I'm pretty into Korean immigrant-themed YA lately, so I immediately requested access to What's Eating Jackie Oh? and I was very pleasantly surprised at how it differed from a lot of other books I've read in the genre. It centers around Jackie's competition on a Chopped-style kids cooking show, and the ways that the competition transforms how she understands herself and her history. All of the food and cooking focus was very very fun and made me very hungry.

Food books are my favorite. Of course I had to get my hands on What’s Eating Jackie Oh.

The food element is so much fun. I live for reality cooking competitions. I loved reading about Burn Off! Also, all the recipes are in the appendix for anyone who wants to try them.

Outside of the cooking competition, this reads like a teaser into various social issues. I say ‘teaser’ because this book takes on so much. It may even be too much.

Incarceration, food insecurity, racism, hate crimes, cultural expectations…all of this is condensed into one book. After their introductions, there are no solutions to any of these issues. In fact, they almost seem to get worse as the book continues. But maybe that's the point. These issues are unresolved in the real world and the book as well.

Bottom line: Maybe I just couldn't handle the heat...

thank you to netgalley and Random House Children's, Crown Books for Young Readers for allowing me to read this book. I loved the characters journey on finding herself

This book was really good! It was so interesting to read about how the main character learned more and more about herself and what she cared about. I also loved reading about the cooking show, that was super interesting!

I really enjoyed this one! Patricia Park included complexities throughout to show Jackie's life. I recommend this book and can't wait to read a finished copy.

What's Eating Jackie Oh?, by Patricia Park, is a cute YA novel with a nod to cooking shows. Lots of fun banter among family and friends. Thanks, NetGalley and the publisher, for providing me with the ARC ebook I read and reviewed. All opinions are my own.

This was more of a 4.25-4.5, as a disclaimer. I really love Patricia Park's writing. It really felt like Jackie was actually a teenager, which is always something I look for in a YA. I also love a book set within a cooking competition, even though I feel like I've read it a million times already (I eat it up every time though). The only reason I knocked my rating down a little was the abrupt ending with a lot of questions still unanswered about Jackie's life.

This is one of the cases where I think the writing and character will work for the target audience, but not for adults. I don't think based on the narration we get from the main character within the first chapter that I will love this book. I would want to get a physical copy for my library when this is released if I can find it for a reasonable price!

When I was a child there were very few books with Asian American protagonists, let alone Korean American ones. My mind is blown that I just read a YA book with entire Korean phrases in it! Love what the author is doing here and, as always, representation is so important. A fantastic book.

This is a really fun book that involves good food, family, and cooking shows. But we also get a glimpse into a serious side of a post COVID world in a diverse setting.
I really liked Jackie and how close she is with her family and how much she loves food and cooking.
This is a really great read, that many besides teens will enjoy.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC.

4.3

As someone that grew up watching cooking competition shows like Chopped and Beat Bobby Flay, I’ve always had an appreciation for culinary adventures taken on TV. As a young black girl, I found myself always rooting for the black and brown faces I saw competing on TV. I knew what it took for them to get on national TV and risk being called any number of slurs, just to receive validation and a platform where they could do what they loved. If there was no black contestant, I’d root for the oftentimes lone female contestant. And on the boring days I’d turn on the Food Network and watch four white men compete against each other, I’d cross my fingers and pray one of them was from New York. At least then there was something I could connect with. “What’s Eating Jackie Oh?” by Patricia Park weaved all of these feelings into a cohesive narrative that had a profound impact on readers. It was also funny as hell! Audiences will certainly relate to Jackie as a protagonist, someone who will stop at nothing to achieve her dreams — even if it means flunking a class. I was surprised by how mature the story became in the last half, with what many may see as a “Debbie downer” ending being a sad reality of living in this Post-Covid landscape as a member of the AAPI community. All in all, “What’s Eating Jackie Oh?” is a thought-provoking novel that takes a stand against Asian hate and serves up a side of tasty recipes to boot.

You know you are going to get some pointed jabs of microaggressions when you get a book written by the author of the wall street journal opinion piece about not wanting to be a model minority.

Jackie Oh is a second generation Korean-American, who loves to cook French food. She also has learned to make food from leftovers, working in her grandparents deli, where they make mostly American food.

She and her grandparents love to watch a show call Burn Off, where contenstnets have to make food from whatever is around. Jackie always like to see if she can do the same. And then, she gets a chance to be on the teen version of the show.

Throughout the story, we are shown the microagreesions that happen to any minority group, that people who are not that minority don’t notice, or can’t see. Such as being called the name of the only other asian in the room, as though they both look alike, and are from the same background, which they aren’t.
We are not our stereotypes, and this is brought out again and again with this book. Jackie cooks French food, and they tell her she isn’t cooking her heritage. And as she points out, her heritage is New York, where she was born and lives.

Sad but pointed book. All the violence that has been happening to Asian Americans is brought up, because it is part of the problem.

But on the fun side, all of Jackies recipes are included in the appendix.

I enjoyed the story, despite the pain, and I wish there was a sequel so we can see how Jackie got on with her life.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book is coming out the 30th of April 2024

This was such a good romance. I loved the food element of the story. The writing was very good. And I really enjoyed the atmosphere of the book

"What's Eating Jackie Oh?" by Patricia Park is a YA novel that follows the story of a Korean American teen, Jackie Oh, as she navigates the competitive world of a TV cooking show while balancing cultural expectations from her family. The novel explores Jackie's dream of becoming a professional chef, which clashes with the traditional expectations of her second-gen Korean American parents.

Jackie, determined to pursue her passion, aspires to be a chef despite her family's expectations. The story takes an unexpected turn when she gets recruited for a casting audition for Burn Off!, her favorite competitive cooking show. As a contestant, Jackie faces the challenges of the cutthroat TV show world, dealing with psych outs, picky critiques, and microaggressions related to her heritage.

Set against the backdrop of a competitive cooking show, the novel delves into themes of identity, ambition, and the pressure to conform to cultural expectations. Jackie must navigate the complexities of proving herself both on and off the plate, leading to a journey of self-discovery and understanding.

Patricia Park's storytelling combines humor and depth, creating a narrative that explores the delicate balance between individual aspirations and cultural identity. The novel promises to be a hilarious and stunning exploration of Jackie's journey as she strives to define herself amidst the challenges of the culinary world and family expectations.

This is a wonderfully written and realistic portrayal of life as a Korean American teen in New York City. The story describes well the Korean culture focused on family, obedience of elders, hard work and pursuit of achievement above all else. While Jackie is a naturally gifted student, what she enjoys the most is cooking with her grandparents both at their home and at the delicatessen that they own. She and her grandparents often have dinner together and discuss ingredients, techniques and strategies as they watch a cooking competition called Burn Off. By skipping school and misleading her parents, Jackie attends an open call for Burn Off's new show focused on teen chefs and lands a spot. Ultimately, she goes very far in the competition, and through this experience reconnects with her parents and heals a family trauma involving an older brother who is incarcerated. What I enjoyed the most is the novel's realistic portrayal of the stereotypes and dangers faced by Koreans (and those of other Asian cultures) who are often victims of hate crimes (as occurs in the story to Jackie's grandfather). The author describes it very well in a non-confrontational manner. There is not much that I disliked about the book, other than the fact that I would have loved for their to be another chapter or epilogue to hear more about what happens later to Jackie, her brother, her parents, her grandparents, and her friend KT. I highly recommend this book as it is not only engaging but gives a diverse perspective of growing up in New York City.

Engaging and immersive. A recommended purchase for YA and HS collections where foodie contemporaries are popular.