I really enjoyed the worldbuilding in this title. The idea of this story picking up after the events of a war (specifically between the U.S. and California) really brings home the importance of the Noodle Shop and it's role in rebuilding a community after a disaster. I also enjoyed the different ways that conversations were reflected in the text (chat vs, verbal, vs. "wired").

This was wonderful cozy futuristic read!

'Automatic Noodles' is a timely and heartwarming story about a group of robots who take their lives into their own hands after the human they were working for abandons them. While none of the robots can actually eat, they are bound by a shared interest in food, as well as their loyalties to each other. After the noodle shop they open comes under attack by an anti-robot group, they have to decide whether to close up shop or fight for the life they've built. At times funny, heartbreaking, and anger-inducing 'Atomic Noodle' is a much needed addition to the not-quite-cozy genre. Not only will I recommend this book to readers, but I will also be buying a copy for my own bookshelf.

I didn't really enjoy this, which is a shame. The allegory was very heavy handed and I didn't like the writing style, or any of the characters. It took a very long time to get to the actual running of the restaurant and then a large part of this short novella was about a bad yelp review. I work in restaurants and thought this novella might be amusing and charming and unfortunately it just didn't do it for me.

This was a book I devoured in one sitting. As delicious a story as the noodles it describes, it was immensely enjoyable to the last line. The settings were rich and the characters lovable. I would gladly return for more!

If you need a story of chosen family and hope and good food, Automatic Noodle absolutely fits the bill. This is a delightful novella of a near-future where California has split from the United States after war, and part of California progressiveness was to give civil rights to human equivalent embodied intelligence (HEEI) robots. But those rights are limited - they’re not able to use a bank, own property, and there’s lots of prejudice against robots (very allegorical to American attitudes towards immigrants and marginalized groups). When a group of four robots - Staybehind, Sweetie, Hands, and Cayenne - find themselves in an abandoned storefront after being suddenly shut down five months ago and learn the company that owns the restaurant has abandoned them, they decide to become a proxy for the company on their contract in order to earn money to cover their leases so they won’t be permanently decommissioned.

Overall this is a very warm hug kind of book full of hope and possibility. I love the community the crew of Automatic Noodle builds and the ways they keep managing to survive, but also finding joy along the way. There’s a lot of trauma and pain because several of the robots were involved in the war, and even the ones who weren’t have experienced prejudice and harassment. Learning Staybehind’s backstory was especially heartbreaking, but in contrast I love Sweetie’s arc. It is a very trans story as she is changing her appearance to be more authentically herself, and her expressions of that experience hit my heart in such good ways.

I do think there’s something to be said about how California is independent from the rest of the United States, especially as there is sometimes an attitude of people living in red states deserve the situations they find themselves in. I do wish this could have been delved into a bit more, because California isn’t an oasis of perfection (and, to be clear, the world in the story is not presented as some bastion of good experiences, but there’s still politics in the world building) and the attitudes expressed towards the U.S. do hit a bit sideways.

All in all, though, I loved this book and I might have to try more from Annalee Newitz cuz the hope and community they write about is so good and warm-hug. I definitely recommend picking this book up!

The way this cozy, sci-fi novella had me in my feels. Robots scare the hell out of me but this politically charged and the array of respectful representation of these bots…impeccable. It’s a feel good book with a lot to say. And I adored it.

A group of robots get together to run a noodle shop in a post-war San Francisco. What is there not to love? These AI robots awaken and realize they have been abandoned by their corporation so they must try to find their own way in this new landscape. While short in page length, this book is heavy with complex emotion. world-building and friendship dynamics. Not to mention the delicious sounding food descriptions. Automatic Noodle is cozy and lighthearted, and I loved it. Do not miss this! Thank you to Tordotcom and NetGalley for the ARC. Give this a read when it publishes August 05, 2025!

Sometimes all you need is a cosy book about robots opening a noodle shop, am I right? Automatic Noodle is my first book by Annalee Newitz and I thoroughly enjoyed it! Combining cosy found family tropes with discussions of autonomy and dismantling hate, Automatic Noodle is a great sci-fi novella.

Set in the near-future after a war that sees California split from the rest of the United States, this book focuses on a defunct restaurant and the bots that ran it. This setting allows Newitz to explore the ways in which the world is unsafe for ‘othered’ communities and how to survive when your community is under attack. It also has amazing friendships, a found family, and the determination to carve out a piece of the world to make a home. It's a little book that has a lot to say, and it's incredibly relevant to what many communities are experiencing right now across the world.

I loved all the characters in this book - they're the heart of the story and it's hard not to fall in love with them. The robots -who have all experienced war, traumas, and the looming threat to their autonomy - have such wonderful interpersonal relationships and Newitz creates such sympathetic characters. They may not be human, but they are incredibly relatable and loveable. Personally, I would die for Hands.

Automatic Noodle is a cosy, slice of life novella that also has a lot to say. I’d highly recommend this if you are a fan of Becky Chambers’ Monk and Robot books. Beware: you’ll be craving noodles by the end.

Wow, what an fun and imaginative read! This Sci-Fi Novella had me laughing, sentimental, and reflecting on society and our cultural reactions.

The pacing of this book is fantastic, and I absolutely adored the characters. Robots are so fun!
The book touches on soft themes such as:
*Body positivity
*Chasing your dreams
*Xenophobia (in robot form)
*Culture
*Found family
*Trauma/PTSD

This book got me thinking and tackled some genuine issues that could definitely arise in the future. I loved how supportive the robot crew turned out to be; it was quite heartwarming! However, I did find myself pausing near the end where there was a slight fixation of portraying humans (especially white ones) in a rather one-dimensional way. I understand the author leaning into a perspective shaped by today's cultural conversations, and I appreciate the intent to change the norms. It would be preferable to see a broader view of humanity instead of focusing so much on race, highlighting that we all have our flaws and are constantly evolving no matter out background. That said I absolutely recommend this book! I am curious to see how others interpret it too.

Thank you NetGalley and Tor Publishing for the ARC read in exchange for my honest review.

I love short stories, but novellas often land weirdly because they're long enough for me to feel completely immersed in the world but not long enough to tell a compelling full story. I liked the world building and the characters but this felt very light.

Review going up on Youtube in Friday Reads for April 4th
Amazon and Barnes & Noble reviews will go up at launch
Imgur link goes to Instagram graphic scheduled for August 2
Blog post goes live August 1st

TL;DR: Cozy and bright, I really enjoyed this one.
Source: NetGalley, thank you to the publisher!

Plot: A crew of AI bots create and run their own noodle shop in a post-war California.
Characters: Unique and fascinating take on what AI could be like one day.
Setting: San Francisco but make it post-war with America.
Science Fiction: It’s light on the details besides the AI existing.

Thoughts:

I absolutely love new takes on the idea of AI and robotics. We have seen so much fear driven fiction that leads to the conclusion it will all be bad and terrible. Yet more and more we see authors say ‘What if they really are more like us than we think they will be?’. The idea that they’d rather watch their shows (thanks Murderbot) or in this case cook. It’s my favorite trope.

Automatic Noodle follows a group of bots who wake up after being abandoned by the corporation that owns their contracts. After speaking with the AI’s that control the contracts they get themselves setup as an independent shop and they being making noodles.

Each has their own unique personality, and each voice is clear. Not only that but each has their own history, likes, dislikes, etc that leads you to just loving them as characters. I especially adored the way we peeked at love between these characters. All of this was fantastic.

It’s cozy, low stakes and I would 100% gobble up anything more in this world or setting if Annalee Newitz decided to write it. I can’t recommend this enough for my fellow cozy readers, and in general if you want something with these vibes. What a great read.

I loved this! 4.5 stars

I was nervous to read this a little bit just because of all the AI discourse and this being about robots with feelings. Thinking about giving robots, with human level intelligence, civil rights is definitely something to reflect deeply about. On one hand I’m like “hell no that’s terrifying” but then in the other I’m like “these robots are sentient with feelings and memories and aspersions so who am I to say?”

Despite all that I loved the characters and watching this random assortment or robots group together to build a place of community and culture. It definitely is having me craving noodles BAD!!!

Loved that this was a quick and “cozy” read that still made me reflect and actually think about.

Thanks to NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group for the ARC

I really enjoyed this tale. It was relavent to the times but cozy, which in the current climate is tough to do. The pacing was great and the writing was enjoyable and believable.

This is such a sweet, cozy book! It has that unputdownable ness that you can't help but love! The premise is that after the company a group of robots was working at shuts down, they decide to open a restaurant so that they can keep paying the bills and their work contracts.

It has such interesting world-building, and the author just gives a glimpse into this post-war world where California is its own country and robots are living amongst humans and trying to find their place in the world. I keep saying I don't like sci-fi but between this and A Psalm for the Wild Build, I think it's getting harder to say I don't! This book might be short but don't be fooled by that! This book is full of complex emotions, friendships, and yummy food descriptions! If you're looking for a fun, cozy, short read be sure to pick this up when it comes out in August!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Tor Publishing Group for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I had no expectations when I received an arc of Automatic Noodle, having read nothing by Annalee Newitz before but I absolutely adored this book. Hands, Cayenne, Staybehind, Sweetie and all the other characters won my heart through and through. A touching story about a chosen family of robots (and one human) who persevere through a lot of trauma and obstacles, it made me want to visit their noodle shop/third space to just eat noodles and hang!

Thanks to Tor for the arc!

I love Annalee Newitz. I first discovered them two years ago on a trip to Ireland when I read Terraformers. Automatic Noodle is a novella in the same weird wonderful vein of thinking. I loved every minute of it and honestly would happy read a whole book about this group.

"Are there bots in it? Because I'm sick of watching shit that exclusively centers the human perspective."
SAME! I need more robot books like this! So comforting and sweet and when I started relating to the unemployed robots I knew I would end up loving this book even more than I thought I would in the beginning. What could possibly be better than reading about this group of robots opening up a semi illegal restaurant making noodles for humans and worrying about the reviews. The only thing I didn't like about this book was that I wanted more! It was too short, I couldn't get enough of these bots trying to survive in the robophobic world that somehow also seemed like it was a metaphor for our homophobic world.
"I never want to make that mistake again - letting humans decide how valuable we are."
I'd say I would have loved if the ingredients mentioned were more vegan, but I know they would make me the best vegan noodle dish if I ordered so now I have a craving for that.
"Humans would pay almost anything for a good meal, especially in times of hardship."
I loved terraformers by Annalee Newitz, and automatic noodle is my second book by them, I know I will be reading all the other books as well as the future ones in a heartbeat.
Almost gave this book 4.5 stars just to get a chuckle from anyone who has read it, but it's five stars! It perfectly cozy and at times sad and then hopeful and full of kind and caring robots and I love them all. They all need a hug. I'd hug them if they wouldn't mind. Also I'd be a frequent eater of the automatic noodle, always leaving positive reviews and asking for more vegan options to be added to their menu.
If you ever thought that robots are only murderous, then you should read this and terraformers, robots can be nice and sweet and friendly, if you aren't robophobic.

A cozy sci-fi read about a group of robots chasing their dream of running a successful noodle shop—what’s not to love? I adored the interactions between the robots, Hands’ obsession with food, and their relentless quest to perfect biang biang noodles. It’s a heartwarming story filled with humor, charm, and the found family trope, which happens to be my favorite!

I really, really loved this title. It was one of those novellas that I purposefully spread out over my lunch break, just to make it last longer. The story of Authentic-excuse me, Automatic-Noodle is very close to my heart. Staybehind, Hands, Cayenne, and the rest of the gangs’ persistence in finding joy and community where they could is admirable and exactly what we need right now. I really hope we get more from this world!

Hopeful found family story that addresses very relevant issues through a science fiction lens. This is the first I've read by Annalee Newitz, but will definitely not be the last.