| Title | : | Cupcake (Cyd Charisse, #3) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1416912177 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781416912170 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 248 |
| Publication | : | First published January 23, 2007 |
Cupcake (Cyd Charisse, #3) Reviews
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The thick red cupcake letter frosting on the cover slightly grossed me out. Cyd has just never grown on me. I admire Rachel Cohn's ability to channel the thought processes she goes through while making the decisions not to go to college and whether or not to chase after her on-again/off-again maybe-true-love Shrimp, and her changing, more mature dynamic with her mom and dad and half-sister, but I think what rubs me the wrong way is actually lightly touched on in this, the third in the series: Cyd has lots of money, but never seems to consider it. She thinks of herself as cool/punk/rebel/coffee shop girl, but the books feel incomplete to me because she doesn't face any real consequences or struggle in her attempt to define herself. So when she seems to be handed opportunities to go to school, or work at a cool cupcake business, it rings bells of entitlement and inauthenticity. And, while this is addressed in the book when she gets the smack-down from a girl who works at a manicure shop, after Cyd admits she works only for spending money because her parents pay the bills, it never really goes anywhere.
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Easily the best book of the series. I started out less than impressed by Rachel Cohn's writing style, not to mention Cyd Charisse's personality. But she grew on me, and then I became invested in what happened to her. I love that you get to witness her growth and I love how this last book wraps it all up in the most perfect way possible. Such great characters. I admit that I had to skip a few of the crazy internal dialogues that were a tad neurotic for me, and that didn't serve any real purpose, but other than that, I really, really love this book. I could not put it down until the very end. I wish I could continue to journey with CC and her family and see what kind of adventures they all get into.
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Shrimp and Cyd broke up by two times and get back together by two times. NOW...they are not in relationship in the end of book. I think they need to get move on and find new love.
What a bored.... -
First read this book in 8th grade and it formed my entire person and future!!
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Meet CC. A self-absorbed, young...well, I wouldn't say lady...but at least knows what she wants.
After breaking up with Shrimp and letting him `escape' to New Zealand with his parents, CC moves from San Francisco to New York to start a new exciting life on her own.
Except that right away things go wrong (she falls down the stairs and breaks her leg, leaving her stuck in her brother's apartment - no elevator - until her it is healed).
Her brother has better things to do than to listen to her whining. He's got a cupcake business that, after his breakup with Aaron, he's running on his own. So she grabs some binoculars and explores the neighborhood.
CC sort of promised that she would go to culinary school, but since she doesn't feel like doing so, she instead takes a job as a barista at Johnny's L U _ C H _ O N E _ T E (in a later chapter the letters get fixed) and helps her brother out with the frosting when he's making cupcakes.
She has a few one-night-stands and a fling with Luis.
But is she really over Shrimp or does she want him back? That's what she has to decide when he suddenly shows up, New Zealand tan and all.
And will the new Buddhist Shrimp be ready for what she decides? At the moment, all Shrimp seemingly wants to do is draw and surf.
Cyd is overconfident, definitely acts first and thinks later, and although she thinks differently - she is not a grown-up yet, but still quite immature. Her parents don't know what's good for her, and are merely annoying. She takes pride in getting drunk. If she doesn't feel like doing something, she just doesn't do it. The problem of having unprotected sex and not wanting another abortion is easily fixed with a morning-after pill.
She's reminiscing with her friend (one of many pregnant characters in the book) about what happened to them that made them no longer such rebels. She's on her way to maturity, but she's definitely not there yet.
This is a very fast-paced book, jumping quickly from one situation or thought to the next.
I didn't read the first two books in the series, but I think that only one important part of background information was missing. Namely why lisBETH is spelled in such an odd manner.
Besides lisBETH, there are other interesting style elements in the book as well, though at times it feels like the author is trying little too hard to be unique. (I skipped the chapter that was written almost like a movie script.)
Shrimp's Haiku (spell checked by Danny, because Shrimp is severely dyslexic) and the author `trying to be hip' (for lack of a hipper term) become a bit annoying at times, but I guess that's what teenagers will like most about it.
As someone who doesn't drink coffee, I didn't really get CC's obsession with `the search for the perfect cappuccino'. I also found the book a bit too long. I went from being quite enthusiastic about it and speeding through the chapters, to getting stuck at about three-fourth of the way through, thinking "I really have to finish this". But I'm glad I stuck with it, because it got better again in the end.
Overall this is a fun, very fast-paced, read that's perfect for summer holidays on the beach (or any other occasion where short chapters like this are a plus). You can easily pick the book up and start where you left off, even after weeks have passed. -
Den letzten Teil der Cyd Charisse Reihe fand ich leider nicht ganz so gut. Das liegt daran, dass sich inzwischen einfach viel wiederholt. Ich habe die 3 Bücher relativ schnell hintereinander gelesen, konnte mich also an Details noch gut erinnern, die Rachel Cohn aber für die "Abstands-Leser" noch mal erklärt hat. Generell hat sie sich allein in diesem Buch öfter wiederholt und ich hatte das Gefühl Cyd Charisse selbst dreht sich ein wenig im Kreis, pendelt hin und her und weiß nicht recht, wo sie hin will. Natürlich ist das auch ein inhaltlicher Punkt der Geschichte, aber ein bisschen nervig fand ich es dennoch.
Die Charaktere - alte wie neue - sind nach wie vor sehr liebenswert und quirlig. Ich glaube ich habe nicht viel gemeinsam mit Cyd, aber ich respektiere sie für ihre Selbstsicherheit und wie selbstbewusst sie z.B. mit ihren weiblichen Reizen umgeht.
Was die ganze Reihe unheimlich originell macht, ist natürlich Cyds Liebe zum Detail im Bezug auf Kaffee. Sogar ich als nie-Kaffeetrinker war beeindruckt von ihrer Hingabe beim Mischen des perfekten Cappuccinos.
Insgesamt eine würdige Auflösung für die Reihe und es ist gut, dass jetzt Schluss ist und die Geschichte nicht bis in die Versenkung fortgesetzt wurde. -
I absolutely loved this book. The post-high school themes were easily relatable for me. Cyd Charisse is one of the most interesting characters I've ever come across. As the book progresses you get to know her beyond the desperately in love 18 year old who has left San Francisco for a life in New York living with her gay half-brother and NYC family that just met her 2 years earlier. I love CC. I think every girl fresh out of high school is CC. Lost, confused, perhaps questioning the decisions that they have made and the decisions they will make in the future. This is such a page turner and a really quick read. I love love love LOVE this book. :D Definitely recommendable and worth reading ten more times! I cannot wait to read the rest of this series. (I love how the book can stand alone! Rachel Cohn is amazing for that!!!)
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i have to agree that this book did not live up to expectations. still, it was fun to get back into cyd charisse's hilarious head for a while. i love max but didn't really understand what he was doing in the story, except for being...convenient? i guess i felt that way about a lot of the characters: frances alberta, baldy, johnny mold.
i'm really curious about the review that calls this book mary sue fiction. sure, (almost) everyone loves cyd charisse, but isn't it sort of refreshing to read about a teenage girl with through-the-roof self esteem for once?
anyways. worth a read if you loved the 1st two. if you just liked them, skip this. -
This book did not turn out like anything I expected. For instance, I thought that CC's boyfriend would come back in the beginning instead of the end. In my opinion the author dragged on some parts and CC went into flashbacks but sometimes it wasn't obvious so it got a little bit confusing. There was one thing that I liked and it was that CC grew up a bit and realized that she can't get anywhere in the real world if she continues to be rebellious and irresponsible. Overall, I didn't think this book was that great. I would recommend this book to anyone in high school because it involves boy troubles which most teenage girls can relate to.
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Ahhh, the last in the trilogy of Cyd Charisse and her Shrimp.
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I loved Cyd Charisse in middle school.. reading this now that I'm older is so annoying. She's one of the most self-absorbed, foolish YA protagonists I've encountered.
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A satisfying conclusion to the series :)
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**This is the third installment of a series. By nature, this review contains spoilers for the previous 2 books.**
First, I have to say that when I read Gingerbread for the first time in high school, I loved it. So many stories of “punk” or otherwise alternative girls paint them as cold, unfeeling and uninterested in emotion. Cohn wrote Cyd Charisse full of emotion and boy-crazy, completely susceptible to falling in love and getting in trouble. And I do love that CC has remained a weirdo AND head-over-heels in love for the entire series.
At this point, Cohn starts to deconstruct some of the characters to make them less shiny and perfect. Shrimp, Danny, and Luis all get this treatment. Unfortunately, the only one who doesn’t is Cyd. She’s still completely blind to her privilege, aside from one moment where she makes a potential new friend uncomfortable. I have waited 3 books for CC to understand that her financial fortune does set her aside from her peers and that she can’t run from it, so she might as well embrace it and use it as a power for good. We never get that and I have to admit that it was disappointing.
Otherwise, reading a CC book at 30 felt comfortable, fun and indulgent. -
I didn't finish this book because I just couldn't stand how descriptive it was. In my opinion the paragraphs were just too long as she described everything in unnecessary detail. I'm sure the story would have been alright as it did have potential, but I just didn't like the writing style at all.
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It was a cute series to revisit as an adult.
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I really loved this series, im not sure if i like how CC and Shrimp end up but i love how the story ties up all the lose ends of all the characters. a good read quick and cute.
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Very realistic ending. I enjoyed it.
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2022
Let's get this out now: Much like our heroine, CC, I, too, am a Bonafied Coffee Snob. I refuse the overpriced gruel served up by establishments like Starbucks, as that stuff somehow always tastes moldy, like the beans have been around since Kurt Cobain was still alive and cranking out angsty hits. And also because it's The Man's coffee. Unfortunately, the one Indie coffee place in my town went out of business in 2013. I miss that place. They always had live music on Fridays, and their Dark Chocolate White Chocolate Peppermint Frozen latte (with extra whip cream) was pretty much the best thing ever. Nowdays, I brew my own. It's not fancy, but it's mine. But in a pinch I'll swing by the Gas Station on the Corner, which, by some miracle of witchcraft, has amazing coffee. Still, there are days I'd be willing to negotiate a time-share Soul rental for a chocolate mint latte like I used to get. Not selling outright. More like a library book rental where said Soul must be returned in the same condition at the end of the rental period, otherwise dire consequences will happen for said renter. Anyway...
But I'm not here to debate Coffee Politics. I'm here to talk about Cupcake...and not the dessert either (although I DO enjoy cupcakes).
In this third and final installment, CC is finally starting to get over her ridiculous obsession with He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named and is living it up on the East Coast. Sure, there's the minor setback of a broken leg, but there's her New York Fam (love Danny!), friends to hang out with, and even a pretty amazing barista job at the quirky local diner. Sure, our girl is just as self-absorbed and just as clueless as ever about how the world really works, but that's part of her charm. And it was honestly really refreshing to read a teenage character who actually acted like a teenager rather than a Warrior Princess or an idealized "woke" version of how some adult thinks a teen should act. We get CC. Entitlement and all. She does do some growing up, though. And by the end of the book her head isn't quite as far up her bum anymore.
The best part? The ending . And that, to me, was the perfect ending to a really enjoyable trilogy.
p.s. DO NOT listen to the audio. The narrator is awful and sounds like a 70 year old woman who smoked a carton a day since she was 10. Made me cringe. Glad I had access to both (audio and print). Otherwise, I'd have ditched the reread in favor of the cheesy "True" Paranormal Experiences podcast I've been binging as of late. Give me cryptids over an awful narrator any day...even though most of those beasties can probably be attributed to logical, non-paranormal explanations.
2010
In the final installment of the Gingerbread trilogy, Cyd Charisse is now 18 and residing in New York with older brother Danny. She has landed a dream job working at a coffee house and made some great new friends. She's even started to get over Shrimp, who broke her heart in the second book (titled "Shrimp"). But just when her life is going perfectly, a blast from her past returns to shake things up. -
Please be aware that Cupcake is the third book in a series. In order to give even the briefest synopsis, this review does contain spoilers to the first and second books.
Cyd Charisse graduates high school and moves to New York City where she plans to share an apartment with her older half-brother, Danny, and begin culinary school. After she agrees to a clean break with Shrimp, CC is looking forward to a new, exciting life in Manhattan when disaster strikes. She falls down the stairs of her walk-up fifth floor apartment and breaks her leg, rendering her immobile. For weeks CC is only able to order take-out, watch movies, spy on her neighbors, and think about Shrimp. When she finally emerges from her apartment cast-less, CC ditches culinary school and gets a part-time job as a barista in a run down coffee shop. Just when CC is beginning to make a new life for herself, who else should show up on her doorstep but Shrimp? Shrimp claims to only want Cyd Charisse and even stays in New York for a few months, but he eventually flees to San Francisco to get back to the ocean. CC must choose between the new life she's made for herself in New York, or her old life in San Francisco with Shrimp.
If you've read my Gingerbread and Shrimp reviews, you probably know that I am not a huge fan of Cyd Charisse. Apparently I am in the minority because everywhere I look, her books have gotten great reviews. I've been reading through these reviews in hopes of an "aha" moment where I discover what I've been missing this whole time. I still haven't found it. I did, however, find a review on Goodreads that explains what I don't like about Cyd Charisse much better than I could say it myself:
"...I think what rubs me the wrong way is actually lightly touched on in this, the third in the series: Cyd has lots of money, but never seems to consider it. She thinks of herself as cool/punk/rebel/coffee shop girl, but the books feel incomplete to me because she doesn't face any real consequences or struggle in her attempt to define herself. So when she seems to be handed opportunities to go to school, or work at a cool cupcake business, it rings bells of entitlement and inauthenticity. And, while this is addressed in the book when she gets the smack-down from a girl who works at a manicure shop, after Cyd admits she works only for spending money because her parents pay the bills, it never really goes anywhere." (You can read the rest of Meghan's review here.)
This! This! This! It's not so much the fact that Cyd Charisse is entitled (although that is pretty gag-worthy), it's the fact that there are no consequences! She never seems to learn anything, but everyone loves her anyway.
Read more reviews like this one at
http://www.bookmarkedblog.com -
Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com
I had high expectations for this book, the third Rachel Cohn has written about Cyd Charisse (the first two are GINGERBREAD and SHRIMP). The previous adventures of Cyd Charisse were absolutely brilliant. This book didn't quite live up to those expectations, but perhaps they were unreasonably high. But this was still a fabulous book!
In CUPCAKE, Cyd Charisse (or CC, as she now prefers to be called) has graduated from high school and moved to Manhattan. She's staying with Danny, her half-brother, and she's thrilled to finally be independent. She's not going to think about Shrimp; the two of them agreed to a clean break after she turned down his offer of marriage and a life with Iris and Billy, his pothead parents, in New Zealand. That's what she wanted...right? She's going to fill up her time and her mind with other things...like handsome delivery guys and maybe even a fling with Luis. She's starting her new life, and Shrimp's starting his--separately.
Unfortunately, all of CC's big plans come screeching to a halt when she falls down the stairs, breaks her leg, and is immobile in Danny's fifth-floor walk-up apartment for weeks. All she can do is order food, watch movies, spy on the neighbors...and think. Thinking is exactly what she didn't want to have time to do, but now there's nothing better.
Even though she can't forget about Shrimp, there are a few distractions in New York City. CC's playing matchmaker, hanging out with Autumn, ditching culinary school, visiting her grouchy old neighbor, getting a job, and even bonding with lisBETH, her older half-sister.
No book with CC would be complete without Shrimp. I was worried he wouldn't show up at all, and CC might have been secretly hoping he would, too. And so he does. Just when Cyd Charisse is getting used to her life in New York, Shrimp shows up, and she's forced to make a really hard choice yet again: follow true love or follow her own dreams in the huge city she's calling home these days?
This is a fantastically well-written, funny, and touching novel, as is to be expected from Rachel Cohn. It's quite possible that my slight disappointment resulted only from the fact that I was missing some of my favorite characters throughout much of the book, like Helen and Shrimp. Still, though, Cyd Charisse's voice in this book is as honest, fresh, and brilliant as in the previous two, capturing my attention just as easily. CC is a fantastic character; probably one of my favorite book characters ever. CUPCAKE, along with GINGERBREAD and SHRIMP, is a must-read! -
***WARNING...This may contain spoilers because it is part of a series (and it is kind of hard to discuss this book without referring to the previous novels in the series)***
Yay...Cyd Charisse graduated from high school and is leaving San Francisco. She moves to NYC and shares in apartment with her half-sib, Danny. CC (the name she prefers) can live the life she wants (finally), but she's not quite sure what to do. She knows school isn't her thing because she tried culinary school for one class and bailed on it.
Life away from Nancy and Sid-Dad is going to be great, right? Except, CC breaks a leg and is stuck in her apartment where she eats and eats and spies on her neighbors (on the plus side, she gets some curves that she's wanted). Her NYC family tell her to get off her butt when she's better and to do something with her life.
So, Cyd makes some friends, then loses some friends. She attempts to date (post-Shrimp) and hooks up with a guy. But there's something still missing from her life and she decides to find self-actualization with a great cup of caffeine.
CC finds a few good jobs and starts to discover who she is in the Big Apple. But guess who shows up on her doorstep, when things are just going right??? That's right, her supposed true love, Shrimp.
Can CC's new life involve Shrimp or is she better off without him???
I was so excited to read Cupcake and to see how Cyd's single life will be without surfer dude, Shrimp around. This was a great book to follow the previous two in the series because we do get to see what her semi-independent life is like in NYC. I was totally rooting for her to find her identity (and not the I'm the GF of Shrimp type identity). I will also say, there were times when I was pissed at her, too. CC is great character because she isn't perfect.
She's a girl out of high school and wants to experience life. With that said, there are situations in this book that aren't always easy to talk about. Cohn once again talks about some serious issues. There's pregnancy, irresponsible drinking that leads to sex, and also the morning after pill.
But, overall Cyd Charisse (I mean CC) is a total punk-rock girl with a great heart that most people can relate to. She's a character that I became attached to after reading Gingerbread, but love after finishing this series. CC is an unforgettable character that I hope others will enjoy. -
I had read the first two books in the series, Gingerbread and Shrimp, back in high school, and yet I never got around to reading the final installment until now. (You can blame hardcover prices and then sudden cover redesigns for that--I couldn't possibly own the first two with the striped covers and the last one with the new design of a cupcake silhouette...it just wouldn't make sense.)
I have to admit, I love Cyd Charisse. I do. I probably shouldn't, but I do. She's a brat, she's self-centered, she's crude, and if I knew her in real life, I'd probably steer clear of her. But she reminds me a little bit of myself, and probably of other teenage girls I've known. She's exaggerated, true, but she is also a character who is somewhat realistic. It would be impossible for every girl to relate to Cyd Charisse completely, but to bits and pieces? I'd say so. She's flawed, and what's more, she's open about those flaws.
This series has a soft spot in my heart, most likely due to nostalgia and my own ties to the Bay Area, thus my four star rating. That's not to say this book has some flaws, mainly some of the....cultural iffiness re: Latin@ characters, LGBTQ characters, and the stereotypes Rachel Cohn thrusts upon them. It's frustrating to me that a book that is so spunky and witty could also have a lot of problematic elements. But, no book is perfect, and I can only hope that Cohn has received some well-versed criticisms to such instances and will work better in the future to avoid them. (The problematic parts, not the criticisms.)
In any case, if you're ever feeling like going back in time to when you were a teenage girl, or if you are in high school and need something to which you can relate, this is the series for you. Also for those who enjoy pop culture and Bay Area references. Bottom line: this series is a fun read with a semi-likeable protagonist, and each book only takes about a day to read.
