First, I watched Kristen on Top Chef and was a fan of her style and work ethic. Then, when I got the opportunity to review her autobiography, I was impressed with her strength and determination. I loved reading more about her and will remain a fan. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I really like Kristen Kish, and that's my only complaint about this perfectly lovely memoir. She is (or at least comes across as) fundamentally nice, and even-keeled. She has legitimate issues in her past, and anxiety, and spent years not addressing her real feelings about the world. But she comes across as so much like a friend or neighbor, mildly relating even the most interesting parts of her background, that it made me happy for her, but not particularly driven to read the book. Only when she gets to the Top Chef portion forward, and goes deeper into her challenges with sexuality and being true to herself, does it get more deeply into her thoughts and emotions and become compulsively readable.

That said, I think she's great. I'm glad she has had every success she has had. And though I might not hand this to every reader, I think that the right reader could do very well reading this. And as a Top Chef fan, I of course enjoyed that aspect very much! This is like the anti-Tony Bourdain narrative, of redemption through just being good, and being kind, and embracing community. Who wouldn't love that? Four stars, and I will continue to enjoy her hosting of one of my favorite shows!

Thanks to NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book. Fans of Top Chef will enjoy this memoir by winning-contestant-turned-host Kristen Kish. Kish writes candidly about her feelings about her adoption, her childhood in the midwest, her struggle to define herself as a chef and a leader, and how she met her wife. Superfans will wish for more behind the scenes dirt from Top Chef, but those interested in the restaurant world will find much to admire.

Kristen Kish seems like a really nice lady, and she wrote a book to make sure you don't think otherwise. This is the most milquetoast celeb memoir I've ever read. I stopped reading after she couldn't make her drug use more interesting or engaging.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. I thought this was an okay read. I love Top Chef and appreciate what she now brings to the show, but I don't feel that enough has happened in her life to make for an interesting book. There just wasn't a lot to it.

Accidentally on Purpose takes us behind the scenes into the life of Kristen Kish, of Top Chef fame. The memoir is an interesting (athough superficial at times) look at her life growing up in the Midwest as an international adoptee, coming to terms with being Asian American and gay, and finding her way into a culinary career. I especially liked the glimpses into the restaurant world and her Top Chef experience.
You'll finish the book with a better understanding of Ms. Kish, and especially her great love for her family and wife.
Thanks to Netgalley and Little Brown and Company for the opportunity to read Accidentally on Purpose. I received a complimentary copy of the book and opinions expressed are completely my own.

This ended up being a really nice read. The writing is very simple and to the point, but it lends to the conversational nature of this memoir. I found the story most compelling once we reached her adulthood. I love cooking competition shows so the behind the scenes stories of that really interested me. It is not a memoir where the subject goes super deep into their emotions, but she is still quite young, so for where she is in her life, it felt like a fair amount of sharing. A fun read if you're interested in that culinary world. Not a ground breaking memoir though.

I'm a fan of Top Chef and a fan of Kristen Kish--she just has a delightful energy about her that makes me want to get to know her better.

I thought reading her memoir would help me do that and although it did give me insights into her story (and some behind the scenes of Top Chef--yay!), it wasn't particularly juicy or specifically inspiring, but that's okay. It's her story and it was still interesting.

Because (and Kristen says this herself) she actually had a pretty fortunate life--loving parents with a typical Midwest middle class upbringing. Yes, she's queer and she struggled with that (though for her own reasons, not particularly because something happened to her) and yes, she's Asian (but she didin't fully "realize" the importance of that until later in life), but this isn't really a story of someone overcoming a hardship...except for her just learning to embrace herself and appreciate life and just go for it--something we could all learn, I'm sure.

I've loved Kristen Kish ever since she was on Top Chef. Her book did not disappoint. I combined listening to her on audiobook with my e-book and the experience was fantastic. I enjoyed all the behind the scenes stuff and appreciated that it wasn't a book just filled with food world gossip. It was a look at a life in the world of food with very little drama. I recommend this to foodies and memoir readers.

I gobbled up this memoir while snacking on way too many Cheez-its while on spring break in the Virgin Islands last month.
If you're a Bravo Top Chef fan, you should definitely pick this book up, if you haven't already considering it's been out for a month. I used to watch it regularly for the first few season, and then I missed a bit, coming back over the last 5-ish years to again watch it every week. I love how the show started bringing back former cheftestants as judges during Covid, and that they've continued to do this in recent years. And bringing Kristen in to host after Padma left was just the perfect choice. I didn't know much about her previous hosting experience before reading this, but it definitely makes sense in her ease with the camera. I also loved getting to know more about the Boston restaurant scene around the time when I had just moved up here and was in grad school and unaware of the high end dining (beyond getting dressed up for cocktails and jazz at Top of the Hub for anyone's birthday). Hearing about her friendship with Stephanie Cmar, another Top Chef rockstar, came about was so fun. And I thought Kristen did a really great job writing about her relationships and sexuality. It's not a surprise that this was an immediate NY Times bestseller, but I think many people beyond Top Chef fans would also enjoy this memoir.
Thanks to NetGalley and Little Brown for early access in exchange for my honest opinion. I am slowly catching up on reviewing books I've read this spring, and this is one of my top memoir recommendations this year. Make sure you also have a snack you love because the food descriptions will make you hungry!

Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the advanced copy of Accidentally on Purpose in exchange for an honest review.

Oh man, do I love Kristen Kish. This memoir feels like a must-read for fans of Top Chef or any of her hosting work, without that context, some of the impact might be lost.

The prose is conversational, and the voice on the page sounds exactly like Kish: personal, vulnerable, and witty. The book is incredibly heartfelt, tracing her journey from being adopted, to competing on Top Chef, coming out, and eventually meeting her wife.

While I appreciated her honesty, and of course, fans aren’t owed every detail of her life, I did find some of the stories a bit surface-level. There’s a fair bit of repetition that occasionally makes the narrative feel a little thin. Still, the writing is engaging, and I found myself tearing up more than once.

It’s a moving look at Kish’s life, I just wish it had gone a little deeper. That said, she’s still an absolute queen and my fashion icon forever.

As a long time Top Chef fan, who previously acquired Kish's first cookbook, as a whole, I found her new memoir to be interesting. Fans of the show may recall some of Kristen's background and this book provides more detail into her psyche really, as well as her journey to becoming a chef, a person comfortable in her own skin, and a cheftestant, and now host of the show. Unfortunately, the writing style seemed very circular, repetitive, and confusing because it wasn't a linear timeline, which distracted from the enjoyment and clarity. (moreso than other non-linear works this reviewer has read). Also, there seemed to be a great deal of focus on the previous person in the role Kish now holds (and excels at); while understandable that she references various mentors, it just came off as a little odd, too differential. One of the highlights which fans will enjoy is the saga of BFFs Stephanie and Kristen! As well as meeting her wife.

I really enjoyed listening to Kristen Kish’s memoir, Accidentally on Purpose. I have only seen the first couple seasons of Top Chef so I wasn’t familiar with Kish prior to picking this up. I love learning about people in different jobs and with different experiences from my own and this definitely fit into those categories. I am interested to watch more of her shows after reading this! Thank you to the publisher for the free ebook to review, I also really enjoyed the audiobook narrated by the author.

I am a huge fan of Top Chef and Kristen Kish. I enjoyed her memoir of her own writing and reflective thoughts about her life and career. Kish does an amazing job as her own narrator.

I have been a fan of Top Chef winner Kristen Kish since season 10. I was very eager to read her autobiography. I was not disappointed. Kish shows herself to be open and direct about her entire life. She willingly shares what it was like to be adopted, Asian and Midwestern. Her life as a sometimes model and chef are fascinating to discover. Her journey was always deliberate, but took many twists along the way. I was intrigued to discover how she became a chef. Although it may have seemed natural from her early fascination with TV cooking shows, she was not a child chef. Her voyage to becoming a chef did not begin until she had failed at business school. Always supported by her family, it was a trip to Chicago with her mother that exposed her to her career as a chef.
As honest as Kish is about her journey to become a chef, she is just as open about her lifelong suffering from social anxiety. I admit, I was amazed to discover this. With her easy attitude and friendly demeanor she seemed at ease with people. It is partly through her growth as a chef, and especially a tv chef, that she has found her way.
As an openly gay woman, Kristen tells of her years of being closeted. It was only after many years that she felt comfortable in who she was that she became openly queer. As in every other description of her life, Kristen is open and honest about her journey.
I highly recommend this amazing book about an amazing woman!

I initially requested to read ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE because I am familiar with Kristen Kish from her time on Top Chef. My expectations weren't terribly high: it is a celebrity memoir after all. However, I found the voice in ACCIDENTALLY ON PURPOSE to be very compelling. The prose sounded like Kristen speaks on her Instagram videos and in her shows, including Top Chef. I recommend it for fans of Kristen Kish. Also, as a teacher, I would consider using this memoir to help a student learn both voice and reflection in creative nonfiction writing. It's not all that "literary" of a memoir but it's elements are clear enough they make for solid teaching example.

This was a very good book. It was well-written. It was such an easy book to read. I love Kristen and her family life was lovely.

I’m a big fan of Kristen Kish and love a memoir, so I was really excited to read this book!

In Accidentally on Purpose, Kristen takes us on a journey from childhood to present day. She explores many facets of her identity - as an adoptee, Korean-American, and queer woman - both as a human in the world, but also as part of her career. I enjoyed hearing more about all the women who supported, influenced, and elevated Kristen - especially in the food world where there can be a whole lot of men.

She discusses her journey of managing her anxiety, navigating her career, using her voice, exploring her sexuality and finding deep deep love with her wife, Bianca. We hear about her time as a contestant on Top Chef, but that is really just one element to Kristen’s story. If you’re looking for behind the scenes tea and gossip from tv, media or the food world, you won’t find it here. She is a consummate professional.

I really enjoyed the content and getting to know more about Kristen, and how she got to where she is. I didn’t always resonate with the writing style, which felt more formal than I thought it needed to be.

Even though I knew about some of the big milestones in her journey - like getting the role of host on Top Chef following Padma’s departure - I still found myself tearing up when she talked about telling her family, and remembered her heartfelt emotion when she got to tell the winner of her first season as host that they were Top Chef. Truly full circle.

Huge thank you to NetGalley and Little Brown for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

4.5 stars rounded up! I've loosely followed Kristen Kish's career since her initial Top Chef season and this was a really cool way to learn more about her. I was expecting a lot of insight about food and the entertainment industry, and while I definitely got that, the parts I ended up enjoying the most were her thoughts on relationships, self-confidence, and leadership, particularly as a woman in a disproportionately male industry. It's evident how much care Kristen puts into her work and into creating an inclusive culture wherever she is. One of my favorite aspects of the book was seeing how much Kristen writes about finding her voice in different workspaces and the challenges that come with learning to assert yourself. I also loved getting to know more about her parents (their unbridled joy whenever she's excited about something 😭) and her love story with her wife. I think knowing her background definitely made this more enjoyable, but even if you're not familiar with Top Chef or her work, this is just a really well-done memoir and is worth the read! Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Kristen Kish’s Accidentally on Purpose is a beautifully candid memoir that offers a heartfelt exploration of personal growth and resilience. Kish delves into her experiences with substance use, the challenges of embracing her sexuality, and the ego struggles she faced early in her culinary career. Her willingness to confront these difficult topics with honesty and vulnerability makes her story deeply authentic and relatable.​

What stands out is the memoir's underlying optimism. Kish's journey from a reserved introvert to a celebrated chef and television host is both inspiring and empowering. Her reflections on navigating life's unexpected turns resonate with anyone who has ever felt out of place or uncertain about their path. This memoir is a testament to the strength found in self-acceptance and the courage to pursue one's true purpose.