The Reservation is a series of vignettes, each told from the perspective of a different character working at a restaurant in a college town. Think Elin Hilderbrand’s “The Blue Bistro,” but quieter and a little sadder.
It works well as a character study, and there’s sort of a mystery thread running through it all – someone may be trying to sabotage the restaurant. The author slowly reveals who it is and what drove them to it.
Writing this a couple of months after finishing it, the characters haven’t stuck with me the way I thought they might. But that’s not really a criticism. This was an easy, absorbing read that I enjoyed in the moment (really enjoyed – I read it in just a few hours and rated it four stars!), and sometimes that’s all you need.
Recommended for fans of behind-the-scenes restaurant lit and anyone who enjoys quiet character studies with just enough plot to keep things moving.
