This Graphic Novel deserves 10 stars! Omg, it was so adorable, I love Watson the taste tester pig. And to watch Ben go through the freshly graduated from college panic, of how to find a job and is what you got your degree in really what you want to do with the rest of your life was "Chef's Kiss"! Heartwarming and definitely worth everyone picking up.

Chef's Kiss perfectly captures the pressures and anxieties after leaving college: having all answers, finding your dream job, the expectations of instant success. Ben, the main protagonist begins training as an assistant chef after a disappointing job search, failing to find a writing job that would meet his overbearing parents' approval. His new career path completely changes his perspectives, helps his confidence, and he even finds romance along the way.

I really loved reading this- it was such a sweet graphic novel that balanced all the romance/graduation/adulthood themes together. The visuals and artwork were vibrant and detailed, and how could you not love Ben's adorable colleague, Watson! I connected with the characters instantly, despite the length of the graphic novel; their was so much depth and care in the details of their lives, relationships and growth over the course of the narrative.

I hope that there's a sequel or an opportunity to see these characters again, it was such an enjoyable read! Thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for this digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

OK I loved this so much I couldn't put it down once I started it. The characters were adorable and realistic. Ben Cook, the main character, was especially relatable and I was invested in his story arc. It had heartfelt, aspiring friendship goals throughout. The art was clear, bright and colourful, it conveyed the story beautifully.

Ben and his friends have just moved in together after finishing university. Ben majored in literature and is job hunting with no experience in the literature world. He stumbles across a wanted ad and applies and this is where we follow his story through his career choices, family relations and changing friendship dynamics. Oh, and there is a pig.

The only thing I wanted more of was the friends' stories. Hopefully that will come with further issues. Would definitely recommend this comic.

Super sweet MM romance with food! The writing was accessible and fast paced and the art was just adorable! Would recommend this to anyone 16+ who loves a romance with food! ❤️

I dont usually read graphic novels, but I have been looking to get into them. This, I think, was a great introduction! The story was fun and cute! The relationship between the 4 friends was so great! O really enjoyed the relationship between Ben and Liam, they were super cute! I hade a really good time with story!

I'm not sure how to feel about this book. I enjoyed Ben's character, but I did find the book in general to be a bit toxic. It is a beautiful comic though

Life rarely goes as planned, and new graduate Ben is learning this firsthand. He can’t seem to find a job in the career areas he planned for, but while he can’t find a job in his chosen passion of reading and writing, maybe cultivating a new passion may put him on just the path he needs.

Food, books/reading, good friends, great messaging, sweet gay romance, diversity, well laid out storyline, and good art… this is definitely a winner!

Ben Cook is a writer in search of a writing job straight out of college. But when each job requires three years of experience right out of the gate, he doesn't know where to turn - that is, until he spots the Help Wanted sign on a restaurant he's passing, and meets the ridiculously hot sous chef.

This was such a feel good story. I loved the art, the friendship between the four roommates, and ESPECIALLY Watson. It was the perfect blend of whimsy and the real life dilemma of "what am I going to do when I grow up?

The assortment of characters each had their moments to shine, and you got a sense of each of their personalities even though the focus was on Ben. The restaurant was a great setting. In addition to the mouth watering food descriptions and illustrations, there is a story with real heart and meaning. What a treat!

Thanks to the publisher for providing the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This graphic novel is perfectly ridiculous wholesome fun.
Ben, having recently graduated college, is confronted with the problem all of us young adults face — the dreaded endless line of interviewers looking for years of professional experience when you have none. Fortunately, he comes a cross a “no experience necessary” sign on a restaurant and sees this as the perfect opportunity to buy himself some time (the hot guy who works there a definite bonus). Unbeknownst to Ben the official taste-tester and whose tastebuds he must appease through various challenges is none other than the adorable pig Winston.
I loved this. The art is beautiful. The story is simple but covers a period of life I wish more did. Ben’s core friend group had enough development to be individuals and are so supportive and I appreciated seeing them work through the fights they had with each other. It’s funny, adorable, and the food visuals did *not* disappoint (All vegetarian might I add!). My only issue is I wish Liam, the love interest, was more developed. It’s a minor complaint as the focus of the story is on navigating the directionless post-college-pre-career period of life more so than romance. Chef’s Kiss is the chef’s kiss!

Chef's Kiss is a graphic novel follows Ben Cook, who, after graduating with an English degree, has been on a long, unsuccessful job search for anything relevant to reading or writing that will take him with no professional experience. Just as he's about to give up and go home to live with his parents, he sees, like a sign from the beyond, a restaurant hiring people, no experience required. He makes it through the interview, given by Liam, the cute sous chef, and is hired on a trial basis, where each week for three weeks he will train under a different chef at the restaurant and present a dish from the restaurant's menu for approval to a pig that belongs to the head chef, and then present an original dish at the end. If he makes it through the three weeks, he'll be hired. He loves the job, but is struggling throughout the book with the debate of if it's worth giving up his previous aspirations for.

Ben was pretty likable. My main qualm with him is that, despite having only had home cooking experience ever, we're supposed to believe that he is able to improve on every single dish that the professional chefs who went to culinary school are teaching him, which felt a bit too unrealistic to me. In a situation where competence would have been above-average considering his background, the author wants us to believe that he is extraordinary, which is something that always irks me a bit unless the character is actually a prodigy. I suppose my main issue with the entire book is that Ben just doesn't develop much as a character; while he does develop enough of a backbone to make a career decision towards the end, that process is very much skipped over, which I think robs us of a lot of the emotional core of the book.

The side characters were all fun and lovable, if not terribly fleshed out. This also extends to Ben, but none of the characters seemed to have any flaws, besides Ben's parents who were the obvious villains of the story. Nobody felt three-dimensional. I understand that it's supposed to be a fun story, and that it's fairly short, but a little character depth does always help a bit with that. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the dynamics among Ben's roommates and among his colleagues at the restaurant a lot; they both read like very natural friend groups. Ben's best friend, Liz, and Rachel, one of his other roommates, were my favorite characters by far. The pig, Watson, was also adorable.

The romance wasn't great; Liam's character and personality weren't really fleshed out at all, so it was difficult to ship them when the love interest basically amounts to a hot cardboard cutout. A little more page time to allow for that development would definitely have made the plot as a whole feel much more successful.

I did really enjoy the cooking challenge aspect of it; it provided a nice structure for the book, basically splitting it into five sections (before being hired, the first trial, second trial, third trial, and the original dish trial). It was also just really fun to read; I sped through it in an afternoon. The plot isn't super deep, but it does touch on some themes about adulthood and figuring out what you actually want from your life, and those moments were definitely something I appreciated; I just wish the book had leaned into them a bit more, because they felt a tad skimmed over.

The artwork wasn't my favorite style ever, but it was still very attractive and easy to digest. There were definitely some awkward panels where it was a bit hard to tell what order one was supposed to read in (and I read a lot of graphic novels), but it was still very readable overall.

I did thoroughly enjoy Chef's Kiss. It wasn't overly deep or thoughtful, but it's light and fluffy and definitely a feel-good story. I'm giving it four stars; there were several aspects of it that I think could have been greatly improved to make it a stronger book, but I did like reading it. I'd recommend this to anybody who likes graphic novels, cooking, competition stories, workplace romances, or just someone who is looking for a quick, light read.

Disclaimer: I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Full discussion at https://casperintherye.wordpress.com/2021/12/10/arc-book-review-chefs-kiss-by-melendez-brine-jones-otsmane-elhaou/

Welp, this one's going to be a crowdpleaser! Let's see, we have:
• An adorable MC who gets all uwu shy boi around his crush
• Artistic renderings of food that will have you starving
• A diverse cast of wonderful, supportive friends
• Realistic plot of a new adult struggling to find writing work with his degree
• A taste-testing pig who determines our MC's fate

Go into this one with the mentality that you're reading a lighthearted lgbt romance about a young twenty-something struggling to find his footing in life and you're sure to enjoy it. The artwork and font is crisp and legible throughout. There's enough humor infused into the story to keep reader engaged.

The only thing I was hoping for was a little more conflict. Being a new graduate and not being able to find work that agrees with your major is beyond stressful and difficult. It felt like Ben had a lot of things falling into his lap, and while there was minor conflict with his parents and friend group, his parents were always willing to financially support him and even use their connections to find him great opportunities. That's something that so many young adults don't have at their fingertips and I think it takes away a bit of the relatability. I'm also not sure if the ending is what's best for our MC, but HFN will hit just right for romance fans.

Other than that, highly recommended to readers who are looking for lgbt characters, food themes, and a lighthearted read that is ultimately romance lite.

This was such a cute story! I really liked the plot and the characters were brilliant. It was fun reading the change and growth in the main character, and the quirky traits of his friends and new colleagues. I LOVED the illustrations. Stunning!

Thanks for the opportunity to read this graphic novel!

Food and romance, this book made me swoon.

Fresh out of school, Ben is ready to start his writing career. The only problem is that nobody will hire him without some experience. When he finds a sign outside of a restaurant that is hiring he heads inside. Hot supervisor, weird boss, and pig with great food taste ahead. Only it turns out to be more than a filler job. He loves what he's doing there. Now he has to figure out who he is and what he wants to do with his life.

OMG! I am so in love with so much in this book. It has so many of my favorite things. Books, cooking, gay romance. The MC is super adorable and the love interest is seriously yummy. Making the couple easy to ship. There are references to books that pretty much any reader knows at least a few. And there is FOOD. My secondary passion, outside of reading, is cooking. I love food and I love to cook. This book made me hungry and made me want to waste time recipe browsing. I already waste far too much time doing this. Whether from the food or the romance, this is a seriously swoon-worthy book.

Now for what I didn't like about this book..........That's right, I got nothing. The story and the art were utterly enchanting.

I highly recommend this to all romance lovers. Especially if you like MM romance. I would say ages 16+ due to some vague references to a particular drug paraphernalia.

I loved thid book! It's an easy and fast read with a great plot and amazing characters! The artwork is gorgeous and the relationships between the characters are very realistic! I loved how issues between friends were handled in a way that was responsible and mature! I also really enjoyed seeing Ben choose his future based on what he wanted instead of what his parents wanted for him! Ben's relationship with Liam is adorable and I'm looking forward to see how things work out for them in the future!
I'm definetely excited for a possible sequel!

A nice and long comic book on falling in love for young gay males. Drawing in a quick and easy reading style, Easy to connect with and very good to connect with.

I read this one in one sitting. It was adorable, lovely and it made me smile. The story was so nice and I enjoyed the message of find out what you enjoy doing and not let others interfere with your choice, it is a story about adulthood and trying to find the job for you even if it isn’t one you expect and I relate so hard to that. The characters were great, there’s good representation in the book which is nice to see.
The artwork was good and I enjoyed it. It fit the story really well and I just really liked it. Overall a fun quick read that I will be recommending to people!

I'm not sure if American BL is a good summary for this but it's what I felt while reading it. Ben Cook is a recent graduate who cannot get a job despite having done everything right - we went to college, wrote for the right publications, and took the right internships. But now no one will hire him. Getting a stop-gap job at a restaurant seems like a good holdover until he finds himself falling for the sous-chef Liam as well as his new passion for cooking. If you're a fan of queer meet-cute romances, and the GBBO, you'll enjoy Chef's Kiss.

4.5 stars ^

I loved this so much! It was such a light-hearted and quick read. Ben was super relatable as he’s a huge bookworm with a wall full of bookshelves. The friendships are really wholesome and I found myself laughing at quite a few of their jokes. His parents on the other hand; I hated them so much but I’d assume that’s what the author wanted us to feel. They’re the stereotypical controlling parents who only want their child to be happy if it conforms to their idea of a perfect future.

The art style was also really cool. And the story itself was good. I usually find with graphic novels that I love the characters & art but the plot is a bit lacking, whereas this wasn’t! It’s plot felt like a contemporary romance.

The ending was cute but the only reason it’s not 5 stars is it felt a bit abrupt. I really wish it was longer or has a sequel to show us what happens after the final plot twist!

Overall I highly recommend this & I think I’m actually gonna end up buying a copy when it’s published!

Thank you, NetGalley for the arc of this book!

This is such a great story about life after college, and how it isn't always so easy despite the promises society makes. Go to school, work hard, get a great job, make money. Seems simple. But sometimes it's not, and sometimes what you worked so hard for ends up being something you may not have been passionate about in the first place. I loved watching Ben try to parse through what he really wanted in life and where he wanted to go. His friends/roommates were so funny and sweet, and I loved all the side characters. Each of them brought something different to the story, and that's hard to do when you're working with a short graphic novel. The romance was sweet and slow, but the ending was happy, and honestly what more could I ask for?

Definitely recommend for a quick, feel-good read!

Chefs kiss was super sweet romance graphic novel. A great coming of age story, following Ben on his path to find his true passion, as well as love along the way. Not to mention the illustrations are amazing too. A super quick, light hearted read, definitely one I would read again!

Thank you Net Galley and the publisher for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.