Reviews

From Scratch: A Memoir of Love, Sicily, and Finding Home by Tembi Locke

campbelle's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

erikaburns34's review

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reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

alyssarose's review

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

3.5

knod78's review

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5.0

4.5 stars for me.

This story was so much more than the show. I am surprised, completely. I kind of wished they spent more time on the parts around their love and Saro's death. I loved that in the movie, but didn't get it in the book. However, I loved the after parts visiting Sicily as much as they did that we missed in the movie. I loved how her relationship with her mother-in-law developed into something special. I loved the cooking and farming. I want to plant fava beans myself. I loved to see her daughter and her become one with Aliminusa, entrenched into the culture. I loved at the end when her parents came to visit, the mule guy tells them that she is a part of this town. And I especially loved the recipes at the end.

But there was quite a bit of repetitive information and almost gave this 4 stars. I kept reading that she was looking at this with both grief and happiness and moving forward. There are so many times you can read it. Sorry. And I kind of wished there was more story to their love. Yes, it sucks to read the parts of the cancer and the illness, but I felt detached from Saro unlike how I felt in the show. He was a ghost in this book and I didn't really like it.

I do recommend this book and you will get something from the book even more than just watching the show. I can say honestly, it's different. And this book also reminds me why I have repeatedly told my husband that he's not allowed to die before me.

anastasiyak's review

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4.0

a beautiful story of loss, mourning, food, family, and italy.

nypeapod's review

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4.0

A love story

A beautiful love story. I would have liked to read more about the relationship between the child and parents. It is an emotionally difficult book to read at times.

artbymonimack's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

ebtdean's review

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3.0

I’m torn between 3 and 4 stars for this. The story was well written and really beautiful. But the story jumped around so much between chapters and sections it was difficult to track. I feel as though the story would have been more impactful and enjoyable if it followed the path that the events happened. Granted, I think that much build up would have made it a more intensely sad book.

taylorsmith_sh's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

cavityfila's review against another edition

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Not a bad book but too slow for me. DNF at 50%.