A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato ISBN: 9781662510281
Series: Chefs of the Five Gods #1
Published by Amazon Publishing on June 1, 2023
Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult
Pages: 412
Format: eBook
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"Cato has created a richly imagined world full of tasty surprises and thrilling adventure--I already hunger for more." --Kevin Hearne, New York Times bestselling author of The Iron Druid series
A world on the brink of war and a mother and daughter on the run, in a thrilling novel of swashbuckling adventure, culinary magic, and just desserts.
Adamantine "Ada" Garland has an empathic connection to food and wine, a magical perception of aromas, flavors, and ingredients. Invaluable property of the royal court, Ada was in service to the Five Gods and to the Gods-ordained rulers of Verdania--until she had enough of injustice and bloodshed and deserted, seeking to chart her own destiny. When mysterious assassins ferret her out after sixteen years in hiding, Ada, now a rogue Chef, and her beloved Grand-mère run for their lives, only to find themselves on a path toward an unexpected ally.
A foreign princess in a strange court, Solenn unknowingly shares more with Ada than an epicurean gift. They share blood. With her newfound magical perception, she becomes aware of a plot to kill her fiancé, the prince. It's part of a ploy by adversarial forces in the rival country of Albion to sow conflict, and Solenn is set up to take the blame.
As Ada's and Solenn's paths converge, a mother and her long-lost daughter reunite toward a common goal, and against a shadowy enemy from Ada's past who is out for revenge. But what sacrifices must be made? What hope is there when powerful Gods pick sides in a war simmering to eruption?
Characters: 6, I was invested in seeing where Solenn’s story went until everything for a bit too ‘data dump’. I was invested in seeing more of Ada’s story until she became conveniently aware of and understanding everything instantly. I didn’t care about any other characters, which is a shame because there’s a lot of political intrigue potential and I *could* have been emotionally impacted by the decisions of several characters.
Atmosphere: 7, as a foodie and a hobbyist cook/baker, I liked the world building that wove divine intervention with food prep and magic with flavors. Some scenes were immersive enough that I could picture them, even if I felt disconnected from the characters/emotions.
Writing: 6, the dialogue felt very odd to me- like a data dump avenue as opposed to characters being characters interacting with each other. There was a big lack of subtext so everyone just instinctively understood or figured out everything, which reduced the tension and mystery. The prose was generally fine and the action was easy to follow. Mostly just undermining the driving tension and everyone’s voice sounding the same, in terms of tone and word choice.
Plot: 6, there was so much potential and promise, but only one teased thread was followed (and then it kind of exploded in an unexpected way that hints at even more potential plot in coming books). But the pacing was inconsistent and overall felt like the author couldn’t decide which plot bunnies to chase and so attempted to chase them all for the shortest time.
Intrigue: 5, I held out hope for better until about 80% into the novel when it shifted one time too many. Then I muscled through to the end out of stubbornness. It isn’t a bad book, it just disappointed me.
Logic: 8, the political logic worked for sure, even though bits of it were over-simplified. The characters’ logic likewise works, even when their goals and fears change (which is fine and realistic). The world logic and divinity logic was interesting. I’m not sure if it all meshed as well as I wanted it to, but it definitely brought up some interesting concepts and potentials.
Enjoyment: 7, it was OK (even despite the disappointed hopes). I’m unlikely to read anything else by the author, though, and I don’t care enough about the characters to continue the series.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
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