The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake

I so much enjoyed the beginning of this book, that I had high hopes for finally sinking my teeth into a good story. Aimee Benders novel The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake tells the story of eight year old Rose Edelstein who discovers she has a very unusual gift. She can feel the emotions in food when she eats it- how the cook was feeling when they made it, where all the ingredients come from, if a person is sad, rushed, angry etc.; and to her dismay she feels the huge emptiness and sadness inside her mother who has baked her a lemon cake.

This is a unique and interesting coming of age story of a girl with a very unusual gift. I liked the premise and found the story very interesting, until it vereed off into the story of Rose's older brother and his unusual "gift?"

It became so strange that I'm not even sure where Bender was going or what we were meant to believe by the end when her brother finally disappears. I wish it had stayed more focused on Rose. It could have been a really good book. As it was, it left me confused and unsatisfied by the end.