Thank you Tor & NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This was an endearing delight of a novella full of warmth, tender moments, and of course, cozy bowls of noodles. Following a mismatched band of robots who are rebooted in a post apocalyptic San Francisco, following the collapse of their previously crumbling door dash-esque restaurant, they rally together to create something of their own. The themes of “robo-phobia” and a botless world, mirror our own. And while an overall light and warm comeback story, it does touch upon some dark themes, with care and humor of course. An easy and thought provoking read that’s guaranteed to garner some laughs.

Robots deciding to take over their own restaurant when the human owners skip town is just the tip of the iceberg in this amazing story. Newitz does a fantastic job of immersing the reader in the story immediately and getting them to empathize with these bots who just want to continue their work without being enslave into some other position. The characters were delightful to meet and all of their shenanigans to get the restaurant running were just chaotic enough to keep me holding my breath for them. I love sci-fi novellas because of the skill it takes to build just enough world to tell one's tale, and Automatic Noodle's California/USA split was a brilliant way to frame everything happening in-universe. The writing was smooth and so full of hope even as the bots found reasons to despair and this has definitely lifted this book to one of my favorite reads of this year

I received this as an eARC via Netgalley.

This is a delightful, thoughtful novella. Set in post-war/post-apocalypse California (which is no longer part of the US), San Francisco to be precise, a group of intrepid robots start a restaurant serving biang biang (hand-pulled) noodles.

Come for the discussions of sentience, survival, and mutual aid. Stay for the delightful autonomous robots working through their trauma and creating a community where humans and robots alike are valued and can thrive.

This is exactly the kind of story we need right now. And, also, hand-pulled noodles.

Highly recommended. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This novella packs quite the punch while being light on the surface. In the forefront, we have a story about robots who are trying to run a noodle restaurant, which feels very cozy and lighthearted. However, as I read I realized this book has a deeper story. The author also weaves in commentary on discrimination based on race, sexuality and social class while also touching on the effects of climate change, war, and PTSD. There is so much packed into this story including world building and many different character perspectives. However, the story still had a cozy and comforting feeling and did not overwhelm me. The author balanced details and explanation very well and I enjoyed this novella very much.

It's me and my cozy science fiction novella against the world, y'all! I loved this sweet read, with a cool diverse set of robots and such more heart. A really nice read, felt like having a warm chocolate chip cookie.

Fans of cozy fantasy need to pay attention to this heartwarming SF story of abandoned robots who decide to open their own noodle shop in a near future, post-war San Francisco. The four sentient robots with unique body shapes, personalities, and backgrounds, along with a pot-smoking human assistant, make this a wonderful story full of humor, a bit of intrigue, and a lot of mouth-watering noodle descriptions. I really adored the crew of Hands, Staybehind, Sweetie, and Cayenne, and would love to have a follow up story to see how they are doing six months later!

My thanks to Netgalley, the author, and publisher for this early read opportunity!

If you're looking for a cozy sci-fi tale about some abandoned robots opening a restaurant to pay off their indentures, then have I got the book for you. The plot might be predictable, but that's part of what makes it cozy. Relax and sit back as our ragtag crew of underpaid and semi-exploited machines explore menu ideas, deal with storefront flooding, engage in social media, and learn how to make a signature dish they can be proud of. This is character focused, and Newitz's casually solid world-building gives each of our robotic restaurateurs unique bodies and backstories, from a taciturn military veteran to a cheeky octopus. Their camaraderie and personal journeys are the point, everything else is secondary. The ending was a bit abrupt, but perhaps I'm just fated to want more from Newitz. 4/5 stars, and if there's a sequel, I'll be coming back for seconds.

3.5 stars! A wonderful novella following a group of abandoned robots as they navigate their future based on what they want, not by who made them or their assigned “purpose.” This book follows four robots who, at the start of the story, wake up, seemingly abandoned by their “employers” and left to carry the burden of their debt and contracts they were forced to accept. We follow along as they figured out who they are and what they want to be, as they open up a hand-pulled noodle shop in San Francisco, following a war for California’s independence.

For such a short story about robots opening a restaurant, Newitz raises a deeper conversation regarding who gets to decide what kind of person you get to be. This book explores how the state seeks to control people based on their identity by using “robot” as a fill in for conversations regarding the marginalization of people who don’t fit the white supremacist ideal of who a person is “meant” to be. At times, this comparison felt a bit heavy-handed and lacking a bit of nuance (like with the consistent use of the term “robophobe”) but I appreciate what the story was attempting to do.

Overall, this is a sweet story about robots figuring out where they belong in a society that doesn’t seem to want them to be fully themselves. If you are looking for a cozy story of robots trying to navigate personhood, dealing with some of the worst parts of humanity, and a mini-exploration into San Francisco biang biang noodles, this is a book worth picking up asap!

Thank you @macmillan.audio + @tordotcompub for the ALC + digital galley ♡

Read if you love:
🍜 aromatic recipes
🫶🏽 themes of belonging
🦾 quirky loveable robots 🤖
🥟 relatively low stakes

In the aftermath of a near future war between California and the United States, former indentured robots slaves are just trying to make a living while flying under the radar.
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Anti-bot sentiment ain’t no joke. Will review bombs put them out of business before they even get off the ground?
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This was so cozy and I loved the trans rep and depth in parallels to real issues including PTSD. The first half pacing was slower than my normal preference, but the second half made up for it!
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The spicy noodles made my mouth water, but the cherry on top was getting to meet Annalee at Comicon! 🥰🫶🏽

▶︎ •၊၊||၊|။||။‌‌‌‌‌|• 🎧 Audio format was fun, Em Grosland did several different robot voices that were each distinct and unique. This little 4 hour gem can be finished in one listen.

I loved this novella from Newitz that feels like a sister-work to Becky Chamber's Monk & Robot duology. I'd love to visit Automatic Noodle - the story made me crave comfort food but also the experience of visiting a welcoming space like their noodle shop. I loved the way this book grappled with tough topics but with a light touch.

A ragtag group of robots opens up a noodle shop in post-war California.
Automatic Noodles is a quick, cozy read interwoven with a bit of social commentary. This was exactly what I was looking for, and I really hope to read more cozy/solorpunk sci-fi novellas in the future. Loved the fact that it was set in a futuristic Bay Area, and I loved just how hopeful and happy the whole story was. This is an easy recommendation for anyone looking for a quick, happy read with a loveable cast of found-family robot characters. Thank you to Netgalley and Tor for providing me with an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

AUTOMATIC NOODLE - ANNALEE NEWITZ

Let's start with a brief synopsis: a team of abandoned and leftover robots decides to open a noodle restaurant.

I was already sold when I read that, so I was very happy to get this ARC. At 164 pages, Automatic Noodle is a speedy read but it manages to do a lot within that amount of pages.

The characters - the ragtag group of robots - are at the heart of this story. Set in the near-distant future, San Francisco (and California) is recovering after a brutal war with America. Most of the robots had their own role to play during the war and they then had to find a new purpose afterwards, often being contracted out to all sorts of everyday jobs.

Abandoned, the team takes over the venue they once worked in, opening up their own noodle restaurant. They meet immediate success, only to have their restaurant attacked by a spate of one-star reviews.

As the story progresses, I guarantee that you'll end up falling in love with these robots, each of these having their own past and personality. Automatic Noodle is heartwarming, cosy, witty and unique. I loved it.

Thank you to Annalee Newitz, the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this eARC.

Release date: 5 August 2025

Review score: 4.5/5

A heartwarming story about taking robots taking their future into their own hands and building a community of bots and humans from scratch.

A small business drama with robots, Automatic Noodle has a great balance of cozy and serious.

There is an impressive amount of worldbuilding in this small novel. We have a succeeded California trying to rebuild after its break from a war with the United States and the state of robot personhood and what that looks like in terms of rights they have. And the robots are all different types, one is a standard humanoid type who was used in the war, another resembles an octopus, a third has a humanlike upper body but legs on servos, and the other is built into the ceiling. They are very fun.

If you read Legends and Lattes, this is a good comparison because there is the cozy found family element between the characters a well as the trials of new business owners opening and operating a business for the first time, which is complicated by groups trying to prevent this (in this case, of robot-haters).

While the characters in Newitz’s The Terraformers were almost too cutesy, they belied the seriousness of the story; the characters in this one are well-balanced. Each has something that they are working through in conjunction with the restaurant. The way they felt like robots was really well done because while every aspect of their being relates to being a robot, they still have personality and are bound by their programming, as we are by our psyche. How and when robots developed this level of sentience isn’t really gotten into, as that’s not the point, but the after effects on how they are treated by society as second-class citizens without the ability to do certain things (essentially without citizenship) very much mirrors how humans treat one another, and thus felt very realistic. Clearly, this book isn’t really about robots at all, but how humans Other one another and how displaced citizens sometimes exist in a limbo area in terms of their rights.

Anyway, the characters are great. They play well off one another (including a little romance) and all of them are likable. You really want them to succeed and be happy, and it’s lovely to watch them build a community despite the odds.

The writing flows really well, and the descriptions of the food were immersive. If you enjoy cozy stories with found family and people overcoming odds stacked against them, you’ll enjoy this one.

What is a robot to do when it wakes up from a months long slumber only to find out the restaurant you're working in has closed up shop - in a world where robots have been given SOME recognition, but are still indentured servants, can't own property and can't have a bank account? You game the system and open back up for business, of course. Join this spunky conglomeration of misfit mechas as they (without taste buds, of course) do their best to open up an authentic hand pulled noodle shop. But soon they're bombarded with negative reviews from anti-robot protestors. Add a little sleuthing, a little ingenuity, maybe a revenge driven security camera (don't ask, you'll see) and a token human (to keep up appearances) and this little bunch just might have what it takes in a war torn country that still hasn't quite figured out what to do with them.

This is an easy pick to recommend for anyone looking for a light adorable read about robots making authentic noodles in a post apocolyptic california-ish area. Cute, quick, and heart warming.

Automatic Noodle gave Legends and Lattes vibes with a sci-fi twist, and I was here for it. It was unlike anything I've read before, and enjoyed the social commentary Newitz wove throughout this little novella.

This novella was about some robots who open a noodle shop in a future San Francisco. In this future, a war between California and the United States has ended, and robots in California have earned some rights and freedom. Ultimately, this novella is somewhat cozy, but there are definitely dark themes and undertones. The story itself was fine, but would have been more successful as either a short story (cut out a lot of repetition and filler) or a full length novel (more backstory on the robots and better world building). A big problem I had was how the author repeatedly and heavy-handedly hammered in certain themes about freedom and autonomy, racism, xenophobia, etc. A lot of that could have come out naturally in the story and been more impactful; instead it felt like a lecture and was just off-putting.

In this cute, hopepunk novel, San Francisco is recovering from a devestating war when some group of deactivated robots come back online in an abandoned kitchen. Their handlpulled noodles make quite the stir, but when an enemy launches a 1-star review campaign, it causes a whole nother kind of stir for these robot friends. They have to pull together and rely on their community to make it in a world that wasn't designed for them.

This type of book is my jam. Hopepunk. Found family. Worlds that aren't built for the characters, but they carve out paths and figure it out anyway. Simply demightful. I tore through this one in just a couple of days, and now it's back to waiting for whatever Newitz comes up with next. Maybe with a reread thrown in there in the meantime.

🍜Wanna get some noodles?🍜

Genre: Cozy Sci-fi, fantasy & comedy
Page count: 164

This was just what I needed: futuristic, cozy, sci-fi, fantasy & friendships. I didn't even know cozy sci-fi was a genre, but now I will definitely be looking for more books like this.

We follow a gang of outcast robots, discarded and forgotten they're just trying to make ends meet and not be separated from each other. We follow the gang through their misadventures on establishing a restaurant, become their own property, and fighting off an internet troll. The world this was set in was super interesting, and I wish we could explore it more, as well as the other side characters. It was such a delightful read! Short & sweet!

This felt like watching a crossover between Futurama and Friends.

Thank you so much to NetGalley & Tor Publishing for allowing me to read this cozy ebook ARC. It was such a treat!