness. BUT, with that being said, I'm sure there are those readers that like that type of story plot. And for those, they will enjoy this book. It just was not for me.

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Perfect book to start off the new year! Fun, redemptive, and underscores the negative ripple effects of misunderstandings and the futility of division.

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KJ Dell’Antonia, the author of “The Chicken Sisters” has written a thought-provoking, intriguing and entertaining novel. The genres for this story are Women’s Domestic Life Fiction, Family Life Fiction and Fiction. There is also a touch of satire. The timeline for this story is set in the present but goes to the past when it pertains to the characters and events. The story takes place around a family feud which has gone on for over a century between the Moores and the Pogociellos, and their fried chicken establishments. When the daughter of one family marries the son of the other, things get more intense. The author describes her colorful characters as complicated, and complex. If you bring in the modern component of reality TV and media and “Food Wars” you have the ingredients for a blown-up disaster.

Amanda and Mae are two sisters as opposite as can be in every way. When Amanda sends a letter to the Reality show, Food Wars, she has no idea what is going to happen. Mae, on the other hand, has experience with media and has an idea of what can happen, unless it is too close to home. Mae returns home, after a disappointment to help her mother while the sisters are feuding on “Food Wars” Is there any chance that the sisters can work together instead of against each other?

I appreciate that the author discusses the issues of hoarding and mental illness. Also m enticed is the importance of family, sisters, friends, forgiveness, second chances, love, and hope.

I recommend this thought-provoking book for other readers.

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Great story about a family drama
generations of sister rivalry- with a good bit of misunderstanding thrown in
great read- I would highly recommend this book

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Mae Moore and her sister, Amanda, only have one thing in common, their childhood. Mae left their small hometown in Kansas the first chance she got. She has made a name for herself as an organizing guru with a reality show and her book on organizing has made her a household name. But right after she gets fired from her reality show, Mae gets a call from Amanda. Amanda has a plan to save her mother-in-law's chicken restaurant. Invite the reality show, Food Wars, to town to film at her mother-in-law's restaurant at war with her mother's restaurant. The two families have been at war for several generations and it only got worse when Amanda married the rival's son, Frank. Mae sees it as her chance to stay relevant and take her career in a new direction, but is she prepared for the emotional turmoil that going home will put her through? Will Food Wars save the town's restaurants or destroy them both, as well as destroy Mae and Amanda's relationship once and for all.

The Chicken Sisters was another one of Reese Witherspoon's carefully selected choices for her bookclub. And I absolutely adored it. At first glance, it seems like The Chicken Sisters is a fluffy, feel-good kind of book, but you need to look deeper. The book is full of complex relationships with years, if not decades of history keeping them from healing. I think I preferred Amanda over Mae, just because Mae seemed awfully self-centered. Even a bit narcissistic. Neither sister had a good relationship with their mother for obvious reason, but both were there for her when absolutely necessary. It was heartwarming, but even so, I hope they all get therapy in the sequel. If there is a sequel. The end was something straight out of a Hallmark movie, but it worked. CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS


Bottom Line - I really enjoyed The Chicken Sisters, the smalltown, rural Midwest setting was familiar to me, even if the plot was not. The Chicken Sisters is a delightfully charming novel that is a perfect read for your holiday break.

Details:
The Chicken Sisters by KJ Dell'Antonia
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Pages: 352
Publisher: G.P. Putnam
Publication Date: 12/1/2020
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Thank you to NetGalley for the book in exchange for an honest review.

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