Of Course It's Good!: Aggressively Delicious Meals
by Jessica Secrest
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About the Author
Jessica Secrest1 book reviewed
Of Course It's Good!
Aggressively Delicious Meals
by Jessica Secrest
LuvemBooks Verdict
Best for
Busy home cooks — parents, beginners, and budget-conscious weeknight warriors — who want a no-fuss, encouraging companion that makes affordable comfort food genuinely reproducible without any gatekeeping.
Worth it if
You want a broad daily-use cookbook — covering weeknight dinners, breakfasts, and desserts — that is honest about real-life constraints, built around pantry staples and store-bought shortcuts, and delivered in the irreverent voice Secrest's @applesauceandadhd audience already loves.
Skip if
Skip it if you are looking for technical depth, globally diverse cuisines, or a quieter read — the recipe scope is deliberately narrow and comfort-food-focused, and the sustained all-caps, italics, and profanity may wear thin across 176 pages for readers who prefer a less aggressive page.
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- Is it worth reading?
- For its intended audience — busy parents, beginners, and anyone exhausted by elaborate recipes — Of Course It's Good! delivers exactly what it promises: affordable, reproducible meals without the gatekeeping tone common in more aspirational cookbooks. Its New York Times bestseller status signals demand that goes well beyond platform loyalty, and its practical features (store-bought substitutions, freezing tips, pantry-staple sections) address real budget and time constraints. Readers outside the target audience, however — those seeking complex techniques, global flavours, or a typographically calm read — should calibrate expectations, as the book leans fully and deliberately into its comfort-food, high-energy design.
- Similar books
- Readers drawn to Of Course It's Good!'s unfussy, personality-driven approach will find kindred titles among the related cookbooks curated below. So Easy So Good by Kylie Sakaida shares the accessible, social-media-native energy; Knife Drop: Creative Recipes Anyone Can Cook by Nick DiGiovanni similarly targets home cooks who want creative results without intimidating technique. Everything's Good: Cozy Classics You'll Cook Always by Toni Chapman covers comparable comfort-food terrain with a warm, approachable voice. For readers who want a bit more technique alongside the personality, Cook This Book: Techniques That Teach by Molly Baz offers a step up in instructional depth while retaining an encouraging, non-precious tone. Appetites: A Cookbook by Anthony Bourdain and Laurie Woolever brings a sharper, more irreverent voice for those who loved Secrest's attitude but want more culinary range.
- Who should read this?
- Of Course It's Good! is squarely aimed at home cooks who want flavour without fuss — specifically busy parents, beginners, and anyone exhausted by elaborate recipes with long ingredient lists, as Secrest frames it herself: "We need meals that are quick, easy, affordable." Existing fans of @applesauceandadhd will find the book an authentic extension of the account's personality. Those outside that target — cooks seeking technical depth, global variety, or a quieter typographic experience — are likely to find the deliberately narrow, high-energy format a mismatch for their needs.
- How practical is it for everyday use?
- Practicality is one of the book's clearest strengths: Publisher's Weekly notes that Secrest weaves in judgment-free suggestions for store-bought substitutions, tips for freezing dishes, and strategies for stretching meals across multiple servings — all signalling a design intent built around real-life constraints rather than idealised kitchen conditions. The book covers weeknight dinners, Sunday breakfasts, and desserts, positioning it as a broad daily-use reference rather than a single-occasion resource. The "Pantry Raid" section specifically addresses making the most of pantry staples, adding a budget-conscious utility layer.
- Is this a New York Times bestseller?
- Of Course It's Good! debuted as a New York Times bestseller — a notable achievement for a debut cookbook and a marker of the reach Secrest had already built through @applesauceandadhd before publication. That crossover from viral TikTok creator to traditionally published bestseller reflects a broader trend in food media, but the review notes the bestseller status signals genuine commercial momentum beyond platform loyalty alone. The publisher Page Street Publishing positioned the book with the tagline "none of the nonsense, all of the flavour," closely aligned with what Secrest's audience had already demonstrated appetite for.
- Does the visual style of the book work in print?
- Translating an online personality into print is a known challenge, and the review draws directly on Publisher's Weekly's observation that Secrest "attempts to maintain her signature sassy-to-belligerent tone in print via excessive italicization, all caps, and plenty of cursing." For existing fans of @applesauceandadhd, this stylistic continuity is framed as a likely selling point — the book reads as an extension of the account rather than a sanitised spin-off. For readers new to Secrest, however, the typographic intensity and heightened register may be an acquired taste, and the review cautions that sustaining it across 176 pages may prove tiring even for sympathetic readers.
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Age & Reading Level
Recommended age
Adult
Reading level
Adult
Content to know about
Skip if you're looking for globally diverse recipes or technically challenging cooking instruction.
Editorial Review
Of Course It's Good! Is a New York Times bestselling debut cookbook from Jessica Secrest — the home cook behind the viral TikTok account @applesauceandadhd — collecting unfussy, affordable weeknight recipes delivered with the snarky, "aggressively" encouraging voice her fans know well.…
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