Bittersweet

I've never met a problem a proper cupcake couldn't fix.

Don't know what to say about this book. It was fairly engaging, I suppose. I appreciated the writing style. There were certain things I really liked, like Bug's character and descriptions of the dinner's atmosphere but there were also many things that didn't sit well with me.

But I couldn't really connect with Hudson's character. She wasn't particularly likable or interesting. I didn't feel her passion for skating, even thought she mentioned that competition obsessively. To me, it felt that skating was all about her father pushing her to do it and then about the fact that she really needed the money from that scholarship. And I didn't feel for her in general. Well, maybe with one exception.

I did care for her when I saw how her mom treated her. I kind of hated her mom. Their relationship pissed me off. I was so sick of the I'm sacrificing so much to put food on the table for you and pay the bills card. I get. She was working hard to keep the family financially afloat and she was heart broken because of the divorce. But that's not an excuse for being a bad parent. If you can't be there for them because you're too busy, at least have the hart to make up for it some other way.

Teenagers have a tendency of keeping secrets and not allowing their parents into their little world, but I guess I wanted to see her mom try to find out what's going on in her daughter's life. Instead, all she cared about that dinner. Not once have I seen her worry about school, or about where Hudson is when she's not at the dinner, who does she spends time with. Not sure if the author meant to make her seem like a lousy parent, but that's how it appeared to me.

Also, the mother was so upset that her 16 year old daughter wasn't jumping with joy about having to work long hours at the dinner, waitressing, and then running a cupcake business to help with the money. What 16 year-old would be that keen on self sacrifice, especially after growing up with no such issues until a certain point? What about school, homework, friends? To a certain point, I do get why Hudson had to help her mom out. But demanding so much of her daughter was really the only option they had? Even if that were the case, I would have loved see more appreciation for the girl's efforts. Hudson was occasionally difficult when she has to help out but her mother could have stopped freaking out on her just because she didn't look like she was enjoying working at the diner. Anyway, just my 2 cents about this.

Also, for a book that's supposed to have romance as one of the themes, the romance was pretty unsavory. I found the whole triangle completely unnecessary. They way we got to the triangle is also very much questionable. Then the crush mush began. She assumed that Abby was Josh's girlfriend so she decided so would get it on with one of his friends? Why did she like Josh so much anyways? The boy seemed sweet, but we hardly know anything about him.Why did she go so far with Will if she didn't even like him. I would have liked to see her develop at least some feelings for him, not just melt like a marshmallow because he was a good kisser. And why was she she trying so hard to be with Will if she didn't like him, anyways? It's not like he was trying that much to be with her. He just invited her places. Then she left her baby brother alone at New Year's Eve to be with him, only to forget all about him after one steamy night in his car. It doesn't make any sense.

Don't get me started on her relationship with Dani and Kara. Why was it such a big deal to Kara that Hudson tanked the Empire Games? If they were such bffs why did they just stop talking for 3 years? Why was Hudson apologizing to Kara for failing at the competition? It was her future she threw away, not Kara's. It was Hudson that was going through the divorce of her parents, not Kara. Later, when Kara tried to reconnect with her and tried to warn her about Will Hudson kept brushing her off. For the love of God, just let the girl say what she has to say, ok? And then we have Dani. What a hot mess that girl was. Why were they even friends? Beats me.

There was a point when I couldn't get why all those characters weren't just spilling their guts about they way they felt. I was reading some paragraphs and I was like Jeez, stop beating around the bush already!

In the end, she's guilt-tripped so much by her friends and family that she doesn't even compete, after all the effort she put into training o her own. Just like that, she quits for the second time without even trying and goes back to the dinner. That would have been ok, if that was what she really wanted. But to me, it felt that she was just bullied into forfeiting. I don't think figure skating was really her dream either, but she was fortunate enough to be insanely talented at it and she could have used that into getting the money she needed to get out of that town and go to a good college, which actually is her true desire. But no, she allowed herself to be brought down by the stupid selfishness of those around her.

Despite its faults, I was pretty engrossed by it. The writing kept me glued to the book so I guess I don't regret picking it up.