Usually when I get a sequel in the mail, I’ll either (a) ignore it, (b) write the publicist and ask for any previous books, or (c) look longingly at it and think, “If only I had read the earlier books …”
But Cupcake was a little different. I wasn’t absolutely positive it was a sequel. Who knows, maybe Rachel Cohn just likes naming her books after food products. And also, who would want a sandwich made of Gingerbread, Shrimp and a Cupcake? The Boyfriend claims it sounds like something you could order at Starbucks, a Gingerbread-Shrimp-Cupcake latte. But if I were going for something, you know, appetizing, I’d leave out the shrimp.
Anyway, I decided to throw caution to the wind and jump right into Cupcake. And even for a Rachel Cohn virgin like myself, it was a blast to read. It turned out my earlier instincts had been right: it is indeed the third book in a series. But Rachel does a good job of welcoming the newbie and making sure the reader gets caught up on details, even if she has failed to read the previous two novels.
In fact, Cupcake just makes me want to go to the bookstore and buy the earlier books. Because it just … rocks.
Okay, short synopsis time: Cyd Charisse, named after the real Cyd Charisse but in actuality better known as CC, has moved to New York after high school, ostensibly to go to culinary school while sharing an apartment with her half-brother. Only things don’t go quite as planned. CC breaks a leg almost immediately upon arrival, and it takes awhile for her to get her life going in a direction she likes. But through the whole novel, you have this sense, this idea: “Oh my God, what if CC and her brother Danny did this thing that would be totally awesome? I can totally see it now!” I won’t tell you what that thing is, of course, but you’ll know what it is when you come to it.
Rachel’s just got a style that makes you feel comfy and happy and like you want to lose yourself in her writing forever and ever. And if you already know CC from Rachel’s earlier books, you know she’s a wacky character who will lead you on adventures you’d never have imagined on your own. Which, of course, is why we read novels: because novelists just have these crazy ideas that they write down and turn into a separate reality into which we can escape.
Cupcake is perfect summer escape fiction. It’s the kind of book you can read even while electricians are cutting giant holes in the walls of your apartment, even while plaster dust is landing all over your furniture, even while camping out on your dining room floor because every other room in the joint is covered in dust and debris. It’s the kind of book that can save your sanity when you’re in such a situation, and I say that with firsthand experience.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go dust and move furniture — our living room and bedroom are finally ready to be re-inhabited. When I wake up tomorrow, I fully intend to go over to my local bookseller and demand copies of Gingerbread and Shrimp.
Buy Cupcake