Bittersweet by Sarah Ockler

Ok so here’s another book I read an age ago and haven’t had time to review.

This is not my usual type of book. It’s a lot more ‘fluffy, teen girl book’ then my usual genre favourites but I had read a great review of it on Goodreads and then it came up on http://pulseit.simonandschuster.com so I decided to give it a go.

“Once upon a time, Hudson knew exactly what her future looked like. Then a betrayal changed her life, and knocked her dreams to the ground. Now she’s a girl who doesn’t believe in second chances... a girl who stays under the radar by baking cupcakes at her mom’s diner and obsessing over what might have been.” – From Goodreads.

Hudson Avery is an incredible baker, and ex-competitive ice-skater, 17 year old girl stuck in a dead-end job working at her mum’s diner, helping to keep the family afloat after her dad walked out. She’s fed up of her typical small town life and she can’t wait to get out of there. So when she is given the chance to win a scholarship that could send her to any school she could dream of, and all she has to do is brush of her old skates and complete her old routine. 

The only problem is ice-skating used to be her and her dad’s thing and the minute he left she hung up her skate for good. With a tight work schedule, a not very supportive mum, a little brother to look after, cakes to bake and nowhere to skate she doesn’t think she’ll even have the chance. Until her the one person who can change her life literally crashes into her.

This is a very sweet and heartfelt book. It sounds like a typical ‘I’m too good for this place so I’m going to figure out a way to leave’ kind of story but it truly has a very sweet and sad side to it. Hudson and her family are obviously still broken and trying to pick up the pieces after her father left and she’s still struggling to find herself somewhere in-between what both her parents wanted her to be while also trying to figure out her place in high school. She’s lost and desperate to leave. 

She always seems to be stuck between a rock and a hard place. Stuck in choosing who she wants to be, what she wants to do, who her friends are and who she wants to be with. And Ockler has this incredible way of writing that makes you feel stuck right alongside her.

I loved this book, all the characters seemed so real and perfect in how flawed they were but they always managed to stick together in the end and work things out. I loved the books ending. It wasn’t some magical fairy-tale where everything got sorted out but it felt so real and the best out of a bad situation. It really was bittersweet.

I would recommend this book whole heartedly. I might even have to buy it.

But be warned, you will want to bake copious amount of cupcakes while reading this book.