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Member Reviews

A cozy sci-fi novella that tackles themes of capitalism, identity and community against the backdrop of authentic pulled noodles and garlic.

Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 4 hours and 12 minutes
🎤: Em Grosland
Honestly, this audiobook was perfection. The narrator does an absolutely excellent job of the different voices needed and had great tempo. The narration was clear and concise. I did have to listen to this a little bit faster than my typical audiobook speed, but it was still done very well and clear. I really think this is going to be a new favor audiobook narrator for me.

Themes:
🤖: Capitalism
🤖: Building Community after war
🤖: Dependance on social media
🤖: Fighting for individuality and acceptance

Representation:
🥢: Cultural and authentic pulled 🍜
🥢: Queer coded characters (robots)
🥢: Immigrant coded characters (robots)
🥢: PTSD rep

Tropes:
💗: Found family
💗: Food porn 🤤
💗: Robots 🤖

🥵: Spice: 🚫
🧟‍♂️: Gore: 🚫
Potential Triggers: Homophobia, discrimination against immigrants, online bullying/attacks **check authors website/social media

Short Synopsis:
In a near-future San Francisco setting a group of forgotten robots pick up the pieces left after war in order to turn an abandoned building into an authentic pulled noodle restaurant. Despite numerous attempts to sabotage their new business against people who are "anti-robot" the restaurant thrives with the diverse and inclusive community that they have built around them.

General Thoughts:
This audiobook was absolutely adorable. I enjoyed this so much. I really feel like the synopsis does not give an accurate representation of just how much is packed into this short novel. This tackles so many important and relevant themes to today's society in a way that is super cute, zany and fun.

The characters and food were the stars of this show. The descriptions of the food were tantalizing. It definitely made me want a nice steaming bowl of noodles. So if you are someone who gets hungry when they read, beware this book will absolutely get you!!

The themes represented throughout the novel are extremely apparent to anybody paying attention to the novel. Watching the robots who are just trying to get by the best way they know how come up against all of these unfair and unwarranted attacks was definitely disheartening, but the grace with which these robots handled the adversity was so commendable. The rising of the community to surround them in love and support was absolutely inspiring. It sometimes does help to know that the voices that are the loudest are usually not the most numerous.

Overall, I really enjoyed the novel and I definitely will read anything else that comes out by this author.

Disclaimer: I read this book as a free audiobook through the Macmillan Audio and NetGalley . All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.

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I knew I was going to love this but wow! Such an emotional, heart warming story packed into a small package. All the robots were so fully developed with their own histories and motivations. The commentary on civil rights, social media etc were well done. Can’t wait to recommend this to customers!

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Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz

Annalee Newitz is a favorite author of mine - I have enjoyed both her fiction and nonfiction in the past, and I also enjoy her podcast with Charlie Jane Anders.

After the masterful job she did creating the robot protagonist Paladin in her debut novel Autonomous, I was very excited to see what she would do in her newest book, Automatic Noodle, and I was pleased when I received a copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not disappointed!

This is a near future story about a group of robots that just want to open up a restaurant together. I wished the book had been longer because the ending felt a tad too abrupt, but I often feel that way with novellas. Although the plot isn’t particularly wild or groundbreaking, this story is rich and full of heart and I enjoyed every moment of it.

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Things I liked:
-The characters were well written, unique, and had decent depth considering the short length. They read like robots but it was still easy to empathize with their struggles and feelings.
-The worldbuilding was interesting, though it was our world just a little in the future. Some events and the response of the world felt like they could really happen. I also enjoyed the cozy vibe of this small story despite it taking place in a post war setting.

Things I didn't like:
-The ending felt abrupt, like the story kept going but the book ended. I do understand why the book ended where it did though. This is a common problem with me and novellas so this may be a me thing rather than a book thing.

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I finished this earlier today and have literally already recommended it to a friend. Automatic Noodle attempts to walk a fine narrative line between cozy sci-fi and political commentary, and I think it largely succeeds. Doesn't overstay its welcome.

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A vibrant cast of robots open a noodle restaurant in a futuristic post-war San Francisco. What's not to love?

From the trials of running an indie business, to the dangers of social media, this novella delves into the beauty of immigration, and gender exploration.

I wish we had more time with these characters to get to know them even better. The ending felt cut short, I would've liked to see the team fully resolve the problems and connect further with the community they had begun to build.

Overall, really cute and enjoyable afternoon read. If you like Wall-E, Big Hero 6, and sci-fi novellas, this is for you!

3.5/5 stars or 7/10

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Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz is a delightful story about a group of robots who collaborate to build a restaurant together. This book was a quick, cozy read featuring found family, food, and a group of misfits beating the odds. I loved the characters, and my only complaint was the ending felt abrupt. The book needed a little more time to wrap up the story entirely. There are trigger warnings for descriptions of war/PTSD and xenophobia.

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I have such a soft spot in my heart for books about AI/robots making a place for themselves in a very human world while not losing themselves. I loved this cast of characters and the way they grew from both their far past memories and from the shock of realizing they'd been powered off for five months. Each one of them was so well rendered and made me love them so deeply. I absolutely loved this book. Annalee Newitz did such a wonderful job and I hope she writes in this world again!

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CW: war (in the past), xenophobia

I really enjoyed this little book! A cosy story about robots that open a noodle shop, it has all the cosy vibes I love: found family, food, going up against the odds and beating them!

While this is a cosy story, it also discusses some pretty heavy topics. It’s taking place in 2065 (iirc), just a bit post war, where California has gained its independence from America. It’s interesting to see the parallels to what we’re currently seeing in the US in terms of attitudes towards “others”, and how that was a catalyst to California fighting for its independence. There are discussions of losing friends and loved ones, as well as PTSD, and the idea of people who are “illegal”.

I really loved how the small gang of robots (and one human) were able to use creativity to beat the xenophobes (robophobes, in the book) who were trying to shut down their little noodle shop. Overall, this is a story of love winning against hate and that haters are really brave when they’re sitting behind a screen, but it’s the people who actually show up that really matter.

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I love a cozy robot book. This was sweet and quirky and suxh a quick read to brighten up someone's day.

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In the not too distant future, where California is an independent country, robots have fought hard for their rights of liberation. They can't marry or have a bank account, but they can work independently and choose their jobs. It's something. And the robot Hands dreams of not just working in a food shop but opening one that serves hand pulled noodles. But first, they need to work with their friends to secure the lease on the building their former owners have defaulted on, learn how to pull noodles, and create a restaurant that will thrive in an algorithmic world.

I normally stay away from anything labeled "cozy," but Annalee Newitz tackles complicated topics which makes the lower stakes of this one feel appropriate. The team of robots, Hands, Staysbehind, Sweetie, and Cayenne, and their human (on hand to hard reboot/power on if needed) Robles, is a found family working to the goal of creating, feeding, and placemaking. They use their cleverness and leverage the parameters of a digital world to function independently of the humans who once owned their contract and carve our true community where bots and humans can coexist meaningfully. It's funny, a little scary, and a lot wholesome.

At novella length, this is essentially perfect. The narrative arc is short, the characters are well-fleshed out, and the speculative fiction worldbuilding drives the plot. Much longer, and it could fall into the trap of many cozy books where the story stalls out. And you may have heard me say this before, but I think that writers should break away from the idea that cozy means opening a shop, but I ate up every moment of this one. It crosses some uncomfortable lines for people worried about the accelerated growth of AI, but for robot lovers, this book is a joy.

The audiobook is excellent, narrated by Em Grosland, but the print book has some lovely formatting as well. I recommend taking your favorite format approach to reading this one.

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Cozy, sci-fi novella featuring found family and delicious noodles in a futuristic San Francisco where HEEI - sentient robots - have been freed to choose their own work at the end of a war that resulted in the separation of California from America. Our little band of robots - Staybehind, Hands, Cayenne, and Sweetie - take over the little restaurant they were abandoned in and find purpose and family along the way.

Underlying themes of race, belonging, immigration - but the story itself is cozy and hopeful and might make you hungry for biang biang noodles.

While not really my favorite, I could see this being well liked by many who love cozy sci-fi, cozy fantasy, or found family stories.

Thank you Netgalley and Tor for the digital arc!

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4.5 stars rounded up

A cozy sci-fi novella about found family and sentient robots opening a noodle shop in San Francisco! This was charming on its surface, but it's also using the othering of robots in this futuristic world as a metaphor for the treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, and immigration status. It feels like a hopeful and timely story about noodles that sound absolutely delicious! I really enjoyed it and I think it's smartly done. The audio narration is great as well. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

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"Automatic Noodle" serves up exactly what you'd expect from a title that quirky: a warm, oddball tale of robots finding their way in a futuristic post-war San Francisco where robots are "free" yet still discriminated against. Rather than delivering a sterile exploration of artificial intelligence, this story surprises with genuinely human moments as these mechanical beings stumble through friendship and the messy business of building community. The emotions these robots experience feel startlingly real, making you wonder if we're all just sophisticated machines learning to connect.

This cozy little gem won't revolutionize your reading life, but it doesn't need to. Watching these robots navigate their new world with all the awkwardness of teenagers at their first dance is genuinely endearing, even if the plot occasionally feels as predictable as a well-programmed algorithm. A solid 3.5 out of 5 stars for a book that proves sometimes the best stories are about finding your people, even if your people happen to run on batteries.

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Annalee Newitz’s Automatic Noodle is a cosy found-family-for-bots story set in the aftermath of California seceding from the US. That cosiness sits oddly against what inevitably reads as an allegory of racism in the anti-robot sentiment that the characters face, and against the capitalist nightmare Uber Eats etc etc.

I feel like there was a lot of stuff that was touched on, like Staybehind’s trauma, that could’ve been expanded on in a way that would’ve made it less of a feel-good cosy story, but for me would’ve made it a bit more satisfying. For me, the themes sat oddly with the wrap-up, which gives us a quick triumph against the anti-bot review-bombers and a warm snuggly feeling of community.

I couldn’t help but still be left wondering, could it really be that easy? The bots haven’t exactly escaped t the capitalist hellscape… community and good food don’t really answer the problems it raises. And it’s okay that Newitz didn’t want to write that kind of story, but I couldn’t believe in uncomplicated cosiness and a triumphant happy ending here — it was only a “happy for now”, all too clearly, and all the other stuff just hovers unaddressed.

So I think this one fizzled for me, ultimately, which is a bit of a shame as there was much to like, especially Cayenne and Hands.

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DNF at 33%

Thanks to the publisher for the opportunity to read this novella. The premise sounded charming, but I just didn't connect with the writing, which I found to be dry. None of the robots stood out to me either and while I'm sure there is a meaningful, underlying message to this story... I didn't want to stick around for it.

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The robot crew of a “ghost kitchen” in California wake up to find they have been powered down for months and the restaurant they work at is quickly going under… literally, it’s flooding! With no work and mounting debt, the bots are desperate to make money fast.

Hands, the cylindrical mixer, has always dreamed of making noodles. Cayenne, the octobot, is always game for the next scheme. Sweetie, the half-humanoid customer service robot, longs to create a space where she and others like her can belong. With their individual dreams, and the human restaurant owners nowhere to be found, it seems like the perfect plan to try running it themselves.

The reopening is a hit. It looks like they might actually pull this off: pay off their contracts, make rent, maybe even claim the tiny legal freedoms robots are allowed in this post-war era. Though initially skeptical of the plan, Staybehind, the fourth member of their original kitchen crew, is determined to protect these new friends from any threat. So when a wave of one-star reviews starts threatening everything they’ve built, he steps in, determined to uncover the source of the campaign and shut it down.

Told through multiple perspectives, Newitz crafts distinct voices and intimate portraits of each character. We get to know not only about their past but their hopes and dreams for the not-so-distant future.

It’s a low-stakes, cozy story without being shallow. I love when a robot can to teach us a little more about what it means to be human. Trying to define what a person is always leads to the more dangerous question: who isn’t? As is often the case with robot stories, robots are used as an allegory and lens to examine the “otherness”. It allows for sharp yet accessible social critique on racism, body autonomy, propaganda, PTSD, immigration, social media anonymity and more.

Now that we’ve talked about the robots, let’s talk about the food. Warning you WILL be hungry for more after this book, and not just for the noodles. What does a robot know about food? The joy of making food for the making of it, for one! Each character has their own reason for being in the restaurant business, but I feel the beating heart of the story is Hands. I never expected to feel such a strong connection to food and kinship with a cook who doesn’t eat. Hands’s passion, research, and clear joy in learning new techniques is a powerful reminder of what we often lose sight of. We tend to focus on the end product, the result, the consumable (literally in this case), forget the importance of everything that comes before. There is skill, collaboration, and purpose in the doing. Food isn’t just about consumption; it’s about learning, sharing, creating and working together.

The prose is well edited and tight. I did want a little more lyricism and worldbuilding to deepen the contrast between the restaurant’s warmth and the rough post-war world outside. That feels more like personal preference than a flaw in the story’s execution. I also think it could have been longer and not just because I never want to leave these characters (especially Hands, I would die for Hands). For instance, Staybehind’s search for the culprit doesn’t have time to build up the tension I would expect before it’s resolved.

The cozy feel with meaningful and reflective commentary make it a great recommendation for fans of Psalm for the Wild-Built while the ensemble characters and the food focus should also appeal to fans of the Legends & Lattes series.

At its heart, this is a story about finding family, creating community, and remembering the most important rule of the internet: NEVER READ THE COMMENTS.

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Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was really excited when I first saw that I have been approved for this ARC. The cover is gorgeous and the concept sounded like a perfect cozy read. I want to really emphasize here that while my rating was a bit lower, I genuinely believe it is due to taste and not at the fault of the book itself.

So let's get into it. This book is about a world where California has split from the USA and there are a lot of HEEI (A type of sentient robots). A group of robots previously managed by a human, are awoken months after shut down to find that their 'boss' has fled for crimes. The robots decide to take matters into their own hands and open a noodle shop to pay the bills.

All in all, this sounds exactly like the type of book I would pick up. Its a short book but packed full of commentary on the government, immigrants, and community. However, it fell a little too much on the sci-fi side for me. I found the descriptions had simultaneously dragged on and not given enough. I couldn't picture this world or its characters very well and because of that I felt a disconnect to it. On top of that, I felt that the 'commentary' being made was incomplete. Obviously there is a message in this book, and I think its an important one. Maybe it's due to the fact that as much as I value the message here, it doesn't resonate with my life; however, I felt that I just needed a little more wrap up to the message. That goes with the plot as I feel like the ending was not very satisfying. I was expecting more from it, some sort of larger picture being summed up. It almost feels incomplete as a book in general.

I loved the sense of community created and the way the robots worked through their problems together. It was a very creative book and I enjoyed the concept of it a lot. I just felt like if this book had about 200 more pages to it, this book could've been monumentally life-changing but instead it fell a little flat.

I would still recommend this read if you're interested as, like I said before, I think most of this was personal preference. I feel like when I sum this book up, it still feels like a good novel, it just didn't live up to my expectations of it.

Again, thank you to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC.

Post on IG (@seas.libary) will be posted and added to NetGalley Review Links by 8/1.

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After a war that separated California from the United States, society begins to rebuild itself--a society that includes robots that were designed to fight the war. In an attempt to stay together after the sub-par restaurant where they were working goes dark, this band of robots devises a way to open a shop serving delicious hand pulled noodles for their human clientele. Unfortunately, anti-robot bias leads to a campaign to destroy the restaurant through a series of one-star reviews. "Automatic Noodles" by Annalee Newitz combines sci-fi, humor, and amazing descriptions of food in this charming novella that explores the bonds of friendship and survival.

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My first 5-star review of 2025! This book hit many of my niche interests: food, robots, queerness, vague dystopia. I loved it! And usually novellas always seem too short or paced incorrectly, but this one was perfect!

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