Reviews with content warning for Transphobia - Chef's Kiss

Reviews tagging 'Transphobia'

Chef's Kiss by TJ Alexander

152 reviews

rockcommander's review against another edition

hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Loveable characters? Yes

adorable! grumpy type A chef x sunshine extrovert kitchen manager was a very cute pairing and i found this book very readable and entertaining even though there was very little smut

(until the end)

. always impressed when a romance novel can stand on its own without smut.
it could be a little cheesy at times, and the transphobia got a little intense. but overall pretty good representation of trans stuff and good examples of how cis people should (& shouldn’t!) manage their emotions. the food all sounded delicious and i loved lisette and simone and ray :)

Content Warnings

booksandcurlz's review against another edition

Go to review page

funny lighthearted slow-paced

Chef's kiss was a really cute book. This book was genuinely the slowest burn romance that I have ever read, which is fine. I really enjoyed getting to know these characters and their quirks. The banter between the main characters was funny, and I loved that he "flaws" of one character was learning to navigate around putting her foot in her mouth.

If you are looking for something lighthearted, with witty banter, then this might be for you.

Content Warnings

chrisb913's review

Go to review page

emotional lighthearted fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

There were lots of things I loved, including Ray as a whole, an enby love interest, the found family, exploration of gender and performative workplaces, the food descriptions, and top surgery representation. I felt a lot of this was done well and I was invested in that part of the story. However, some things didn't sit great with me. In particular, I didn't particularly like Simone as a character and this this would've been amazing from Ray's point of view. Simone's early inbuilt prejudices against herself and Ray were never completely addressed, which I felt cheapened some of the discussions around misgendering and transphobia/homophobia, and she was also just kind of rude a lot of the time for no real reason. She did get a character arc and these behaviours stopped but I felt that she never really took responsibility for the fact that she was doing these things in the first place, which would've made it better for me. This took me out of the romance and meant I didn't care too much for it by the end. In saying this, it felt like the romance was a small portion of this story overall, so I did have an enjoyable time overall and the more I think back on this, the more the good parts stick out for me over the parts I didn't enjoy as much, so I'm sitting at about a 3.75 stars at the moment. I would recommend this if solely for the representation of an enby love interest!

Content Warnings

peskilanim's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted relaxing medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

booksandlooksss's review

Go to review page

emotional funny hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I think the thing I liked a lot about this was Simone's character arc and growth throughout the book. I wasn't the biggest fan of her in the beginning, especially with how she was treating Ray; however, she really redeemed herself in sticking up for them as the novel progressed. From listening to the audiobook, I felt that some of her dialogue and actions came across as neurodivergent and I wished that it was bought to light.

I did love Ray and their shining attitude. I loved seeing their joy for food and for helping others. I loved the representation and their journey in getting top surgery as well as their fight against the transphobia at the test kitchen.

Content Warnings