Alice Fleck's Recipes for Disaster

by Rachelle Delaney

When Alice agreed to appear in a reality cooking show with her father, she had no idea she'd find herself in the middle of a mystery! Will Alice and her new friends be able to save the show?

Alice Fleck's father is a culinary historian, and for as long as she can remember, she's been helping him recreate meals from the past -- a hobby she prefers to keep secret from kids her age. But when her father's new girlfriend enters them into a cooking competition at a Victorian festival, Alice finds herself and her hobby thrust into the spotlight.
And that's just the first of many surprises awaiting her. On arriving at the festival, Alice learns that she and her father are actually contestants on Culinary Combat, a new reality TV show hosted by Tom Truffleman, the most famous and fierce judge on TV! And to make matters worse, she begins to suspect that someone is at work behind the scenes, sabotaging the competition.
It's up to Alice, with the help of a few new friends, to find the saboteur before the entire competition is ruined, all the while tackling some of the hardest cooking challenges of her life . . . for the whole world to see.

Genres: Middle Grade, Mystery, Cooking, Food, Family, Friendship, Realistic Fiction

256 pages, Hardcover

First published May 11, 2021

About the author

Rachelle Delaney is the author of several middle-grade novels, including The Metro Dogs of Moscow, which was a CLA Book of the Year Honour Book, The Circus Dogs of Prague, a finalist for the 2017 Pacific Northwest Library Association’s Young Reader’s Choice Award, and Clara Voyant, shortlisted for the Red Cedar and Diamond Willow Awards. Alice Fleck's Recipes for Disaster (May 2021) is her newest novel.

Reviews

[fede ૮ ․ ․ ྀིა · Rating 4 out of 5]

➳ four stars

If you know me, you know I love middle grades. One of my reading goals this year was to read more middle grades, and this was a great starting point. I enjoy reading empowering stories that talk about how children can overcome everything that comes their way. They're young, but guess what? They are also brave, curious, and strong-willed. Alice is all of that and more. What a wonderful story this was! It was cozy and entertaining. I wish I could have been alongside Alice, Henry, and Tavi in all their spooky adventures and their sleuthing activities around the manor. Not only is this story highly engaging - you won't be able to stop yourself from reading more, trust me - but it's also very well-written. Each character lives their own life. They are all unique and memorable in their own way. I hope there's a sequel that follows Alice in her next adventures. I'm also looking forward to reading more from Rachelle Delaney in the future!

Arc kindly provided by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

[Nicole Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had so much fun reading this!

[Kathie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book.

I have enjoyed several of the author's previous books, but I think this is my favorite. It was initially the cover that drew me in, which accurately represents the stress and mess that Alice finds herself in when her dad's girlfriend signs them up for a reality TV cooking show that takes an unexpected twist before it even begins.

Alice and her dad, James, have always enjoyed cooking together, but neither of them wanted to be in the spotlight while doing it. When James's girlfriend, Hanna, sends in a video of them cooking together, they get accepted as guests on one of their favorite reality TV shows, Culinary Chronicles, which is filming at the Victorian festival where Hanna is presenting. The pair agrees to take part, but when they arrive at the festival, they discover the contest has been transformed into Culinary Combat, a highly competitive show with one of the toughest judges on TV. Alice blames Hanna for getting them into this mess in the first place, and an accident further exacerbates the tension between them, and creates new stress on Alice's relationship her dad. On top of all this, something seems very strange about the way the contest progresses, and Alice joins forces with the only other kids at the festival to help her. Can Alice stay in the contest long enough to help figure out who's sabotaging it?

I really enjoyed watching the contestants react to the change in the format of the TV show, and the outrageous requests that the new host made of them. I loved watching Alice develop confidence in her cooking ability when put to the test, and the mystery surrounding the contest. I thought it was important to show Alice pulling away from her dad when watching him with Hanna got to be too much for her, and I loved that the three kids were able to accept each other when they all faced judgment from the school peers. I found the Victorian history quite interesting, and think kids will enjoy the way it's presented in this story.

I will be adding this book to my library's collection when comes out in May.

[Alexandra Power · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4/5 stars.

“Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster” is a humorous and fun mystery for children by author Rachelle Delaney. I really enjoyed this book. The culinary focus was reminiscent of a cozy mystery, but aimed at a far younger audience. The main character’s predicaments and life situation are very relatable for a lot of children who are being raised by a single parent. The start of the book was a little confusing, as it felt almost like the second or third book in a series. The introduction to the characters was a little slim, and I was shocked to find out it was a standalone book. This lack of familiarly with the characters made the first half of the book a little slow to get through. Once the story really got going though it was very enjoyable, with good twists, and a smart mystery.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and recommend it to young readers, especially those who are interested in baking and cooking.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book on NetGalley and have provided an honest review.*

[Ellaha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book a little bit of a mystery in the book!!! The starting of the book was boring but then the middle and end was fantastic

[Alya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books that I read for the sake of my volunteering role count ✋
But it actually was a great middle-grade book, 10 year old me would have been happy.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I adored reading about Alice's adventures in cooking! Alice Fleck is 12-year-old sous-chef to her father, James Fleck. James is a culinary historian, meaning he studies the history of food. Together they make historically accurate food and watch Culinary Chronicles, the nicest cooking show on TV. Everything was going great until James met Hana Holmes, a historian who studies the Victorian era and James’ new girlfriend. Alice’s friends say that Hana is as cool as an adult can be, but she does not see it. When Hana comes over for dinner, things only get worse when she tells them that she has signed them up to compete on Culinary Chronicles. The show ends up being more than they bargained for, but Alice and her dad persevere. Alice meets some sweet new friends and learns to not be ashamed of her interests/who she is. This is a great story with a lot of important messages for young minds.

Thank you Penguin Random House and Puffin Books for the e-ARC!

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful middle grade book. I was intrigued by the title and cover art but this book also didn’t disappoint with its story! It follows Alice Fleck and her dad James on the set of their favourite cooking show - with a few twists. Alice learns confidence and to take things one step at a time - which are great lessons for kids. There’s a wonderful friendship element to this book - along with some fun Victorian era facts and a mystery to solve. Overall, an exciting read that was hard to put down.

[René Mortimer · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely read! I’m very impressed with this one, because when I was going into it I didn’t have very high expectations. But, it turned out to be a very clever, fun and cozy read! Characters are well-written, the plot is lively and charming, the relationships between characters are realistic and really makes you feel for them, there’s no stupid and unrealistic situations happen in order only for drama/action to start to keep the plot going and the ideas are very original and well-implemented- it’s very rare to see something like this in the era where every trope and setting had been used already by someone else multiple times.

[ᨳ ˖ ݊｡ﾟℓєιℓα ໒꒱｡ﾟ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was very entertaining and with lots of suspense and drama. The plot was interesting and this made me read it for hours! The characters are well developed and each has a nice quirk to them. The book was funny and was definitely a page-turner. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in mysteries and cooking specifically or are just looking for a fun book tor read.

[ricardo (is) reading · Rating 4 out of 5]

FROM THE BLOG:

Alice Fleck has two main loves in her life: her father and food. Her dad is a culinary historian and cooking is how they bond and connect. They recreate dishes of ages past for fun. When they are not in the kitchen, they are watching their favorite cooking competition show, or reading dusty cookbooks full of esoteric recipes and gastronomic facts. They have a routine, and Alice has settled into it comfortably.⠀
⠀
Until her father's new girlfriend shuffles into their lives and proceeds to shake everything up. Alice has trouble adjusting to sharing her father's attention with a veritable stranger — an irritation that is only aggravated when Hana, the new love interest, signs Alice and her dad up to compete in the latest season of 𝘊𝘶𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘺 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘴, their favorite show, taking place in a nearby fancy estate (which also happens to be hosting a Victorian festival).⠀
⠀
Cooking in a competitive environment is more than enough change for the Fleck's. Once they arrive, though, they are further distressed to find that the wholesome, good-natured cooking show they both know and love has been completely overhauled, now styled as yet another cutthroat cooking competition, judged by an infamous chef known for his biting, ruthless remarks.⠀
⠀
The contest is soon underway, but a series of consecutive mishaps with the competitors leads Alice and her newfound friends — budding detective Henry Oh and spirit enthusiast Octavia Sapphire — to suspect sabotage, and take it upon themselves to solve the perfidious plot before it threatens to ruin not only the show itself, but potentially Alice's relationship with her dad.⠀
⠀
Culinary history! Cooking competitions! Historical festivals! Victorian ghosts? Sherlock Holmes?? Bartitsu??? Mysteries! ⠀
⠀
If all that sounds like a lot — it's because it sort of is! Mixing just one or two of those elements would have been enough to cook up a fun middle grade adventure, but author Rachelle Delaney daringly decided to go big or go home and opted to just throw every single thing into the broiling pot.⠀
⠀
It's a move that would easily overwhelm any other story — and indeed if there is one criticism I can give this book is that the first half, which introduces most of these pieces almost all at once, feels a bit overstuffed — but, like any decent chef, Delaney manages to make something delightful out of all these seemingly incompatible ingredients. 𝑨𝒍𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑭𝒍𝒆𝒄𝒌'𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒑𝒆𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒂𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 is a charming concoction, full of clever, charismatic characters, and I had a blast reading it.

𝚎𝙰𝚁𝙲 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝙿𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚞𝚒𝚗 𝚁𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚖 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚍𝚊 𝚟𝚒𝚊 𝙽𝚎𝚝𝙶𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚢

[MaryLou Driedger · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice and her father James have always had a great relationship but now he has a new girlfriend Hana and things are changing. Alice and her Dad both share a passion for cooking and they are contestants on a cooking show at a conference for people who love everything to do with Victorian times.
I LOVED the cover art on the book and Alice Fleck was the perfect name choice for the heroine. I learned a great deal about culinary history from the novel and admired the quirky characters. The book has humour, a mystery that must be solved and a credible villain in the mercurial Tom Truffleman the host of the cooking show. Kids who like cooking and baking shows will be especially drawn to this novel. I liked the way Alice grows as a character and navigates the development of a new kind of relationship with her Dad.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Fleck loves to cook with her dad, James. He is a culinary historian, and for years, he and Alice have been cooking historical recipes together. In fact, there is nothing they love more than to watch the cooking competition show Culinary Chronicles, a gentle competition where people recreate dishes from history while enjoying the experience of cooking together.

Alice isn’t close to her mother, so it’s always been just her and her dad. But recently, he’s started going out with a woman named Hana, and Alice doesn’t know how she feels about that. And then Hana has to go out of town for a Victorian Festival and invites Alice and James to go with her. But she has a surprise for them. Culinary Chronicles will be filming there, and Hana has entered them into the competition without telling them. And they were accepted!

But once they get to the grand manor house where the festival is being held, Alice and James find out that things have changed. The showed has been bought out by a reality television channel, and they want it to be a cutthroat competition. To make that happen, they fired the beloved host who kept things relaxed and hired the toughest cooking show judge there is, Tom Truffleman.

As the competition starts, it’s a long more challenging for Alice than she thought it would be, but she makes friends who encourage her to keep trying. And she has a chance to get to know Hana better, and Alice finds herself liking her. But then things start going wrong. Things start going wrong with the competition and things start going wrong with her dad and with Hana. Then it’s up to Alice and her new friends to figure out what’s going on and to come up with a plan to make it better.

Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster is the latest middle grade novel from Rachelle Delaney. With charm and creativity, she brings Alice and her friends to life, encouraging kids to be themselves, even if that means you don’t look like or act like everyone else.

This book is packed with action. Not only is the cooking competition going on for Alice, but she also has the family issues, and she makes new friends. There is not one dull moment, from the Victorian fighting class her dad’s girlfriend teaches to the séance Alice goes to with her new friends, there is always something going on. And then there is the cooking competition where they keep changing the rules, and a mystery to solve to boot. Alice and her friends are brimming with personality, and they all work together to solve the mystery.

Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster is a fun, imaginative, adorable novel that combines the modern excitement of a cooking competition with the perpetual lessons of making friends, being yourself, and making sacrifices for family. I really enjoyed reading it, and I’m sure kids of all ages will really enjoy it too.

Egalleys for Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster were provided by Penguin Random House Canada through NetGalley, with many thanks.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. It will be released May 11, 2021 by Puffin Books (Penguin Random House Canada.)
It's been just Alice and James, her single parent father, since Alice was born. They love to cook together. James is a culinary historian, so they delve into recipes from the past and recreate different dishes. Hana, James' girlfriend, videotaped them cooking medieval peacock pie. Unbeknownst to them, she sent a copy of it to Culinary Chronicles, a cooking show on the History channel that Alice and her father love. It's being set during a Victorian Festival that Hana is part of. They have been accepted.

Alice reluctantly agrees to being on the show because she admires Mei-Ling, the supportive host of the show. Besides, other kids don't even know about Culinary Chronicles, never mind watch it. Gladstone Manor, where everything is taking place, is a refurbished castle. Alice figures it might not be such a terrible week after all.

The morning of the first day of taping, the participants are gathered together and informed that the show has been purchased by a reality tv channel. Some drastic changes have made. No longer will it be a friendly non competitive show. Culinary Chronicles has become Culinary Combat. Mei-Ling is gone and has been replaced by a narcissistic, semi-famous reality TV star. They've brought in a food judge infamous for his insistence on perfection and vitriolic remarks. Still, Alice and James decide to continue.

While at the festival Alice makes friends with Tavi and Henry, a couple of kids about her age. Tavi goes to historical reenactments with her folks all the time and enjoys wearing historical costumes. Henry plans to become a detective just like his hero, Sherlock Holmes. The trio realize that someone is sabotaging the show and set out to find out who.

It turns out that the week away, participation in the show, and making new friends are the impetus for all kinds of changes for Alice. By the end of the book she's become more comfortable being herself and accepts that Hana is going to be a part of their life.

I liked the humour and authenticity of this book. It's a delight to read about the relationship between Alice and her father. Alice's complicated feelings towards Hana feel realistic. I appreciated learning more history of Victorian England. I liked that while the TV show was set up to be antagonistic, the contestants themselves were actually friendly and supportive towards each other.

I was fascinated by all the the cooking details revealed in the book. My only complaint is that there are no recipes to accompany it. Maybe I will never make peacock pie or Charlotte Russe, but I would loved to have seen the recipes included.

Warning! At the end of this book you might want to dig out your stand mixer and start to cook.

[Tamara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Now that I'm in my thirties I find myself basing judgments of children's and/or young adult books on whether I would be willing to buy them for any future children I might be lucky enough to have one day. Or/and also whether I would like to have read the book when I myself was growing up.

This one definitely fits the bill. I adored it. And how could I not, with its theme of historical cookery and backdrop of culinary competition? Like it was written for me.

Our protagonist, Alice, is clever and resourceful, and just petulant enough to be a realistic twelve-year-old. Her father and most of the other adults are not two-dimensional, the teaching moments are engaging and feel unforced, and the cooking scenes are likewise interesting and educational.

I loved this book as an adult, and I just know I would have read and re-read it, and then probably read again, as a kid. Some things weren't perfect but I rounded up to five stars primarily because of a scene in the beginning, when Alice very proudly brings something from home to school for an interesting project. Her classmates make fun of her, and even her teacher dismisses her, so she sadly and in confusion goes back to her desk and eats alone the food she brought to share with everyone. I have been this girl (too many times). The scene is written extremely, painfully well and I felt so seen.

And Alice stubbornly steadfastly continuing to champion her father, her family, and their unique and wonderful hobbies in the face of such teasing made her one of my favourite characters in any children's/young adult book. Well, Alice and Ella from Ella Enchanted (the book and NOT the film, of course).

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an adventure! I really enjoyed following Alice through the ups and downs of this glimpse of her life that us readers get to see. From the beginning, I knew she was a relatable girl. Although I am not her age anymore, I remember the feeling I felt when I got my first phone and all the other teenage-y type feelings that come with it.

Alice’s love for cooking with her father and her reluctance of being on Culinary Combat provided a large obstacle already. Add on the girlfriend, frequently unexpected changes in schedule, and a possible saboteur...there is no way to be bored in this book!

As the book continues, Alice makes some friends at the Victorian festival and they work together as they try to solve the mystery of the saboteur. As she struggles with her relationship with her dad and his girlfriend throughout this time, it was lovely to see how her friends were able to be such a supportive bunch (and distraction)!

Despite the eventual strain between father and daughter, I enjoyed the dynamic between these two a lot! You can tell that they’re very close despite him being basically a single parent. They have a healthy relationship in which he seems to give her the perfect balance of flexibility and independence while still being an authority figure.

Overall, this book is a great choice for those who enjoy reading about realistic and relatable issues for kids, adventure, and mystery. Although Alice struggled a bit navigating through her own shyness and acceptance of a new person in her life, her growth throughout the book is a story of positivity and resilience!

A big thanks to Netgalley and Puffin Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest and fair review.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was such a cute and quick read i really enjoyed it. And it turns out its about way more than just a cooking competition. Its a bout a girl finding real friends for the first time. About being yourself. About alice who is being bullied by a certain adult and dealing with a new girlfriend from your dead. And that all in the meantime were your battling in a cooking competition were the rules change daily and you have a mysterie to solve. Isnt alice a power girl or what?

I loved this engaging story, i loved the characters and the pase of it. I loved the friendships that were formed and the bound with the adults.

There was a lot happening in this book, That was awsome but also might be a bit to much. When the mysterie revealed the motive of the perpetrator didnt really made sense to me. It was just to loose and thats probably because there was so much happening the ending needed to wrap up to fast. But the mysterie wasnt really the nicest part of the book for me anyway so i wasnt to mad about it. But you might be if your a plot driven person.

If you like baking, character driven books, stories about friends and adventures your probably gonna love this.
Thanks so much too Penquin random house, netgalley and Rachelle Delaney for gifting me this ebook in exchange for an honest review.

[Heike · Rating 4 out of 5]

What it’s about: Alice Fleck's father is a culinary historian, and for as long as she can remember, she's been helping him recreate meals from the past — a hobby she prefers to keep secret from kids her age. But when her father's new girlfriend (who Alice doesn't much care for) enters them into a Reality TV cooking competition at a Victorian festival, Alice finds herself and her hobby thrust into the spotlight. And to make matters worse, she begins to suspect that someone is at work behind the scenes, sabotaging the competition.

I am not much into cocking nor reality TV, but this blurb grabbed my attention. It turned out to be a really cute book with some important insights. Alice is someone with a rather unusual and uncool hobby and she is embarrassed by it, so she feels she has to hide who she really is - until she meets the right kind of friends who help her believe in herself (something, I think, many people relate to).

The behind-the-scenes look into the making of a reality show was very interesting - as was the social media app that everyone talks about, aptly named PHOMO, which may or may not remind you of a certain app in real life. It’s described both as a meaningless or even harmful distraction and a resource to connect with people who have the same strange hobbies you do, which sounds about right to me, depending on how you use it.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Middle grade realistic fiction/mystery. Alice and her father James love to cook together. But they don't buy the latest best selling cookbooks, they cook historic recipes that James finds in his work as a culinary historian. So Alice has made dishes that many people have never heard of. But after a class career project goes horribly wrong, Alice keeps her cooking hobby mostly to herself. But when her Dad's girlfriend Hana announces she got them a spot on the historical cooking show Culinary Chronicles, Alice has no choice but to own her hobby. The show takes place during a conference on the Victorian age, where Hana is already presenting.

The cooking show is not at all what Alice and James expect. Rather than a slow-paced friendly show, they find themselves on a cut-throat show with one of TV's harshest celebrity chefs as judge. Alice befriends two other teens at the conference with their parents, Tavi and Henry. As the show gets underway, the three find themselves at the center of a mystery regarding possible sabotage of the cooking contestants. But would sabotage a historical cooking show, and why?

I love cooking storylines, and this one mixed with historical anecdotes was a fun read. The mystery aspect came in midway through, and that made the end of the story a bit more of a page turner. I enjoyed seeing shy Alice open up to her new friends as well.

[Pages Of Pastries · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Fleck's Recipes for Disaster combines a balanced blend of delicious food, comedy, adventure and mystery! I chose this book simply for the topic of food but finished this book for the interesting plot twist, the scenery described in the book, and the plot itself.

I could definitely relate to Alice's relationship with her father, her having a passion for cooking, and her overall feeling of competing in the cooking show. I also felt some character growth within her as well, which is always good to see, especially in the Children Fiction genre. If I had to critique, I would have loved to see a selection of recipes at the end of the book, not only to try them but to get a feel of just how hard Alice's challenges were. Also, there were times where it seemed to lull before picking back up, as though certain parts were meant to be filler only.

This book gave the right amount of mystery, sense of adventure and also gave way to heartfelt moments with good timing. To summarize, Alice Fleck's Recipes for Disaster was an enjoyable read and I can't wait to read Rachelle Delaney's next book!

(This ARC was provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions and thoughts are my own.)

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alice Fleck's dad, James, is a culinary historian, so she has spent a lot of time making historical meals using historical methods. Their favorite TV show is Culinary Chronicles a sweet GBBO-inspire show where the contestants cook from a different historical period every season and help each other out, have assistants, and don't get sent home. When James's girlfriend, Hana, announces that she has applied for James and Alice to be on the next season of Culinary Chronicles, Alice is shocked and upset, mostly because she has decided that she doesn't really like Hana. But anyway, the three of them are off to a Victorian fest complete with re-enactments, lectures, and their cooking competition. Nothing goes quite as planned as changes to the cooking show make it less than ideal, and mishaps are piling up, suggesting sabotage.

Will Alice have time to complete her cooking challenges, learn more about the Victorian Era, make nice with Hana, make memories with her new friends (eg the only other kids attending Victorian fest), and solve a mystery in one week?

Very cute. My only complaint is that I liked hearing about all of the baking challenges, but they would often be montaged away or skipped over. Also gelatin is gross and I'm glad it was pointed out.

[Carmen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for sending me a gifted copy.

Alice Fleck loves to cook with her father who is a culinary historian and so she knows a lot about meals from the past. Something that has set her apart from the kids at her school and she is determined to keep it under wraps. Which is why she is less than thrilled when her father’s girlfriend decides to sign them up for a televised cooking competition. Things take a turn for the worse, when the show they were supposed to be on has been changed and is now a reality TV show with a lot more intensity and competition. In order to survive the competition, Alice will need to find the confidence within herself to embrace her talents and skills.

This was a funny and charming story that I found quite interesting. Alice was very endearing and she was a likeable character who readers will root for. I also enjoyed the little food facts and history that were part of the story as Alice and her father shares what they know with the other characters. I would recommend this as a light and fun middle grade read for food enthusiasts who like reality TV and a little mystery.

[Sandy Ryerse · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delicious mystery with just the right amount of disaster!

Alice Fleck’s Recipes for Disaster is a delightful middle grade read full of charm, suspense, and mishaps—perfect for both boys and girls who love a good mystery (with a side of food)! The characters are quirky, loveable, and full of heart, and the story moves along at a great pace with enough twists to keep young readers eagerly turning the pages.

Alice, the main character, finds herself thrust into a televised cooking competition that quickly takes a turn for the chaotic. Between sabotage, secret clues, and a surprising amount of culinary creativity, the book is packed with fun and tension in equal measure.

One note for parents: there is a scene involving a séance and a medium, which may not align with everyone's preferences. It’s brief, but worth mentioning if that's something your family avoids.

Overall, this was a highly enjoyable read—well-written, engaging, and full of warmth and suspense. A great choice for middle grade readers who enjoy mystery, cooking, and a few unexpected surprises!

[michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was surprisingly fun and unique. Alice's father is a culinary historian (is that a job?!?) and the two make Victorian dishes together for fun. When his new girlfriend surprises them by entering them in a TV show, Alice is horrified. Alice has been bullied for her culinary knowledge and just wants to be invisible. Things go from bad to worse when the friendly TV show Culinary Chronicles is suddenly transformed into Culinary Combat with a fierce judge and a new host who keeps changing the rules of the show in order to increase drama. Set at a Victorian festival in a potentially haunted hotel, Alice faces her fears on the set of the show as well as off when she makes 2 new friends. When it appears that someone is sabotaging the show, the 3 put on their detective hats to discover the culprit. Well-paced and fun, Alice learns to stand up for herself and also comes to accept, and even like, her father's new girlfriend. This is a great MG read!

[Amy Perrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Fleck’s Recipes For Disaster By Rachel Delaney

Alice and her dad James are spending the weekend at a Victorian festival. Her dad is a culinary historian and both of them love cooking.
They have been chosen to be cooks in a cooking competition called Culinary Combat.
Alice meets a new friend Tavi who is always looking for ghost and Henry who is a detective like Sherlock homes. During the cooking competition, each round a bizarre occurrence happens. First, one of the cooks oven isn’t turned on, when they swore they had turned it on, another one uses sugar instead of salt (did someone take a label off) and another cook drops a pie (did someone or something put oil on their gloves), will more cooks get sabotaged? On top of this Alice is not liking his dads new girlfriend who has come with them on the trip!
Is a ghost haunting the cooking show? Will Alice get along with her dad girlfriend? Will they win the competition or be sabotaged?

[Witch Pony · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book tells the story of Alice Fleck, a twelve-year-old girl who likes to cook with her dad, who is a culinary historian. And when they agree to participate in a cooking reality show, they get involved in a web of mysteries and sabotage, which the girl and her newly acquired friends are determined to unmask.
I wish I could travel back in time, buy this book when it was published and go back in time and gift it to my twelve year old self. This book made me cry, laugh and understand some things that I had not yet been able to overcome. Letting new people enter your heart is difficult, because you give them the opportunity to leave you, but if you don't risk it, you don't experience anything. This book hit me on a different level, I never would have believed that I would be able to connect so much with a children's book. It's beautiful.
Also, all the historical data filled my heart with emotion.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This adorable novel features a quirky and fun heroine who engages in silly adventures all while growing into a greater version of herself. I love the single father explanation, and that the kids in the story are strong and smart and NORMAL without being annoying and stereo typical.
It’s fun to watch Alice grow and mature naturally over the course of the story - nothing felt forced or manipulated.
I’d love to see a spin-off with Tavi as the lead ... she was my favorite part of the novel! I almost felt like you didn’t even need Henry (Tavi could have been the “detective”), but I guess the idea of having a male friend is meant to balance the kids’ relationship.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of the novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Tanya Kyi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Only Rachelle Delaney could stir Victorian reenactments, reality cooking shows, and umbrella fighting into one middle-grade novel.

Alice's father has a new girlfriend, Hana. And Hana — surprise! — signs up Alice and her dad for a TV cooking competition. The show turns out to be judged by the famous and formidable Tom Truffleman. One by one, Tom unceremoniously kicks the eclectic competitors from the set... but something seems a bit strange. It's almost as if someone is sabotaging the amateur chefs.

With the help of the friends she's made (and maybe even some help from Hana), Alice must discover what's really going on... before she too meets with culinary disaster.

Every page is an adventure in this novel, and it's pure fun from cover to cover.

[Jaymie · Rating 3 out of 5]

[I received a free electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

3. 5 stars = Good+

The first half of the book was a contemporary story about Alice and her dad and his new girlfriend and this cooking competition. The second half focused on a mystery at the competition. It felt out of balance; my personal preference would have been for the mystery to stretch across the whole book.

That said, I did enjoy the evolution of Alice's relationship with her father and his girlfriend and the new friends Alice finds who finally love her for who she is. That allows her to love what she loves without shame. And the book is full of fun details that made the reading enjoyable.

[Tracie · Rating 4 out of 5]

12-year-old Alice and her food historian dad enjoy cooking together, recreating authentic dishes from long ago times--but Alice's classmate don't really understand the hobby, so Alice is used to keeping her cooking to herself. When her dad's girlfriend signs Alice and her dad up for a televised cooking competition, Alice is horrified. But as she works through the various cooking challenges, Alice begins to suspect that someone is sabotaging the contest--and solving the mystery will require Alice to team up with a couple of other tweens.

It took me a little longer than normal to fall into this one, but I was glad I stuck with it. The pace picks up as the mystery heats up, and it all comes together really nicely.