It’s a cute and cozy read, but I just wasn’t as interested in it as I wanted to be. I disliked one of the characters from the beggining.

A little bit cheesy at times, but I still thought the story overall was pretty cute. Really great for those just out of college and facing the pressures of having to follow a “set path.”

I adored this! it was incredibly hilarious - I rarely laugh aloud at books but this had me in tears multiple times, thanks to the show-stealing WATSON! the humor was balanced out with a really wonderful portrayal of being in one's early 20s - job struggles, budding romance, friendship highs and lows, and just figuring out what one wants from one's life. the artwork was also amazing and I will definitely be recommending this delightful graphic novel a lot in the future! and probably trying to cook some of the delicious dishes from it's pages.....

Chef's Kiss was an amazing read! I loved absolutely every minute of it with the beautiful art, quirky humour, characters full of personality and depth and of course mouthwatering food. The story itself is about perusing what you want and what makes you happy even if it isn't what you planned or what was expected of you. While the story is overall fun and lighthearted the turmoil the main character experiences is something very relatable to me and likely many people.
I highly recommend you check it out! I promise you won't regret it!

so cute! I love graphic novels and heard about this one and knew it was going to be an instant love for me. so sweet and honest. I hope it has a sequel.

This is a sweet graphic novel about Ben Cook who starts working at a restaurant. Ben has just finished college and can't find anything he's qualified for. When he sees a help wanted sign outside of the restaurant, he applies on a whim. Turns out Ben is a much better cook than expected and begins to love the worth. It also helps that one of the fellow chef's, Liam, is "super dreamy".

**I received an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**
I don’t usually read graphic novels, but I LOVED this one! Chef’s Kiss by Jarrett Melendez is a queer romantic comedy that follows the main character, Ben, and his three roommates as they adjust to the “real world” post-college graduation. There’s romance, existential queries, family and friendship relationship navigation, comedy, and more.
Illustrator Danica Brine does a fabulous job with the art, and there are so many engaging elements to the storyline. Such a fun, quick read. I read it in a single setting! Highly recommend!

*I received an advance readers copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

Chef’s Kiss was exactly that a *chef’s kiss. It was such a lighthearted, fast paced graphics novel that I devoured in less than two hours. It’s only 125 pages, but that does not mean the quality is less. The graphics in this novel are absolutely stunning.

I’ll be honest, I haven’t read a graphic novel in quite some time, so at the beginning i had to really remember the basics left -> right reading and it took me a second to catch on to the flow of the dialogue, but that was defiantly all me and not the novel in the slightest. After a few pages, I was fully able to emerge myself into the plot of this story and it was absolutely just adorable.

There was no massive problems, just a cute little story. 100% would recommend if you are looking for a super cute short story involving LGTBQ+ love and a super cute meet cute :) ALSO, how can you not love the supper cute quirkiness of the story? I mean Watson, who is a pig, is the taste tester that stands between Ben getting this job haha. I loved it!

This was a really gorgeous graphic novel I would highly recommend to anyone who likes food! I hadnt heard of the author before but will defeintely look out for more from them.

Graduating from college with a not very marketable degree in an oversaturated industry is a struggle more and more of Gen Z seems to face. Chef’s Kiss is a graphic novel that addresses the quarter-life crisis of this generation of new graduates under the guise of a romance novel. Don’t let the title or synopsis fool you. There is a cute, sideline romance between recent college graduate Ben and his co-worker Liam at the restaurant he is hired on at when Ben fails to find a copy writing job to put his degree towards. But this book is much more focused on Ben’s inner turmoil between the pressure from his parents to find a job in his field of study or dedicate his time to the love he discovers he has for cooking.

Ben himself feels a bit more like an outline of a person than a fully fleshed-out character. This may have been the point in his design - to resonate with an audience facing similar struggles. But his motivations also seem to swing wildly as the plot needed, showing no interest at all in cooking before he stumbles into his restaurant job. He’s able to craft elaborate dishes with nuanced flavor combinations that earns him the grudging respect of his boss with very little training at all. Cooking isn’t a talent, it’s a skill. And I had to suspend more disbelief here than I did for the pig who lives at the restaurant and dictates who gets hired or fired accordingly.

Graphic novels need to be efficient in their storytelling, especially stories that are told in only a single volume. I do feel that in terms of actual plot here, Chef’s Kiss loses a lot of focus in the last half where a seemingly inconsequential yoga session somehow acts as Ben’s final push to set aside his plans to put his English degree to use professionally and instead pivot to dedicate himself to his restaurant job. This potentially life-changing decision is given a montage of him sitting around in his apartment, ignoring phone calls from his parents and co-workers like this was a healthy way to cope with this unarguably stressful situation.

Qualms about the plotting of the story itself aside, I love Danica Brine’s art as it was used here. It’s a style that is both very approachable and yet unique enough to create distinctive designs for each character. The diversity of the supporting cast - though there’s maybe something to be said about these characters only being supporting - we’re all illustrated with as much care and nuance as Ben and his love interest Liam.

Overall, I wish this book had leaned in more towards either its new adult, coming-of-age story themes or the romance it decided to never fully commit to. And I would recommend this more for those looking for the former. In the end, Chef's Kiss was a cute if not somewhat forgettable take on finding a place at a crossroads that so many in their early 20’s are now facing.

I don't have much to say on this graphic novel other than I was disappointed. This was one of my anticipated reads of 2022 but unfortunately, it fell flat for me. Our MC is fresh out of college moving in with his best friends while also looking for a job in his field but unfortunately coming up empty-handed. I think this premise definitely appeals to a lot of young adults who have struggled through this exact same thing and know just how incredibly frustrating and disheartening this situation can be but I just don't think this graphic novel deals with that subject very well. The whole plot just seemed a little juvenile. When the MC can't find a job he decides to take one at a restaurant primarily because he's desperate and the sous-chef is attractive. I don't have a problem with that if anything their relationship was what kept me reading. Also, I did enjoy his relationship with his best friends/roommates as well. My problem lies with the weird chef that is extremely toxic until the end?!?! where he decides to stick up for his employee even though he's treated him terribly up until this point. I did enjoy the art though it was pretty.

thank you Netgalley and Oni Press for the arc.

SWEET, CUTE AND FUNNY

I got pretty much everything I was expecting with this comic - I got some good laughs, a lighthearted story with some deeper issues and a sweet LGBTQ romance. Definitely recommend this to anyone looking to spend a few hours in good company.

👍 What I Liked 👍

Characters: There was not a single character that I disliked (except for Ben's parents, but they play a minor part and are supposed to be unlikable). Each character had their own well-developed characteristic, which made them well-rounded and relatable in each their own way. I liked that they all had a particular idiosyncrasy, often something quirky such as talking as if they were a Shakespearean character. They were adorable and funny, the lot of them!

Fun: The humour of this comic is definitely derived from the amazing, quirky characters! They each had their own thing, which just worked so well for me.

Relatable: Finding your way in life after school is something many new adults can relate to - and that is the central theme of this comic. The main cast of characters each struggle with this in one way or another, especially Ben who grabbles with reconciling his own passion as with the expectations of his parents. I found it very relatable and moving.

Chef’s Kiss was such a fun and fluffy graphic novel, so much so that I didn’t put it down once. I read the entire thing in one sitting and the pages really flew by. Obviously, there wasn’t a ton of pages because this is a graphic novel, but it didn’t seem like time was moving whilst reading. I was so engrossed.

The art style is definitely what drew me to Chef’s Kiss and also the promise of delicious-looking food. I would go as far to say that it is one of my favourite art styles I’ve ever seen. Every character was distinct and you could really get a feel for who they were just by their appearance.

With that being said I really loved every character. As well as distinct looks they also had very distinct personalities. The main character; Ben’s group of friends were a ton of fun and honestly, I would love to see an entire series from them.

Honestly, I don’t have anything bad to say about Chef’s Kiss. The storyline was a little wacky at times, but that’s something I really enjoyed about it. Who doesn’t want to read a story about a restaurant where a pig decides if the food is good or not? Absolutely brilliant.

Speaking of the pig, Watson was by far my favourite character. Firstly because he is adorable and secondly because of his hilarious backstory. Which obviously is not made up in the slightest *note my obvious sarcasm*

My last thought on Chef’s Kiss is how perfectly it encapsulates the experience of just leaving college/university. The journey of Ben looking for a graduate job, and not being sure of what he actually wants to do, is one that will resonate with a lot of young people right now. Myself included.
Basically, Chef’s Kiss is super fun and cute and you need to check it out right now, trust me.

I'm in love with that cover! The contents didn't deliver what I was expecting, however, with the realistic and whimsical elements not quite meshing. On the positive side, Ben and his friends (both housemates and restaurant mates) are people I'd read a whole series about — quirky, interesting new adults and young professionals who are dealing with age-appropriate situations and struggles with some whimsical weirdness thrown in. Now I'm not saying the chef and his taste-testing pig weren't whimsically weird (and, in the case of the pig, hella cute), but...I just wasn't a fan. Even without the over-the-top, taste-testing pig, the chef and the whole trial testing thing were uncomfortable. Overall, it's not a style and story that works well for me, but I think plenty of other readers, especially new adult and YA readers who are looking for sweet LGBTQ rom-com content, will be like it. (Let's be honest: Ben and Liam are incredibly cute and easy to root for.)

CHEF'S KISS was, in a word, sweet. Pun perhaps fully intended. I could absolutely relate to and identify with Ben's struggles. I really appreciated how the graphic novel captured that terrifying and uncertain time in your twenties—the pressure to know exactly what to do with your life and how to accomplish it, while still finding time for everything else.

Where the plot itself lost me a bit was the structure of the restaurant environment. Restaurants can be extremely toxic workplaces, which I know firsthand, but Chef was...a tad over the top for my personal taste. And while an adorable addition, Watson did leave me a smidge...puzzled.

That said, the illustrations were so, so beautiful! I love the artist's style, and I think it worked very well to tell Melendez's story—which I wish were longer, because this felt like an appetizer before the main course (especially for the romance!)

A cute and flavorful story about taking a stand for who you want to be, even when everyone expects you to follow a different path. The romance is incredibly adorable, the food looks delicious, and the pig is my favorite character. Centers post-college characters, but reads as more YA than New Adult.

** free ARC given in exchange for an honest review.

This good felt like a sweet story about an lgbt+ male fresh out of school who is trying to find themselves. The illustrations beautifully visualize the story.

OMG I LOVEEEEE this!!! It was so cute and hilarious and the descriptions of food were amazing!!😍
Also Liam is soooo hot,🥵 and I loved being inside Ben's head:) 🥰
His friends were so cool and I loved how they were so supportive of him in whatever he did.

I saw many of my fears in what Ben faced with the job interviews and it was kinda scary coz that fear is smthg that has been in my mind for the past few months. But hopefully it will work out like it did with Ben:)

PLEASE READ THIS!! It will put a HUGE smile on your face and will prob make you smile every time you think of the book:) I don't think I have laughed this much since I read the love hypothesis.(another of my favs) So if my review doesn't convince you I hope at least this will.😁

My fav character from the book is Watson!! Such a great actor too hehe
Highly recommend this!

(Thank you to NetGalley for sending me an ARC of this book.)

The story is about Ben, a graduate who's looking for a job. Alas, he can't find one, until he stumbles on a restaurant called Le Cochon Doré, which is looking to hire without experience. Ben quickly meets Liam, who is *yummy*. The Head Chef offers him a deal: three weeks, one challenge per week. If the official tester (a lovely pig called Watson. Yes, you read that right, a pig.) loves the meals prepared by Ben, he can stay! Torn between his old friends, his new ones, his parents, his career in writing and his sudden love for cooking, Ben will have to go out of his comfort zone to find himself and what he truly wants.

Book type: comic, romance, lgbtq+

pace: medium-fast (and yet, we know everything that we need to know!)

storyline: ★★★★★
This book was incredibly relatable and down-to-earth. The characters are well-developed, even the secondary ones. I was hooked from the very first page. I like how we see the different types of interaction between the characters, that was well put.

characters: ★★★★★
As said previously, we get to learn enough about each character that they all have their importance. I thought the differences in personality were well established and balanced.

character development:★★★★✩
I can only hope we'll see more! Hence the 4 stars out of five. I could've taken 10 books within this saga. Already excited for the next one! But still, our MC, Ben, went through noticeable changes and it was fluid, not rushed. We still have some place to grow!

writing: ★★★★✩
Sometimes the bubbles feel visually overwhelming, but I think that's just maybe I'm not used to comics. However, I thought every exchange was purposeful and gave us a good feel of what the characters were going through.

diversity: ★★★★★
Not too much 'in your face' that it feels like a bad marketing coup. Some authors make me feel like they have a diversity check-off list and they just check things off along the way to make sure their book is 'trendy'. This was not the case! It was genuine diversity.

attention to detail: ★★★★★
Love the drawings! The color schemes were really nice too. I noticed the use of yellow and blue to reflect how Ben's feeling.

ending: ★★★★★
LOVED IT. So sweet! I hope there's more coming!

originality: ★★★★✩
It's a regular setting for a romance, a nice kitchen and a hot chef, however, the way we get to the kitchen was original.

Will I be reading the next book? Absolutely.

(Review to come on instagram.)

This was both adorable, and fluffy, and hit close to home with the topics. The novel starts off with a character fresh out of uni, looking for a job, and struggling. The job market is hard, especially for people with arts degrees. Reading that as a humanities major hit close to home.
However, as the story progresses and you meet The characters (especially Watson) are to-die-for adorable. I don’t think I stopped smiling. I absolutely adored every second of this!!