Book Review: Sweetbitter

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Author: Stephanie Danler

Format: eBook

Pages: 353

Categories: Food, Coming of Age, Contemporary Fiction

Book Blurb:

Newly arrived in New York City, twenty-two-year-old Tess lands a job working front of house at a celebrated downtown restaurant. What follows is her education: in champagne and cocaine, love and lust, dive bars and fine dining rooms, as she learns to navigate the chaotic, enchanting, punishing life she has chosen. The story of a young woman’s coming-of-age, set against the glitzy, grimy backdrop of New York’s most elite restaurants, in Sweetbitter Stephanie Danler deftly conjures the nonstop and high-adrenaline world of the food industry and evokes the infinite possibilities, the unbearable beauty, and the fragility and brutality of being young and adrift.

MY REVIEW

“Being remade was the same thing as being constantly undone.”

Sweetbitter by. Stephanie Danler

I decided to read this book because I watched season one of the tv series on STARZ just recently. I remember seeing this book cover everywhere when it was published and hyped up a few years ago. I also saw the polarizing reviews of the book, lots of love and lots of hate too. My review might be a bit influenced by what I saw in the show. The tv show itself is interesting, because I’m not sure if I love it. I like it and I am intrigued by it. Tess’s character annoys me, Jake as well, but Simone is pretty amazing on the show. I love the mysteriousness of their characters. And the secondary characters like Sasha, and Ariel are so wild. It’s interesting to see Tess and how she develops, with these people pushing her, molding her from all sides.

As for the book, Sweetbitter, I love the writing. It is gorgeous. I cheated because I watched the show so it gave me a visual of the characters. If I didn’t see the show, I’m not sure how I would visualize Tess. In the book, I might not have been interested in her at all if I didn’t watch the show. She’s boring, bland even and trying to find herself which made me impatient at times. She isn’t sure how to fit in with these dynamic personalities around her. Tess is not sure what she wants in life, she has no ambitions but to get through a work shift, usually high on some kind of drug. She reminded me of twenty-two year old me (minus the drug use), which is probably why she annoyed me at times. 😂

I didn’t even really know her name for a few pages, just “new girl”, she’s in the background getting yelled at and ordered around, whereas the characters around her are so loud. Her character in the show, says the city is “confrontational”, whereas she is not. In the book, I love how she describes how her world starts revolving around her job – she basically starts to eat, sleep and dream about her job.

“My life had been so full I couldn’t glimpse beyond it. I didn’t want to.“

Sweetbitter by. Stephanie Danler

The people around her are so pretentious it was hilarious! I used to work in a massage clinic and then a high-end day spa and we didn’t quote Kant, 😂 but we had to deal with our various bouts of pretentiousness from coworkers or managers. I could relate to the book so much with the work aspect. It made me remember how I used to sell “relaxation”. I sold this idea of body care, but I myself was so stressed and not relaxed, my feet hurt, and my back hurt. I was crazy slammed at work some days but I had to take care of our guests and pretend I was all zen. I used to wash our guests feet before their massages, and guests would tell me I was like the feet washer in Jesus’ day…um okay. 😂🤷🏻‍♀️ The things people would say! It was a crazy place to work, and I could do it in my 20’s, deal with all the b.s. with a smile on my face but I wouldn’t have the patience for it now that I’m 40.

This book reminded me of the people that work in our service industry and how much crap they can take. 🤣 👏🏼 It made me relive memories for sure and that’s partly why I devoured this story.

“And really, would it be as loud? As satisfying?”

Sweetbitter by. Stephanie Danler

Sweetbitter has no real plot but for me, it works. This book is a glimpse of the life of a twenty-two year old trying to find her way in life and is definitely at that age where she is about to learn some harsh life lessons. The people around her are trying to be “somebody” but are they really? They tell her she needs to be somebody. In the end I feel like she becomes one of them or at least has perfected the way to pretend to be like them.

A good part of the book focuses on Tess’s strange obsession with two characters, Simone and Jake. Simone is a server who has been at the restaurant awhile and basically runs the place. Simone is so invested in the restaurant, it is her life. She knows her wines and takes Tess on as an understudy and teaches her what she knows. But there is a guy, Jake. He’s bad news and I just wanted to give her some serious girl talk that would have not made a lick of difference, but Jake and Simone have a strange relationship. They grew up together and some things about their relationship are implied in the end but not confirmed. They remain a mystery, like everyone else in the book I suppose and Tess will never belong with them. It’s a lesson she learns the hard way of course, she starts to unravel but she shows her strength in the end. The ending is bittersweet. It’s not a happy ending, but not a sad ending either.

Sweetbitter made me reflect on my past with some good memories, and plenty bittersweet ones. Even though Tess annoyed me, it’s only because I used to be her in some ways, chasing something – freedom? A different life than the one we were trained to have? It’s a book that crept up on me – I didn’t think I’d relate to it at all, then I was finding things that were resonating deeply with me. I actually really enjoyed this book and will continue watching season two when it is airs. It’s a great book especially if you are in a reflective mood.

Get it here: Amazon

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