A review by niseag
Chef's Kiss by Jarrett Melendez

lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.0

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