Reviewed by Kinsey Manchester
3.5/5 Stars
Hudson Avery is a seventeen year old junior in high
school. Hudson bakes cupcakes for her mom’s struggling diner and is dubbed the
“Cupcake Queen”. Her entire existence is based on her amazing cupcake making
skills and she is bound to work at her mother’s diner for the rest of her life.
Hudson used to have a bright future until her dad cheated on her mom and they
got divorced. When her dad left, Hudson quit her promising ice skating career.
Now, with Hudson’s life shattered, she spends her time hiding behind the
counter and the cupcakes, afraid to do what she loves again. She gets a letter
about a competition and cannot help the excitement she gets when she thinks
about competing again, so she sneaks away to ice skate. Hudson is scared to
tell her mom that she wants to keep skating, worried of the unhappy memories
that ice skating (and the ex-husband who went with it) will bring to her
single, stressed mom. One day on the ice, Hudson meets a boy, and this boy
changes her entire life. Josh Blackthorn is a co-captain of the high school
hockey team and he says that he would like some skating pointers. When Hudson
says she’s interested, the other team co-captain, dreamy Will Harper, signs her up to become the new skating assistant. Hudson
has to balance working at the diner, coaching the hockey boys, watching her
younger brother, staying on top of schoolwork, hanging with her best friend
Dani, and preparing for the skating competition. Can she handle the heat?
Bittersweet is
an enjoyable read. With cupcake recipes at the beginning of each chapter, this
book is perfect for a rainy day. The descriptions in the book were amazing.
Sarah Ockler does a fantastic job making it seem like you are in the story with
the characters. When Hudson was working in the diner, I could practically smell
the diner smell that she was describing. When she was skating, I could feel the
cold with her. I also really loved Josh and the friendship/relationship that
Hudson and Josh share. I thought that part of the book, the relationship
between Josh and Hudson, was very realistic because they both had feelings for
each other but were too shy to express them. Oftentimes in books the
relationships seem too rushed and fake. Usually they move way too fast but I
liked how the author made the relationship between Josh and Hudson. I also
enjoyed Bug, who is Hudson’s little brother. He was a cute, dorky boy and I
liked how Hudson cared for him so much. Bug was just adorable and I was glad
that Hudson had the patience to care for him. One of the things that I didn’t
like was the responsibilities that Hudson’s mom put on her. I thought this was
unfair of her to do. It made sense why she had Hudson do a lot of things, and I
could reason with it (as Hudson did), but I didn’t like it and I thought the
Mom character should have been a little nicer. I liked Dani’s sassiness and I
appreciated her character, but I think she could have been developed more. I
wanted to hear more about Dani because she was really funny. The ending was
cliché, as most books of this type are, but still pleasing. I recommend it to anyone
who likes romance or is looking for a fun read.
Kinsey’s Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
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