glitteringeyes418's reviews
103 reviews

On this snowy day, I finished Kitchens of the Great Midwest. I wanted to dig back into the author's backlist after reading The Lager Queen of Minnesota. This novel gave similar warm and fuzzy familiar vibes but perhaps a little more sadness/darkness than his sophomore novel.⁣
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I really can't explain too much of the plot without giving much away but the novel begins with Lars Thorvald and his wife Cynthia raising their daughter Eva in Minnesota. Lars is an amazing cook and his daughter Eva also becomes a talented and enigmatic chef over the years. This novel is delicious, outlines many recipes throughout the chapters and brings us through many character's perspectives and interactions with Eva Thorvald.⁣
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I do think that the varying perspectives could have been more seamlessly integrated (at times, the various chapters read as disjointed short stories) but otherwise I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I loved the juxtaposition of stuffy foodie culture with cozy comfort Midwestern cooking, the coming-of-age of Eva and the exploration of family, whether close bonds or those severed long ago. The ending, like Lager Queen's, made me want to hug the book. 

CW: death of a parent, abandonment of a parent. ⁣ 

This past weekend I absolutely devoured this dystopian read by a beloved Indigenous author. I read Erdrich's earlier novel Love Medicine, and though I enjoyed it as well, this one was much more fast paced and absorbing.⁣⁣
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This novel follows Cedar Hawk Songmaker, a 26 year old woman who is pregnant during very strange, end of days times in which evolution is going backwards, affecting the viability of babies and all animals are devolving. Cedar was adopted by Minneapolis liberals, never seeking out her birth parents until she becomes pregnant and seeks out family medical history and Ojibwe roots. This novel is written exclusively in second person from Cedar's perspective to her unborn child.⁣⁣
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This book is SO GOOD! I enjoyed it so much and absolutely sped through this novel, reading it in just over 24 hours which is very unusual for me. It seems like this book had some mixed reviews, which I could see (Erdrich doesn't fully explain the mechanism/implications of reverse evolution in this world). However I was 100% here for the personal impact of a broader disaster, i.e. how it impacted her personally. Since pregnant women are required to turn themselves in to be studied in a hospital per government request, Cedar is impacted by this policy. I loved the surging hope, the unique and memorable cast of characters and the tense and urgent vibe. Some of the camaraderie here reminded me of Girl, Interrupted. Some other comps are Bird Box and The Handmaid's Tale.⁣⁣
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I highly recommend this novel if you are looking for a propulsive dystopian read and enjoy the focus on the personal impact of the end of days rather than the minutiae of such downfall. I give this one ⭐⭐⭐⭐, though I may rate it higher depending on the long term resonance.⁣⁣
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"I don't know why it is given to us to be so mortal and to feel so much. It is a cruel trick, and glorious."⁣⁣
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"This is how the world ends, I think, everything crazy yet people doing normal things."⁣⁣
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"Where will you be my darling, the last time it snows on earth?"⁣⁣