I read this remarkable book in no more than two days, and at the end of it I was speechless; it took me at least three weeks to figure out how to convey the sheer magnificence of it.

Fatima Ali, a rising young chef from Pakistan, was on the cusp of opening her own restaurant when she was diagnosed with “the white boy’s cancer” - Ewing’s Sarcoma, so nicknamed because the population statistically most likely to have this dreadful bone cancer are young white makes. This is no spoiler - we learn about it in the prologue.

When Ms. Ali was near death, she wanted to tell her story and chose a writer to put it together from her own telling as well as that of her mother and brother. What emerged beautifully and heart wrenchingly is the story of her life, from her childhood to her death,; a story on the surface about her love of food and her journeys in it. From Ms. Ali’s earliest memories of accompanying her grandmother to the food markets in Pakistan, to her first foray into cooking for a crowd at the age of sixteen, when she cooked a holiday meal for her extended family, to studying at the Culinary Institute of America, to working her way in, up, and around food and restaurants, this is a story about how food shaped and made her short life.

We learn not only about Ms. Ali’s meteoric and diverse food experiences, though, but the story of her life, and it is the story of her relationship with her mother, brother, father, and other family members and friends of the family that give this book such depth. An early childhood experience of sexual abuse, which her mother chose to sweep under the rug, led to a long conflict between mother and daughter, one that is only openly addressed as Ms. Ali and her mother finally talk about it as she lays in her hospital bed.

The story of her life, as told from the different points of view, skillfully woven together like the Tales of A Thousand and One Nights is something to be cherished, indeed, savored. I can’t say enough wonderful things about this book, because it’s just that - wonderful.

And, like any fine meal that one savors when dining on a multitude of taste experiences and delights, eventually becomes a memory, so, too, does the fine meal that was Fatima Ali’s short but shining life. I am grateful that she and her family decided to tell her story, and that they chose someone who is such a fine weaver of tales in her own right, to bring it to the world.

I highly recommend this book.

I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and the publisher.

A glorious, moving novel. Every person should read this book. It’s a microcosm of what matters in life: food and love and hope and family-through the lens of a horrible illness. Fatima Ali deserves to be remembered, honored and forever loved.

To possess with certainty the knowledge of what you want to do with your life and then pursue that dream against all challenges, requires knowing your true self. That is the knowledge Fatima Ali had. She wanted to be a professional chef and share her passion for food from other cultures with the world. She had the opportunity to do that for only a short period before she was struck down with a disease she shouldn't have and one that wasn't treatable. But she didn't give up. Shortly before the disease took her life she aligned with a ghostwriter to tell her story. A marvelous and tragic story. A story of the love of family, homeland, and what it means to experience the food, flavors, and gifts from other cultures.

Fatima Ali was fearless and always chose the road that would lead her to her dream, which in most cases meant the road with the most challenges. While physically demanding, it fed her soul and took her closer to her dream of owning her own restaurant and sharing her culture with the world.

This book isn't what I expected it to be - a book about the cooking life of a chef before she was stricken by a fast and deadly disease. Instead, it was about her family's life in Pakistan, especially heavy on family (parents, grandparents) and social expectations. Although I did quit reading after several chapters (really depressing situations), I may go back to it but this isn't something I care to read on a weekend. For these reasons, I'm giving the book three stars where others may give more. Just not the book I was hoping to find.

Thanks Netgalley for allowing me to read this book. Fatima was a chef and is estatic to be on the show top Chef. She is in from Pakistan. She learns that she was sick. She decides to travel and fit everything she can into what little time she may have left. She was an inspiration to all.

I received an ARC of, Savor, by Fatima Ali. This is a memoir of Fatima Ali, who was a fan favorite on Top Chef. This is a interesting memoir, Fatima Ali, is so many parts, a women, Pakistani, a chef, a writer, and a cancer patient. Unfortunately, she died way to young from cancer at age 29.

There's just something about food and the people who make it that gets me every time. This is a fantastic memoir of love, grief, and making the most out of the time that you have on the planet. Ali and her passion for food shine through and entrench her legacy as a chef, and now, as a storyteller. I was sobbing by the end of this, it was beautiful and provocative. I will say that there were places where the novel dragged or included unnecessary detail, or where I didn't personally gel with the writing, but this is one of those few times where I won't dock a star for it because the novel was that good. This really is a love letter to food, family, motherhood, and the power of bringing people together over a table-and the novel drips with it, drenched in love like chashni.

So glad I got to read this one. Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC.

This review will be posted to Goodreads at this link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4891261189 on Sept. 27th, 2022, and will also be posted to my personal blog and Amazon. This space will be updated with those links.

A carefully written, sensitive look at the life of Fatima Ali. Her childhood, her explosive growth in the field of cooking, and her untimely death due to cancer are all written beautifully by Tarajia Morrell and Fatima's mother. I'm so glad I got to read this one.

*This book was received as an Advanced Reviewer's copy from NetGalley.

Well, that was gut-wrenching. I love chef memoirs; just hearing about the trials and lessons experienced in order to make it in such a competitive field is captivating. While I had never heard of Fatima Ali before this book (which is a shame, I must have just missed the relevant seasons/episodes she was on for the food shows), her story is compelling.

Born in Pakistan, Fatima's life follows an unconventional route. After her mother divorces, she moves to America for a while, back to Pakistan, and this trend continues throughout her life, even as an adult. The common denominator though is food, and her love for it. Inspired initially by her father, and by other family members who touch her heart through food, her dream is to be a chef, so she pursues that goal with purpose, even if it is unconventional for her family.

This memoir is about more than food though. If you know Ali's story, then you already know what I'm about to say. If you don't, and don't want to know what happens in Ali's story, I suggest you stop reading this review here. Suffice to say, in the middle of pursuing her dreams, Ali hits some pretty harsh roadblocks. This book covers abuse, death, and many other hard topics.

Namely, cancer. A cancer that ultimately will overcome her and so bring this book to it's tearful end (yes, tearful, I definitely cried reading this one). Her passion for life and what she does, for being true to herself despite it not being accepted by her society at times, and her family's outpouring of love for her can't really help but touch you. And her narrative of the end days of her life, while tragic, are also insightful.

Ultimately, we should all regret that we won't get to taste Ali's food and can only hope she inspired many to carry on in her stead.

Review by M. Reynard 2022

So here's the thing. I am (always have been, always will be) drawn to books that fully gut me. The ones that I casually think about for weeks after finishing reading them, and feel the waves of pain over and over again. Is this because I'm actually a robot and this is the only instance in which I feel human emotions? Perhaps. We can only speculate.

Having watched a good amount of Top Chef in my day, I can confidently say that Fatima was immediately one of my favorite from the second she stepped onto the screen, and remains in my opinion one of the best people ever to have been on the show. She had such a magnetism to her, that I knew would translate in a book written by her. Her story is, of course, gut-wrenching. She was able to express it in such a way that you really could put yourself in her mindset as she lived through these vastly different chapters of her life. And the descriptions of food throughout the novel, by both Fatima and Farezeh, had my mouth watering the entire time I was reading. There's nothing like a really vivid description of specific plates and flavors... except, I guess, actually getting to experience those things in real life.

This was an exceptionally written memoir, and though I definitely came into it expecting to have my heart strings tugged upon, I didn't think it would hit me quite in the way that it did. In particular, Farezeh's telling of her point of view was really just a semi truck to the feels. My tiniest nitpicks are that I think some of the arrangement of chapters could have been manipulated so that we weren't repeating time periods quite as much, but it was still not difficult to follow along with the timelines of events.

I also typically don't read the acknowledgments at the end of books (tsk tsk, I know), but Mohammed did such a great job on that. It honestly was just as touching as the rest of the memoir was.

If you love food novels, and aren't too scared of having a good cry, I would highly recommend picking this one up as soon as humanly possible.

This is a beautiful memoir. We get to hear Fatima's stories but we also have help from the publisher who helped tell these stories.
I really liked this book. I loved Fatima on Top Chef and I liked reading these stories.
It's so devastating how her life was cut short.
Great food memoir.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

“Savor” by Fatima Ali is a memoir by Fatima Ali and her mother, Farezeh Ali, and the book’s co-author, Tarajia Morrell. I have to admit, I’d never heard of Fatima Ali before reading the synopsis of this book. Maybe I read that she had passed, but it’s probably a hazy memory. For those not in the know, Fatima gained fame as a Chopped winner, and also as the “fan favourite” of the TV show Top Chef. But she did a lot more in her 29 years - she wrote food essays for a well-known magazine, she worked at well known restaurants both behind the scenes and in front, and - more importantly - she put her own spin on dishes, incorporating flavors she knew, liked, and reminded her of home. If you want to know more about her - read this book. If you’ve never heard of her - read this book to learn more about Pakistan, being a female chef, being a Muslim female chef, and - of course - her battle with cancer. My two little comments were that I wish that the e-book version had included photos (maybe the printed version will?) because I had to look up online to see what she looked like. My other little comment is that for someone who loved food - other than a menu she presented for something - there’s not a single recipe in this book. All in all, I would say that this book is a love letter from Fatima to her fans - and from her family (her brother Mohammad did the Acknowledgements section) to both Fatima and her fans. A well done book. There are some triggers that I wish had been noted - either with something in the back of the book (a help line number or sources) or at the beginning of the book. Enjoyable and informative read - though also an incredibly frustrating and sad read too.

Savor is the beautifully written memoir of Fatima Ali; written by Fatima Ali and Tarajia Morrell.

Fatima was beautiful and talented and full of life. Winner of an episode of The Food Network's Chopped and part of the 15th season of Bravo's Top Chef. Cancer took Fatima from the world much too soon in the prime of her life, at age 29.

My heart goes out to Fatima Ali's mother (Farezeh) and brother (Mohammad Ali).

Mohammad Ali did a fabulous job with the Acknowledgments; you could tell how much love he had for his sister by the way he wrote this chapter.

I wish that there were some links to watch even a portion of the Chopped and Top Chef episodes. It would really highlight the vibrancy of Fatima's life.

This book is a beautiful tribute to Fatima. You can tell that the author and family put their heart and soul into writing this book.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read the advance read copy in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Ferezeh, Mohammad and Tarajia Morrell. for pulling this book together and to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine the publisher.