Salt and Sugar is a deliciously dramatic read! The descriptions of food will have you drooling right onto the page and wishing you could visit the stalls of a feirinha or open the door to a longstanding family bakery for a sweet or savory treat. It plays off the Romeo and Juliet inspiration very well without being cliche; the backstory of the main characters' great-grandmas and the overt hostility between the mothers of each family lend weight to the feud. It doesn't feel like a long-forgotten argument; it is real and present to all the living members. The book is sufficiently long for Lari and Pedro to progress along their star-crossed lovers trail without feeling rushed, we see the back and forth of Lari feeling like she wants to get to know him, but also having trouble shaking off doubts of his trustworthiness. The dynamics between the parents and children each have their own issues that are carefully explored, all wrapped around the central theme that a parent's dreams for their child may not match what the child actually wants.