Peyton Sinclaire is about to make all her dreams come true. The aspiring baker has been chosen to appear on Top Teen Chef where she will compete to with a scholarship to attend culinary school. But the world of reality tv is cutthroat and all the goings on behind the scenes are more complicated than making the perfect soufflé. Peyton must decipher what's real and what's not if she had any hope of taking home the title of Top Teen Chef.

This book read like a Hallmark movie for teens. Lots of cooking, baking, and exploration of love. Overall I thought the story was very cute. Peyton was a likeable main character. I felt like all of the other characters were pretty one dimensional, though. Reality tv is a crazy business and I felt like that really come through the page. Mostly the book made me hungry. lol

I was provided this book to read in exchange for an honest opinion. I'd like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for this ARC.

#wheretheresawhisk #netgalley

Find a place where your passion is valued.It will be worth it

The first part of the book was a solid 4 stars,it was cute and it flowed well but at the end I decided to lower the rating at 3.

I liked that it shed light to reality shows.We all know of course that they're fake and that the contestants are playing a role but I hadn't really considered it that much before reading the book.

Probably my main problem was the pacing.I thought it was too fast.Obviously it wouldn't be practical for it to have a slower pace as the book would be 700+ pages since we're talking about a Master Chef Teen edition but maybe the eliminations could have lasted longer instead of being mentioned in a single line followed by "We hugged them and they left".

I also would prefer that we could get to see more of Peyton and Malik's friendship,maybe Peyton and Dani growing a bond together,heck even she and Hakulani could remain friends after the end of the show.Didn't care about the love story.

Going back to my first point,I found the ending moving fast.

Overall,it was okay.

Actual rating: 3.5 stars

This book was really cute! As a fan of Chopped Junior and Cutthroat Kitchen (basically any cooking competition ever), I felt so compelled to read this one. And I didn't regret it a bit.

First, let's begin with the cover. I thought the cover was adorable. I love the animated style and could readily imagine an animated tv show based on the book. The title was equally as cute (even though it's not the primary focus of the book, nor has a really deep meaning).

The plot. I really liked the plot. It was straightforward, which is great to prevent confusion. You follow Peyton throughout her competition. I was a little sad though that there were no descriptions of what the other contestants made. I think because of that, it was hard to evaluate whether Peyton's dishes were good or not. I think more food would have made it even greater. But the competition was there, there was romance. Altogether, a cute plot.

The characters. You can really tell the development of Peyton as a character. I think she gained more depth especially in the face of a mean girl. But something about all of these characters made me think middle grade read rather young adult. But that didn't take away from the rest of the book too much.

Overall, a really cute read. Not too surprising but the romance added a little spice and I think it was a relatively short read that made it worthwhile.

I was lucky enough to be able to read an ARC of this book, and I am not disappointed! I don't wan't tp give too much away, but it follows a group of teenagers competing for a scholarship at culinary school on 'Top Teen Chef', a reality TV show. The plot was so intriguing, and this story was filled with drama, friendship, and even a little bit of romance. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, and I finished the book in less than a day because it was that good. This book is perfect for younger teens/tweens who are just getting started in the YA genre, but also for anyone who wants a sweet, fast-paced story.

Plot: 5/5
Characters: 4.5/5
Writing: 4.5/5

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read an e-ARC of this book in exhange for a review!

This was such a sweet and fun story!

One of my favourite things about it is the way it handled the topic of reality tv. It showed that things aren't always the way they seem, and that there's always things happening behind the scenes as well. We might not think of it when watching reality tv - but how "real" is it really? It's an interesting topic!

It starts off a bit info-dumpy when introducing all of the characters, but I think it works. After the first meeting, everything is more fast-paced. Almost too fast at some points. I wish I could have seen more of some challenges, and I almost missed some of the eliminations because they happened too quickly...

I wasn't a huge fan of the romance to be honest. It just didn't work for me. I didn't dislike it, I just didn't find it interesting. Additionally, I didn't exactly love the characters either. Same here, I had nothing against them - I just didn't fall head over heels for them. They didn't stand out enough for me to do so. I didn't even connect much with the main character... And the insta-friendship felt a bit odd too. I understand that you grow close in a situation like that, but wouldn't you feel a bit more awkward in the beginning?

There were some grammatical issues here and there, but nothing that can't be fixed. It's only an ARC, after all.

Now, there was some cultural representation in this book. I cannot speak about it - about whether it's handled well or not - because I'm neither part of those cultures nor have enough knowledge to do so. Instead, I will leave the reviewing of that to people in (or is it of? My English fails me tonight...) those cultures - they will doubtlessly have more valuable opinions than me.

And finally, the best part of it all - THE COOKING!!! Reading this book made me hungry. Like, really hungry. I had dinner in the middle of reading it, but after finishing it now I'm honestly craving some dessert.

Overall a sweet book, which was just what I needed today. If you like cooking shows, drama, and sweet friendship, you might like this book!

This was a really fun book! I very much enjoyed reading this faced paced contemporary YA novel about a teen who is particiapting in a reality TV cooking show and the drama and competition that ensues. I think the novel did a great job of using it's concept and setting. The cooking show aspect felt so lifelike and when I had finished I felt as if I had binged a whole season of chopped! The setting (New York City) was also woven into the story phenomenaly.

Because it was set in a competition, some of the plot points were predicatable (I knew who was going home every elimination and what the ending was going to be) however I do not think this distracted from my enjoyment. However, I did feel as if some storylines (the rivalvry, the romance, the rags-to-riches element) either fell flat or were not flushed out all the way.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and it definitely made me hungry!

I wasn’t expecting to love this book as much as I did. It was SO cute & I couldn’t put it down. I found myself rooting for all of the characters and loving the dynamics between them all, trying to figure out what was real and what was reality television acting, right along with our main character. I absolutely loved the ending and the way New York staples were woven in. I definitely recommend if you’re looking for a cute YA, that will keep your attention and get you invested in the story and the characters right from the start.