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blowp0p's review against another edition
4.0
Content warnings: Mentions of Korean war, mentions of poverty, lots of talk about food, slight slut shaming, mentions of sex, mentions of death
Ok so I'm kind of a sucker for memoir type books. I really am. This book was no exception. I really enjoyed reading it. And it was really cool reading about their parent's struggles before they came to the U.S.
So this book highlights the lives of two Korean American sisters on the East Coast and their struggle to open their own chocolate shop in the 1980s. It gives background on their Korean parents and how they fared both before and after the Korean war, their eventual winding up in America(though that's more or less kind of glossed over), their meeting, and a brief overview of their lives together until the death of their father.
The book reminisces on their father and his life quite a bit. It also talks about the girls opening the chocolate shop, the types of chocolates they sold, their experience at a confectionary convention in New York, the trials and tribulations of owning your own no name store (no name meaning not part of a large corporation), dealing with contractors and real estate people, as well as getting loans from the bank, a bit of info on some of their customers as well as nicknames they gave them, and talks about them writing books together.
I really like that they stuck to their guns when it came to writing and selling the story of their mother's life and how they refused to change the ending into a happily ever after. Especially since not all stories are happily ever afters. It was sad to hear about what happened to their mother's mother but things do happen especially in countries that have had wars. At least though the mother got some sort of closure about what happened to her mother.
All in all this was a very good book that I'd definitely recommend. That during some of the chocolate descriptions gave me a toothache from how sweet they sounded. And if you're interested in chocolate this is a pretty good book too.
Ok so I'm kind of a sucker for memoir type books. I really am. This book was no exception. I really enjoyed reading it. And it was really cool reading about their parent's struggles before they came to the U.S.
So this book highlights the lives of two Korean American sisters on the East Coast and their struggle to open their own chocolate shop in the 1980s. It gives background on their Korean parents and how they fared both before and after the Korean war, their eventual winding up in America(though that's more or less kind of glossed over), their meeting, and a brief overview of their lives together until the death of their father.
The book reminisces on their father and his life quite a bit. It also talks about the girls opening the chocolate shop, the types of chocolates they sold, their experience at a confectionary convention in New York, the trials and tribulations of owning your own no name store (no name meaning not part of a large corporation), dealing with contractors and real estate people, as well as getting loans from the bank, a bit of info on some of their customers as well as nicknames they gave them, and talks about them writing books together.
I really like that they stuck to their guns when it came to writing and selling the story of their mother's life and how they refused to change the ending into a happily ever after. Especially since not all stories are happily ever afters. It was sad to hear about what happened to their mother's mother but things do happen especially in countries that have had wars. At least though the mother got some sort of closure about what happened to her mother.
All in all this was a very good book that I'd definitely recommend. That during some of the chocolate descriptions gave me a toothache from how sweet they sounded. And if you're interested in chocolate this is a pretty good book too.
book_concierge's review against another edition
3.0
Subtitle: The True Story of Two Sisters, Tons of Treats, and the Little Shop That Could
When their father died of a stroke while on vacation, the Park sisters were left adrift. They were in their twenties, and still living at home in suburban Virginia with their mother when they decided to use the inheritance their father had left them to open a boutique specializing in high-end chocolates. This is the story of that “little shop that could,” and of the bond between two sisters.
It’s a charming memoir, but I found it repetitious. While I admit to self-medicating with chocolate, reading about that in chapter after chapter is less satisfying. Co-authored by the two sisters, it is also written in an oddly first-person-plural style combined with third-person references. So they’ll write something along the lines of “We were excited…” Followed by “Francie gave the customer…” I honestly don’t know how else they might have written it, as co-authors, but for me, it just didn’t flow.
Still, they have an interesting story to tell, and I really likeved their relationship with their mother and with their customers.
When their father died of a stroke while on vacation, the Park sisters were left adrift. They were in their twenties, and still living at home in suburban Virginia with their mother when they decided to use the inheritance their father had left them to open a boutique specializing in high-end chocolates. This is the story of that “little shop that could,” and of the bond between two sisters.
It’s a charming memoir, but I found it repetitious. While I admit to self-medicating with chocolate, reading about that in chapter after chapter is less satisfying. Co-authored by the two sisters, it is also written in an oddly first-person-plural style combined with third-person references. So they’ll write something along the lines of “We were excited…” Followed by “Francie gave the customer…” I honestly don’t know how else they might have written it, as co-authors, but for me, it just didn’t flow.
Still, they have an interesting story to tell, and I really likeved their relationship with their mother and with their customers.
meme_too2's review against another edition
5.0
If you love chocolate and fun characters, you will love this book.
Two Korean sisters open up a chocolate shop in the DC metro area and hold down the fort for 30+ years. It's a great story of determination, support, caring people, chocolate, and more chocolate. What's not to love?
Two Korean sisters open up a chocolate shop in the DC metro area and hold down the fort for 30+ years. It's a great story of determination, support, caring people, chocolate, and more chocolate. What's not to love?
abookishaffair's review against another edition
5.0
I came across this book randomly on the "new book" shelf at my local library. I was drawn in by the adorable cover and pulled in even more once I read the inside of the cover and realized this was a book set in Washington, DC that had nothing to do with politics (YES and YES!). I've talked about how much I love books about my city of DC that aren't political. There is so much more to this city! I had never heard of Chocolate Chocolate before even though it's so very close to where I am. I'm fixing this soon after reading this book! You better believe it!
Imagine Chocolat being set in the Nation's Capital and that's pretty much what you get with this book. Armed with a dream, sisters Frances and Ginger Park start a small chocolate shop just steps away from the White House. The road is hard to make the shop successful. They contend with a bunch of issues of a small shop just starting out as well as surly bunch of DC-ers but they're able to come through it all through perseverance and relying on each other.
Each chapter is named after one of the chocolates in the story along with a little description of what the chocolate was. Oh man, what an amazing way to get the readers sucked in the story. I'm going to venture to guess that my chocolate consumption increased by, well, quite a bit as I read this book. The descriptions of the chocolate and this charming store just really made me want chocolate! Read this book and you won't be able to help yourself either.
Bottom line: This is a delicious story!
Imagine Chocolat being set in the Nation's Capital and that's pretty much what you get with this book. Armed with a dream, sisters Frances and Ginger Park start a small chocolate shop just steps away from the White House. The road is hard to make the shop successful. They contend with a bunch of issues of a small shop just starting out as well as surly bunch of DC-ers but they're able to come through it all through perseverance and relying on each other.
Each chapter is named after one of the chocolates in the story along with a little description of what the chocolate was. Oh man, what an amazing way to get the readers sucked in the story. I'm going to venture to guess that my chocolate consumption increased by, well, quite a bit as I read this book. The descriptions of the chocolate and this charming store just really made me want chocolate! Read this book and you won't be able to help yourself either.
Bottom line: This is a delicious story!