This one was just too cute to pass up—The Great British Kitchen Trials! I’ve watched a few seasons of The Great British Baking Show, and Laurie is a food blogger/writer so this felt like a perfect fit.

Art Style: Beautiful, gorgeous, watercolors.

While this story is absolutely adorable, it does come with a touch of secondhand embarrassment—which, as it turns out, I’m very sensitive to! So, the counter begins.

Number of times I closed this and had to take a moment due to secondhand embarrassment: 1 <– I really thought this was going to be a lot higher…anyways…

This book was exactly what I expected—super sweet and adorable. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up loving the romance between Laurie and Oryan and how deeply I got drawn into the story. It also touched on some heavier topics, which I think were handled really well. As an extremely anxious person, I felt so seen—so all my fellow “pukey anxious” readers, will love this one lol

Everything about this was done so well—the art, the story, the writing, the dialogue. If you enjoy queer comics that focus more on story than spice, this is a must-read!

*full blog post scheduled for Nov. 13th*

This book had a great plot with intriguing characters. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from this author.

Add this to the ever growing list of wonderfully queer graphic novels! Hungry Heart follows Laurie, a shy, sweet food blogger who gets a chance to write a series of articles about Oryan, who is a celebrity chef who got famous from a Masterchef-esque competition show. The two get along well in their first interview and their personal relationship blossoms from there in a slow-burn romance.

This was a sweet romance, and the soft but colourful palette gave it a dreamy, romantic vibe that paralleled the story well. There are some serious issues tackled here (see the warnings at the start of the graphic novel before reading), but it is done in a sensitive way. It very much reminds me of the later Heartstopper volumes in the sense that it follows a very cute romance while both characters are going through complex personal challenges.

I love slow-burn romance for graphic novels especially, which is what Hungry Heart has. Graphic novels can often feel fast and like we don't get to know the characters enough, but Jem Milton does a fabulous job taking time to develop each of the characters individually before the romance takes over. We get to see Laurie and Oryan with their friends as well, which helps give them more personality outside of the romance.

My only critique is there were some flashbacks throughout the story that I didn't realize were flashbacks at first, which left me a little confused. Maybe I missed it, but I felt like there could have been better visual cues when a flashback started.

I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a queer, diverse graphic novel who enjoys slow burn romance! I can't wait to read volume 2!

Thank you Netgalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the eARC!

Did I read this sweet graphic novel in under 2 hours? Yes. Did I rush to Tapas to find the rest of the webcomic? Also, yes.
Beautifully illustrated and cleverly written, this is a tale of finding yourself and finding love. Laurie, a food critic with loads of self-doubt, clumsily interviews celebrity chef and heartthrob Oyran. Laurie quickly develops a friendship/crush that's reciprocated. This book ends with them exploring something more.
I loved the inclusion of expressive chibi-style art throughout. I can't wait to see what happens next!

Esto fue divertido, pero a veces fue simplemente DEMASIADO. Demasiados temas en uno, todo muy apretado; algunos funcionaron, pero a veces era demasiado y me costaba leer. Además, me hubiera gustado saber sobre los problemas con la comida porque eso es un gran desencadenante para mí y a veces dificultó seguir. Sin embargo, el arte fue divertido, ¡me gustó! Solo desearía que hubiera más romance, cosas lindas, suaves y sobre comida. El romance fue bueno, realmente lindo y divertido. Ah, y me encantan los amigos del grupo de Laurie.

This was such a funny and sweet story. The artwork was so beautiful and I cannot wait to share this with friends.

Hungry Heart is a graphic novel about the developing relationship between a celebrity and a regular person. I didn’t read the description closely enough before requesting this, so I didn’t realize that this wasn’t a full book. As a result, I was initially quite disappointed, as I’m not really a fan of graphic novels. However, the story was cute and the artwork was excellent, so it did win me over in the end. I would have loved for it to be longer! It left me wanting more.

This was a really really terribly adorable graphic novel. It has such a cute and entrancing one.

It was a very simple, swoon story and of slowly opening up to someone and learning to trust yourself. I liked that this graphic novel had a good support system of friends and family in the back, along with society nasties.

The art was super cute and also well detailed. I loved the simple storyline of love and celebrity grief. The eating disorder theme honestly made me nostalgic of the heartstopper series, I wish that one thing could be different.

Hungry Heart is a beautiful story about the developing relationship between Laurie and Oryan. As Laurie interviews the popular chef and media star, he learns that there is so much more to Oryan than meets the eye. For Oryan, the experience is eye-opening as Laurie seems to just "get" who he is and reminds him of why he loved cooking in the first place.
The story takes on some serious issues such as anxiety and disordered eating but in a way that is not overwhelming. There is a lovely balance between the light-hearted moments and the serious ones.

There’s something about queer POC graphic novels that feel so wholesome. Like this was the kind of content I wanted in middle school when I hated everything including myself.

I really enjoyed this graphic novel. It felt so fast, but I did enjoy the pacing.

I lovedddddd the art style. It was so cute and colourful! I love when romance graphic novels are colourful, and this one is so colourful. I love it.

The romance itself is slowwww burn, but also still didn't feel that slow.

I recommend this!! So cute

This story was a fun queer slow-burn romance story. The cast is diverse, but it's a casual diversity. The slowly developing relationship between the main characters was very fun to read about. This story focuses on developing Laurie and Oryan as characters first, before developing them together romantically, which I liked a lot. The ending felt odd and a bit abrupt, but that was mostly because I didn't know that this was meant to be a series! The book was shown to be a stand-alone novel on NG, so I was very confused by the ending until I found out it's a series. The art style I adored! It's a very soft style, it has a romantic feeling in general.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

A received a review copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This novel is a fresh edition to what I like to call the sub-genre LGBTQ cooking graphic novels. Others in the genre include Basil and Oregano and Chef's Kiss. The genre itself tends to be light and bright, even when dealing with serious issues.

First let me address the story. Hungry Heart follows a enthusiastic young writer Laurie who gets his big break interviewing cooking show star and heartthrob Oryan Adiei, a British-Ghanaian cooking star who achieved fame at an early age on the competition show British Kitchen trials. For anyone who watches things like Masterchef, think those vibes.

At first Laurie is starstruck when meeting Oryan, but soon realizes that Oryan's life is more complicated than it seems on the surface. Oryan despite being famous feels more alone than ever and is worried people are seeing him as a object and not as himself. He also worries about the direction his career is taking and isn't sure he wants to continue.

Laurie takes the time to get to know Oryan as a person. The two bonding over their lives in London, their shared love of cooking, and their growing affection for each other.

What started as a work relationship over cheese stakes quickly becomes a whirlwind friendship of stealing hors d'oeuvres and hanging out at parties together. But each of them has something at risk. Laurie is being pushed by his editor to get the 'scoop' on Oryan. But Laurie doesn't want to push for more personal details about someone he's coming to care about.

Oryan is also feeling the heat, as he makes changes in his career after talking with Laurie about how he was feeling trapped. He is facing problems both professionally and personally as his change of direction lets down a former mentor and an old flame seeks to regain his attention. But will Laurie and Oryan's budding relationship prove strong enough to handle the searing heat of the life as a celebrity and the scandal that can come about with it.

Can Laurie get past his self doubt and let Oryan in? Or will the two of them flop like a souffle. The volume finishes up on a positive note, but it leaves the door open for future scandal.

The art in this graphic novel supports the story, with the food being pictured as bright and vibrant. Also whoever did the coloring for Oryan's different colored hair did a great job, it jumps off the page and creates almost like a halo about him when he appears on the page. It's an interesting contrast compared to Laurie's more muted color scheme.

Finally the content warnings, this book deals with some serious stuff including coming out, and a fairly important side plot about a former eating disorder with images that match visible on page. This is noted at the beginning of the graphic novel though and is approached in a sensitive and caring way.

This book is five stars, I can't wait to read the next cute Volume from the Jem Milton if they decide to produce another.

Oh my god I LOVED!! THIS!! I could not remember where I recognized this art style from, but when I realized it was the same author as the Flying Ship I SQUEALED!! The writing really makes my heart skip a beat and get invested emotionally along with the characters. I can't wait for more!

** I WAS GIVEN THIS BOOK FOR MY READING PLEASURE **
Copy received through Netgalley

~

Hungry Heart, by Jem Milton
★★★★★
256 Pages
Content Warning: mentions of anxiety, eating disorder, identity crisis, coming out
Reps: POV, trans, disables, pansexual, non-binary



Hungry Heart is a super-cute romance story between opposites.

Laurie is half-English, half-Scottish, from a “wealthy family” – the type with a big house that's too expensive to run/live in, but too deeply ingrained in the DNA to let go of. His parents are separated and he's dealing with an eating disorder he's trying (and sometimes failing) to recover from, as well as anxiety, poverty, and the threat of losing his job, not to mention a food blog with only 2-digit followers. Oryan is his polar opposite – from a regular, middle-class family, he won a UK Kitchen chef competition when he was 19 and became an instant star. Now, he's struggling under the weight of stardom, doing more celebrity appearances than cooking, and losing sight of who he really is behind the flashing lights.

Together, they are the cutest, most normal and messed-up couple. They start as strangers, then Laurie is offered the chance to interview Oryan for a food magazine he freelances for. Oryan's sister works with Laurie's roommate and that is the start of their meet-cute. And a budding romance.

I really liked how Oryan's life wasn't bright and shiny just because he became famous, and presumably rich, at a young age. Yet, conversely, I love how normal Laurie was – working a dead-end waiter's job just to pay the pills, yet maintaining his blog for the love of food and working side jobs, like at the magazine, to try to further his career. I also love how carefully, respectfully and honestly their problems were treated. How Oryan had anxiety he tried to hide, was losing himself because no one would let him breathe, and Laurie was grinding away like the rest of us in life, without getting very far. The exploration of internet/social media trolls was well done, too, and such an important issue to highlight.

I loved the artwork. Both MC's were equally drawn as sometimes beautiful, blushing and cute, and often times just regular people, with regular issues.

Although it ended a bit abruptly, in what feels like the middle of a potential second storyline involving Violet, I did enjoy what I read. There was no mention of this being a Vol. 1 when I requested it from Netgalley, but I wouldn't be mad if it continued. I liked that the entire thing was realistic, with no magic bow to tie everything up, no cure for their real life problems, just acceptance, love, friendship and fighting to survive another day.

I won't lie, I'd also love to see more of Laurie's friend, Hugo, who seems to have a hint of a crush on Laurie. I adored him, even though he was a bit of a happy weirdo, and I loved all the cute nicknames he gave Laurie.

For fans of Chef's Kiss, by Jarrett Melendez.

I loved everything about oryan’s and Laurie’s relationship and hope there will be a sequel. I loved the queer and POC representation. 10/10.

Thank you to Netgalley and Andrew McMeel Publishing for the ARC! I loved everything about this book from the artwork to the plot. Genuinely enjoyed all of the characters and the representation throughout the book.
The storyline and the growth of the relationship was so fun to read. I need this to be a very long series.

Very sweet story about finding out who you are and who you want to be as well as finding the courage to be your authentic self. It's a very cozy in a way. This is the first volume of a webtoon and the webtoon has more chapters so I hope the others eventually get published. That being said this volume does stop at a point where is this is all we get then it does have an ending of sorts and I can live with that.

Vibrant, sweet and overall ADORABLE.

This was such a great graphic novel.

Laurie is a food blogger with his big break to interview his celebrity crush, Chef Oryan. Laurie is navigating his crippling anxiety and Oryan is figuring out his sexuality all while this new sweet romance is building.

Frickin adorable.

I loved the vibrant art. The font was great to read and the story was lovely.

Thanks to netgalley and Andrews McNeel Pub for an eARC

Thanks to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the arc.

Wow. I don’t know where to start. This was great and touched on some heavy topics. There are triggers for eating disorders and homophobia. There is talk of racism. Mental health.
The artwork was beautiful and I loved the characters.

I can’t wait to read the next and I will definitely be reading more by this author.