Rating: 4/5
*I was allowed access to an early ebook edition of this book on Netgalley in exchange for an
honest review*
Summary from Amazon:
"Now that college is over, English graduate Ben Cook is on the job hunt looking for something…anything…related to his passion for reading and writing. But interview after interview, hiring committee after hiring committee, Ben soon learns getting the dream job won’t be as easy as he thought. Proofreading? Journalism? Copywriting? Not enough experience. It turns out he doesn’t even have enough experience to be a garbage collector! But when Ben stumbles upon a “Now Hiring—No Experience Necessary” sign outside a restaurant, he jumps at the chance to land his first job. Plus, he can keep looking for a writing job in the meantime. He’s actually not so bad in the kitchen, but he will have to pass a series of cooking tests to prove he’s got the culinary skills to stay on full-time. But it’s only temporary…right?
When Ben begins developing a crush on Liam, one of the other super dreamy chefs at the restaurant, and when he starts ditching his old college friends and his old writing job plans, his career path starts to become much less clear."
All-in-all, I found this book to be equal parts sweet, cute, and life-affirming. As a recent college grad., it's very easy to relate to Ben and his difficultly finding a job. Don't even get me started on theses "entry level" jobs all wanting you to have like 2-5 years experience. Like, how am I meant to get experience when nobody will hire me because I don't have experience? So seeing Ben's struggles to find his place in the world after graduating from college was very affirming to see. As a whole, this book is very sweet and wholesome and the art is amazing. I can very easily see this being a comfort read for a lot of people. Fans of the Heartstopper books should give this one a go, it fits the queer, wholesome, graphic novel with the MC trying to find themselves vibes. Alternatively, this one might vibe with those who feel like they're right outside the age range to really enjoy Heartstopper as the characters and their experiences in Chef's Kiss are those of mid-twenties adults rather than high schoolers.
My only qualm that I will raise is that the title and summary of the book kind of allude to this being relationship/romance heavy and it really wasn't. I'd say Ben's struggles to find his place and the actual cooking itself were far more in focus than the relationship element. While this may not usually be a problem, I just felt like it should've been more emphasized given the overall tone that the potential reader is presented with prior to ever picking the book up. I would love for a sequel that focuses more on the relationship development that we didn't get very much of in this book.
Overall, like I said earlier, I think this one could be a major comfort read for a lot of people. The content is wholesome, sweet, and fun, with just enough new adult anxiety to feel relatable. Plus, the artwork is very realistic in a way that appeals to me; it's very, very well done (plus they made Liam hot, which I respect). I read the ebook, but I am very much considering buying a physical copy to put in my hoard, just because this feels like the kind of book I'd like to have in my grubby little hands to read again someday. If you're interested in Chef's Kiss by: Jarrett Melendez, Danica Brine, and Hank Jones, it's available everywhere that books are sold! Thank you so much to One Press for allowing me early access to this one to read and review, it really brightened my day!
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