NetGalley Review: A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato

Hey all, Sam here.

This post was supposed to go live a few hours ago, but a rainstorm came through and I was still feeling a little tired….so I ended up taking a little nap. Whoops. It happens. This is my first weekend after a full week of work this year, and I’m liking the job so far. It’s not super tiring or anything, but I’m adjusting to this new schedule and it will take just a little bit of time.

So I’ll be spending time today and tomorrow doing some reading as well as some blog prep. I want to have posts ready so that I don’t have to stress over them during my work week.

Anyway, I have a new book review for you all today, and this is a book that came out June 13th in the US, so if it sounds interesting to you, then you can pick up your own copy now. Let’s get started.

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?

My Thougths

Rating: 4 stars

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.

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Well, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by, and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.