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My name is Danny Hamel. I'm 29 years old and I currently work in special education. This is my first book and it took me 3 years to complete. It began as a writing exercise, asking myself to create the perfect place to live. Once I created this place however, I couldn't stop. While this book began as an escape, the more it unfolded the more I began to feel there was something beyond me writing it. My father, who died about 10 years ago, is the main character. He was an amazing outside-the-box thinker, and his presence made writing this book an emotional journey for myself as well. I did my best to include the little things I learned from him before he died, and the things I continue to learn on my own about what it really means to be happy and how to balance out the darkness that we create inside ourselves.
Reviewed by Shrabastee Chakraborty for Readers' Favorite
The town, Cook, serves as the receptacle of knowledge for the fantastic world of Rem. Here, recipes collected through quests and carefully stored at the Recipe House provide answers to all conceivable questions. Norm, a famous recipe-maker, detects an ever-expanding dark shadow hovering over the neighboring town of Frolic. To solve the mystery of the shadow, he embarks upon an unforgettable adventure full of perilous journeys and encounters with magical creatures. When his discoveries shatter his previous notions about Cook’s repository of knowledge and make him question his life’s work, how can he recover from the all-encompassing depression? Read about Norm’s brave and mind-numbing quest in The Recipe Maker by Danny Hamel.
Danny Hamel’s world-building capability is commendable. The book introduces a colorful and vibrant realm complete with stunning fantastical beings and characters with peculiar personalities. Exquisite descriptions using similes make for a glorious reading experience. Although described as an epic fantasy, The Recipe Maker comprises profound life lessons. Little nuggets of wisdom, sprinkled among its pages like valuable jewels, have lingering effects on the reader's mind. The history of Cook reminds us how obsessively pursuing a predetermined goal can make us overlook the subtleties of life. The story teaches us to relax a little, to broaden our minds and be a little more accepting, and finally, to share our treasured gifts with others. I would recommend this book to everyone regardless of their age. While younger readers will consider this an engaging fantasy tale, mature readers will be able to unveil a whole other level of hidden messages.
