Maire is a baker with an extraordinary gift: she can infuse her treats with emotions and abilities, which are then passed on to those who eat them. She doesn’t know why she can do this and remembers nothing of who she is or where she came from.
When marauders raid her town, Maire is captured and sold to the eccentric Allemas, who enslaves her and demands that she produce sinister confections, … confections, including a witch’s gingerbread cottage, a living cookie boy, and size-altering cakes.
During her captivity, Maire is visited by Fyel, a ghostly being who is reluctant to reveal his connection to her. The more often they meet, the more her memories return, and she begins to piece together who and what she really is—as well as past mistakes that yield cosmic consequences.
From the author of The Paper Magician series comes a haunting and otherworldly tale of folly and consequence, forgiveness and redemption.
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I have read a couple books by Charlie Holmberg, and I must say that I am definitely a fan! In this book she has managed to create such a wonderful world and characters that I just fell in love with.
Maire has the ability to infuse her thoughts and feelings into the things she bakes, be it love, peace, strength, endurance, or whatever else she feels like those around her need. Problem is that she does not know how she does this and has no memories from before she came to Carmine. She lives a peaceful life with her friends in a small town, and then one day their world is shattered when their village is overrun by marauders. Taken captive and then sold into slavery, Maire slowly begins regaining her memory, but what will happen once she remembers who, and what, she truly is?
Very imaginative but a bit too weird for me. Fairy tale meets acid trip.
First, I am really glad I chose to try listening to the audiobook after having difficulty with the ebook. Otherwise I might have just DNF’ed this book which would’ve been regrettable as it turned out to be a pretty enjoyable one. Second, while this is certainly a sweet read it’s also a bit. . . sad and dark too. It’s not a light read like one might think. The story is interesting though and the description in the book is really vividly done as far as setting, characters, the baking(omg but it’ll make you hungry lol). The narrator does a really good job reading and her voices are decent enough though take a little to get used to at first for the guys. Beyond that my only suggestion is: if you’ve dealt with issues of domestic violence, pregnancy difficulties, or child loss I’d recommend not going into without being aware that sensitive matters relating to them do arise.
Have you ever gotten rid of your frustrations while needing bread? In the story, this lady actually puts her emotions into whatever she bakes and whoever eats it will feel that emotion. Imagine having to watch how you feel at that deep of a level.
I enjoyed the adventures of this lady as her village was raided, she was carried away to another land, and eventually found some of her old friends and made their way back home. It was a good read.
It was different which made it interesting.
This is very original and I enjoyed the story. I love books where a cook can cook her feelings into the food she cooks
So I was not sure how I was going to feel about this book. It received so many mixed reviews I went into it hopeful and came out happy. The biggest complaints I read about was that it was confusing, there is no plot, and the characters are lacking. I completely disagree.
This book is written in the perspective of the main character, Maire. Now Maire has gone through something and cannot remember anything other than her name. I believe that because it is written in her perspective we are going to feel her confusion and frustration. If the author had given us more information that Maire did not have, everyone would be upset that Maire knew more than she should. I think the author allowed us to experience what Maire was experiencing.
As for the plot, it has a great one.
Introduction/ Setting: We meet Maire and the people she lives with. We are introduced to her town and her job. We learn what Maire knows about herself, and the confusion and frustration that she cannot remember more.
Rising action/ Conflict: Maire cannot remember who she is. Although she is trying to adjust to the life she has been given, she wants to remember who she was. She meets people who seem to know her, but are not willing to share information. Plus, she is sold to be a slave and no longer has the freedom to try to figure out who she is.
This is where I have to end in order to keep from giving out spoilers. There is a climax and resolution. Some of which is slightly predictable.
I really enjoyed this book. It was well written. Something I liked the most is that the author made you use all your senses. It was fantastic!