I enjoyed the tie in of different cocktails throughout each chapter in The Bartender’s Cure. It was easy to listen to and understand the plot.

THE BARTENDER'S CURE is a fiercely relatable debut novel about an aspiring bartender at the perfect neighborhood bar, filled with cocktail recipes and bartending tips and tricks.

This was an enjoyable read with themes of loss, love, heartbreak, and new romance, along with a found family theme that I always love reading about in books.

*many thanks to Flatiron and Macmillan Audio for the gifted copy for review

Sam doesn't want to be a bartender, but after a spectacularly disastrous breakup, she's left her fiancé behind and moved from the West Coast back to NYC where she went to undergrad. Her best friend still lives there and is letting her crash on her sofa until she figures things out, but Sam is smart enough to know that that arrangement has a very short self life. She needs to make some money, and make it now, so that she can get her own place and figure things out.


Through a friend of a friend, she gets a lead on a bartending gig and goes into Joe's Apothecary, a neighborhood spot in Brooklyn with lots of character, and also lots of characters. Over time, working behind the bar, Sam gains the confidence of the other staff and the owner, and even becomes fast friends with a few of them. While there, she learns a lot about bartending, but far more about herself. Through a series of gradual reveals, we learn that having ended a relationship is moved across country is the least of Sam's worries. She's only twenty-three but dealing with a lot of seriously grown-up problems, not the least of which is trying to figure out what she wants to do with the rest of her life.

Through her relationships with the bar staff, the regulars and a seriously hot new love interest, Sam very gradually figures herself out. I listened to this book (thank you, NetGalley) and thoroughly enjoyed it, and its narrator. Interspersed with Sam's life story enfolding through her recollections, are the histories (real and fictional) of the cocktails and drinks she serves, all of them entertaining in their own right but cleverly placed so that they have relevance and meaning for Sam and the reader (or in my case, listener). I rarely enjoy coming-of-age stories, sometimes finding them too obvious in their efforts to dole out life lessons. In this novel, that wasn't the case. I felt like Sam's ending wasn't too pat, or too obvious. We get the sense of an ending, if that makes sense. Just enough to make you satisfied, and yet remain curious about where this young woman will be say, five years from know. Recommended for a light, but not at all shallow read.

Niche subject that was fun to read about, restaurant bar setting, think Cheers in book form but with darker themes that emerge as the novel goes on, NYC setting, slice of life because there are the regulars who come in Joe’s and readers get to know them along with the the main characters

-each chapter starts with a different cocktail recipe which there were classics but also many I’d never heard of that sounded really good, i think this book could make a great gift for reader friends who love a good cocktail, but know your friends because huge content warning for disordered eating- that is not something I’m sensitive too but i did become very uncomfortable with the level of detail and amount of story time involved as the story developed

-There's themes of loss, love, heartbreak, new romance, found family, and finding oneself throughout and overall i really liked this one…

3.5 stars. A nice debut book that I definitely enjoyed. The protagonist, Sam, is taking a year off before going to Harvard Law. She finds herself bartending at Joe’s Apothecary in NYC. We follow Sam through her gap year, dividing her time between bartending and hanging out with her new friends/co-workers she has developed while at Joe’s. All in all it is a fairly simple coming-of-age story.

The pace is fairly slow, it took a while for me to get through it due to this. You slowly but surely learn more about Sam as the story progresses. I thought Sam’s history was flushed out a little too slow for my taste but rue lack of knowledge also didn’t take away from the story either.

I think I struggled with this a little too because I didn’t enjoy Sam that much. Don’t get me wrong, she wasn’t a bad protagonist, she just fell a little flat for me and I didn’t fully connect.

My favorite part of the book however was how the different drink recipes were weaved into the story and even gave background information on how some of the drinks were created. The information was integrated fairly organically, it definitely didn’t seem pushed at all. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about new drinks and got some ideas of new ones to order! I even made notes of multiple drinks and am looking forward to trying them!

If you’re looking for an easy coming-of-age story with some drink recipes as a plus, this is the book for you!

Thank you to MacMillan Audio and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The Bartender’s Cure by Wesley Straton was such an interesting read. I greatly enjoyed how each chapter began with a drink recipe and then went into the story of Sam. In the beginning, Sam was going through some hardships in her life, but then she got a job at a bar. Working at the bar helped her learn about herself and taught her how to deal with certain things in life. I enjoyed this story and seeing how Sam changed throughout the book. I enjoyed the uniqueness of this book And the awareness it spread to the service industry.

Samantha needs a break from school and real life conflicts, she decides to take a year off to find herself. She crashes at a friends house in New York and ends up taking a job as a bartender at Joe's Apothecary, a local bar. Sam meets and grows to love the quirky characters she meets and has a tough decision to make as her year long break comes to an end.

I liked how each chapter starts with a mixed drink recipe, its worth reading just for those. But I could really get into Sam's character and her dilemmas. I enjoyed reading this book and would recommend it to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to listen to in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not sure how to describe this one. It's part bartender guide, part New York, part finding your place. It's all good though - a nice meandering story of Sam finding out who she is and what matters to her. I enjoyed it and wish it were longer.

A very cleverly written novel using cocktail recipes to start each chapter. I love history and the tidbits of cocktail history woven throughout were fun and enlightening. "The Bartender's Cure" follows Samantha's unintended "Bartending Gap Year" from start to finish. She is struggling, Hard. No money, no job, no boyfriend, recovering from an eating disorder, and away from family and friends so Sam decides to move to New York. Her oldest friend lives there and slowly, very slowly, she builds a life back up one gin & tonic at a time.

The author was undoubtedly a bartender at some point, having insider knowledge you just couldn't otherwise know. Shifts drinks, workplace drama, industry standards, loyalty, and regulars. I felt like I WAS a regular at Joe's Apothecary and I'd really like to sample their seasonal cocktail menu!

An entertaining mix of facts and fiction is shaken into the story of the said bar through tales (tall and short). Where Sam discovers more about herself than she ever thought she could. It's a rollercoaster of hangovers and relationships, but the story is all too related.

TW: eating disorders, suicide

I really enjoyed this! I wasn’t sure what I was getting into when I started it, but the cover got me and thanks to NetGalley I snagged an audio copy of it!

We follow a woman on her journey through life in New York. This journey leads her into a job as a bartender at Joe’s. We watch as her unsure nature is morphed into complete curiosity about the inner workings of cocktails and bartending in general. We also get several looks into her personal life and that’s interesting as well. Each chapter starts with a recipe for a drink which I found incredibly interesting.

As for the audio, I loved the narrator. I do wish that they would have had a different narrator or something to tell us the recipes as I had trouble at first with the recipes since it felt like a break in the story. Then I realized we were getting beginning of the chapter recipes, and the weird breaks seemed less weird.

Overall 3.5⭐️ rounded up

Unfortunately, the narrator for this audiobook just didn't work for me with this novel. She just didn't quite seem to fit the character and I found the disconnect too much. I did not finish this one.

Straton does an excellent job of combining the overlapping thoughts that people naturally have, A person walks into the room and they remind you of the kid you grew up next door to and that reminds you of the time they broke their arm skateboarding and that reminds you you're hungry and you haven't called your mother in a while, just overlapping ideas and feelings that happen all the time and Straton finds a way to write this so it's clear to understand why the character is overwhelmed.

A woman finds herself overwhelmed by life and ends up working at a bar while she waits for her first semester at Harvard to start. She continues to suck at life, but its not in the made-for-TV charming "bad at adulting", this lady needs series help. Lying to her therapist and faking rehab helped her isn't the best idea, but we've all done worse, right? If not, you need to get out more.

Cocktail recipes sprinkle throughout the story and manage to add a little something-something to the story, Characters are fleshed out and feel real and the Dans are excellent worldbuilding, they make the entire story move along and feel like something I can believe in.

**I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4.25 stars
First of all, I love the cover of this book, it drew me in immediately.

This was a deep dive into bartending culture in NYC and even includes some cocktail recipes. I loved learning more about bartending in general. It is nothing I have thought much about and I found it to be very engaging. I loved imagining the bar regulars, witnessing people's hard and happy days and the connection you can find with patrons and co-workers. It is definitely character-driven and has a meandering pace.

I have always been a sucker for coming-of-age fiction. I loved seeing Sam's wavering growth and journey to finding what happiness looks like for herself.

Others may have hard time with the pace and the fact that there is a lot of content on stories and details on drinks and bartending. I loved it but, to each their own.

Though the narration was fantastic, I am tempted to buy a copy so I can have this fun cover on my shelf along with the recipes!

TW: eating disorders

Thank you Netgalley and Flatiron Books, MacMillan Audio for the advanced listen!

Thank you to Flatiron Books and NetGalley for this ARC.

A coming of age story following Sam, a woman newly returned to New York to spend time there before attending law school at Harvard. Sam finds a job as a bartender and we follow her as she learns more about herself and makes new friends.

As Sam tries to come into her own after leaving recovery in Arizona, we get a captivating glimpse into someone joining in on the bartending scene. I throughout enjoyed this one as someone with zero experience in the restaurant industry. The recipe for a cocktail at the beginning of each chapter was a nice twist for a fiction story and even Sam working with her coworkers to create new cocktails to try to save the bar held my attention.

If you're looking for a coming of age story that doesn't have high stakes - this is it.

I highly recommend this one to anyone who enjoyed Sweetbitter by Stephanie Danler and would like to pair this with Taste by Stanley Tucci.

TW: eating disorder, drinking

The Bartender's Cure is the book for you if you have ever worked in the service industry (not necessarily limited to bartending, but working as a server, chef, or barista). You have to be interested in bar culture and the "history" of cocktails to enjoy this book. Sam (the bartender) isn't the main character of this novel; bar culture is. There are a number of awesome-sounding cocktail recipes included as well - I read this as an audiobook and I'm a little sad that I didn't write down at least some of the cocktail recipes. Having a hard copy would have been preferable for me.

Because I am interested in the cocktail recipes and enjoyed most of the meandering bar stories, I give this book a 3.5 (rounded up to a 4 because 1/2 stars aren't possible on Goodreads). Be warned that this rating may not hold up if you are hoping for a novel about a bartender and don't enjoy the rest.

Trigger warnings: drug use, drinking to blackout, and eating disorders.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance audio copy.

This one was part memoir, part bartender guide, part friendship guide. Samantha is trying to survive a year in NYC while waiting until she can begin Harvard Law School as she had to defer after she spent time in rehab for an eating disorder and needed to take care of her health instead of going to school. She gets a job at Joe's Apothecary and we are treated to meeting all the regulars, the not so regulars, and get a lesson on all the drinks. I felt I could almost pass as a bartender after listening to this one. I did enjoy this one.

This one is for readers of Sweetbitter and appreciators of New York coming-of-age stories.

While it started a bit slow, it eventually picked up and I enjoyed the in-depth look at bartending as a profession and mixology. This book feels the epitome of what Stephanie Danler has said in interviews about her work, which is along the lines of life is what happens when you're waiting for it to start. Samantha Fisher has a breakup and breakdown in San Francisco and decides to defer law school for a year and move to New York for a temporary change and reset. When she takes a job at Joe's Apothecary, a bar in NY, she tells herself it's temporary and has no intention of letting the experience define her or become permanent.

But, as with many things, the temporary things still make their mark, and we have the opportunity to see Samantha find herself, overcome some of her fears and traumas, and go forth. Straton's writing is descriptive, almost too descriptive, but it serves as a kind of distraction. All the descriptions of drinks, bartending, locations, bars, etc. serve as a prism through which Samantha can see herself more clearly.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one and recommend it to people who like books about the service industry, those little in-between moments before you think your life will start, and anyone who experienced a big life change recently.

The Bartender's Cure is a pleasant debut that takes a simple story following Samantha Fisher as she navigates life in Brooklyn and makes it interesting by adding in some specifics of drinks/bartending. You'll walk away with a bigger appreciation for the service industry mapped against the setting of the big picture of Sam finding herself in her life.

The audiobook is narrated by Lauren Ezzo, who did a fantastic job pushing the plot forward and brought an extra element to the story. Would highly recommend listening to this one!

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the ARC - The Bartender's Cure is out 6/28/22. Don't miss it!

This was a difficult book for me to get into. I worked in restaurants and bars for a long time but my experience is very different from what Samantha Fisher’s. I think my biggest issue is how she seems to feel that this work is beneath her because she has a degree and she’s going to Harvard Law School in a few months; that she should be treated better because of this. This might be why I couldn’t connect with her. Well, that, and she’s self-absorbed and annoying but also boring. The best parts of this book were the drink recipes (a nice refresher) and the history of the drinks and bars in general. This wasn’t bad. I just think it wasn’t my thing.

"The Bartender's Cure" was a fascinating story about cocktails, the service industry, and the "what do I do with my life" angst that takes over in your 20s. Honestly, the recipes and origin stories of liquors and drinks really made the book for me. I thought it was such a fascinating history of taste and prohibition and all sorts of other fun details.