Book Review: "The Ingredients of Love" by Nicolas Barreau

Previously posted on Goodreads!¹

The tagline of this book says "This book will make you happy" (I read this book in Spanish, so I'm not sure if the phrase goes exactly like that). BUT this is my tagline: "This book will make you feel like The Hulk!"

I don't like to say this, but I really hated this story.

First of all, this is sold like an intelligent, charming, and blah story when is the contrary. God, I'm so angry that I feel that I'm also writing in a not intelligent way!

We have this total cliché plot of lies and a pair of immature persons in their 30's hat act worse than teenagers. We have Aurélie, who's recently been dumped, so she ends with a two-day "depression", and I'm using quotation marks here because that's what the synopsis says, not what happened; she forgets about this when she reads a book "about her" and saves her life. At first, when I found this book, I thought this would be metaphorical... my mistake. The character of the book is actually her, physically, so I DON'T UNDERSTAND how a book that describes my physical appearance can save me. Then, because she has practically seen heaven, she goes nuts when she tries to find the author.

Then we have André, a person that at first I believed was the one with common sense... NOPE! He falls in love at first sight (falling in love like that isn't the bad part) and creates an awful story around himself just to get in touch with Aurélie. He's the bridge between "the author" and this girl. He doesn't get the hints Aurélie gives him about not being interested and he doesn't understand. There was a moment that got me on my nerves:

"'Do you know that you're a really bad person, monsieur Chabanais?'

'Yes, I know. I'm worse than you can imagine.'" 

And I was like: "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, GIRL! PAY ATTENTION!"

He gets so obsessed that he makes things that aren't healthy in any way. But, "he's in love" and that's what matters, right? (This f****** weirdo). And Aurélie HATED HIM most of the time and then... loved him? WT...

And the writing? Barreau spoils himself saying things like "I looked at the writing, as it was the key to unveil Miller's mystery. And it was. But I couldn't see it at that moment." Lord, have mercy! Also, the synopsis says that this book is filled with books, recipes... I'm sorry, but there's no mention of a real book and the recipes are attached at the end of the book, resulting in a waste of sheets.

NICOLAS BARREAU was born in Paris, the son of a French father and a German mother. He studied romance languages and literature at the Sorbonne and worked in a bookshop on the Rive Gauche in Paris but is far from an inexperienced bookworm. With his two other successful novels The Woman of My Life and You'll Find Me at the End of the World, he has gained an enthusiastic audience. The Ingredients of Love is his second novel.


¹This review was written and originally posted on my Goodreads profile in 2016. It might now present minor changes in structure or corrections but has not changed its intention.