I was really surprised by THFJ and not in a good way. It read strictly marysue-wish fulfillment from beginning to end. At endless points, secondary characters would pause to regard how amazing the protagonist was and he never had to face any consequences of any action. Instead, he was gifted with the "perfect pitch" of cuisine and never fussed to pass any of the tests. At one critical point, a strawman villain monologues about how perfect he is. 
 The whole book was shallow and disappointing, which surprised me given the buzz and word of mouth.