In Eliza, from Scratch, Sophia Lee has accomplished something rare in young adult fiction: she’s crafted a coming-of-age story that doesn’t just charm you—it changes you. On the surface, it’s a YA romance with culinary flair. But dig deeper, and you’ll find a story steeped in grief, heritage, resilience, and the quiet courage it takes to unlearn who you thought you had to be.
Lee’s debut joins the likes of Loveboat, Taipei by Abigail Hing Wen and The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo in its exploration of Asian American identity and intergenerational nuance. And while comparisons are inevitable, this book truly stands on its own.
Plot Snapshot: What Happens When a Girl Who Has It All Figured Out… Doesn’t?
Eliza Park has her life lined up like a perfectly plated dish. Salutatorian status? Check. Graduation speech for tearful applause? Double check. Parents’ approval? Always a work in progress—but she’s getting there. Then, a single error reroutes her plan: instead of Advanced Placement Physics, she’s enrolled in Culinary Arts.
Suddenly, Eliza is burning more than just toast. She’s out of her depth, and to make matters worse, her lab partner is Wesley Ruengsomboon—smug, skilled, and, most annoyingly, magnetic.
The school’s upcoming midterm cooking competition becomes her new battlefield. But in her pursuit to reclaim control, Eliza uncovers something she wasn’t looking for: the bittersweet legacy of her Korean roots, her mother’s silent sorrow, and a way to move forward not with rigidity, but grace.
Characters That Feel Like Friends—Flawed, Funny, and Full of Fire
Eliza Park: Driven, Daring, and Deeply Human
What makes Eliza stand out is her relatability. She’s not perfect—far from it. She’s high-strung, competitive, and at times emotionally blinkered. But Sophia Lee never lets her become a cliché. Through Eliza’s lens, we see the pressure to perform as a second-generation immigrant child, the craving for affirmation that can never quite be fulfilled.
As the story unfolds, Eliza transforms—not by sacrificing her ambition, but by reimagining it. She learns that failure doesn’t define her. Nor does a GPA. Her voice is thoughtful and often funny, making even the emotionally heavier moments accessible.
Wesley Ruengsomboon: The Boy with Layers
Wesley starts off as the kind of guy Eliza loves to hate: smug, talented, always cool under pressure. But like many of the best YA love interests, Wesley is hiding his own truths. His relationship with academics, his family pressures, and his secret vulnerabilities give him surprising dimension.
Their chemistry isn’t instant—it’s a slow fermentation of eye-rolls, shared kitchen disasters, and unexpected kindness. And it’s precisely this build-up that makes their eventual connection so rewarding.
Supporting Cast: A Community in the Margins
Lee makes room for a supporting ensemble that matters. Kareena and Meredith—Eliza’s best friends—are smartly drawn, with arcs that gently complement Eliza’s. Her mom, dealing with silent grief and a fractured relationship with tradition, is one of the quiet triumphs of “Eliza, from Scratch“. And even Eliza’s grandmother, though deceased, looms large in memory, adding emotional depth.
Themes to Savor
The real magic of Eliza, from Scratch lies in its thematic richness. Here are some of the ideas Lee serves up—seasoned to perfection:
1. Grief Woven into the Everyday
Eliza’s journey is shaped by a loss that’s never directly named but constantly felt: the death of her halmeoni. Her grandmother’s absence lingers like the aftertaste of something once warm and nourishing. Through food, Eliza and her mother begin to speak again—not with words, but with gestures, spices, and memory.
2. Cultural Reconnection through Cuisine
Korean food in this book is not just aesthetic—it’s language, lineage, and legacy. Eliza’s struggle with speaking Korean and understanding her heritage is handled with tenderness. There’s no grand epiphany or magical fluency; just quiet, authentic reconnection.
3. Perfectionism and the Myth of ‘Success’
One of the most poignant arcs is Eliza’s slow unlearning of equating worth with academic accolades. Lee skewers the overachievement culture with precision, showing the mental toll it takes without villainizing ambition itself.
4. Falling in Love with the Unexpected
The romance is beautifully understated. There are no grand gestures, no tropes of instant love. Just a gradual peeling back of defenses, forged through proximity, competition, and shared silences.
Sophia Lee’s Writing Style: Clean, Conversational, and Cultured
Lee’s prose flows like a perfectly blended sauce—light enough to digest easily, but layered with meaning. She doesn’t overwrite. Instead, she trusts her readers to find significance in Eliza’s quiet realizations, her sharp humor, and the restrained emotional beats.
Her background in food writing shows. Scenes describing cooking, tasting, or remembering a dish feel sensual and grounded. The first time Eliza makes kimchi with her mother? It’s more intimate than most first kisses.
The language never tries too hard. Instead, it mirrors Eliza’s growth: deliberate, evolving, and increasingly authentic.
A Pinch of Critique
Though Eliza, from Scratch excels in emotional resonance, it’s not without a few soft spots:
- Pacing Potholes: The narrative momentum dips slightly in the middle, particularly during repetitive cooking class scenes. A bit of trimming could have enhanced the tension.
- Flat Academic Rival: Jess Archibald, Eliza’s academic nemesis, remains disappointingly two-dimensional. In a story otherwise filled with emotional nuance, Jess feels more like a plot device than a real person.
- Predictable Ending: The final chapters, while emotionally satisfying, veer into predictability. The conflict resolution is a touch too tidy for a story that began with so much complexity.
Still, these critiques are seasoning in an otherwise expertly balanced dish.
Where It Shines: Moments You’ll Remember
- Eliza’s first disastrous class cooking attempt. Humbling and hilarious.
- The quiet cooking sessions with her mother, where grief and love blend wordlessly.
- Eliza’s unexpected speech at the graduation contest—raw, real, and redefining.
- The moment she realizes Wesley’s not her enemy, but someone who’s been fighting a different war all along.
Comparative Reading: If You Loved These, You’ll Love Eliza Too
- Flip the Script by Lyla Lee – For K-drama energy and Korean American leads
- Rent a Boyfriend by Gloria Chao – For the mix of humor, heart, and cultural identity
- The Summer of Broken Rules by K.L. Walther – For its slow-burn romance and self-discovery
- Counting Down with You by Tashie Bhuiyan – For academic pressure meets personal rebellion
Final Words: A Book That Nourishes
In a literary world oversaturated with formulaic romances, Eliza, from Scratch feels like the book you didn’t know you needed. It doesn’t just hit your tastebuds—it sits in your chest, warm and comforting.
This isn’t just a story of first love. It’s a story of self-love. Of forgiving your parents without having all the answers. Of choosing to show up for yourself, even when the plan falls apart. And of finding new recipes when the old ones no longer serve you.