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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
3.5 stars rounded down (although it could be rounded up maybe?).
Chef's Kiss by T.J. Alexander is an incredibly difficult novel to rate, and I think the reason why is pretty apparent if we just look at the synopsis. Simone works in the test kitchen at a relatively obscure, failing magazine. To increase sales, the magazine starts a YouTube video unit which is unsuccessful until an incident involving the new manager of the test kitchen, Ray, goes viral and videos with them become incredibly popular. Simone and Ray have some crossed wires but clearly have some sort of chemistry; Ray attempts to come out as nonbinary and the company refuses to provide accommodations; shenanigans occur.
As you can see, the plot of this novel is complicated enough that I have trouble summarizing it. I think that's a pretty clear indicator of where this book fails for me. The work-related plot on its own is fine, but mixing in a romance which honestly doesn't go anywhere until the last 5% of the book just overcomplicates things a bit. What makes it even worse is that we end up with a deus ex machina coming to save the day at the last possible second; no satisfactory scene in which we see the bad guys getting their comeuppance; and a really lazy take on race that bothers me something fierce.
More on that: see, this book is clearly a trans/nonbinary take on the real-life Bon Appétit YouTube fiasco of 2020. To summarize that can of worms, BIPOC workers were not receiving equitable treatment or pay with their white colleagues, which led to general outrage and a restructuring of the channel which was too little, too late. Chef's Kiss plays with this idea, focusing on Ray's coming out narrative as the spark that sets fire to the haystack, while also featuring the occasional thrown-in comment on how the company is not racially diverse. Ultimately, white Simone and Ray save the day through a chain of fortuitous events, allowing for the BIPOC characters to achieve success. This makes me really uncomfortable - it edges toward white saviorism, which is gross in and of itself. If just one of the protagonists had been BIPOC the story would have worked so much better. As it stands, it just seems lazy and incomplete and, well, kinda problematic.
My other big critique of this book is that it doesn't have the right protagonist. The book deals a lot with Simone trying to understand the trans and nonbinary experiences; it deals with Simone making mistakes regarding said experiences; it deals with Simone helping Ray after they had top surgery; it deals with Simone watching Ray find their own voice. In other words, the book centers the cishet bisexual character of Simone while she acts as spectator in nonbinary character Ray's life. I see some pros and cons of this. First, having cishet Simone centered as protagonist rather than non-binary Ray is, I suspect, more marketable; simultaneously, the book acts as a sort of guide for how cishet people can do right by trans and nonbinary people. On the other hand, the book gets a little preachy ("Do not talk to trans and/or non-binary people like this. They are not there to do the work of teaching you. It's okay to make mistakes, but you should do better regardless."), and by centering a cishet character Chef's Kiss becomes just like every other book. The book would have been much more powerful with Ray as the protagonist.
I do realize that I am being very critical of this book, but to be honest, I see it as a relatively strong read. It's actually pretty good overall; the romance makes sense, some of the situations are so infuriating that I had to read on to see what happened next; it didn't really fall into too many tropes. I just see this book as a series of missed encounters - encounters that would have raised it up to become a true phenomenon. As it stands, it just sort of exists as a pretty average book with a below-average romance, honestly. And that's unfortunate, because trans and nonbinary folx deserve so much more.
Recommended if you liked Bon Appétit at one point in your life; if you want to read a f/nb romance; if you enjoy reading about really blatant homo/transphobia & misogyny (and a little racism tbqh) that has no real resolution; and if you like to read really long descriptions of food.
Chef's Kiss by T.J. Alexander is an incredibly difficult novel to rate, and I think the reason why is pretty apparent if we just look at the synopsis. Simone works in the test kitchen at a relatively obscure, failing magazine. To increase sales, the magazine starts a YouTube video unit which is unsuccessful until an incident involving the new manager of the test kitchen, Ray, goes viral and videos with them become incredibly popular. Simone and Ray have some crossed wires but clearly have some sort of chemistry; Ray attempts to come out as nonbinary and the company refuses to provide accommodations; shenanigans occur.
As you can see, the plot of this novel is complicated enough that I have trouble summarizing it. I think that's a pretty clear indicator of where this book fails for me. The work-related plot on its own is fine, but mixing in a romance which honestly doesn't go anywhere until the last 5% of the book just overcomplicates things a bit. What makes it even worse is that we end up with a deus ex machina coming to save the day at the last possible second; no satisfactory scene in which we see the bad guys getting their comeuppance; and a really lazy take on race that bothers me something fierce.
More on that: see, this book is clearly a trans/nonbinary take on the real-life Bon Appétit YouTube fiasco of 2020. To summarize that can of worms, BIPOC workers were not receiving equitable treatment or pay with their white colleagues, which led to general outrage and a restructuring of the channel which was too little, too late. Chef's Kiss plays with this idea, focusing on Ray's coming out narrative as the spark that sets fire to the haystack, while also featuring the occasional thrown-in comment on how the company is not racially diverse. Ultimately, white Simone and Ray save the day through a chain of fortuitous events, allowing for the BIPOC characters to achieve success. This makes me really uncomfortable - it edges toward white saviorism, which is gross in and of itself. If just one of the protagonists had been BIPOC the story would have worked so much better. As it stands, it just seems lazy and incomplete and, well, kinda problematic.
My other big critique of this book is that it doesn't have the right protagonist. The book deals a lot with Simone trying to understand the trans and nonbinary experiences; it deals with Simone making mistakes regarding said experiences; it deals with Simone helping Ray after they had top surgery; it deals with Simone watching Ray find their own voice. In other words, the book centers the cishet bisexual character of Simone while she acts as spectator in nonbinary character Ray's life. I see some pros and cons of this. First, having cishet Simone centered as protagonist rather than non-binary Ray is, I suspect, more marketable; simultaneously, the book acts as a sort of guide for how cishet people can do right by trans and nonbinary people. On the other hand, the book gets a little preachy ("Do not talk to trans and/or non-binary people like this. They are not there to do the work of teaching you. It's okay to make mistakes, but you should do better regardless."), and by centering a cishet character Chef's Kiss becomes just like every other book. The book would have been much more powerful with Ray as the protagonist.
I do realize that I am being very critical of this book, but to be honest, I see it as a relatively strong read. It's actually pretty good overall; the romance makes sense, some of the situations are so infuriating that I had to read on to see what happened next; it didn't really fall into too many tropes. I just see this book as a series of missed encounters - encounters that would have raised it up to become a true phenomenon. As it stands, it just sort of exists as a pretty average book with a below-average romance, honestly. And that's unfortunate, because trans and nonbinary folx deserve so much more.
Recommended if you liked Bon Appétit at one point in your life; if you want to read a f/nb romance; if you enjoy reading about really blatant homo/transphobia & misogyny (and a little racism tbqh) that has no real resolution; and if you like to read really long descriptions of food.
Chef’s Kiss by TJ Alexander takes place in the kitchen of a cookbook and magazine publisher where Simone is a writer and not a video star. The new test kitchen manager Ray is sunshine to Simone’s grump and the two begin to create video content together. Ray announces that they are non binary and faces difficulties due to this. Simone does her best to support Ray and I think the book does a good job of showing how to be an ally. Simone has a roommate who is trans and she is willing to answer Simone’s questions with the understanding that it is not her job to teach Simone about what it means to be trans. I appreciated this being written in an understandable way as many of us will revert to asking our friends questions when it is not their job to support our learning. That’s what we have books for! Simone is bisexual and the book contains biphobia as well as transphobia and there is a slow burn romance between Simone and Ray.
I wanted to like this. I really really did. But I genuinely did not. I’m giving 3 stars for Ray, Luna and the film crew in the Test Kitchen. They were all fun and engaging characters that I definitely wished I could’ve seen more of. Instead we spent our time with Simone. She’s described as high strung when no, she’s just really insensitive and oblivious to problems for anyone but herself. Everything was personal to her. Even Ray coming out. The way she made that whole thing about herself was painful.
This book needs to come with serious CWs for rampant misgendering and dead naming. I’m aware that the character wasn’t out as non-binary at first but we the reader was told in the summary of the book. So we knew and it was painful to watch these characters deadname and misgender this character. And then when they found out, spend several pages stressing how remembering to use the right pronouns was going to be a struggle for them.
This book was a lot and not in the best of ways.
*edit* I sat and thought about this for a little longer and three stars was far too generous for this book.
This book needs to come with serious CWs for rampant misgendering and dead naming. I’m aware that the character wasn’t out as non-binary at first but we the reader was told in the summary of the book. So we knew and it was painful to watch these characters deadname and misgender this character. And then when they found out, spend several pages stressing how remembering to use the right pronouns was going to be a struggle for them.
This book was a lot and not in the best of ways.
*edit* I sat and thought about this for a little longer and three stars was far too generous for this book.
funny
lighthearted
slow-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
I read this SUPER CUTE wee romance months ago but I still think about it sometimes and I’m always on the lookout for something similiar. The romance, the representation, the food - perfect!
4.5 stars
4.5 stars
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Deadnaming, Transphobia, Medical content
Minor: Child abuse, Fatphobia, Sexual content, Alcohol
3.5*
this was really cute! i loved ray but i had a hard time reading about simone. she had great character development through the book but i wanted more from her in the end. i liked the grumpy/sunshine dynamic between the two and how distinct their personalities were even if i didn’t vibe with simone.
i really enjoyed reading about ray coming out as non-binary and how that impacted them in the past and present. there were a lot of heavy topics in this book that were very real to what happens in real life.
the part about simone taking care of ray after their top surgery was SO CUTE!! i loved reading about a character going through top surgery as i’ve never seen that in any books i’ve read.
i think the book could have benefited from having both pov’s because i was dying to get inside ray’s head and i personally like it better. i wanted more tension between ray and simone as well. it was a slow burn which i love but i wanted to be rooting for them to get to their more and i wanted more tension between the two to make the slow burn worthwhile. however, i do appreciate how they took their time to get together and had some serious talks before they started anything! the ending was also adorable.
this was really cute! i loved ray but i had a hard time reading about simone. she had great character development through the book but i wanted more from her in the end. i liked the grumpy/sunshine dynamic between the two and how distinct their personalities were even if i didn’t vibe with simone.
i really enjoyed reading about ray coming out as non-binary and how that impacted them in the past and present. there were a lot of heavy topics in this book that were very real to what happens in real life.
the part about simone taking care of ray after their top surgery was SO CUTE!! i loved reading about a character going through top surgery as i’ve never seen that in any books i’ve read.
i think the book could have benefited from having both pov’s because i was dying to get inside ray’s head and i personally like it better. i wanted more tension between ray and simone as well. it was a slow burn which i love but i wanted to be rooting for them to get to their more and i wanted more tension between the two to make the slow burn worthwhile. however, i do appreciate how they took their time to get together and had some serious talks before they started anything! the ending was also adorable.
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Transphobia