[Thanks to Netgalley and Kodansha for providing a copy of this book for review]

Emma is young and full of vinegar(s), with the dream of becoming a Michelin inspector and the first female one, at that. This biographical story follows her journey into the harsh lives of a prestigious food critic and the toll it can take.

This book was a pure delight, with a caveat. But we’ll save the caveat for after the main course, so lets start with the good bits. The art is delightful - Emma’s design is funky, but relatable, and the food she’s eating is lovingly presented, which is something a story like this really needs to nail and they do a good job.

The book presents the life she’s chosen for herself as equal parts harsh and wonderful. Yes, she gets to eat at new places and try new things and you can feel the joy when she finds a new hidden spot that provides amazing food. The climax of the story is based on this passion and works well as such.

But you also see the strain of the work on her, the sheer desperation of the restauranteurs who depend on their ranking to maintain their livelihood, and the toll this all takes on personal lives. The training from her fellow guides alone is a ton of memorization and learning deception and many tricks of the trade.

To say nothing of the fact that Emma is the first woman to do this, so there’s definitely a lot of awful chauvinism to be dealt with, both intentional and unintentional. Emma is definitely the hero of her story, as she should be.

And I especially liked Emma’s formative experiences in Japan - it’s probably no coincidence that the title of this book reflects a rather famous Japanese documentary. She learns a lot during a two week trip that fundamentally alters her perception of food and feels especially important.

Between that change and her work beforehand, we see that Emma is very, very good at what she does and is absolutely passionate about food. It’s incredibly easy to get swept up in her energy and the writing does an amazing job making reading about various foods interesting.

On the downside, I kind of wish we’d had a little more backstory on Emma. Beyond her passion for collecting vinegar, which I think is wonderful, we are left to get what we can from small details. The book does flesh her out quite well, but this still a hint of enigma about her.

More frustratingly, this story doesn’t so much end as it stops. The climax is good for what it is, but we sort of trail off with a very open-ended final scene that leaves so much on the table that it’s a bit disappointing.

I basically wanted much more of this and, since this appears to be the only book for this story, we’re left with a meal that feels incomplete. Much as a good meal can leave you feel sated, so can a good book, and this one is a few little tweaks (or another volume, which I would LOVE) just shy of brilliance.

4 stars - in a way, it is fitting that this story, like many of the restaurants Emma eats at, is incredibly close to perfection and does many, many things right, but has one or two details wrong that keep it just shy of the highest heights. Very recommended, nonetheless.

'Emma Dreams of Stars: Inside the Gourmet Guide' by Emmanuelle Mainson and Julia Pavlowitch with art by Kan Takahama is a manga based on a woman in France who becomes the first female inspector for the Michelin Guide.

Emma is a food writer who dreams of becoming an Inspector for the Michelin Guide. When her dream finally comes true, she realizes it is a lot of work as well as a lot of pressure. She travels to regions in France anonymously to rate restaurants and hotels. She is good at it because of her exceptional talent, but it comes at a cost, and she isn't sure she can continue.

This is a really fantastic story and I really liked getting an inside look at this particular job. The art is also fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this!

I received a review copy of this manga from Kodansha and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this manga.

This is a unique story about the first French woman food inspector. The way she learns how to critique and overcomes the challenges in her occupation is admirable. I adore the illustrations in this graphic novel as they focused on the French architectural and cuisine detail.

So long!!!
Not that I mind, but wasn't really what I was expected!
I love all the depiction of food and the look into a lifestyle most of probably don't think of often.
That being said, I would only recommend this to my foodiest of friends.

Rating: 3.25 🌟
First and foremost, I'd like to express my gratitude to Netgalley for providing me with an e-ARC of this graphic novel.
This e-arc was enjoyable to read. The way the problems were depicted was just remarkable. Gender discrimination and women's empowerment in the workplace. Furthermore, the way the profession was depicted. I'm not going to lie, this was my very first time acknowledging the profession, and I'm fascinated by how it works.

This book is about Emma becoming a Michelin inspector and visiting various restaurants and hotels to possibly give them Michelin stars, which is a big deal. Emma is the first woman to be hired to the team of inspectors and is asked if she's sure about accepting due to the long hours and travel expected of her. Emma has a boyfriend but loves food and travel and has no hesitancy to do what she wants in life. This is a great insight into what it's like to be a Michelin inspector and would be great for any foodie. It's not inappropriate for teens, which is why I wanted to preview this title, but they may not be interested because of the content.

Thank you so much to Kodansha Comics and NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC; it is greatly appreciated.

I am an American who lives in France with my French husband, so I was super intrigued by the setting, and that this is originally a French publication. It was fantastic to see tiny places such as Montauban mentioned. This really felt like a nice introduction to France for English speakers.

The art in this felt perfect for the story; the food looked so delicious, and I wanted to be friends with all the characters. The talk of French cuisine being so sauce heavy was spot on ! I'm not sure if this is just a one-shot, but I would love to see another volume, as this is just a nice, feel good, story.

The one thing I found a little strange was Emma's relationship with Thomas. We only "see" this character through texts, but he is apparently her boyfriend. He gets upset with her for lack of communication, and I honestly side with him, as she left to Japan for a week without telling him or contacting him once the entire trip. I mean...isn't that ghosting ? She never seemed into him through the entire story, so I'm not sure why she kept stringing him along. Luckily, this is a very tiny part of the book.

I received an e-copy to review from NetGalley for an honest review.


So glad I choose this to read. It’s about a young women with an incredible pallet working with in Paris as a food inspector, finding the best restaurants.

I love how the main character was a young women who was working in a “mans job” and kicking butt. I loved that this was a biographical novel. I loved how the author described the food in this novel. Was really making me hungry. After finishing this graphic novel I feel like I want to go to Paris and try some of this cuisine.

This was quite fun and enjoyable. I am never quite sure if the fact, that I read graphic books on the computer that takes away from my enjoyment or if I just don't quite connect with the story. There is a lot I liked: the look in the less than glamorous world of Michelin Guides, it sounds so brilliant to be paid for eating, but the job is not easy, and I certainly could not do it. However, the book fell flat for me around the halfway mark and towards the end I was a tad bored.

ARC Copy...Highly suggestible for foodie lovers, the inside workings of the famed guide and just hard (not just for the first female in the company) yet wonderful it is to be an inspector traveling all over the world.

I really enjoyed this book. It is interesting and has a detailed story with a passionate Emma at the helm. I don’t really know much about the Michelin guide beyond it exists, so this book gave me a lot of new information and it was done well.

Emma is the only female on the Michelin Guide's all-male team of inspectors, she is also one of the youngest and at the beginning she is faced with opposition about her commitment and drive to the job. Although the way it is portrayed in the book it’s more of a calling. Being a Michelin inspector is not as glamorous as you would assume. Long days, days scheduled full and barely any time for yourself.

This book covers the first year as an inspector. I’m hoping there is more as I do really want to know what happened.

This was a fascinating graphic novel, specially knowing that it is partly non-fictional and based in the author's life. It was really interesting to see the inside of the Michelin Guide.

A story about Emma's life in reviewing various kinds of food from various places. The food illustrations look very real and make me hungry. I have to have a snack next to me every time I read it. What a delicious graphic novel :)

Emma Dreams of Stars is a graphic novel about the first female Michelin Guide Inspector and the rigors of the inspector's lifestyle and rating process. I didn't think I gave two hoots about Michelin Inspectors, but getting an insider's look at the way the system works and how one gets on the path to becoming an inspector was fascinating. The artwork was wonderful and paid adequate homage to both the characters and the food.

Charming manga telling the story of the first woman inspector for the Michelin guide in France. it's a delightful story.

Emma Dreams of Stars is a great book for gourmands, providing a glimpse into how one is qualified for and becomes a Michelin Guide Inspector. The art style is fairly realistic so its format shouldn't be an be obstacle for people not used to reading graphic novels. Reading this made me hungry.

First up a big big thanks that I could read this, but we just didn't click.

First it took me two chapters to find out that this wasn't supposed to be read in Japanese manga style, I was already confused at some panels, but given that it has a mangaka and is sold as manga, I thought I should read it that way.
Then there is Emma. I just wasn't a fan. I loved her enthusiasm, but when she went into Michelin mode she was just too much for me, even thinking of correcting her colleague who did his things. She was constantly judging everything, and that is great if it is for her job... but this was also other things.

Emma Dreams of Stars is the autobiographical account of how Emmanuelle Maisonneuve became the first female Michelin Guide Inspector. Having studied under Michel Bras and worked for Alain Ducasse, two of the great names in French cuisine, Emma passes the tests to become a Michelin inspector and moves to Paris, leaving her boyfriend behind, to follow her dream.

The chapters divide the story quite efficiently, showing us everything from her training with an experienced inspector to her first inspections by herself and her efforts to find new, innovative restaurants to champion. As the story progresses, we realize that a visit from the Michelin Guide is more of a dread than a delight for business owners, who suffer under the constant pressure to keep up, to invest even more money in a business that can't generate more revenue. Although the novel addresses this a bit, it seems to see it from the angle of the foodie who wants new things and feels the old inspectors aren't helping in showcasing those establishments, not so much from the point of view of the small business owner who struggles to stay competitive in this suffocating environment. In the end, I don't feel like they do the issue justice.

The one thing that bothered me was the romantic side of the story. We keep seeing that Emma received an alarming amount of aggressive texts from her boyfriend, who we never see. We aren't really shown the relationship or the reasons for its being in such a sad state, and we get hints that they haven't spoken much in the last year, which to me would mean they aren't really dating either (long-distance relationships exist, but they need a lot of communication and trust to work!) The only thing we know is the her boyfriend seems to be belittling or downright harassing her. It made me extremely uncomfortable and I wanted her to call the Police. I felt unsafe for her. I'm not sure the authors were aware of how seriously deranged it came across. Frankly, I would have rather they didn't include any of this on the comic.

Finally, the art is quite stunning. Manga-style, very colourful and cheerful, it does an excellent job of showcasing the French geography, from the classic Parisian bistro to the beautiful coast of the Mediterranean. And, above all, the food looks delicious. You can almost taste the dishes. A story like this needs a good artist who can stimulate your senses through his drawings, and they definitely achieved it.

The graphic novel tells an interesting story about Emma's shattering of this glass ceiling, and it's informative about the inner workings of the Michelin Guide. But, above all, it's a visual delight.

A great look into the life of Emma, who becomes the first female Michelin Guide Inspector. I very much enjoyed all the descriptions of food and how rating restaurants and hotels work! Makes me hungry reading about all that delicious sounding food!

If you are a food lover or just interested in the culinary world and everything related to it in general, this manga is for you. Emma is the forst female michelin inspector and this manga gives us a peek behind the curtain of the culinary world and the world of foodies and inspectors. It's important to note that this manga should be read from left to right rather than the right to left which i had gotten used to. The art looked really fun and i loved how the food was drawn. It just looks so delicious and the way they described the food in detail was mouthwatering. One might complain that it seems info dumpy but i give it a pass because it's the first volume and it is setting up the series. I really liked the protagonist though i do hope that they delve more into her character in layer volumes but i enjoy following her and her dreams to become a michelin inspector.