May is shaping up to be quite the busy month for THP’s book team! We’re back with another YA rom-com to celebrate AAPI month: Eliza, From Scratch by Sophia Lee.
Eliza, From Scratch follows high school senior Eliza Park, who’s set to become her class salutatorian and apply early to all her top college choices. But a mix-up with her schedule lands her in Culinary Arts, an unweighted class that also highlights her ineptitude at cooking.
As Eliza navigates the culinary kitchen and life at home with her grieving mother, she redefines her idea of success and love. Prepare to get emotional along the way. Here are three of our favorite things about Eliza, From Scratch!
Book Overview: Eliza, From Scratch
Content warnings: mention of grandparent death, themes of grief and loss
Summary: Eliza Park’s senior year will be perfect: She’s going to be salutatorian, give a tear-jerking graduation speech in front of her parents, and enjoy her last year with her equally ambitious best friends. But when a scheduling mishap enrolls her in Culinary Arts, Eliza is suddenly the most clueless person in the class. Her typical title of star student belongs to the aggravatingly arrogant Wesley Ruengsomboon, a charming Thai American boy whose talent in the kitchen leaves Eliza both awed and annoyed.
With her rank on the line, Eliza’s only hope is to snatch the midterm cooking contest win from Wesley, however improbable that may be. Add in the flavor of her grandmother’s Korean recipes, the heat of being class partners with Wesley, and the sweetness of unexpected feelings—and Eliza must now rebuild everything she knew about success, love, and what it means to be herself, from scratch.
Food Recipes
As an avid rom-com lover and food lover, Eliza, From Scratch combines our two favorite things into one delectable YA novel. Eliza learns how to cook alongside her arrogant-yet-talented classmate, Wesley Ruengsomboon. They add their own spin to the course assignments, like shakshuka instead of a simple tomato sauce. Or adding miso to their carbonara dish. Not only that, but Eliza also gets the chance to cook with her mother, using her late grandmother’s recipe cards. Eliza gets a glimpse of her mother’s childhood every time they make a traditional Korean dish together, understanding her a little better.
Eliza And Wesley’s Romance
Despite getting off on the wrong foot, Eliza and Wesley’s opposites-attract, rivals-to-lovers romance just worked for us. Eliza’s used to being the best student in all her classes, but she feels helpless as a complete novice at cooking. Meanwhile, Wesley’s cooking talent and intuition are unmatched, but he’s not doing well in any of his other classes. They spend Friday afternoons cooking together, their tension growing with every completed dish. We loved getting to see them bring their guards down around each other and sharing their struggles.
The Realness
When in high school, everything about friendships and relationships is like the end of the world. And it was, with all the potentially life-changing decisions we had to make as mere teenagers. Eliza, From Scratch captures that all-too-relatable feeling so well. Eliza feels her friendships with her two best friends, Kareena and Meredith, becoming more and more distant. And when Eliza finally finds out why, she chooses to avoid them for keeping such an important secret from her. Their conversations get so vulnerable and real that we felt transported to our own senior year.
Sophia Lee’s Eliza, From Scratch combines an opposites-attract, rivals-to-lovers romance with an vulnerable, familiar coming-of-age story. Pay attention, and you’ll find lessons you didn’t know you needed.
Eliza, From Scratch by Sophia Lee releases on May 13th, and you can order a copy of it here!
What do you think of Sophia Lee’s Eliza, From Scratch? Are you planning to read it? Let us know on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram!
Looking for new audiobook recommendations? Here’s the latest!
