It’s been a while since I’ve had a book-hangover, but this inspired one. I loved these characters and the day after finishing the book I was sad that I couldn’t pick up where I left off and continue following their stories.
Besides being a charming riff on the classic Pygmalion/My Fair Lady story, this book included a lot of interesting and important history. As a Jew, I knew that many Jewish people were traditionally successful merchants, so was intrigued to learn about the level of discrimination faced by Jews during this time period. I knew nothing about the prejudices against many Asian cultures and towards civil free of mixed races.
As a huge fan of shows like Top Chef and The Great British Bake Off, I was fascinated to hear the sumptuous descriptions of the food being prepared by the culinarians in the story. I thought many of the ideas and preparations mentioned were modern inventions so was surprised to hear them talked about.
The author included a recipe at the end, but I actually would have liked more of them!
This book is totally appropriate for middle school and up - there’s the hint of romance, the perils of friendship, and lessons about bullying, discrimination, and stereotyping. In addition, I think the historical elements are interesting and original. The author’s note at the end addresses the liberties she took, so there shouldn’t be any confusion about the accuracy of the facts.
I listened to the audiobook and was reminded once again how much I hate the AI voice and how much a good voice actor adds to the success of an audiobook.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ALC in exchange for my honest opinions.

I enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I found it to be a really quick and pleasurable read but also well constructed. It is a fun gender-bent retelling of Pygmalion/My Fair Lady right down to the character's names. I loved the descriptions of all of the food and culinary techniques. I also really liked the language that Cohen chose to use. The speech patterns of the characters and the narration really aided the 1830s setting. And the author did a lot of research into the time period and a fun bit of speculating about what could have been as she describes at the end of the book. The romance element was also very well done. The slow build from acquaintances to friends to falling in love was great to read and really had me rooting for them. There were even good moral lessons about racism and prejudice and how things can be insulting and hurtful even if you don't intend them to be.

Overall, I thought this book was great and I would recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction, classic literature retellings, and good food!