While I liked the premise for this book, I ultimately DNF’d at 55% because I just didn’t feel like the story was going anywhere.

Thank you net gallery for the advanced copy of this book. This was a fast-paced book that had plenty of action. When I started it I thought this would be a story about cooking and battles but instead it turned into the dragon prince. A little preachy on the idea that all animals are sentient don't eat meat. The princess was pretty selfish and hard to like.

This was an interesting multi-generational tale of mothers and daughters separated, although our focus is on Ada and her daughter Solenn. And sure, the book synopsis says that they reunite, but while their paths converge in a plot sense, we spend most of our time following them on their own plotlines.

Oh, and I said multi-generational tale. In the beginning Ada is with her elderly grandmother and they are both in hiding/on the run. And it doesn’t take long for the reader to realize that Ada is a mother herself, although she was separated from her child when the child was still a baby. It also doesn’t take long for Ada and her grandmother to run into some trouble and reluctantly seek the aid of Ada’s mother.

On the other side of things we follow Solenn, who has been raised believing she is the princess of Braiz, daughter to the King and Queen. But when she senses the poison in drinks meant for the prince she is betrothed to, she quickly comes to the realization that neither of her parents have Chef magic…which means her parentage is a bit more complicated.

For about the first half of this book, the pacing was on the slow side, as we learn about our two protagonists and their lives, as well as learning a bit about the world and the magic. I feel like it could have been a little faster paced at times, but there was enough to piece together that overall the story and the characters held my interest.

By the midpoint, there was a lot going on, and things started happening that made the story start to weave together in a more complex way, and get more quickly-paced and intriguing.

But I’ll also say that when it came to Solenn’s side of the story, there was a heavy-handed theme of veganism going on, by basically making all animal-based foods come from animals who are actually human part of the year, and obviously we would all likely say that eating humans is wrong, and if animals are really just shape-shifting magic humans then clearly eating animals and animal byproducts would be wrong too. And that idea gets pushed again and again.

Overall though, I’m interested in the magic and the lore and the court intrigue, so I have added the sequel to my TBR.

A Thousand Recipe for Revenge, by author Beth Cato, is the first installment in the authors Chefs of the Five Gods series. This story alternates between two main characters: Adamantine (Ada) Garland and Princess Solenn Corre of Braiz. Ada 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.

She lost everything of importance to her when she left her newborn daughter in care of her husband and sent to a different country where she couldn't be used as a slave if she was god touched as well. 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. To make matters worse, surviving members of Ada's military unit are also being hunted down and it may be the one person who they most fear.

A foreign princess in a strange court who is supposed to marry a boy who is 2 years younger (Prince Rupert), 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. When a second assassin seemingly makes Solenn out to be the villain, she must a way to reunite with not only her own people including Captain Erwin Corre, but her own mother who she's never met.

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? This a curious world where Chefs come in a variety of powers. Ada and Solenn are empathic. Solenn could taste impending death of Rupert via the ingredients in the food that was prepared for him.

Other Chefs are able to make dishes to their customer's pallet, being hailed as the most powerful and most sought after. This is why Ada was so valuable before she went AWOL. In between each chapter, there's a variety of recipes that the author provides for you, the reader. There are certain ingredients within mundane and magical creatures that can be cooked and give people certain powers for a time like invisibility or keeping them looking younger. There is also curious twisted ending to this story that apparently is leading to a much larger confrontation in the future.

This book was unlike any I’ve read before. The world that Cato built out was fascinatingly original. “Rare family lines are blessed through their tongues with the ability to sense, and understand food like no others can.” These select few people are called Chefs and they give their thanks to the Five Gods.

Cato let this story unfold like layers in an onion. For the beginning 40% of this book, I was not fully invested in what was happening (could have been where my mind was at the time) but once she pulled back another layer, I jumped into the story feet first. Cato did not let me down with the character development and the diverse cast :chefs kiss: If you're looking to read something completely different, add this to your TBR menu! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This unique premise and world captured my attention and never let go. Each chapter built brilliantly on one another and kept me highly invested. Can't wait to check out more from Cato.

Thank you Beth Cato, 47North and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC e-book. This book leans to the fantasy genre and those who are fans will easily fall in love with the tale. A story full of deceit and murder plots with Gods and magical spells you are quickly pulled into this realm and all of its possibilities.

I enjoyed this tale and was fascinated by the magical system and the strong women in this book.
The story is fascinating even if the pace is a bit uneven and the plot does not always flow.
.3.5 upped to 4
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Ada is a Chef, an individual who has an empathic, magical connection to food and wine. She has deserted the royal court of Verdania where she was property going now on 16 years. She is discovered and assassins are sent after her but she escapes with her Grand-mere. Princess Solenn is to wed the prince of Verdania. With her newfound ability she uncovers a plot to kill her fiance. Ada and Solenn deal with threats of the present and of the past on their way to inevitably cross paths and face them together.

There is a sophisticated air to the narrative which is breezy in manner and complimented by how spirited the protagonists are. The emotion in the writing is honest and heartfelt. The author has a great sense of detail, evident in her descriptions that build this world around us. Also, there are instances of absolutely marvelous use of words. The mythology and magic of this story are quite creative and much more intricate than it originally seems. I really liked that surprise.

Both protagonists are clever and determined. Ada, a fierce protector and Solenn standing up for what's right. both POVs are equally interesting and the switching between their storylines makes the narrative more exciting.

Information about things like the magic system, countries & their politics, etc are conveyed in the least overwhelming way possible not only through narration but also adequately with dialogue and thoughts of the character. But there is a shadow of info-dumping in some parts. Also the Chef entries at the beginning of each chapter were sometimes tedious. There were little missteps in the otherwise intriguing story such as parts unclear that I had to reread, interjections that seemed, in my opinion, off-topic, and some scenes taking too long.

Issues the book deals with are prejudice, societal injustices & misconceptions, and the corruption of power. It is about the power of family and love. About gaining your power. Respect is a quality very much cherished in this story.

What we have here is an ambitious, creative, new fantasy series with a beautiful feminist flair to it.

To be touched by the gods is to be a Chef – but, in this fantasy we’re not just talking delicious meals. A Chef has a magical connection to food, in one way or another, and are used in battle as much as the kitchen. The catch? Well, they’re pretty much considered the property of the Crown, expected to turn their skills – and lives – over to service. Any refusal is punished with having your tongue removed. Urgh!

We follow two main character threads. One is with Adamantine (Ada), a particularly gifted Chef able to perceive foods strongly, and in preparing them strengthen any latent magic. Ada has been a fugitive for many years, refusing to be ‘owned’ and told what to do. However, it seems like someone might be hunting her old army buddies – for what dark purpose, she can’t yet tell.

Elsewhere we meet Princess Solenn, who’s preparing for an arranged marriage to strengthen the ties between neighbouring countries. But it seems that she doesn’t just have to deal with being a foreigner in an unfriendly court, or even an unexpected ‘awakening’ of her tongue that might prove exceptionally awkward – if, that is, she survives the assassination attempts!

So… well, phew, there is such a LOT going on in this book – I’ve barely scratched the surface there! I didn’t even mention the magical animals being harvested for their use in enchanted food, but that will form a huge plot point.

The concept is intriguing, although it almost lost me right at the beginning – ‘Chef’ is such a silly word to use when talking about war! It’s better once explained a little further, but it did set an inappropriately flippant tone for me at the start. Instead, this is actually quite a dark kind of a tale – but, that doesn’t sit so well with the very YA tone. Solenn is a teenager, which doesn’t help, but even 40-something Ada never quite seems fully ‘grown up’ despite all of the comments about wrinkles and such. I didn’t feel particularly engaged with any of them, if I’m honest. And let’s not start on how awful some of the entitled, rich supporting cast is.

I’m not quite sure what I thought of this overall. Nothing about it is bad, but nor does it feel entirely cohesive. You could argue that it’s just the opening for a longer series, but it still feels like too much is thrown at the reader, and the story hurtles from one plot to the next, without quite explaining enough (I thought) to bring them completely together.

There is a not-so-faintly moralising tone, too, around the concept of the ‘epicurea’, or magical ingredients. It’s laid on just a little too thick for my liking, frankly.

All in all, it’s a bit of a mixed bag. It’s written well and very readable, and yet it just didn’t quite come together for me. It’s one thing that I never quite knew where the plot was going, but rather than keeping me turning the page I rather struggled to maintain interest. Hopefully others will be more appreciative, as it’s not a bad book – just, not really for me, alas.

The magic and world were super unique. I loved the way cooking is a form of magic and Chefs have special abilities, thus resulting in those with said abilities being forced to serve in the military as assassins. The world building was thorough and very beautiful, however the plot didn’t grab my attention like I hoped. The characters felt a tad flat and could come across hyper-emotional. I think the story needs some work, but there is a very strong premise that I think a truly wonderful story can come of this.

There are a thousand quotes about revenge and most of them are not kind to the person seeking it. But it’s possible that the one in the world of these particular five gods is the most bitter, literally and figuratively. “There are a thousand recipes for revenge, and they all taste like scat.”

In other words, revenge tastes like shit. In a world where the ability to perceive and even enhance the qualities of every single thing a person might eat or drink is the highest form of magic, that has to be one of its world’s greatest curses.

And a warning that entirely too many people have refused to heed in this fantastic story that has only just begun.

At first, we’re following two women who don’t seem to have much to do with each other. And even though we don’t know it yet, someone’s revenge has reached out, seemingly from beyond the grave, to do its best to turn both their lives into shit.

Or perhaps something a bit worse but surprisingly edible – even if it really, really shouldn’t be. Which is where this world’s magic comes in.

Ada Garland is one of the chefs blessed by Gyst, the God of Mysteries and Unknowns. Her tongue is literally magic. She can tell whether something is clean or polluted, poisonous or just badly prepared, too salty, too sweet, or perfectly balanced. Her magic allows her to make the dish that a person wants and needs most in that moment – and do it perfectly every time.

And she has the power to turn certain special ingredients, called epicurea, into magical items that will pass their magic on to whoever eats them.

It’s a gift and a curse at the same time, as all blessed chefs in her country are automatically conscripted into the royal service the moment their talents manifest. It’s a service that led Ada to her husband and their child. And it’s a service that split them apart when the alliance between their countries dissolved.

Ada is on the run, and has been for over a decade, taking care of her increasingly unstable grandmother while avoiding the grasping, greedy mother who wants to use her and her talent for ends that are even more unsavory than Ada first believed.

The revenge that reaches out for Ada, her friends and her family threatens to expose all of her secrets – and theirs. If it doesn’t get them all killed first. Or worse. Much, much worse.

Escape Rating A+: I picked this up because I was looking for something else with magical cookery after The Nameless Restaurant. Both stories do feature cookery as Magic with a Capital “M”, but that is the only thing they have in common. I’m still grateful for the push from the one to the other, because A Thousand Recipes for Revenge is just plain awesome and I’m so glad I read it, even if it is making me give the side-eye to pretty much everything I eat.

The magic system here is both fascinating and unsettling at the same time, because it’s all wrapped around magical foods, the ability to create them and the ability to taste them. This is a world where many people can cook, and unsurprisingly so or everyone would starve, but where it takes a gift from the actual gods to be a chef. But the silver lining of that gift comes with plenty of cloud wrapped around it, as both Ada and Princess Solenn discover to their cost.

This is also definitely one of those stories about being better off – or at least sleeping better at night – if one did not know how the sausage was made. It’s a secret that has been brutally suppressed in this world for excellent if entirely terrible reasons.

At first, this seems like a rather typical military type, gaslamp set fantasy. Ada is AWOL from her military service, while our second perspective on this story, Princess Solenn, is in the midst of being married off for a political alliance.

But then Ada’s old comrades start getting killed, Ada’s hidden existence is suddenly under threat, and it seems like she’s on the run from awful but otherwise mundane forces. Until things go completely pear-shaped and the gods start getting involved. At which point it’s off to the races – against time, against death, against the forces of oppression and most especially against petulant beings who would rather play with their food than either nurture it, treat it as a pet or kill it as prey.

And then things get really complicated.

I thought I knew where this was going. And then I thought I knew where this was going. But it didn’t go any of the places I thought it would, but where it did end up was both head spinning and stomach churning as well as a tremendous tease because there had to be more and at first I didn’t realize there was, but there is and oh thank goodness!

Ada and Solenn give readers two heroines to route for, as this is both Ada’s story of picking up the pieces of the life she left behind and Solenn’s coming of age story and both are fantastic. The world’s setup at first seems fairly standard epic fantasy and then goes to places that are fresh (if occasionally rotting) and new and unexpected. There are bits of Bujold’s World of the Five Gods and Jenn Lyons’ A Chorus of Dragons in the way that the gods of this world operate, as well as Guy Gavriel Kay’s and Jacqueline Carey‘s use of real world geography and history as a way of creating a fantasy world’s map and political divisions, but the magic system is just completely off a new wall and it’s marvelous in the way it suffuses the story.

Which, as I squeed earlier, thankfully isn’t done yet. There’s a second book in the Chefs of the Five Gods series, A Feast for Starving Stone, coming in January. And I can’t wait!

For me A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato was a book of two halves. I loved the idea of blending magic and food , that was what initially drew me to the book, alongside the beautiful cover of course. The idea of using cooking ingredients to create magic sounded like a lot of fun, and I was all in when I read the dramatic and exciting opening chapters where we are introduced to Ada, a magician in hiding because she deserted the army of Verdania where she was forced to use her magic in battle as property of the Royal court. We are also introduced to Solenn, a foreign princess newly arrived at the Verdanian court as the betrothed of the Crown Prince. She had no idea of the magical heritage she shares with Ada until a strange experience at a court banquet causes her to realise that she has magical abilities, and even worse that she is being set up to take the fall for the assassination of her husband to be.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book, which seemed to be set in a version of historical Europe not so different from our own, apart from the magic of course , but in the second half of the book it veered into an almost more high fantasy style with talking magical creatures and living Gods, and I have to admit that this just did not work quite so well for me. The plot seemed to drift away from the original ideas in a way that meant I struggled to maintain interest.
I read and reviewed an ARC courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, all opinions are my own.

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.

Ok, I liked the book but I’m a pretty good cook and enjoy cooking so I went in prepared to like the book based on its theme. It was a fairly lightweight read, the book went by quite quickly but I enjoyed the two POV characters and found them both likable. I suspect you also won’t be too shocked to find a magic system that involves slaughtering unicorns is evil…. It’s a series set up but the book ends in a good spot and I will read book two quite happily. I see it’s showing in Goodreads already and I’ve marked it as a to read title.

Set in a world where food is magic, “A Thousand Recipes for Revenge” is a swashbuckling tale of vengeance and intrigue that quickly pulled me in and had me whipping through chapters. The story follows two fierce female MCs—a rogue chef on the run from assassins and a young princess framed for the murder of her fiancé—whose paths are set on a collision course by the gods. As war brews on the horizon, mother and daughter reunite and ally against a common enemy that threatens to devastate kingdoms.

First, I particularly enjoyed the world-building in this story. There's a strong whimsical vibe that reminded me of The Last Unicorn and Stardust, but it's mixed with some fairly dark themes that added grittiness and surprising twists.

I also loved the culinary magic system with ingredients that granted special powers. It was fun to see how these were used by the various characters.

Lastly, the pantheon of gods and goddesses is super creative. Each of these divine characters has domain over certain culinary aspects and they play interesting roles in the stories of the protagonists. I'm very eager to see more of them in the sequel!

To wrap things up, I'd recommend this book for you if you enjoy the following:
- a reunion of old military buddies
- hidden powers and pasts revealed
- meddling gods
- old enemies/new threats
- political intrigue and espionage
- family reunions and 2nd chances

Thank you to Netgalley & the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

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. Sixteen years later, assassins discover her whereabouts, and she and her beloved Grand-mère have to go on the run. Meanwhile, Solenn is a foreign princess in a strange land. She has just discovered that she has been blessed with an epicurean gift. 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 and Solenn's paths cross, they discover they are not only working toward the same goal, and share the same gift, but that they are mother and daughter, who were separated at birth.
This is book one in the Chefs of the Five Gods Series. I loved it. The author did an excellent job with world building and I felt completely immersed in the story. It was like I was actually there watching it all unfold. There was plenty of action, suspense, and then the fantasy element, so I feel like this would be a great read for pretty much anyone. I loved the "excerpts" from the various cooking manuals at the top of every chapter - it just added a little bit extra to the story, and the background and culture. I am already anxiously awaiting book two in the series. I can't wait to see where the story unfolds from here. Wherever it goes, I know it will be magical!

Thank you to Author Beth Cato, 47North Publishing and @netgalley for providing this ARC. All opinions shared are my own.

I absolutely loved this book; the world building was epic and all of the magical elements really drew me in. Each of the main characters had real depth and learning about 'Chefs', the Five Gods and how everything intersects had me on the edge of my seat.

This book is the first in the 'Chefs of the Five Gods' series and will be publishing on June 1st 2023. If you like enjoy the fantasy genre, I would highly recommend giving this book a read!

An intriguing story with a very clever and original magic system based on food and cooking. It is obvious that this is the first in a series as there is much left unresolved. I guess I will have to read the next book to see what happens. 3.5 stars

I found the magic system in this one really intriguing--I don't think I've read a food-based magic system before. I didn't realize going in that this was multi pov, so the switch a couple chapters in was a bit of a surprise.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc!