Roselle Lim has a natural talent for writing stories that whisk you away to another world. I was deeply engrossed by the wonderful food descriptions, and after reading Lim's sophomore novel, I would say that the sentiments apply here: Roselle Lim’s writing whisked me into a magical, romantic world that reminded me of my favorite cheesy (yet incredibly feel-good) Lifetime movies.

Amidst all the fun and lyrical writing, we're also exposed to a complex story that also explores family relationships, xenophobia, and much more. If you’re looking for a book about food, family, and fortune, this would be the perfect one to pick up!

Food, family, and romance. But mostly food. If you love food and reading about food, you will love this book!

This book made me hungry throughout the whole book, and I don't read when I read. That's how much detail the author put into the food.

So this book tells the story of Natalie and how she went back home after her mom died. Her plan was just to pack up and leave, that is until she is told that someone wants to sell the business's to a realtor who will change the places to condos. Natalie decides to stay and work on opening her families restaurant again.

It was a good book. I felt like if I was a foodie or a cook I would have loved it. It was a fun good book though. It kept my interest but I just wish it was a little faster.

A wonderful debut set in San Francisco's Chinatown. After Natalie's mother passes, she forced back to a home that she felt behind a long time ago. She begins to reconnect with her past and her mother through the cooking recipes she leaves behind. She also discovers answers to long unanswered family mysteries.

I like that it is set in my hometown of San Francisco, but there was something stopping me from getting into the story. The recipes were interesting, but felt like a distraction. There was a sadness hanging over it that I was not in the right frame of mind for. Not enough quirk for me to hang on. DNFed at 31%.

I fell in love with this cover from the first time I saw it around the web. Then when I heard what the book was about, I just knew I had to read it. This is set in San Francisco in a Chinese community. Our heroine’s mother passes away and she has to return home. In doing so she finds the true legacy of her family and decides to pursue that and one of her dreams. To re-open her grandmother’s restaurant. In order to do that she has to cook for three people in the community and with her cooking change something about their lives. Food, magical realism and Chinese culture! This should’ve been something I loved from beginning to end.

Honestly, the story here was not the problem for me. I actually enjoyed the plot quite a bit and kept thinking this would be an amazing movie. What I struggled with from the very beginning was the author’s writing. This is complete personal preference but I don’t like really flowery storytelling. While I enjoy some authors that have very poetic and lyrical prose, I think very few do it in a way that makes me fall in love with it. This was where this beautiful book and I went wrong. The writing kept rubbing me the wrong way and making me feel as if the author was trying really hard to be poetic.

I’ve also seen this around classified as a romance. That’s completely inaccurate. Let me clarify and say that the fact the romance was such a small part of this story was not something I minded. I just don’t think you should go into it expecting a love story. This is a personal journey for our heroine. Her own growth, her knowledge about her past and her family, and her connection with her community. If there’s anything to take away from this story is the strong bond of community and the impact that can have on a person’s life.

So overall I’m glad that I gave this book a try. I would certainly love to see this as a movie but the book was not for me. On a small side note, this book will definitely make you hungry AND it includes recipes.

The description of this book is what really pulled me in. I've never read anything by Roselle of course, by I believe this was a triumphant first outing.

Natalie has been traveling the world over trying to deal with the hurts of a falling out with her mother and failing culinary school. Coming to the end of this, her world is rocked when she gets the news that her mother has passed. Natalie returns to Chinatown in San Francisco where so many of her own ghosts are waiting for her. There, she encounters not only her grandmother's cookbook, her mother's restaurant, but also a neighborhood struggling to continue.

I could just sit here and have an absolute gush fest over how much I love this book. It was gorgeous. I will admit, plot-wise, I was almost cowed the first time I started this. I actually had to put it down and come back. The immediate punch of grief that hits when you start this book.. it's a lot to take on. I feel as if you have to be willing to accept a lot of the emotion Natalie is struggling with in this book with some grace. You have to realize it is part of her journey and that to 'get there', it will be a roller coaster when the story starts with such a pivotal loss.

The whole community that is created around Natalie I felt was the biggest strength. Really it was the connection she needed to understand the necessity of her restaurant and her part within the community. It shone through. It saddened me that the whole community wasn't able to stay together. I almost feel that that is part of life though and it fit well with the book. The idea of embracing change and growth. Natalie goes through that herself--with this new beginning and having to trust herself as she grows and learns more. So much of this book was about Natalie embracing the change, herself and the future possibilities.

The ending of this story really caught me. The little bits of magical realism were just etherally beautiful. They were touching. It was a heartfelt way for Natalie to have some closure with both of her parents. I loved the idea of them being together in the life after this one.

Luckily, Roselle's next book is already on my list! I'm so looking forward to it.

So much good food in this story of a struggling restaurant (and struggling family) in a memorable, engaging community.

DNF
I thought this would be more romance-focused and unfortunately read more like women's fiction which isn't a genre I'm a huge fan of. I do love Lim's poetic writing.

I got a copy of this book as an ARC from PRH and while the recipes in this book were delicious, the story itself unfortunately left a lot to be desired. Good descriptions of the culinary delights, yes, but everything else felt flat.

There was the premise of magical realism in this book, but for some reason (it could be my own denseness), I had a hard time distinguishing the magical part from the metaphorical. For example, in the first part, the protagonist talks about collecting tears. Literal tears. But I didn't get that. I thought it was some kind of turn of phrase or something. Also, the whole beginning just felt like a montage for me. So much telling and no showing. Sadly, I didn't enjoy this book and ended up not finishing it.

“Food comforts and heals, and is the only lover I will ever take.”

Love, comfort, loss, food, heart, and a dash of magic make this truly a book that felt good for the soul. Roselle Lim’s debut novel Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune truly enchanted me! A stunning debut that will put a bit of magic in the heart of even the biggest skeptic.

Natalie Tan has been away from home for some time, when she learns of her mother’s death. Her mother was an agoraphobe, and rarely left home. I loved the bits of magic—the bird singing her mother’s favorite aria on her balcony leading Natalie to understand her mother has passed. It’s the type of magic that is subtle enough, it’s almost believable. A bit like fairy tales.

The setting in San Francisco’s Chinatown was at once contemporary and mystical. I loved the connection through food and recipe’s. Natalie’s grandmother was a successful chef, running a famous restaurant in Chinatown. But as the book opens we learn that the restaurant has been closed for some time. Following the death of her grandmother, Natalie’s mother’s illness prevented her from keeping it open. Natalie herself is a true descendent of her grandmother’s wanting to be a chef and feeling as though she needs to strike out on her own to do so, when the magic was back at home all along.

Natalie has had a difficult path as she has tried to make it on her own. When the novel opens, Natalie is estranged from her family and has suffered many disappointments and bouts of loneliness as she tries to make her way in the world. But when she returns home, that is when the magic occurs. Natalie feels the spirit of her grandmother in that neighborhood, and he begins to learn her grandmother’s recipes. Natalie comes home in more way than one.

“A gathering fog brewed at the base of the gate the way steam rises from a perfect bowl of noodle soup. I was home.”

And as she begins to cook for the people of her neighborhood—the ones she left behind—her grandmother’s food made through Natalie’s hands began to restore her and those around her. I loved the central theme of food in this book and the way it restores you not just physically, but emotionally. The way food also can bring people together, and connect us to those we can’t be with physically.

And of course, there is the enchantment. Natalie must cook three recipes of her grandmother’s for the neighbors before she can reopen the restaurant. And through Natalie’s journey she finds so much—neighbors and community, friendship, happiness, and even love.

And lest you think the love story is an afterthought, think again. Natalie and Daniel’s attraction is as bound by magic as everything else in the book. I really enjoyed Natalie’s superstition about love and misfortune. She can’t help but fall for Daniel, but that doesn’t mean that everything will work out easily. As things fall apart, she must work to put them back together. It’s such a surprising and delightful book!

Though the story itself isn’t new, Roselle’s voice is so fresh and welcoming. The way she wove magic and fortune through the story was so subtle and wonderful. Enchanting!

“The recipe is for the crestfallen, the unsmiling, and the ones who need sunshine in their souls.”
Don’t we all need a bit of sunshine in our souls?

Thank you Berkley for my copy. Opinions are my own.

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. I thought the premise was interesting, but ultimately it felt predictable to me. The world building was great though, and I enjoyed exploring Chinatown through Natalie's eyes.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer jerjen

Natalie returns home after the death of her mother, whom she has not spoken to in seven years. They argued about Natalie wanting to be a chef, her mother did not want her to do that. Now her mom is gone, and Natalie feels a lot of guilt and regret. And she cannot help but notice how her neighborhood is declining and businesses that were vibrant before she left are left in disarray. When she learns that her grandmother’s restaurant is still intact, she realizes that she can still make her dreams come true. She has to cook for three people before she can open the restaurant, and once she figures out who to cook for, she does just that. At first she thought her cooking had helped the neighbors, but then everything backfires. She has to learn some lessons about life and people before she can really help her neighbors and herself.

This story has a little bit of magic, a little bit of love, a little bit of friendship and a lot of recipes. You should not read this book if you are hungry because by the time you are done, you will be starving. The recipes sound so good.

The story is really about not giving up and fighting for your dreams. Even if things do not work out the first time, keep trying because you never know when things will turn out right. Natalie learns a lot about her family and her friends, and she realizes how important those things are to all of us.

I would recommend this wonderful magical book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted story. Pick up a copy and enjoy the ride.

*OBS would like to thank the publisher for supplying a free copy of this title in exchange for an honest review*

I absolutely adored the cover when I picked this book up, but the inside isn't quite as entrancing.

- It was difficult for me to get into the story because the writing just wasn't engaging,
- I enjoyed Natalie's character and her struggle in opening a restaurant and as a way to reconnect with her mother. She's very hard-working and the food descriptions were absolutely tantalizing. They made me so hungry!
- I went into this book also looking for a romance (although I still enjoyed the family dynamics), and ended up really disliking the abrupt romance. It comes later in the book and felt very forced in, almost as though it was an after-thought rather than something the author actively planned to write. I feel like Daniel, the love interest, was unnecessary at the end of the day.

I still ended up enjoying the cultural references and exploration of grief and family though. I hope Lim's next book has a tighter plot and more engaging writing!

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for the review copy!

This book was filled with emotion: sadness, hope, love. I felt so immersed in the story from the get go and at points, I kid you not, I thought I could actually smell the food from the page!

Truly touching and beautiful.

I really enjoyed Lim's magical tale of food changing a neighborhood and the lives of those within. With its unique setting and delightful hints of magic, I highly recommend this novel.

I loved this book! Magic and reality are woven together in such a realistic way that creates a truly fantastic book. I cannot wait to read the sequel!

Oh, why did I take so long to read this...loved it!! It was so heart felt, warm and informative all at once. The recipes were a great fun addition.

This is such an uplifting book! I absolutely love everything about it. The plot, the writing, and the characters. All of it is perfect.

Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune is an imperfect, but ultimately uplifting, story about love, loss, and new beginnings. It also proves something that I’ve always suspected: food is magical. With a focus on relationships between family, friends, and neighbors, Roselle Lim’s #ownvoice debut novel is full of beautiful metaphors and saliva-inducing recipes that will make both your heart and your stomach happy.

WHAT I LIKED:

• It's an #ownvoices story that highlights the beauty of Chinese culture. Natalie Tan left her home in San Francisco’s Chinatown seven years ago. She left to pursue her dream of becoming a chief – something that her mother vehemently condemned. But when disaster strikes, Natalie returns home with a broken heart, a broken dream, and a broken set of rose-colored glasses. This sets Natalie on a path that will reconnect her with her neighbors, her ancestors, and her culture.

• IT HAS ALL THE FOOOD! This book is a delectable love-letter to both the art of cooking and to Chinese cuisine. Its mouth-watering descriptions of traditional dishes made my heart sing and my stomach grumble. Natalie’s passion for cooking is evident on every page of this delicious debut novel, and if you can read this book without coming away extremely hungry, then you are a person of stronger resolve than I (or at least a stronger stomach). Now excuse me while I go gorge myself on some fried dumplings.

• It's emotionally raw and heartfelt. If I had to cook up a recipe for Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune, I would say that it contains a dash of romance, a sprinkle of magic, and a whole lot of heart. Lim crafts a heart-warming tale about the lasting importance of family relationships, the sustaining strength of true friends, and the healing power of a united community.

• The magical realism was, well… magical. To save her dying neighborhood from the evil clutches of gentrification, Natalie must use her grandmother’s cookbook (which may or may not be magical) to prepare three recipes for three of her neighbors. Seamlessly woven into the narrative, this inclusion of the fantastical blended perfectly with Lim’s lyrical prose and helped create an atmospheric read that was nothing short of enchanting.

WHAT I LIKED...LESS:

• The storytelling felt a bit disjointed at times. Debut novels have a reputation of being less polished, and Natalie Tan’s Book of Luck and Fortune is no exception. With pacing that is often awkward, transitions that are about as smooth as sandpaper, and dialogue that’s unnaturally stilted, the novel didn’t flow as well as it could have.

• The romance was too much, too fast, and too cheesy. Hello instalove, my old friend. I wish I didn’t have to see you here, in a book I was otherwise enjoying. But alas, Natalie’s relationship with Daniel can’t really be described as anything else. While I liked what the author was trying to accomplish here – I’m assuming it was a plot device to further develop the theme of new beginnings and fresh starts – it fell flat for me. There was definitely some serious eye-rolling involved on my part.

When Natalie's agoraphobic mother dies, Natalie returns to San Francisco's Chinatown after seven years abroad to settle her affairs. Natalie's mother didn't approve of her dream to become a chef like her mother before her, which led to their falling out years before, and their lack of social supports during her childhood left Natalie seemingly her mother's only means of help. When Natalie returns, her neighbors see her as having betrayed her mother by leaving her, but Natalie sees it another way: she feels that her neighbors betrayed her and her mother by not helping them.

In inheriting her grandmother's recipe book and restaurant, Natalie is suddenly faced with the opportunity to achieve her dreams right in the place she ran from 7 years ago. Her fortune seems to be looking up, yet as she cooks from her grandmother's book, things start to go awry...

As much as I enjoyed some of the different ingredients that made up Natalie Tan's Book of Luck and Fortune, I really struggled with others. Reading about Natalie's complicated yet loving relationship with her Ma-Ma was very poignant, but it was hard to grasp that their rift was so bad as to last 7 years -- until her death -- particularly as Natalie goes on to place blame on her neighbors for not taking care of her agoraphobic mother. It's never clear if Natalie really thinks her neighbors aren't caring for her Ma-Ma (they are, in truth), or if she thinks she has left her mother without any supports whatsoever for 7 years. She also blames the father she never met for her mother's agoraphobia because he might have "saved her."

Grief does a lot of things to a person but I didn't feel like any of this blame resolved itself very well.

Furthermore, Natalie is flighty -- she left her mother, moved around, and then left a fiance in Manila because she was afraid of commitment. Later in the novel she tries to run again when things go south for her and nearly ruins relationships because of this. I've seen this book classified as a romance and it isn't! It's magical realism! There is a romantic interest, but he's just some tech guy who owns a two-bedroom in San Francisco. She isn't even impressed by this. She calls his office "modest" and waxes poetic on how love feels while on their first date. I just wasn't impressed. Natalie shows up and meddles in her neighbors' lives. It's rude. She feels bad about it, but it's so stressful.

Overall I enjoyed the gorgeous recipes throughout and learning about Natalie's neighbors, but I really struggled to appreciate the narrator's perspective.