Very very cute and short romance. My only complaint is that it is a little too short and slow but other than that I absolutely loved it.
Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

an endearing visual novel that, while I was sceptical about it at first, managed to pull a few heartstrings. It has a fun cast of characters with varying designs and personalities. while most of the side characters don't get a lot of "screen" time, the reader still gets a sense of what kind of people they are and what their relation to the others is. I liked that a lot about it.
I do feel like the story was slightly choppy at times, pun not intended, where story elements were just sprang onto me. It reminded me a bit of the way some people tell stories. "so he was cooking, and then his parents came in, and they got angry" kind of storytelling. I understand this might be a stylistic choice in order to deal with the visual format, but I would be amiss not to point out that it bothered me occasionally. I would have liked a wee bit more dept, and smoother transitions.
But in the end, the author managed to create a story i found myself caring about, with characters I wanted to see succeed, and I think that is the most important part of a novel like this.

PS, not a remark on writing, but some of the panels appear to have been scaled a bit weirdly, and get a bit pixelated on my screen

Ben is a recent 22 year old college graduate that’s struggling to find a job in writing. Interview after interview he’s passed on for not having any experience and he starts to give up hope when he sees a “help wanted-no experience necessary” sign on the window of a restaurant. What’s supposed to be a temporary fix to his employment situation turns into a world that Ben never expected to thrive in. As he falls for the cute chef Liam and working in the restaurant he becomes more and more confused about his future. At first the restaurant was temporary but maybe there’s more to the world than writing after all.

Chef’s Kiss is a heartwarming, hilarious and beautiful graphic novel that will leave you questioning if you followed your dreams or someone else’s.

At times the dialogue seemed forced but that was quickly outshone by the loveable characters, stunning graphics and unique storyline. By the time I finished I was already desperate for more.

If you’re a fan of boy’s love, slice of life and books that give you butterflies then Chef’s Kiss was made for you.

This was an easy fast paced read that I found lighthearted and enjoyable. I am an English graduate myself so I appreciated seeing someone else’s struggle with what to do with an English degree and found Ben’s journey very relatable and inspiring.

I didn’t enjoy the character of the Chef. I found his behaviours unnecessary however it can be seen as playing into a stereotype for the character he was supposed to represent. All of the characters were individual and realistic and worked well within the story.

Both the narrative and the illustrations worked well for this book and I think it worked really well together.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This was such a sweet book and a fast, amazing read. The protagonist struggles with pleasing his parents, searching for a job and figuring out his own feelings, which was very relatable for me but it is still not a heavy book at all; there were a lot of parts that made me laugh. It made me happy to see how he figured out what he really wanted throughout the book and that there was a happy ending for him and his friends. All this is accompanied by wonderful illustrations that I liked a lot. I don’t usually read many graphic novels but I couldn’t put down this one!
(I was provided this book by NetGalley for an honest review)

Unfortunately there was no way for me to access this book so I can't give a review of it. I'll hopefully be able to read the finished copy.

This review was also posted on goodreads at the following link: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4445805939

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

This book has the best art! i loved the illustrations throughout the whole book and i loved the plot of having Ben choose the career he was passionate about despite the outside influences having their own opinions while throwing in a cute romance with the other chef.

I will admit, while it was very cute, The environment surrounding Ben was so toxic. The chef method of tasks and not even saying Bens name correctly until the situation of his parents coming in occurred and then his parents trying to force ben to make some decisions of his career was tough to see the little support he had by some of the most important people to him.

I would also want to add my confusion of the fake story the chef made up about Watson's origin story and had this whole radioactive food critic bite him and give him super taste buds. This part was funny to read and gave some insight to the chefs character it was just putting the story in a whole other place and setting once reading that part.

Overall it was a pretty nice and quick read but as far as rereading and recommending it would be targeted to certain types of people and moods rather than a generalized recommendation that most people would love.

Thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for providing me with an e-ARC of this amazing book!

Chef's Kiss was an absolutely adorable quick read. I loved all the characters so much and I had so much fun reading this book. I honestly laughed out loud, blushed, giggled and squealed way to many times than I can count. If you are looking for a quick, gay, cute contemporary/romance graphic novel, you should definitely give this a read (especially if you love cooking).

I am only taking a star away because it took me a while to get into it, but once I did I absolutely loved it! Also I wish there were more cute moments between Ben and Liam and that they would have gotten together a bit earlier on.

Such a cute, wholesome grpahic novel !

Ben is a soft and adorable character, with the worries of life after university, conflicted about what he wants versus what his parents wanted for him, navigating his personal relationships with his friends and his new working environment.

The author and the illustrator gave a lot of attention to the food scenes, and the whole coloring and drawing is amazing !

Comedic elements are also spot-on, with the chef and the food-critic pig being hilarious !

And of course, Liam and Ben are adorable!

Thank you Netgalley and OniPress for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Loved this graphic novel. The illustrations were so vivid. It was an enjoyable read. Really loved the colors.

I could not wait to read this graphic novel, to the point that I consumed it the first chance I could. It was simply fantastic and I enjoyed every second of it.

The characters were great and really well developed for a short form story like this. I found Ben (our central character) extremely relatable and I completely understand where is he coming from. Ben had quite a few friends and I felt that each got given enough time for me to learn a bit about each of them and fall in love.

The story was fun centering on a cooking challenge for a job. The plot does touch on parental expectations, job-hunting and young adult life generally. The story also had LGBTQIA+ representation, which included a slow-burner romance as a secondary story.

To put it simply, this is a must read and I need either a sequel or a series of spin-offs from each of the other characters in this story ASAP.

In 2022, I'm planning to read more graphic novels. I adore them and I feel as though the last few years I've not read as many as I used to so it's high on my list of book goals for 2022. I'm so glad Chef's Kiss was the first for this year as it was so brilliantly cute!

Ben is just out of College and struggling to find a job in the writing world. Weeks go by and he stumbles across a restaurant advertising a job as an assistant chef. This begins our crazy story where a pig in the form of a gastronome selects the chef from the food. Sounds nuts but it actually works.

This story features a super sweet gay romance, quirky side characters and an exploration of the pressure family can put on us. I highly recommend a read if you're looking to branch out into the GN world or if you're into cute romances.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Oni Press for a copy of this novel. ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

Chef's Kiss is a cozy little story featuring Ben Cook, a recently graduated English major who isn't sure what to do with his life. It becomes quickly apparent, interview after interview, that the job market isn't nearly as open as college graduates are promised it will be -- Ben faces seventeen rejections in just three weeks, all based on the cyclical problem that he has no experience in the professional field, yet can't gain any without being hired (sound familiar, anyone? :'D). Enter Liam: the sous chef at a restaurant that just happens to be hiring a position where no experience is necessary. Ben is immediately put to the test by Liam's boss who demands, quite outlandishly, that Ben undertake 3 cooking challenges and be judged by an actual pig. If Watson (the aforementioned pig) likes his food, he will be hired. If not, he will be immediately fired on the spot. Thus begins Ben's new life of culinary challenges, roommate tensions, and blossoming love.

There were parts of this graphic novel that irked me: I thought the tension between Ben and Liz was unfairly put on him. It centers around Liz wanting him to drop everything to go out celebrating when he's already explained to them that he needs to be taking the challenges seriously if he wants to keep his new job. He apologizes for not being around, but like...they're adults? That's adulthood? Granted, it can be a rough awakening for some people when they leave college to realize that work becomes a giant factor of your life that you have to work around, but you gotta work to get paid, and you gotta get paid to eat? ...Is that too cynical a view for a fictional graphic novel? Probably, yes.

HOWEVER: the rest of this story more than made up for it. It's quirky, cute, cozy, and just a (mostly) light-hearted read about learning what truly makes you happy, or perhaps even learning that not knowing what makes you happy in the moment is okay. There's time to figure that out. Life doesn't end after college. My own love of food certainly helped me enjoy the cooking segments of the graphic novel, and the comedic tone was the right kind of soft. While I think some people may find this story on the boring side, with the only real confrontation being the fight with Ben's parents toward the end, if you can enjoy a good story without conflict, you'll find something in this graphic novel to love.

As a separate note, though I've added this to my "LGBTQIA" shelf, if you're looking strictly for a romantic graphic novel, this is probably not the one for you. Though Liam and Ben are clearly interested in one another and ...well, *spoilers*, their romance is not exactly central to the plot.

**STAR BREAKDOWN**

Art: ★★★★☆ [Fantastic!]
Story: ★★★☆☆ [Above Average!]
Would I Reread?: Yes!
Would I Buy?: Probably Not
Overall Star Rating: ★★★★☆

...don't ask me to explain my rating system, it seems to be changing constantly these days 🤷

This graphic novel follows Ben just graduate from university and try to find some work in his field of study. When he come to realize he won't find something that has to do with writing and reading, he decides to apply to a restaurant. Before he can officially work there, he has to prove in can cook by succeeding in food challenges.

This book was absolutely adorable. I loved every single moment of it. The illustrations were beautiful. I love cooking and I love food in general so this book made me so hungry. My favorite character has to be Watson the food-tasting pig. I really liked the fact that we see Ben evolve and develop new interest during the book. I highly recommend it

First, thank you so much for netgalley and onipress....
I AM SO GRATEFUL 🙏🙏🙏
I DO

So, let's talk about Chef's Kiss 😌

The Cover...
Seriously, look at the cover. It's pretty simple with solid color and focused on Ben. Yep, take a great look for our boi, Ben. I really love Watson being cupid.

The characters...
Can we talk about Liam and how hot he is, especially in Ben's naughty imagination. (I laughed so hard on these scenes). Chef's Kiss serves us many type of characters'. You can feel the diversity in this book. And one special character, is that Piggy, Watson. Watson takes an important part in this book. Eventhough, it feels so unreal (That Piggy and the story about it) but it's okay. Since, every parts related to Watson are hilarious and not cringey.

The Plot itself is quiet simple but really grounded. Many people have the same issue like Ben. So, it's easy to feel like "Ah, I feel that too".

How about the art? No complaint. The Art is totally gorgeous.

After all, Chef's Kiss is really fun to read and perfect recommendation when you searching for "feeling-good" books 😍

Chef’s kiss was a perfectly cute, light-hearted graphic novel that totally warmed my heart. I loved Ben and his entire cast of friends, they were really fun.

It’s a story that’s been told many times and this one is really unique and adorable. A graduate student who’s struggling to find a job, exploring different opportunities and making new friends, meeting cute love interests, restaurants, a food-critic pig, etc.

What I will say though, is that this book isn’t entirely what it’s described as. It’s definitely marketed as a romance, and honestly its main focus is discovering and exploring your identity and career in your twenties.

Another thing that I did not sit well with me personally was the humor. Most of the jokes are really vanilla and it feels like you’ve heard them before. And others feel forced at times. Like the owner’s grumpy personality didn’t really have a reason and it felt like he was just forcing that kind of attitude. Also is it just me or did they really overdo Tom’s free food jokes?

Overall, definitely enjoyed this book, but I don’t think it’s the kind of book that I’d pick up.

I loved this graphic novel! It was so cute and sweet and I just absolutely adored it.

Ben has recently graduated from college, and is struggling to find work. On the path for any job that will make ends meet, he stumbles upon a restaurant taking on staff. With nothing to lose, Ben applies for this job and meets the handsome sous-chef Liam. An intense training period followed by increasingly challenging tasks are all that stands between Liam and a full time role. In typical young adult fashion, nothing is that simple. Having aspired to be a writer for his whole life, and having expectations to do so, causes doubts in Ben’s mind about whether this is truly the right path for him.
In between navigating the new role as a chef, Ben has to come to terms with the changes with his relationships with childhood friend and housemate Liz, who is feeling left out and resentful towards Ben’s new job and the friends he is making. It was so nice to see such a strong friendship facing such troubles, and the emotions of the characters are ones that are so easily identified with.
There are many sweet moments in this novel, and the artwork is just absolutely stunning. If you are looking for an easy read with a hint of romance, then look no further! I will shout about this book for a long time to come, and will definitely be buying it when it comes out in March 2022!!

Thank you to Netgalley and Oni Press for letting me read the ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This story is so good! I know this one is definitely going into the library collection once it's published.

I absolutely adored this comic! Not only is it beautifully illustrated, it‘s also funny and has so much heart! AND a pig! As a vegan myself and a huge fan of pigs (they‘re just awesome), I was so happy to see the pig as a taste tester and being embraced by everyone! There is nothing to fault here except maybe that I would’ve enjoyed dairy-less dishes even more (but that’s not the point). LOVED this!

I'm used to graphic novels being mostly middlegrade and YA, so it was nice to read a new adult one with the same feel to it. Ultimately it didn't entirely work for me, though. I just found the story to move quite slowly, and I wasn't the biggest fan of the art work, although some of the panels did stand out to me. The best parts were definitely the close-ups.

One thing that felt off to me was that the restaurant owner's anger and grumpiness felt really forced. It kept coming out of nowhere and seemed really random. It felt like he was putting on an act rather than actual being that awful for no reason. Especially the scenes with the pig were... really strange to me, I guess the humour didn't really land for me.. Because this was a fairly large part of the book, I kept waiting for something more to happen and it just didn't really. The conflict with Ben's parents also really felt like it came out of nowhere, and escalated so quickly. On top of that, the romance felt really underdeveloped.