Review: Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Title: Bittersweet
Author: Sarah Ockler
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Simon
Publish Date: January 3, 2012
Source: Library

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a YA fan.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances... a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.

So when things start looking up and she has another shot at her dreams, Hudson is equal parts hopeful and terrified. Of course, this is also the moment a cute, sweet guy walks into her life... and starts serving up some seriously mixed signals. She’s got a lot on her plate, and for a girl who’s been burned before, risking it all is easier said than done.

It’s time for Hudson to ask herself what she really wants, and how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get it. Because in a place where opportunities are fleeting, she knows this chance may very well be her last..."

My Two Cents:

I had been hearing a lot of good things about both "Bittersweet" itself and Sarah Ockler's writing so I was very happy to get a chance to read this book. I was in the mood for something YA and something that I could really get lost in. "Bittersweet" most definitely fit the bill for me! This book has good characters, a good love triangle (seriously!), and an interesting story line. This is a great contemporary YA pick!

I really had mixed emotions (in a good way - I'll explain!) about the main character, Hudson. Now Hudson is struggling. There are so many different things on her plate that I started out really feeling bad for her. Her parents' divorce was ridiculously messy, the after effects seem to still be going on, she's trying to take care of her brother, help her mom with their struggling diner, making cupcakes, keeping up with school, being involved in a love triangle, and she's trying to train herself to win an ice skating scholarship after her fall from ice skating grace a couple years prior. Phew! It's a lot. And you do feel bad for Hudson. She starts making really bad decisions and that's where I sort of lost a bit of sympathy for her. But by the end of the book, I really ended up liking Hudson again (she really redeems herself but I don't want to give too much away).

Okay, so there is a love triangle in this book, which I have a tendency not to like very much. There's a couple reasons for that including that they are just so prevalent in YA (and so many are not all that well done or believable). In this case, I really liked the love triangle. It definitely plays a role in the book but it's not the main story.

I also loved that this book was sort of YA foodie fiction. Each of the chapters in this book have a description of one of Hudson's cupcake recipes and some of them (okay, most of them) sounded absolutely amazing. I wish that there would have been actual recipes for all of the cupcakes but it was still fun to read about!