I was rooting for Eliza and Wesley so hard while reading this book! The buildup of their relationship was so good and they are so cute. There were also some really incredible, thoughtful conversations that this book and these characters had. This book is such a good time, I highly recommend— though it will definitely make you hungry!

Grief stories are often told in whispers, with characters quietly enduring loss until they find a way through. Sophia Lee’s Eliza, from Scratch takes a different route—it’s louder, messier, and sometimes uncomfortably raw. That’s exactly what makes it stand out. Rather than smoothing over the jagged edges of mourning, this book leans into them, showing how rebuilding a life is anything but straightforward.

Eliza, the protagonist, is a teen whose world has been upended after her father's death. Her once-stable life is unraveling: her relationship with her mom is strained, her friendships are uncertain, and her sense of self feels fractured. In the middle of all that, Eliza starts finding unexpected outlets through art, connection, and tentative steps toward imagining a future that doesn’t revolve around loss.

What impressed me most was how authentic Eliza’s voice feels. She’s prickly, sarcastic, and often difficult, but she’s also vulnerable in ways that creep up on you. Lee doesn’t try to make her “likable” at the expense of honesty. Instead, she captures the contradictions of being a grieving teen: lashing out one moment, clinging to comfort the next. That complexity made her deeply compelling, even when I wanted to shake her.

The supporting cast adds dimension without overwhelming Eliza’s journey. Her strained relationship with her mother is particularly well-drawn, reflecting the way grief strains not just individuals but families. The friendships—old and new—aren’t picture-perfect, but they give Eliza the push (and sometimes the friction) she needs to start growing again. There’s also a thread of budding romance woven in, handled with a delicate touch that avoids overshadowing the central story of healing.

Stylistically, the writing is crisp and unpretentious. Lee balances humor and heartbreak skillfully, so the book never feels relentlessly heavy despite its subject matter. Moments of levity, especially in Eliza’s sharp observations, provide relief while still respecting the gravity of her experience.

That said, the book isn’t flawless. The pacing dips in the middle, with certain scenes repeating emotional beats we’ve already seen. I also found myself wishing for a bit more development in some of the side characters, who occasionally slipped into archetypes rather than fully fleshed-out people. And while the ending is hopeful, it felt slightly rushed compared to the slower build-up earlier in the book.

Even so, Eliza, from Scratch resonated with me in ways I wasn’t expecting. It’s not about finding easy answers or moving on neatly—it’s about stumbling forward, making mistakes, and realizing that healing often looks more like starting from scratch than snapping back to “normal.”

For me, that earned it four stars: poignant, messy, and ultimately uplifting. If you enjoy contemporary YA that doesn’t sugarcoat hard topics but still leaves you with a sense of hope, this one is worth adding to your list.

This was such a wonderful YA debut. Not only did the food descriptions make me hungry, but it was all described so beautifully and in a way that really resonated with me. Eliza learning recipes with her mother as a way to not only grow closer to her mother & culture, but her grandmother who she didn't know super well, was heartwarming and relatable. I'm a sucker for books that incorporate food like this; when it connects to culture, family, grief, and memories. Eliza and Wesley connecting this way was also lovely, I liked their chemistry and how they complemented each other. (shout out to Wesley being Thai! Super exciting for me and he was very relatable)

My least favorite bit was probably the conflict with her friends, I can understand it's inclusion and it felt realistic, it was just a little drawn out especially when there were two other conflicts going on at the same time and after.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for the e-arc!

this book is for the girls who try desperately to connect with their mothers and their culture, and i absolutely adored every second of it. the book follows eliza, an overachiever who is enrolled in a culinary class after a scheduling mishap. she learns that she's not great at cooking, and later has to become partners with an irritable (cute) boy who knows everything there is to know about cooking.

eliza and wesley were adorable! i loved reading their moments together and i liked how their relationship was built gradually and eventually became comfortable with each other (her bringing him to her house to cook together with her mom like hello? they're the cutest) my favorite part of the book was reading the moments with her mom, i love that they bonded with one another more and more over cooking their cultural dishes together, it made their storyline so special and emotional, i very nearly cried when reading it. by the end of the book, we see how much eliza has grown with herself and her identity, her relationship with her mother, and her overall connection with her family and culture. a beautiful and memorable read for sure!

In this fun new YA romance novel, readers follow academics-obsessed Eliza Park as she relentlessly pursues salutatorian and prepares for college at some elite university with her equally ambitious friends. However, a scheduling mishap places her in Culinary Arts instead of Physics, Eliza is suddenly the worst student in class, and the charmingly obnoxious Thai American Wesley Ruengsomboon is far and away the best student. As they know they will both be competing for the midterm cooking contest grade boost, Eliza and Wesley are paired up for the semester and friendship, rather than a rivalry, blossoms in Eliza’s kitchen where her mother teaches them Korean recipes. Packed with details, fun, and entertaining, readers will really enjoy the characters’ individual arcs, growth, and evolving relationship, and Eliza is a fun and relatable narrator. Readers will definitely resonate with various elements of her character arc and the larger struggles of the senior year of high school pressures, while her changing relationships with Wesley, her parents, and her friends, really pull readers into the story. With its great emotional elements and fantastic characters, readers will absolutely love this charming and entertaining new YA romance novel from Sophia Lee and the incredibly written characters that populate its pages.

"Eliza, from Scratch" makes me hungry. Indeed, I am on Instacart adding potatoes to my shopping list. It is currently twelve am. Yep, I feel like I'm starving! The writing in this book is well done; it made me take the book more seriously. I love how it shows the importance of culture and family. I also enjoyed Eliza & Wesley's banter.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!

I recommend this YA book packed with enemies to lovers, academic competition, sweetness, and foods! Omg, the elite cook out and all the cooking lessons. Very much swoon worthy. It has reached my heart and made it feel like I'm a teenager all over again.

Thanks to Netgalley and Quill Tree Books for this e-ARC cute read in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quill Tree Books for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

This is a super sweet contemporary YA romance. Eliza is a first generation Korean American going through her senior year of high school - and she's going through so much and trying to just be perfect.

I don't really have much to say - but I loved the story. It's very much so a YA romance, but it was cute and such an easy fun read!

As a big fan of any book about food, I was excited to pick this one up. The concept of a high-achieving student thrown into a cooking class, where she is no longer the best, is so much fun, and I loved the commentary on elitism as Eliza is contrasted with Wesley, who doesn't share her focus on grades and academics but is equally smart. While I enjoyed this one, I did find a lot of it to be a bit forced and convenient at times, and some parts felt a little too predictable. However, this is still an entertaining read that enemies to lovers fans will love.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

I adored this book! This is a young adult book but with so much emotional heart that reaches out to all ages. There is an enemies to more romance that is more than just a romance. There is so much depth to the budding relationship between Wesley and Eliza. I shipped these two so much! The cuteness overload as the two competed in the kitchen and the slow changes that felt so organic between them. Then there is the deeper level of dealing with grief and brokenness that felt so real. The raw feelings of both mother and daughter who have lost their connection as they struggled with not knowing how to reach the other. The cooking and the recipes brought them closer, showcasing nostalgia and family history that reignited their bond. And when they brought Wesley into the fold...be still my heart!

5 stars

This book is SO good that I'm mad it took until 2025 for it to exist. I would have eaten this up (pun not intended) when I was the target age demographic for it and honestly still did at my age. Eliza and Wesley are so cute! Loved all the cooking lessons so much! And I totally teared up at the ending even though I was reading in public.

4.25 ⭐️ but I’ll happily round up! I was hopeful that I would love this book and I very much did. I ended up relating to Eliza more than I expected, since I know what it’s like to lose a family member but not being able to grief them like you should. I loved watching Eliza tackle her emotions about and her disconnection with her culture. I already knew what was taught about Korean culture (though I actually learned new things about american high school/college culture), so it was comforting to see it integrated in the plot. The additional romance was adorable and lovely with not too much drama and I would’ve probably read 300 more pages about Eliza and Wesley if I could.

thank you to netgalley for providing me the e-arc to this book!

4.25 stars When I saw the description for this book listed as "Perfect for fans of Jenny Han and Rachel Lynn Solomon," I thought, well, that's a perfect sales pitch if I've ever heard it. Lo and behold, that is a very accurate description for this book.

This book is centered around Eliza who believes she must be perfect at every turn. Perfect grades so she can give the perfect speech before she heads to her perfect college. But one small hitch. She miscalculated her scheduling prowess and must take a cooking elective. This class teaches her that she's not only not perfect, she's actually not good at cooking. This class is where we meet Wesley who is quite literally her opposite - strong and passionate about cooking but struggling in his other coursework. From here, something delicious is created.

This book is not only a YA romcom, it is also a book about understanding our parents and their lives and their grief. This book is about expectations and who they really matter to. This book is about the challenges that arise in friendship and in loving people that are different than ourselves. I really was charmed and highly recommend this book.

Thank you to HarperCollins Children's Books, Quill Tree Books, and NetGalley for this digital arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

"Eliza, from Scratch" follows a high-achieving main character who is assigned to a culinary elective class in her senior year of highschool-- much to her dismay as she is knowledgeable in all things but cooking. However, what Eliza expects to be a horrible experience turns out to be an insightful and enjoyable chapter as Eliza finds herself connecting with her culture and her mother, as well as a cute boy in her class. Overall, this was just truly adorable YA read. A lot of the themes in this are sooo relatable, even for me as someone in her early 20s now and reflecting on my teenage years. So I can imagine this would be just a complete delight for someone reading it while they are a teenager themselves. I highly recommend this delightful YA contemporary book.

At first I wasn’t sure what to make of this story but as I kept reading I found myself immediately pulled in. I liked that this book discusses the division between teens in regular and those in AP courses. It’s a pretty big deal and usually means many people never speak until well after they graduate. I also liked how they discuss the way teens are regarded in terms of higher education. Seeing Eliza as a fully fleshed out character along with her friends and family made the story flow and made it feel more authentic. Definitely gonna get this book because I thought it was such a unique perspective that is gonna stay with me for a while.

“It was only in the kitchen, where I felt the most lost, that I began to find out the parts of myself I didn’t yet know. The story of my family begins in the kitchen, so I should have known that the story of me would start there, too.”

Eliza Park’s plan for a perfect senior year and MIT acceptance is derailed by a sudden schedule change that places her in culinary arts: the one class that isn’t a guaranteed success for her. Suddenly, her salutatorian title is threatened, and Eliza finds herself, for the first time, floundering in a class. To make matters worse, Eliza is paired with her cocky and incredibly skilled classmate, Wesley, whose talents in the kitchen are rivaled only by his talents for getting under Eliza’s skin. As the semester progresses, Eliza begins to learn from (and even, perhaps, like?) Wesley, and her culinary knowledge is enhanced when she reaches out to her grief-ridden mother for help learning more about the Korean recipes that played an integral role in her mother’s life. Once despised by Eliza, cooking soon becomes a tool of connection for her, both with the important people in her life and her cultural heritage. Over the course of one fateful semester, Eliza learns lessons that go far beyond the kitchen, discovering things about her relationships, her culture, and herself.

In her debut YA novel, Sophia Lee crafts a tender tale of grief, loss, culture, and navigating change. The relationship between food, language, and culture we see play out through Eliza’s experiences in her class and in her home kitchen tell an important and nuanced story about the way in which we communicate about grief and other seemingly impossible subjects. I loved every scene where we, and Eliza, got to see her mother or Wesley come alive in the kitchen, expressing feelings they couldn’t outside of that environment. Lee seemed to balance so many complex subjects throughout the novel that sometimes I felt as overwhelmed as Eliza just by reading about them. From trying to reach across cultural and generational distances to navigating college decisions and academic elitism, it was hard to keep track of all that the characters had on their plates (pun slightly intended). However, I think Lee did an excellent job crafting nuanced and realistic characters that handled these situations with (at times) grace and (at other times) a sense of frustration and difficulty that made them feel all the more authentic. At different times heartwarming, overwhelming, and moving, Eliza, From Scratch is a beautiful debut work that demonstrates the power of the YA genre as a tool for examining important themes and delivering crucial lessons.

First off, thank you to Quill Tree Books and NetGalley for sending me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

I adored this book! I think that I would’ve especially loved this when I was in high school. While I never stressed myself out to the same degree when it came to school, I was fairly close, feeling the need to make my parents proud and needing to get good grades. So, I could understand where she was coming from and think other readers would be able to relate.

What I really loved was the development of the mother-daughter relationship in this book. While this is definitely a romance and it focuses a lot on Eliza’s blossoming relationship with Wesley, we also get to see how the cooking class she takes leads to her spending more time with her mother as she teaches her some of her grandmother’s recipes. I think it’s so common to see our mothers as the role they have in our lives, but they are also someone’s daughter. They are people who had their own dreams and had journeys we might not even be aware of before becoming mothers. Seeing her bond with her mother over food and learning more about her was wonderful to read about. I could feel the grief that had overcome her mother, and I could feel Eliza’s hurt over what their relationship had become before starting their cooking lessons.

Eliza definitely had her moments where I was frustrated with her, but I understand why she had that kind of mindset. We’re often taught that college is the only route to success and happiness. However, college is not the path for everyone, and that’s okay. It took me a while to unlearn that as well, and having also gone to an academically competitive school while having immigrant parents who made it clear that college was what you needed to do after high school, I get why her and her friends think that way. That’s why I was so glad to see the development she had regarding this kind of mindset. While I do think she could’ve gone more in-depth about it with her friends, I think it’s a great start for them. They also had problems that they were resolving, with Eliza feeling left out and being unaware of something major going on in one of her best friends’ life.

Eliza and Wesley’s relationship development was also great! They start off disliking each other to then slowly understanding each other as they’re paired off for an long-term assignment. It was sweet seeing them eventually bond over cooking and the way they opened up to each other.

Overall, I really enjoyed Sophia Lee’s debut novel and am looking forward to her future work!

This is such a cute story! I thoroughly enjoyed diving into Eliza's world and watching her journey of branching out of her honor kid bubble to become more open-minded. The premise felt fresh and unique: the projected salutatorian being forced to take Culinary Arts when she has absolutely no cooking experience. While the rivalry-turned-romance between Eliza and Wesley is the main story in the book, the story wasn't entirely consumed by them. All the other storylines were intertwined and got almost as much attention: Eliza struggling to learn how to cook, reconnecting with her grieving mother, and learning to better communicate with her best friends. I loved Eliza and Wesley's romance because it was clear that they were friends first, and they truly helped each other grow and become better people by the end. Not only did they both learn not to be so driven by judgment and insecurities, but Eliza also learned to expand her definition of success and that true passions matter too. The lessons Eliza and Wesley learn are so important, and I was very glad to see them represented in this book so well. My only gripe was that the writing in moments of tension and upset felt quite stilted, which would take me out of the story and cause the scenes to lose much of their emotional impact. But overall, this book was incredibly enjoyable and a strong debut! Thank you to Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins Children's and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars.

Thanks, NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review

This was a cute and easy read with some fun moments, but it didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The setup had a lot of potential—high-achieving Eliza getting thrown into a Culinary Arts class and clashing with the effortlessly talented Wesley—but the execution felt a bit predictable.

Eliza’s journey of learning to loosen up and reconnect with her Korean heritage through cooking was sweet, and the food descriptions were definitely a highlight. Wesley was charming, and their dynamic had its moments, though the romance felt a little rushed at times. Some of the emotional beats—especially around pressure and expectations—could’ve gone deeper.

Overall, it’s a light, feel-good story with a sprinkle of cultural flavor and teen drama, but it didn’t leave a lasting impression.

An academics obsessed teen finds herself questioning everything when she lands in a culinary arts class and finds herself not only falling for her lab partner but also discovering her own family's connection to cooking, dealing with her future, and what it means to start from scratch. Eliza is in her senior year and plans for it to be perfect with her two best friends and her goal to achieve salutatorian.... but when a scheduling mishaps lands her in the Culinary Arts class things only go downhill for her. Eliza has not a single culinary bone in her body, and her spot as salutatorian is at risk if she fails the class. Then theres the matter of Wesley Ruengsomboon, a charming Thai American boy who is beyond talented in the kitchen and he gets under her skin like nobody else. Yet as the year goes on Eliza's best friends grow distant, she is also dealing with her mother's grief of losing her own mom, and of falling for Wesley.... as they not only cook together but learn about each other and what their future holds. It's such a charming coming of age story, it's the right amount of self discovery, of family bonding and grief, and of love and friendship. It's definitely a sweet read and one I'd recommend for fans of Jenny Han!

Release Date: May 13, 2025

Publication/Blog: Ash and Books (ash-and-books.tumblr.com)

*Thanks Netgalley and HarperCollins Children's Books | Quill Tree Books for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*