I loved so much about this book. The different cultures represented, the competitiveness, the FOOOOOD, plus an enemies to lovers trope!

I was here for it! The characters are so well done and the story instantly draws you in and keeps you engaged to the end.

I often have Brazilian students, and I would love to have this on my shelf for them! I loved this book, its characters, and the important lessons on identity and pride that it offered.

I loved this one! The nods to Romeo and Juliet were great, and Lari and Pedro's back and forth relationship felt very natural for what they and their families have been through. They had to learn to trust each other, and be brave for themselves, even when their families were against them, whether individually or as a couple. It was really heartbreaking to see Lari's mom put so much pressure on her for a future she didn't even want, and I was rooting for Lari to have the courage to tell her mom the truth of what she wanted. For Pedro, he only wanted to earn his grandfather's approval, and he didn't always see things the same way as Seu Romário. It was really rough for both characters, but they did their best to make their families see reason and stop the multigenerational feud.

This had all the elements to be a good YA featuring much needed representation and a fresher twist on an exhausting overdone trope. Unfortunately, it came off as forgettable and disingenuous. Nothing felt like a natural progression, the feud was questionable at best? Can we get a story about the moms or the grandparents instead? They had more personality and depth in their very minimal parts than the two main love interests did in the entire story.

Had high hopes, and with them came high disappointment.

I super enjoyed this book. It was a fun read with great characters and a great and cute story. I would definitely recommend it!

I absolutely devoured this book.

Salt and Sugar was one of my favourite books I’ve read last year. It was sweet, salty and full of heart. Focusing on a family feud between rival bakeries, the book is an enemies to lovers novel showcasing how love can conquer all, and the power of small business.

We follow the book in Lari’s perspective. Her family has owned, run and baked for Salt their entire lives. However, their business is struggling thanks to the competition of a big brand supermarket wanting to take over Salt and its rival competitor, Sugar. In need of a miracle, Lari teams up with Pedro Molina, the great grandson of Sugar’s owner who needs Lari’s help too. The two hatch a plan to enter into a baking competition and use the prize money to save their neighbourhood and businesses from going under.

While being a cute romcom, it would be unwise to label Salt and Sugar as just another love story. This is a story about grief and continuing on with life without that person in it. Lari is struggling after her grandma’s passing with it having taken a toll on not just her or her family, but her neighbourhood as well. Things are getting tougher now as many businesses start selling their stores to a massive supermarket chain who have their sights set on Sugar and Salt. Lari doesn’t know what to do. She wants to continue her family legacy and continue baking but things feel really dire. She joins the school cooking club to help her learn how to bake where she realises she’s not the only one who feels helpless in this situation. She realises Pedro and the Molina family are also struggling to keep their traditions and neighbourhood alive in the midst of constant change.

Even though the focus was on grief and the main character’s experience of it, I liked how we also got glimpses into side character’s too. I liked finding out more about Pedro. He really cared for his family and wanted to pursue cooking in the future by changing up a few recipes and making things more modern and unique. I enjoyed the interactions between him and his friends too however, I wished we had more scenes with them because they were really fun to read about. I also liked how Pedro treated Lari. You could tell they cared for each other and their chemistry felt real and believable.

The only negative I have is with the competition at the end. I wish we had more parts showcasing the preparation because even though we knew the competition was happening, it felt so background even though it was a big part of the story.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to anyone who loves the enemies to lovers trope, likes books set in bakeries and books that aren’t afraid to tackle big topics.

ACTUAL RATING: 4.8 STARS

Featuring ~ single 1st person POV, loss of grandparent, YA, high school, business rivals, enemies to kissers, coming of age

One bakery is named Salt and the other Sugar. The business rivalry goes back decades with Lari and Pedro's great (I think just 1 great) grandparents.

Overall, this wasn't really for me, but I did enjoy the following:
~ how the grief surrounding the loss of Grandma was written
~ all the yummy sounding treats
~ how Lari & Pedro's fondness for each other slowly blossomed
~ the Romeo and Juliet retelling without the tragedy
~ how they worked together in the end for the common goal

What I wasn't really feeling:
~ the high school bullying and name calling
~ I thought the drama went on for way too long
~ it seemed like the families were fighting in the street nonstop
~ I wish Lari would have told her mother her aspirations much sooner

This one grew on me. Salt and Sugar by Rebecca Carvalho is a tale of star-crossed lovers….erhm I mean a story about the grandchildren of two rival bakeries who form a tenuous alliance in the hopes of saving their bakeries from being swallowed up by a big box store. From the Brazilian setting to the copious amounts of food, this book will leave you satisfied and craving more.

I will be the first to admit I did NOT like the start of this book. It felt very young, even for a YA, like classify it middle grade young. However, about a quarter of the way into the book I realized something I didn’t pick up on to begin with. I think the over-the-top drama was intentional and essential to the story as Lari, our main character, mentions multiple times how much her grandmother loved telenovelas and would compare what was happening to her as something from one of those shows. With that in mind, I was able to thoroughly sit back and enjoy this book.

The story opens on the day of Lari’s grandmother’s funeral. She is overwhelmed with her grief and angry at the situation. Her anger is only expounded when she arrives home to their bakery to find the bakery across the street open and flaunting their success. In a fit of rage, she walks over to give them a piece of her mind only to trip and accidentally take out the wedding cake Pedro worked on all morning. And so the drama begins.

Lari is an interesting character. She feels things deeper than most characters, and as such she reacts accordingly. Her grief over losing her grandmother and the fear of losing her home and bakery eat away at her. Lari is desperate, and desperate people do desperate things like making a deal with the devil or in her case a deal with a Molina.

Pedro is not at all what Lari, or I, expected him to be. He is harsh at times, the feud between their families interfering with their personal and school lives. But he is also kind and empathetic toward Lari. He understands her fear better than anyone else as it is his own fear. This common ground gives them a chance to bond and find out that there may be something better to fight over.

The feud itself is over the top drama, but again spot on for a telenovela. I loved the backstory we are given, and the things we learn through Lari as she learns there is more to it as well. The budding relationship between Pedro and Lari is also sweet in nature, and I found myself rooting for them early on.

Overall, I enjoyed Salt and Sugar. The cultural tie-in to Brazil was fun to explore, and all the food made me hungry and curious to try out some new recipes. If you are a fan of enemies to lovers or looking for a sweet YA contemporary, I highly recommend it.

Loved this book - a fantastic debut!
A perfect blend of baking and romance and friendship. I loved the family feud but also how everyone came together.
Can't wait for more from this author.

Delectable food descriptions, family feuds, and young love between two rivals. Salt and Sugar centers around Lari Ramires and Pedro Molina, from two families who both own a bakery, the former Salt that specializes in savory baked goods while the latter owns Sugar, who specializes, unsurprisingly, in sweet confections. The two families have been feuding for generations but with the loss of her grandmother and the loss of business due to a new supermarket chain moving into their Brazilian neighborhood, Lari turns to Pedro to save both their families' businesses.

While I found this to be a palatable and quick read, the slow-burn between Lari and Pedro was a bit underwhelming. The romance was the weakest aspect of this book and while I understand that it was meant to be a hate to love, the chemistry between the two was lacking any heat. The overall plot had promise but the shallow arguments that took over most of the chapters between the mothers quickly became a detriment as it provided nothing new to the storyline. It read like a debut; there was promise but the execution could use some work. That being said, I will be looking out for Carvalho’s next novel.

I loved this book! It was sweet and cute and made me hungry! It left me with a smile on my face. A great quick read when you want a feel-good book!

A great little story about for, family, romance, and a breathtaking setting that you would wish you were there. I loved the enemies to lovers and how the story opens and ends. It was perfect for a quick read when you just want to escape your world.

I LOVED this book. It surrounds you with the smells and sounds of Brazilian bakeries. I could literally taste the guava cake. Which I feel like I need to make now. The rivalry was fun and frustrating. Lari and Pedro's relationship was an absolute delight to see develop. They went to absolutely no trust to love and it was told in a believable way! Probably my favorite YA book I've read this year!

Lari Ramires’s family bakery, Salt, has always been at war with the Molina’s bakery across the street, called Sugar. The feud goes back a couple of generations. When Lari’s grandmother passes away, she’s faced with the hard truth that the bakery is struggling. A new supermarket chain that has opened nearby is trying to get all of the small businesses to close. Lari is desperate to save her family’s bakery, so she teams up with Pedro Molina, the grandson of Sugar’s owner, to try to save their family legacies.

I love this kind of star-crossed lovers story. Lari and Pedro were from feuding families, like Romeo and Juliet. The tension between them was there immediately, since their families were enemies. At the same time, they had a lot in common since their families had the same type of business with the same problems, which was a recipe for romance.

If you read this one, I highly recommend having some sweet treats nearby because the descriptions of pastries and treats made me so hungry!

Salt and Sugar is a cute YA romance!

Thank you HCC Frenzy for sending me a copy of this book!

A delightful read that left me craving so much food. I loved learning about Brazilian culture and customs while reading a fantastic story.

A forbidden romance... A romeo and juliet-esque retelling... I honestly expected more from this book. I couldn't connect with any of the characters and the drama seemed extremely over done. This was a bust for me.

I didn’t really get into this book because the beginning wasn’t very captivating in my opinion, but it was well-written, even if it was a bit predictable and formulaic. To me, it felt like I have already read several books like this that were executed a bit better but I did think it was a decent quick read. I really liked how the relationship between Lari and her mom is portrayed, but a lot of the rest of the book was unnecessarily dramatic for my tastes.

The first couple of chapters were really exciting, but then the book gets very slow and repetitive. The MC keeps talking about how she has a cooking curse, when she never even really tried and is just a little clumsy. The two feuding mothers were really ridiculous to me, way over the top. Overall it was a very cute rom-com, and I liked the interactions between the two as their relationship built up and grew, but there were a few times where he reacted weird to his character, like all kind and caring and understanding one second, to immediately turn around and be completely contradictory. It ran very hot and cold. Culture-wise, this was a great book, because you really get to learn a lot about Brazil and Brazilian culture, in particular about their cuisine. It is most definitely a book that will make you hungry and also make you want to try some new dishes! I think it was a good debut novel, and I would definitely try the author out again on another book.

Salt and Sugar follows rivals Lari and Pedro as they grapple with the frustrating feud between their families as they slowly begin to get to know each other. Their bakeries come under threat from the large corporation who is picking off small businesses one by one and exploiting local recipes and people to make money.

I really enjoyed this story overall. I could feel Lari's frustrations with her mom, her family legacy, and Pedro and the rivalry. I think she overcame so much to follow her passion and she learned to develop her talents and find her voice to fight for what she wanted in life. I think Lari and Pedro's relationship developed well over the course of the novel and liked that while it was a factor, it wasn't the central plot of the novel. I think some of my students would enjoy this book!

This ended up being a DNF for me.
There is a lot of drama in this, but it all felt manufactured rather than natural.
The MC was especially annoying with her harsh attitude for (what seems like) no reason.
I gave it 25% and decided I would rather listen to something else this close to the end of the year.
I may go back in the new year and try again?
Thanks to NetGalley & Inkyard Press for my DRC.