What do readers think of Feast by Catherine Kurtz? Write your own review.

Such a fascinating story of a young woman who sense of taste and smell is very rare. When she smells poison in Duke's food she is immediately assigned as his food taster. Yet, she is poor, lonely and always hungry. She befriends a mysterious starving stranger who fills her void of no friends. Unfortunately, he is not what he seems. The book flows, characters well described and provides a look into how few choices the poor have.

This novel is about resilience in many forms- resilience to abandonment, hatred, jealousy, loss of a special gift, and the acceptance of someone new. I loved the way Ray handled all these throughout her young life. She was born of an Indian(Not native) father and English mother, but favored her father in coloring. This alone brought its own disadvantages. She was only truly loved by her grandfather and a kind baker in her small village. She had the extraordinary gift of taste and smell which procured her a job as taster for the Duc which eventually led to her downfall. I would recommend this book for any book club. Some parts are pretty predictable, but others come as a surprise. Its a very easy read and difficult to put down.

At its core, Feast is an examination of appetites: for food, for love, for recognition, for belonging. It is also an exploration of the dualism of both getting - and not getting - what you think you want. If a meal is delicious, too much can make you sick. A person's affection could be love, but it could also be possession.

   For Minha, harnessing her incredible sense of taste must live alongside her maturation from innocent child to knowing adult, a process that educates her in this balance between what is pleasant and what is poisonous. Minha's steady good nature and her perseverance in pursuing what truly matters to her, despite myriad challenges, will charm readers.

   The novel's lush writing creates an absorbing, near fable-like reading experience that readers of cozy stories will enjoy. Kurtz's descriptions of food, clothes, and her keen sense of social hierarchy are particular highlights.

Feast is a delicious read on multiple levels. The plot moves along quickly, the characters are engaging, and the food descriptions are ever so sumptuous. The main character, Minha, gets to taste a small sliver of each extravagant dish as it passes by her door on its way to the dining room. Her incredible sense of smell and taste have resulted in her being given the "job" of poison detector for a paranoid duct in late 19th century England. This book has a bit of suspense, a touch of magical realism and a healthy dose of historical fiction. It's a quick read and kept me up late into the night turning the pages. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in that time period, in food and in the tough choices poor women had to make if they were to survive.

Feast captured an explosion of senses in the telling of the tale of a young girl born with the unique ability of taste. There was such a resilience to Minha that made her endearing to the reader. I felt like I tasted every dish along with her when she became the duc's poison taster. I suffered along with her during her periods of aloneness.
The author's strength was in her vivid descriptions.

My only area of weakness was that towards the end the pacing needed to slow down. Once leaving the castle, there was not enough time spent on developing her new life.

I received a free copy of Feast by Cathereine Kurtz from the publisher, Bookbrowse and Netgalley. Imagine being born with the sense of taste so 'keen' you can tell if something is poisoned. Imagine saving a Duc from death and then to be whisked away as the official poison taster. Left in a room for the sole purpose of detecting if there is poison in Duc Nicolas' food...and then you lose that gift...!

Who is she without her sense of taste, what will define her now. What will she do?
This is where we are in this interesting historical. The writing is wonderful although I found myself less interested in the story as a whole.

I would recommend this story for all those who like historical fiction with a touch of magic.

Feast was a very intriguing premise...especially since I love food & cooking and any story about pre-20th century France pulls me in. Unfortunately, I was disappointed; Minha is a great character but the rest of the cast was not well developed. Additionally, Minha's ability seemed to be more magical/fantastical than a true natural gift.I'm not at all certain how this novel would be received in a book club.

"But as each new tune struck up, there was a burst of new rhythm, new response, new joy at the business of being alive."

I'm torn about my rating...I am closer to 4 than 3, but not quite. It took me awhile to get into #feast, but I did and thoroughly enjoyed it. Such great writing, with luscious descriptions of food. Our main character Minha has an overwhelming ability to taste and sense food and is forced into being a poison-taster for Duc Nicolas, so while we get those descriptions, we also experience her senses of distaste and disgust at the overly seasoned food (and having to eat SO much of it!). She is a runaway, and although she finds shelter at the Duc's estate, she also finds resentment and dislike from the estate's chef and laundress, who are both cruel unhappy people.

But this is only part of Minha's story. We are taken back to her early childhood, when her mother mostly resents her, too. Minha goes to live with her grandparents, and while her grandfather is kind and loving, her grandmother is not. She runs away from that home, too.

Many things happen to Minha along the way, and she is a sad character. I enjoyed some parts of her story more than others, and although there are a few too many coincidences (some predictable, some not), I found myself thinking of her once I finished the book. I appreciated sharing her journey. To sum, I found the writing really good, but think the book could use some editing. I also found a few plot points to be a bit contrived.

Thanks to @bookbrowse First Impressions program for the advance copy. Much appreciated!