Reviews with content warning for Outing - Chef's Kiss

Reviews tagging 'Outing'

Chef's Kiss by TJ Alexander

7 reviews

legalplanner's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

I went into this blindly because it was the first book and I had already picked up book two but absolutely couldn't read it without reading the first book.

That being said, I was intrigued by how type A Simone was. It was very frustrating how closed off, anti-social, and dependent on others doing the labor of teaching her. We hear Simone talk about her sexuality in a way that seems she has a problem with herself being bisexual, it was very much the oh because you date "boys" you can't be bisexual commentary a lot of the time and it was frustrating to hear. I was aching for more interactions with her roommate Luna to see that their relationship was more than just using her to educate herself on transgendered individuals. I wanted Simone to do some of the work on her own to better understand her friend.

I also struggled with the misgendering of Ray at first, because we as readers know Ray is nonbinary, but Simone has not learned this yet. Ray's coming out was extremely hard to read because I couldn't understand why Simone wanted them to fight so hard against a company that was providing for them to survive. I understand that it is likely that Simone just didn't have a clue but it was rather frustrating to get through. All that said, Ray was truly the sunshine in this novel and was completely themselves even while getting misgendered, having their job threatened, and navigating confirming surgery.

In the end I did enjoy this book, but while it was a queer rom com, it did feel as if the opportunity to utilize Ray and Simone as narrators was missed. I truly read this quickly and moved onto the next book just as quick. I would absolutely read more from this world/cast of characters. I found the romance once the issues were talked about very good. I found Simones's growth slow, but it was there and made the relationship with Ray much better.

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starlitpage's review

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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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kshertz's review

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hopeful 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? No

4.0

This book is a lot like the book love and other disasters. I really enjoyed the aspects of learning about each of the characters. I enjoyed their journey. I enjoyed their love story. Definitely thought the protagonist was kind of annoying but they worked it out in the end. A good easy beach read

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