Zitong Ren's Reviews > Gourmet Hound

Ok, well, this was really wholesome and sweet, and I really enjoyed it for that. It was just really nice to read something that was sweet and fairly happy, with an interesting and diverse cast of likeable characters, so that was really good. It was great seeing how normal it was for something to be part of the LGBTQIA+ community, or a person of colour and how that was normal. In a lot of books, characters often make a big deal out of these things and here, it was just accepted. Now, I’m perfectly aware the world is not this kind to everyone, and I hate that, but reading through all of this, it was just really, really nice to see a world, even if it doesn’t properly exist in our own world yet, what society can, and should be like. Where people aren’t prejudiced towards one another, but instead value the integrity of the person instead of their looks, the colour of their skin, their beliefs or who they love.

I actually thought I would get through this quicker, but I clearly didn’t, and that was largely fine by me, considering that I honestly didn’t spend a lot of time reading this past week, because exams or something, but oh well. See, on one hand, I really wanted to savour every moment with these characters, especially Lucy and Gramps, *cough*cough* Graham, whilst on the other hand, I’m like, just kiss already, but I will say, the slow burn romance between the two of them was handled really, really well.

It’s not really plot based at all, but instead really character focussed, which, from my limited experience suits comics really well. There are several individual arcs centred around a particular Dimanche chef each time, and the comic sort of just moves from one to another. For the most part, I really liked each arc and they all brought along a good dosage of both good and bad times as well as important character development for all the main characters.

The art style was amazing, and I really loved how everything was drawn and simply the amount of time and effort that would have gone into these, is quite astounding to someone like me, who cannot draw to save my life. I mean, I haven’t read my comics or graphic novels at all, but one thing I’ve found myself really enjoying and appreciating is the art style, and as someone who predominantly reads prose, there’s another form of beauty to comics that isn’t present in books written in prose.

I genuinely really liked the characters, and they all had fascinating lives that I enjoyed following along. There’s also really good character development and important lessons that everyone should take on, and while occasionally I found it to be a bit too much and how frequent these explaining how sad my life is monologues, or something along those lines, they were executed well and remained meaningful, despite their repetitious nature.

There’s also so much food in this book, that made the entire comic quite a delicious read. Also, the way that Lucy brightens up with food and people cooking for her is just - really heart-warming and sweet, especially since the reader knows what she has gone through. I did somewhat predict the ending, as I really couldn’t see it end in a different way, especially after Lucy still hadn’t found what she was looking for, and while it was predictable - partly because it kept dragging on with more and more chefs.

So, while it wasn’t necessary perfect for me, I still adored this webcomic so darn much, and look, just because it is quite long, I don’t know if I will go back for a reread, especially anytime soon, but who knows what the future, or even tomorrow will bring. 9/10