Listen, this book was a hell of a ride for me before I even began reading it.
First, I was SO SO SO excited for it because: fake dating, London setting, pining... it just all gives me LIFE and it is exactly what I want in a book. And then there was the fact that one of the characters is vegetarian, which made me fall in love with this book even more. Also, the cover. Gorgeous. So, so gorgeous.
But I digress.
So, I was incredibly excited for this book to come out. Then, I was warned by some people who have read the ARC before me that I - as a convinced vegan for the animals - would have serious issues with this book. I head about the non-vegetarian being annoyed at the vegetarian for being one. I heard that the non-vegetarian would almost force the vegetarian to eat bacon.
And I was shook. And appalled. And sad. Because all I want in life are more (ideally) vegan characters.
And then, Netgalley and the Publisher gave me an ARC of this to read so I sort of couldn't ignore it any longer.
(I am sorry for the long intro btw, I am getting at something, I promise)

And then I read it. And I have a lot of thoughts about "the veggie issue" which will be discussed later on.
But spoiler: This is a solid five star read for me and I just added it to my Goodreads shelf of all time favourites. I even ordered a hardcopy while only being halfway through, that's how much I loved this book.

Let me tell you why. And I will repeat myself because it is literally exactly what made me go for it in the first place:
The pining.
The fake relationship.
The London setting.

Bloody chef's kiss.

It was made even better by characters that are endearing but have obvious flaws. There are only a hand full of characters in this book I actively didn't like, which were Oliver's parents (abusive idiots) and Luc's father (just an idiot. I think).

Everyone else? Is basically a variation of the 100-emoji. Starting with Oliver and Luc who are both just amazing and I wish I could wrap them in blankets and make them hot cocoa. Both have their issues and are just so amazingly human that it was so easy to connect with them. All of their friends were just a delight and I had more than one loud laugh, when there was banter among them as it is only possible between people who deeply care for each other and know each other really well. Luc's mother and friend with their Drag Race watching and special Curry eating are one of my favourite things about this novel.

Luc's co-workers - especially posh Alex - was so hilariously inapt at... everything, that I wish he was my co-worker. Even though I bet I couldn't be bothered to think of a new joke to tell him every day.

The story was everything I needed and more. As I already said - twice - fake dating and pining are my jam. I love it so much. And this was peak fake dating and pining. There were so many feelings in here, so much of being human and trying to be with another human, so much being in love and just noticing the little things about each other and supporting each other when it's needed. I loved that they just accepted each other with all their quirks and issues because it was "fake", but it was noticable that the respect for each other - even though there was some teasing - was very much real.

All I can say is: READ THIS BOOK, if you want to just feel warm and happy like in a perfect hug.

Now.
Coming to the scenes surrounding vegetarianism and veganism in this book.
Yes, I am a vegan and take it incredibly seriously. I am vegan because I think that we shouldn't treat other breathing, feeling, intelligent beings like we currently are. It makes me sad and I am 100% convinced that this is the right thing to do because I feel it in my heart. Sure, I wish there were more vegans. Sure I WISH there were more vegan characters because reading about how amazing chicken is gets super super tired.

But let me tell you something.

Oliver is not my kind of vegetarian. Yes, he thinks it's the right thing to do. On paper. Its like me being against Amazon and not buying from them while writing this review on an Amazon-owned website. Because I know that I shouldn't. I know that their business ethics are horrible. But it's not something I carry deeply in my heart to the point that it's a part of me. Oliver tries so hard to do the things he thinks are right. He doesn't use Uber for the business practices. He doesn't eat meat because he thinks it's the right thing to do for his health, for the environment and yeah, probably also for the animals. But there's a difference between him and me. For me, this is part of my life. It is who I am. For him, he feels like it's expected from him to do the best he can. And so he does, to the best of his ability. And I think that is incredibly honourable.

He eats meat twice in this book. Nobody forces him to do it but he is given a choice.

I was under the impression that Luc "forces" Oliver to have the bacon sandwich before reading the scene. He definitely isn't. However, he is encouraging him. Which to me, is absolutely fine. He tries to be there for the person he loves and tries to make him feel better after having been verbally abused by his parents. And if Oliver wants bacon, Oliver should have bacon. Because Luc knows exactly why Oliver is a vegetarian. And he is super supportive.

In the beginning, there is a scene where Oliver tells Luc about his vegetarianism and Luc reacts in a way that I thought was a little much at the time and I found myself to be a little annoyed. Getting to know Luc more, I know that he was annoyed at Oliver for trying to "do the right thing" because Luc can't. There is probably a healthy dose of doesn't want to and wouldn't in there as well but Luc actually, really, can't. He has so many issues, with himself, with his family, with his job. He feels absolutely overwhelmed with his life. Of course he doesn't have the headspace to deal with the wellfare of animals on top of that.
(This is not me saying that we shouldn't think about animals if/when we have a lot going on because we definitely should, but getting to know Luc just made it clear that he was absolutely overwhelmed as it was. Without thinking about baby chicks being shredded after birth because they're not useful to us).

Luc seems open and accepting of a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle, which becomes apparent when he goes to a vegan cafe and meets the chef. Yes, he'd rather have a burger - with dead cow - instead of the offered tofu or jackfruit, but his conversation with the chef is just that. Two people agreeing to disagree. They still get on well. He even takes Oliver to the cafe later on because he knows Oliver would like it and he himself is all for the vegan brownies (which, totally understandable, vegan brownies are the best). At Oliver's friend's party, he goes for the vegetarian dish as well, because he doesn't want Oliver to be the only one eating the mushroom. And in his inner monologue I couldn't find a trace of hating every second of it.

Generally, this book is the most informed book on vegetarianism and veganism that I've ever read while the character's aren't vegan. I thought veganism was well represented (except for the two pretentious clients of Luc's who were absolute idiots, but hey, bad (vegan) eggs everywhere, as it were, eh?). The information on vegetarianism and veganism was nice to see in a book and while I felt the book being a little judgemental in the beginning, I didn't think so anymore in the end. I would love to know how the author actually feels on the topic because it's clear that Luc is very much not here for it, Oliver is a vegetarian because he thinks it's the right thing to do and the vegan chef is... well... a vegan chef who is absolutely convinced of her choice.

To conclude, I loved this book. Veggie issues or no. It's a great read and you should definitely read it. And then come talk about your thoughts about the veggie issues with me. I'm curious. Especially if you're vegan/vegetarian.