Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Book review

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Book Report

 Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie is a book I got for Christmas from my parents. It is set in the summer of 1950 London England just after the war, in a big old mansion that is falling into debt. Living within are three sisters who hate each other, a father obsessed with stamps, a cook who can’t cook and a gardener who occasionally does strange things and doesn’t remember doing them.

The main character is 11 year old Flavia de Luce, an aspiring chemist who absolutely adores poisons. She will spend hours playing with atropa belladonna, amaranthus caudatus, sometimes obtained through stealing stuff from around the house. In her chemistry lab she loves to experiment, mostly to annoy her sisters. A murder happens at her house and she decides to investigate.

One of the things I really like about this book is how its written. I don’t know about you, but I love books where you don’t know what is going to happen until the last page. In some books you figure it out half way through and the rest is just boring. I also like the depth of the characters. They are not little flimsy characters with no depth whatsoever, They each have big, bold personalities – and interesting, sometimes questionable backgrounds.

I love books where I actually learn things and I did in this book. I learned, among other things interesting facts like chemical equations and the antidote to arsenic poisoning. I also learned about stamps. If you are the kind of person who likes mystery and suspense as well as jokes and big words I highly recommend this book.

About oscar

Human, I think.
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6 Responses to Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie: A Book review

  1. Carol yeager says:

    I am intrigued by your description of this book and will look for it to read. Thank you for your cogent review … hoping to read more of them from you in 2018 and beyond. I am curious to know what you learned about stamps …
    Thank you
    Carol

  2. Barb says:

    Hey… I read this book a while ago. As soon as I read a bit of your review I remembered it and how much I enjoyed it. You are right. The characters have depth, and like You, I liked learning new science stuff. Thank u for sharing!

  3. Theresa Cormier says:

    Very good review Oscar of the book! Impressive and I know you will do well when you will have to do book reports at school and University! Hugs from GPPand I!

  4. Ken Bauer says:

    Thanks for the review Oscar, we will have to see about picking up a copy for our family to read.

    Learning new things and a good suspense story are excellent reasons for picking up a book.

    Cheers,
    Ken

  5. Suzanne says:

    Oscar, I read your review and I wonder if you think Matthew would like to read this book? Perhaps you could loan it to him and recommend that he read it? It sounds very interesting. I think he would like learning about stamps, poisons, potions and chemical equations.

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