Pumpkin Spice & Everything Nice by Katie Cicatelli-Kuc
Genre: Romance, Young Adult
Pages: 336
Published By: Scholastic Press on 6th August, 2024
Format: Paperback
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Book Synopsis:
Fall is a big deal in Briar Glen, a quaint and charming village in New England. That’s when tourists from all over the country descend upon this picturesque town to see the babbling brooks and colorful leaves while sipping hot chocolate or pumpkin spice lattes.
But sixteen-year-old Lucy Kane hates the uber-popular PSL. She finds it overrated – especially when you consider the fact that there isn’t even pumpkin in it! – which is bad because she works at Cup o’ Jo, the local coffee shop her mom owns. Business at Cup o’ Jo hasn’t been great in the off-season, but that’s okay because it always picks up during the fall…
Until Java Junction, a multinational coffee chain, opens across the street and makes things harder for the small shop. And to make matters worse, it turns out Jack Harper, the new kid in school and Lucy’s secret crush, is the son of the owner. Suddenly, fall doesn’t seem like it’ll be all it’s cracked up to be. Will Lucy find a way to save her mom’s coffee shop?
Book Review
I was really excited to read this book when I saw it at our school book fair.. The cover gives off such cute and cosy autumn vibes. However, this book really disappointed me and fell flat. I started off reading it physically but just couldn’t connect with it. I then switched to listening to the audiobook to finish it off.
My main issue is that, although it’s supposed to be a YA romance, the story completely lacks romance. The romance element gets overshadowed by the focus on creating the “perfect” pumpkin spiced latte. The most romance we got was a hug, they didn’t even say that they liked each other and I don’t think they became a couple even at the end of the book… I get that it’s a Young Adult book but I’ve read more romance in other YA books compared to what we got in this one. The romance element was basically non-existent.
The character development was disappointing as well and I found it hard to connect with the characters. The FMC’s attempt at banter came off annoying and at times a little rude. The MMC was cute but even his character felt underwhelming.
The book moves at a decent pace overall, but switching to the audiobook helped me enjoy it when I was struggling at times. The plot idea had a good premise but it did not deliver. I think if we had a little more of the romance element it would have helped move the story along.
I bumped up the rating from a 2 to a 2.5 purely because of the autumn/fall vibes. This is the only part that I think the book delivered well on. It was definitely giving me the cosy autumn feelings that I wanted when I originally looked at this book on the book fair shelf so I have no complaints on that front.
*I have Mint to Be by this author my Christmas TBR but now I am apprehensive about reading after the disappointment that this book gave me…
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