Twenty-five year old food writer Isabella Pasternak is at a crossroads. Fired from her job at online magazine Comestibles for not having enough personality during a live internet demo and in her columns, she is hoping her next opportunity that will allow her to break out to be seen.

When she is offered a chance to ghostwrite a cookbook for, fiery, well known starlet Molly Babcock, she initially balks but is convinced to take the job by roommate and best friend Owen. Now she, the food lover, is faced with writing a book with Molly, someone who seems to abhor food. Through trial, error and lots of recipes the Isabella is convinced she can find a way through. Will she succeed or have to give up her dream?

Though, at first glance, Isabella and Molly are complete opposites, the two women have similar fears. Both have been driven by their relationship to food, are extremely sensitive (though Molly tries desperate to hide it), and driven by a fear of rejection. Molly has to avoid many foods to fit into Hollywood standards and it colors her relationship to food, and others. Isabella has a deep fear of rejection and it makes it difficult for her to put herself out there, preferring instead to cook through her feelings.

Forced to work together, they clash, though their interactions are often heartwarming. These characters are so vividly drawn and are incredibly interesting to watch.

This quirky, sweet, funny, often mouthwatering book was such a joy to read. Its deliciously detailed recipes and descriptions of food kept me wanting to stop and make a meal. Like watching a food network show unfold with a side of personal introspection and drama. I found Food Person to be a quick fun read with a lot of heart. 4 stars.

I received this advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Food Person is a novel about mismatched friendships and a love of food. Several elements of the book were really charming, and all-in-all it was a more lighthearted read than I was expecting. Our main character, Isabella, has doormat tendencies, and therefore ends up in a number of precarious situations she is forced to confront with her employers, mother, roommate, and ultimately Molly Babcock who she agrees to ghost write a cookbook for. I really enjoyed how the ending of the novel brought several plotlines together into a satisfying packing. In general, I do think the book could have been cut down quite a bit in length. With the exception of the ending, the book lacked a bit of snap and suspense needed to make it a more propelling read – something that could have been fixed with a bit of editing down.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Knopf for providing me an ARC in exchange for my honest review! Food Person comes out on May 20th!

I would like to thank Knopf and Net Galley for the opportunity to read this as an ARC. I love to read . I also love to cook. If you are like me, this is a book for you! It is the story of 2 women. Isabella is a food writer for an online food blog. She stays in the background, bringing cookies to her coworkers daily, even those who don't acknowledge her. When she gets a chance to do a live Instagram demonstration, it is a spectacular disaster. She loses her job. Molly is an actress who was very popular in a tv show 10 years ago. Now she is famous for being famous and bad behavior. Molly has signed to write a cookbook, as a last chance for fame. Molly and Isabella come together, so Isabella can ghostwrite the cookbook for Molly. Molly is erratic, with complicated feelings and behaviors towards her family, Isabella, food and life. Isabella needs a job, has a mother who is a borderline hoarder, (and possibly the worst cook in NY), a gay best friend who is also Molly's agent and a fledging romance with a sous-chef.The plot is a little overstuffed, but the characters are great. No one is all bad or all good, and the food descriptions are wonderful. It is a debut novel and I look forward to more by this writer!

Isabella loves to cook. She loves old cookbooks and reads them like novels. Currently a writer at a digital food magazine, she keeps a low profile, providing small articles and making baked goods for her co-workers. After being pushed into a live demo and failing spectacularly, Isabella is fired.

Through her roommate, she is hired to ghostwrite a cookbook for Molly Babcock, a celebrity known more for her antics than acting. Molly runs hot and cold. One day, she hugs Isabella; the next day, she growls about Isabella bringing fish into her apartment. It's fairly obvious how this writing project will go.

There's also a little romance, friendship crisis, and mother-daughter drama, as most books do. Where I think this book is the strongest is the descriptions of food, deep with rich details, you can almost taste the herbs on a fish filet. The weakness of Isabella's wet noodle of a backbone kind of drags this on longer than necessary.

However, this was still an enjoyable book. Adam Roberts captured a woman's voice, which is hard. I do feel like women authors are best suited to explore the inner turmoil and body issues. However, Roberts does a fine job.

The end is a bit rushed, and I do worry about Isabella's and her mother's living situations; however, it still ties most things together. I would have LOVED a recipe or two thrown in, just to add a bit more to the book.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

2.5⭐️ Great premise. But not one likable character except for the love interest who sadly was not a main character. Bummer, both this and another food read, After Taste, were disappointments for me.

I was sent an ARC of this book from the publisher, and the cover immediately caught my eye. My mind went straight to cookbook. Which is funny because this is the story of a woman who is hired to ghostwrite a cookbook for an actress.

The meat and potatoes of this story is about Isabella, an introvert, who ghostwrites a cookbook for Molly, an actress who has a bit of a bad reputation. We soon learn that Molly isn't the nicest of people, and Isabella is on a roller-coaster of a ride trying to get the writing job done.

Isabella was a relatable character. Her relationships with her mom, Owen, and Annie were well developed and added layers to the story. Molly was ok, though hard to like at times, and I felt like we readers got a behind-the-scenes glimpse at how some celebrities are.

The story moves along at a good pace and is interesting from beginning to end. The writing was enjoyable, and I had no idea this was a debut novel. The author includes the names of many cookbooks and chefs in what, at times, seemed a love letter to food.

Overall, I really enjoyed this story and the writing. I will be on the lookout for more books by this author. I can't wait to read more by him!

I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion.

I was drawn to this book by the cover - it's straight-up one of the best covers I've seen in a long time. The concept also seemed interesting. The execution of that concept, though, wasn't quite for me. I loved the food descriptions and the look into the industry, but the plot and writing style didn't connect for me. The blurb on this book describes it as a souffle - light and rich. I agree with the light part of this, but (to painfully extend the metaphor!) once I got past the concept the souffle fell and was a bit of a slog to get through.

3.5 rounded up. I loved the premise of this book but the exection could habe been a bit better. The main characters were not very unlikeable.

really well-written novel that I was shocked to find out was actually a debut. the only real comment I would say was that I was expecting it to come out a bit more high-concept (a la The Eyes Are The Best Part), but this was a great contemporary novel. 5 stars. tysm for the arc.

Reading this book was an incredibly enjoyable experience-filled with heart, humor, and an immersive narrative. To top it off, the story had a delightful way of stirring up my appetite, adding yet another layer to the overall enjoyment.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book! It was a fast and fun read with a perfect amount of heart and depth. It sucked me in and I flew through it in record time, despite working most of the days I read it. Loved Isabella and loved/hated/loved Molly. Screw Fiona though, I only liked her at the end.

Started off strong, started to slowly go downhill but I still enjoyed it and was invested the entire time. The quality of the writing and jokes just declined.

The perfectly fun novel for those who love food writing. This was such an accessible book that I feel would resonate with many readers. I loved the writing, the characters, all of it!

Obsessed with this book. Loved the food lens and the main plot, but was really impressed with the sub plots and how they didn't distract from the main one. So so good.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this advance copy to read and review - all opinions are my own.

I am a food person, and the fun title and cover graphic hooked me from the start. The plot is pretty predictable: down on her luck, shy and simple young working girl loses her job, grudgingly takes a new more sexy job that might be unfulfilling, learns more about herself and others, and finds love along the way. I loved the food descriptions and the name dropping; I didn't love the uneven plot and erratic supporting characters. A fun read for summer.

Really liked this book set in NYC. Isabella has a difficult mother, is living with a friend due to limited finances and then she loses her job as a food writer for an online publication. She then accepts a job as a cookbook ghostwriter for a disastrous TV star (think Shannon Doherty back in the day) who makes her life fairly miserable. Good secondary characters and plot lines.

The entire time, I envisioned Demi Lovato as Molly. Anyone else?

Food Person is the book equivalent of a popcorn movie. It's a fun ride, with lots of heart, and while it's not overly intellectual or complex, there is some beautiful food writing and the characters are complicated and well developed. I liked that this wasn't a standard issue rom com-- that the relationships with Molly and Isabella's mom are just as important (or even more so) than the romantic relationship that develops. I also liked that each character is messy and imperfect and that the author didn't feel a need to soften their edges just for the sake of making them "likable". I did find Isabella's reticence to ghostwrite to be a bit annoying and unrealistic, like it only existed because we needed internal conflict and an obstacle for her to overcome. But overall, I enjoyed the book.

I am someone who daydreams of what I'm going to make for dinner while I eat my lunch. I am someone who checks out 6 cookbooks at once from my local library so I can find the best of the best. I am someone who will ask if we can both order things that the other wants to try so that we can split them and try multiple things from the menu. I am someone who taught myself to cook complex meals because I couldn't go another day eating the tuna casserole my grandma made for the 3rd time that week. Basically, this book was a match made in heaven for me.

Food Person follows Isabella, a recently fired food writer who finds herself being asked to ghostwrite a cookbook for Molly Babcock, a mildly disgraced Hollywood starlet trying to resurrect her acting career. Isabella is a true food person, and Molly...doesn't eat. I'm sure you can imagine all the shenanigans that ensues between the two as their visions for the cookbook clash.

Roberts experience as a food writer absolutely shines here. Any scene involving food had my mouth watering. I felt nostalgic about meals I've never had. I daydreamed of cooking in a beautiful kitchen in New York.

I'm seeing a lot of people say that every character was too unlikeable, but all I saw was a cast of characters that felt complicated and real. There were parts that were silly and made me laugh, and also themes I don't see explored very often. Touching moments involving complicated family relationships, dealing with grief, and growing apart from friends that you built your life around. Yeah, sometimes Isabella sucked. Sometimes I suck too. We're all out here doing our best.

I can't agree that this should be reworked as a cute romcom, because what I loved the most about this is that it isn't ABOUT the relationship (although it's very cute). It's about a girl who goes out and discovers how she wants to live her life, really questions who she is and wants to be, and just happens to fall in love along the way. And isn't that the way it should be done?

Look out for Food Person when it comes out on May 20th, 2025.

Big thank you to Knopf and Netgalley for giving me access to this eARC in exchange for an honest review!

“Food Person” is a fast and furious debut novel by celebrity chef Adam D. Roberts. His cookbooks and blogs have already established his expertise on the art of fine cuisine and the New York restaurant scene. His fiction brings it all to life with a natural storytelling gift. Despite some cliched characters, contrived conflicts, slapstick disasters, and barely believable resolutions, “Food Person” is a fun read.

At first, nothing about the heroine appealed to me. Isabella Pasternak doesn’t care that she is out of shape and overweight. She is a collector of cookbooks. Her favorite pastime is cooking and eating. Timid, meek, and frumpy, Isabella ends every sentence with a question mark or an “I’m sorry.”

How did she get a job interviewing people for a trendy food magazine?

When summoned from her usual quiet work to fill in on a livestream cooking demo, Isabella fails miserably and gets fired. Her boss insults her as a zero-personality “sad girl in dirty overalls.”

Isabella’s gay roommate/BFF doesn’t get to do the trope of reinventing her with new clothes and salon visits (though we do get the inevitable scene where frumpy heroine sets foot in a store where a gay clothier does the fashion do-over). The gay-best-friend does get to be the catalyst for Isabella's next gig: ghostwriting a cookbook for Molly Babcock, known more for her terrible life choices than her former role in a TV series.

How is Isabella supposed to create a cookbook with this dysfunctional starlet who doesn’t even eat for fear of gaining an ounce of body fat? The answer might be buried in Molly’s tragic history with her dear, departed mother. Isabella makes an incredible find, but for every good thing that happens in this story, something terrible will undermine everything.

While the slapstick and comedy of errors entertain us, deeper themes about friendship, family, and forgiveness make this more than a rom-com for chefs.

Molly, the “hot mess” of booze, bad boyfriends, and unreliability, provides plenty of drama and conflict. To forge a friendship with her and build trust is a herculean task. With every inch forward, this relationship quickly takes several steps back. “Friendship” was never part of the job description anyway. Despite the demeaning words Molly inflicts on poor, already demoralized Isabella, the spirit of forgiveness and second chances prevails.

Molly calls Isabella a person nobody cares about. A person with zero talent. A nobody. You being you isn’t enough, Molly tells her. We all have to make some kind of effort to be more attractive.

How does Isabella attract the interest of a really hot guy? It's not clearly explained. Gabe, the the apparently rare chef who isn’t gay, sees in Isabella something even we the readers can barely see.

Gabe is ethical. He has humility. When Isabella veers perilously into the realm of petty and vengeful, Gabe steers her toward the right path.

This is not a cautionary tale, but I kept wishing it would go there. Namely:

FIRE BLANKETS

A ten-dollar fire blanket should be the number-one accessory in every kitchen, especially that of a professional chef. Nowhere in this novel do we hear of this amazing and user-friendly alternative to the outmoded fire extinguisher. Granted, we need cooking mishaps and fire to make the story entertaining, but the final episode with fire was a bit much for me. Bring on the fire blanket! Don’t let an entire abode go down in flame!

Great storytellers however do not act like mothers. They let their characters do unfathomably stupid things.

Speaking of mothers…. Mrs. Pasternak is the trope of the Jewish mom, complaining, criticizing, tossing out Yiddish phrases. Roberts redeems her, however, and reminds us how the untimely loss of a loved one can affect our emotional well being. While Isabella is quietly mourning the untimely demise of her kind and gentle father, her grieving mother copes in unorthodox ways, scavenging, hoarding, and salvaging things other people throw away–including expired food–and cooking for food pantries.

Roberts pushes the idea that expired food is rancid, rotten, and dangerous. BUT. Most of the time, it’s hard to tell if something is expired except by locating the date on the can, jar, box or bag. Also, many items remain edible past the “best by” date. I have found eggs in my fridge that were months past the expiration date. No odor! Just, the yolks look wrinkled, and it’s time to donate these to the compost heap. The scene where Isabella takes out her frustrations on expired eggs just made me wince and cringe, but others will probably laugh.

I can believe an elderly woman not detecting the faintly “off” odor or texture of an expired tin of tomato paste, but it’s hard to believe that she cooks awful entrees (truly revolting recipes of her own invention) with expired food and donates the stuff to local shelters. Since when do they accept cooked food from someone’s home? No matter. For the sake of a good story, I’ll go along with it. Isabella’s mother is a menace, a cause of food poisoning among the needy. Moving On:

Isabella’s self esteem has been eroded in large part by her mother. She finally confronts her with a long overdue message about boundaries--“The preeminent concept in all therapy podcasts and self-help books, the million-dollar word Isabella had never applied to herself.”

I learned a new word:
“You’ve been negging me my whole life ,” Isabella tells her mom. “Being negative toward me.”

The mother/daughter scene came just in time. I had been finding less and less to like about Isabella with every scene. Of course we will get to see our heroine transform into someone stronger and better; it just takes one disaster after another. And another. And another.

Here is the best thing about the novel, for me: Isabella does not remove her mother as toxic. She forgives. She keeps

The final scene may come across as a fairy tale, but I love redemption and happy endings. I especially love the way Isabella forgives her mother instead of removing her from her life as TOXIC, which is a trend these days. Thank you, thank you, Adam D. Roberts, for promoting the idea that people are flawed but we can forgive them and love them AND keep them in our lives.

I found myself skimming a lot of the exquisitely detailed cooking scenes, but this one hit home:

“Coq au vin sounds simple: render the bacon, brown the chicken in the bacon fat, saute the mirepoix (carrots, onions, celery), add the flour, stew with red wine. She didn’t crank the burners up too high during the browning. She caramelized the chicken a few pieces at a time, careful not to crowd the pan, careful not to flip them until the skin detached naturally.”

No exotic ingredients. That’s my kind of cooking.

If you prefer simple food, family dinners, church potlucks, and literary fiction, you might prefer something more along the lines of “Babette’s Feast.” If you’d pay a thousand dollars a plate and wait a year for a place at the table of some prestigious chef, this is your kind of novel.

Thank you to #NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor/Knopf for an Advance Review Copy of this novel.

#FoodPerson #NetGalley

You won’t want to read this one on an empty stomach, that’s for sure! Thanks to Knopf and NetGalley for the complimentary advance copy.

Isabella loves food. She loves cooking it, talking about it, eating it, even writing about it. Cookbooks are her favorite thing to read, and she dreams of writing her own someday.

When she gets fired from her job at an online food magazine after a livestream demonstration goes horribly off track (she’s not good in front of a camera), she doesn’t know what her next step should be. But when she is offered the chance to ghostwrite a cookbook for Molly Babcock, a television actress with a robust online presence, she eventually realizes this could help raise her profile.

Of course, it’s not long before Isabella realizes that Molly barely eats anything, let alone cooks. She seems completely disinterested in any of Isabella’s attempts to set a vision for the cookbook, but she is very vocal about what she doesn’t want. Isabella’s publishers want her just to write a cookbook in Molly’s voice, but how can she do that if she doesn’t know what Molly’s voice is?

She begins to see glimpses of Molly’s personality when she’s not “on,” trying to recapture her once-promising career. But will that be enough? Can Isabella loosen up and be open to embracing Molly’s vision, whatever it is?

It really felt as if this book would be right up my alley given how much I love food/cooking-related books. And while the food descriptions and industry gossip was on point, the plot itself wasn’t as strong as I had hoped, and neither main character was particularly likable. But it still was fun.

The book will publish 5/20/2025.