Review: Forks, Knives, and Spoons by Leah DeCesare @LeahDeCesare


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Release date: April 18, 2017

Publisher: Spark Press

Genre: New Adult, Contemporary 

Blurb: 

There are three kinds of guys: forks, knives, and spoons. That is the final lesson that Amy York s father sends her off to college with, never suspecting just how far his daughter will take it. Clinging to the Utensil Classification System as her guide, Amy tries to convince her skeptical roommate, Veronica Warren, of its usefulness as they navigate the heartbreaks and soul mates of college and beyond. Beginning in 1988, their freshman year at Syracuse University, Amy and Veronica meet an assortment of guys from slotted spoons and shrimp forks to butter knives and sporks all while trying to learn if the UCS holds true. On the quest to find their perfect steak knives, they learn to believe in themselves and not to settle in love or life.” 

Review: 

This was such a fun, feel good, lighthearted read! I love books set in the eighties, there’s something about the nostalgia I experience when I’m reading something set in that time period, and DeCesare brought the eighties back to life! She went into detail about the fashions, music, movies and stone aged technology and it was such a funny blast from the past. 

It begins in 1988 when Amy is getting ready to start her freshman year of college. She quickly bonds with her new roommate, Veronica and immediately tells her about the advice her dad left her with. The USC says that every guy can be classified as a piece of silverware. The perfect catch is a steak knife, while a shrimp fork or slotted spoon is a dud. It sounds silly, and it totally is, but it was also extremely fun. As a hopeless romantic, Amy takes the USC seriously, while the more realistic Veronica is skeptical. The book goes on to follow the girls as they graduate and move to NYC and mainly focuses on their dating adventures. 

I loved both Amy and Veronica, they were completely different in many ways, but they’re both loyal friends and hard workers. Their friendship was awesome and I always like to see some girl power in a book. They support each other through breakups, makeups, cheating, school pressure, and the stress of being out on their own as adults for the first time. Amy’s dad was also a really great guy, her mom died when she was a newborn so it’s always been just the two of them and their bond was adorable. 

This is like a more innocent Sex and the City, mostly because DeCesare captured the innocence of the late eighties and early nineties so well. Even though it follows the girls as they navigate the dating world it’s light on the romance and heavy on their friendship, which I appreciated. Don’t get me wrong, there is still plenty of dating going on, but the focus was more on friendship and family. I was happy with how things ended but I’m also hopeful the author is considering a sequel?! I want to know what happens to Amy and Veronica next. 

Overall rating: 4/5

Thanks to the author for my review copy. 

23 thoughts on “Review: Forks, Knives, and Spoons by Leah DeCesare @LeahDeCesare”

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  10. Amanda @Cover2CoverMom says:
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    Ooooo I don’t often read New Adult, but this looks like a cute contemporary read! I don’t typically like to read books where the romance is the central plotline, but it sounds like this book focuses on the friendship with the romance being secondary. Sounds like a perfect beach read 🙂

    Great review Amy!

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