Reviews with content warning for Alcohol - Chef's Kiss

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!

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louisekf's review

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emotional informative medium-paced

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

2.75

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bookishmillennial's review against another edition

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disclaimer: I don’t really give starred reviews. I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not. Find me here: https://linktr.ee/bookishmillennial

I read this on the plane ride back home from my work trip and it was an absolute delight!

I adored the grumpy x sunshine dynamic between Simone and Ray — they were equally hilarious and awkward, which made it especially entertaining for me as a third-party removed from the fictional situation hahaha. Not only that, but the found family dynamics tugged at my heart. I am still giddy over them (the entire crew) all giving each other nicknames teeheeeee

While their love story is slow but steady, I also appreciated the commentary on how workplaces can be per formative and only focus on optics and how harmful that is! I was stressed for Ray but I want to assure you there is indeed a happy ending here!

I actually have the ARC of Chef’s Choice on NetGalley so I’m excited to dive into that one next hehe.

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sage_alexandra's review against another edition

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funny lighthearted 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

4.0

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starlitpage's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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minimaiasaura's review against another edition

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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

4.5

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kitaface's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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novella42's review against another edition

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emotional funny lighthearted medium-paced

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

4.0

Queer romance with an enby love interest, an autistic-coded protagonist, and tons of phenomenal food writing? Yes, please!

(For context, I'm a cis omnisexual woman with a partner of 11 years who came out as genderfluid three years ago. At this point I'm the only cis person in a polycule of five, so I made a lot of the same mistakes Simone made.)

I read this in two days. While I wish it had spent more time on the romance than the discrimination the characters went through, the discrimination was 100% believable and the author did a damn good job of telling the story they wanted to tell. The protagonist/audience gets a friendly and thorough primer in Trans 101, so if you're new to all of this or want practice learning about the transmasc and nonbinary queer experience, this would be a great place to start.

The food descriptions were my favorite part. Lines like "her patience was dissolving like salt in boiling water." Love this characterization, she is SUCH an Enneagram 5:

""Yes, but the kale craze is pretty much over by now," Simone pointed out. A few years before, it had been pomegranates, which Simone had hated passionately. They were the least logical fruit ever conceived. If something was that difficult to open up, it should be allowed to keep its secrets, was her opinion."

I really enjoyed how well Ray and Simone worked together once they warmed up to each other. I think that can sometimes fall by the wayside with the enemies-to-lovers trope, and seeing two people genuinely vibe well and complement each other was a pleasure. I just wanted more time with them!

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