Review: The Sweetest Thing

Author: Christina Mandelski

Pages: 352

Publisher: Egmont

Source: Library

Synopsis: In the world of Sheridan Wells, life is perfect when she’s decorating a cake. Unfortunately, everything else is a complete mess: her mom ran off years ago, her dad is more interested in his restaurant, and the idea of a boyfriend is laughable. 

But Sheridan is convinced finding her mom will solve all her problems—only her dad’s about to get a cooking show in New York, which means her dream of a perfect family will be dashed. 

Using just the right amount of romance, family drama, and cute boys, The Sweetest Thing will entice fans with its perfect mixture of girl-friendly ingredients.

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The Sweetest Thing wasn't what I hoped it would be. It wasn't the story for me, sadly.

First, I couldn't really bring myself to like the main character. She acted selfishly so much that I was constantly annoyed with her. She made bad decisions, acted impulsively, and though everyone around her said she was good and amazing, I had a hard time seeing that. Sheridan just wasn't someone I liked and that created complications. To be fair, she did have a hard background and had issues with family and change. She was damaged in a way. I could relate to her but I didn't really like her.

My other problem was that the story didn't really hook me in. Nothing really sparked my interest except an event about 3/4s of the way in. It's not a boring story, but it's a lot about Sheridan's personal growth. Not really action packed and I'm an adrenaline junkie. It was good but a little too plain for my tastes. The story also felt really really long. I wasn't as invested in the story as I hoped I would be.

Now on to good things because if the story was totally awful I wouldn't bother reading it. Sheridan's relationship with her dad was something I loved and hated. I could relate to it and though Sheridan was a bit daft sometimes, I really liked the dynamic shown. It wasn't simple but complex. There were layers of hurt, anger, estrangement and love. Nanny was a sweet character. She made me miss my grandma. I always smiled when she was in the scene. There was a variety of colorful secondary characters which I loved. Some of them were cliché but others were so special and unique and had me thinking of people I've met. I wish there were more of these types of characters in YA.

Overall, The Sweetest Thing had great characters. I do wish I enjoyed the story better but I can see this as a good contemporary story. I'm not the biggest fan of the contemporary genre though. 2 stars,

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