Guest Review: Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous

Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous by Kathryn Williams

Guest review by Kari

copy sent for review, but all opinions are our own

Review: Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous is a fun young adult novel that follows sixteen-year-old Sophie Nicolaides on her journey to become a famous chef. Sophie enters a contest to win a spot on a reality television show featuring teen chefs. The winner gets a scholarship to a prestigious cooking school in California. Sophie was pushed to enter the competition by her best friend, Alex. Alex’s encouragement helped her land a spot on the show.

When Sophie arrives to Napa, California, where the show is being taped, the drama immediately begins. Sophie soon learns that the show is much tougher than she originally thought. All of the contestants have different backgrounds and they all want to win. The good news is that she does meet two other contestants named Stan and Shelby. They soon become friends and try to stick together through the drama.

During the show, Sophie has to deal with conniving producers, strict celebrity judges, and trying to keep her relationship with a local winery’s son away from the constant cameras. She also has to deal with how her family and friends will think of her when they see the show. Throughout the book, Sophie learns about herself. Sophie is a great cook, but she needs to understand what she represents before she can become a great chef.

The author did a great job conveying how a reality show is filmed. I really felt like I understood how television producers can make the audience see people the way they want them to be seen. I thought this was a great concept for a book, especially since reality television is everywhere these days.

The one thing that I loved about this book, is that it is filled with real recipes. It’s fun to read about food, but even cooler when you can make some of the food! I truly do recommend this book to readers. It’s a fun and fast read that many people can enjoy.