Thank you to Tor Books and NetGalley for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review!

You Sexy Thing was such a fun space opera full of excitement and tension but also wholesomeness and subtle comedy. If you like food, pirates, found family, and sentient spaceships, this is definitely the book for you!

It's been a long time since I last read anything in third person omniscient so that was an interesting decision, but one that I think worked quite well for this story. It definitely benefitted from being able to jump into the head of whichever character was most suitable for any given moment.

The characters were definitely the highlight of this story. Found family is one of my absolute favourite tropes, so it was delightful to read about such a diverse and interesting group. Niko is such a good leader for her crew. I also loved that the bioship (called You Sexy Thing, hence the title of the book) was an actual character as well; it added such a fun dynamic to all of the scenes aboard the ship.

My understanding is that this is a stand alone, but I hope there are more books set in this universe even if they're not direct sequels, because it would have been nice to get more information about the Holy Hive Mind and the Spiral of Destiny that Niko is on (according to Lassite).

Otherwse though I quite enjoyed this book and I recommend it if you want a space opera that's not hard sci-fi!

You Sexy Thing follows the adventures of Captain Niko Larsen and her crew of soldiers turned chefs as she tries to escape The Holy Hive mind, earn a Nikkelin Orb, evade space pirates and befriend a living space ship.
This is certainly space opera, but I think it could also be classified as space fantasy, as far future science fiction and magic meld together for a delicious whole.
When I read the tagline for this book - Farscape meets the Great British Bake Off - I knew I had to read it, as I am a fan of both. While cooking is an important part of the plot, I wouldn’t really liken it to GBBO as there is no baking of a competitive nature. Farscape and Firefly spring easily to mind as comparisons because of the living ship (You Sexy Thing of the title), the wide universe full of exciting alien species, and the desire of a group of friends to be free from a controlling alliance.
The highlight for me was the many different alien species. I loved how ape beings, bird beings, squid beings, lion shifters and reptile beings were depicted with their individual non human characteristics. Brava to Rambo for making each species so charming and distinct. I really love non human characters in fiction, and Rambo has excelled with her aliens.
My favorite character is the ship, Thing (although it is really difficult to choose from so many lovable characters). I’ve encountered many living ships in fiction, but never one that emphasizes the biological so much in a bio mechanical structure. Thing’s ability to produce warm, fleshy blankets and chairs was fascinating, slightly disturbing, and satisfying.
I also enjoyed reading a well written third person omniscient narrative. Rambo handled this expertly and it never intruded or interrupted my reading experience.
The only slight downside is the plot. It read like a series pilot, introducing the characters and world, and setting up the different character arcs that must be explored over the next twenty four episodes. This would be fine if Rambo gets to write the rest of the series - and I really hope she does - but does leave a certain dissatisfaction with the storyline and lots of lingering questions.
I received an ARC from the publisher and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Former Admiral Niko Larssen and her old military crew have escaped the Hive Mind to start a restaurant and the novel opens with their preparations while expecting a food critic that may or may not award their restaurant the highly coveted Nikkelin Orb. When the dangerously unpredictable Arranti destroy the entire space station, Niko and her crew are forced to flee the station together with the very attractive female food critic and a very horny male celebrity racer. Luckily for them, the old horndog has his spaceship at the ready. Unluckily, he dies before they reach the ship and the password he'd given them makes the ship believe it's being hijacked so it sets course to a prison planet.

Which brings me to the title of the book. You Sexy Thing is the name of the ship. And honestly, the ship is the best part of this novel, the cosmic cherry on top of this space opera. Thing is actually an organic bioship which has been grown rather than built. It had siblings, and went through puberty, and it's still trying to understand what exactly it's feeling when having conversations with humans by filing its emotions under confusion, pride, friendship and similar categories. If you've read the Murderbot series, this is like a gross skin-coloured ART on steroids.

The novel is so much more than the ship though. There's an eggplant, a mystery box, an imperial heir, pirates, nonbinary plant people, tiny tickly ghosts, a Spiral of Destiny, squid+bird intercourse, impending doom and explosions. And Cat Rambo combined all of this into a story that makes sense. I felt like the imperial heir storyline was slightly weaker than the rest and every time the POV jumped to her, my reaction was "nooo, I wanted more of this other stuff" but that's really the only negative thing I have to say about the novel.

The characters are fun and distinguishable from each other, the ship is genius and its relationship with the humans is fascinating, and the way the main story intertwines with the "sidequests" keeps you interested throughout. It's also unexpected enough to keep you guessing until the very end. While it isn't exactly lighthearted (there is torture and murder), it's still a hopeful story about doing what's right and finding a family you can call your own when you least expect to.

You Sexy Thing comes out on November 16. Huge thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan-Tor/Forge and Cat Rambo for the advanced reader copy.

P.S. Contrary to the description of the book, this is nothing like The Great British Bake Off.

While not exactly my particular cup of tea, I can’t deny that You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo was a fun ride. Aliens, prophecies, spaceships, and a crew just trying not to die—this was a story made to welcome the wary into the fold of science fiction.
This is not high scifi. That is to say you wouldn’t classify this alongside works like Neuromancer or Brave New World, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. As amazing as high science fiction can be, it’s not exactly accessible for many readers. You Sexy Thing, however, is. In practical terms, it is character focussed as opposed to environmentally focussed. So, you don’t end up reading long lines of dry text laying out political structures or theology. Instead, you learn about the world as the characters experience and explain it to the best of their knowledge. For some readers, this makes the extensive world building of science fiction and fantasy narratives a lot easier to swallow.
With all that being said, it would be all for naught if the characters themselves weren’t likable. Don’t worry, they are. I was really happy to see an older protagonist in Niko. It was refreshing and her sarcasm fueled ex-pat personality was the cherry on top of the sundae. She was fun, and made me want to read on just to see where she’d end up next and what she’d have to say about it.
For me, the only real downside to this novel is the language. It is very plain and simplistic, making the scifi elements seem superficial at times. Beyond a few complicated names and the fact there was space outside, this didn’t necessarily feel as “science fiction” as I would have liked it to. The cultures of the alien races and the descriptions of things were a little too close to contemporary for me, but that is a matter of personal preference.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Macmillan-Tor Forge for an advanced copy of this new science fiction novel.

Cat Rambo's You Sexy Thing is a space opera featuring food, pirates, sentient ships, hive minds and great new future galaxy to explore. A mix of light hearted space romp, dark revenge flick, with cooking tips and a whole lot of mysteries.

The book does a very good job of setting up the characters, all of them different in both species, sexuality, and ranking in the kitchen and military. Some have 4 arms, some are descended from apes or octopus, some even use magic. Ms. Rambo has a very nice writing style able to give facts about the characters and make them familiar to the reader without it seeming like a date dump. The universe is just as diverse, and full of mysteries sometimes just alluded to like magic, some like the Hive Mind that most of the characters have resigned from, described as the story goes on. As this is the first in a series, it will be interesting to see how this universe and the threads laid down play out.

This was the first book by Cat Rambo that I have read and I quite enjoyed it and await the other books in the series. I found the galaxy interesting and would like to know more. The characters are all intriguing, and enough hints and foreshadowing is shown that the reader wants to know where the characters are going, and what the big revel might be. A nice mix of other series like The Expanse or The Last Watch, with an attached YouTube video from Bon Appétit.

This was definitely an enjoyable sci-fi book! I'm somewhere between a 4 and a 4.5 star rating for it. There's less of the Great British Bake Off than I expected based on the blurb, but that wasn't a huge deal. Cooking certainly plays a role here, but it's not really a competition element like I anticipated. The pacing was pretty good in general. I definitely wanted to keep reading and find out what was going to happen to our characters! The beginning (first chapter or so) was a little harder to get into with the introduction of all of the characters and species. After that, the rest flowed pretty smoothly.

This gave me a lot of Wayfarers (by Becky Chambers) vibes with the found family, but this also has some darker moments with elements like torture. While this is generally a lighthearted book, it's certainly not like that for the entirety of the book. There's some great humor though and things that made me smile. I also had that song stuck in my head the entire time I was reading this, and I thought it was hilarious when the book actually references it as well!

The world was rather interesting in general. We have this Holy Hive Mind that...is not the best. Basically, it just wants to control a lot of things, and it isn't always interested in peace with other cultures. We also have a pirate society and an empire, but I think some of aspects of these were less developed. I do feel like there are some mysteries that aren't answered here to my satisfaction, so I'm curious if this is meant to be a standalone or the start of a series. If it's a standalone, I feel like things were a bit surface level here and I want more details. If it's the start of a series though, I feel much better about it (and would have bumped it up to 4.5 stars) because I'd assume we'd get more answers in future books. I really hope it is a series because I want to revisit our characters!

I obviously had a good time with our characters overall, though some are certainly more developed than others. Niko, the leader, is great and I loved her! She tries to protect her family and did rescue them from a life in the Hive Mind. She's always working towards a goal of a better life for them and does what she must to keep them safe. She's also skilled at combat, and I enjoyed seeing her in action. She's a person of interest in the Spiral of Destiny foretold by Lassite, the mystic in the crew. I feel like she's going to be an agent of change, and I'd really like to see more of her adventures.

Dabry, Niko's right hand man, is also great. I loved their relationship and how he's there to support her. He also loves to cook, and we get some great bonding moments with everyone over food and cooking. Skidoo is a squid person, and I loved her for obvious reasons (see: my booktube channel name). She seems like a really loving individual in general! Atlanta is a newer crew member, and she's led a somewhat sheltered life. I liked seeing her learn more about the world and other cultures. Following her allows us to see her embrace other people and celebrate diversity. Finally, we have to mention the Thing! It's a biological ship, and I really liked it. It was so fun getting to see it learn about people and itself. I think the Thing actually had some of the most character development in the book, and I really loved this journey!

Overall, I had such a fun time with this book. I'd definitely recommend it, especially to fans of the Wayfarers series by Becky Chambers. If you're looking for some fun banter, found families, and a quick sci-fi read, this is a great choice.

My video review can be seen on my booktube channel (around minutes 4:03-8:44 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DznjGChD4Bw

I really enjoyed this! You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo was incredibly unique-it really was Farscape meets Great British Baking Show, as the teaser said! Very much a Space Opera cum Cooking Show, which I loved.
I loved the main Character, Nico, and really believed and believed in his motivations as he went about trying to save his dream restaurant.
I found I could really relate to him, if not to his exact situation-and the ending definitely left me wanting more.
Can’t wait to see what Nico and Gang are up to next! 4 Big ⭐️ !

Farscape meets The Great British Bakeoff is a very apt description for You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo. Niko Larson is a former military leader for the Hive Mind who left to start a restaurant on TwiceFar Station. She took with her a multi-species selection of her former crew and they are on the verge of success in the form of a coveted Nikkelin Orb restaurant award. A threat to the station forces them to escape on board the sentient ship, You Sexy Thing. They escape with only a few possessions, including a crate addressed to Larson that happens to contain Atlanta, the heir to the Paxian empire. They find themselves unwillingly headed toward the clutches of a pirate king holding a deep grudge against Niko that he’s been nursing for years. Their quest for a successful restaurant now becomes a quest just to survive!

Cat Rambo has created a lovable cast of eccentric characters along with an adventure worthy of them. The character-driven narrative lets the excellent world-building unfold in the background as you experience it by watching how it has shaped and continues to drive these individuals. This includes the sentient ship which is exposed to new ways of thinking, and cooking, by its interaction with the crew. The plot moves forward at a steady clip with plenty of action, humor and surprises along the way.

You Sexy Thing is a lot of fun with a group of characters that you enjoy spending time with and a brisk plot filled with action, emotion and humor. Looking forward to seeing more in this universe!

I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher.

An interesting idea but I thought not very well written. Obviously the starting point for a series as it leaves alot of plot points unfinished

The teaser hooked me with "Great British Bake Off meets Farscape"

The story took a little bit longer, meandering in it's comfortable little setting.

Then, as things are wont to do, everything went utterly wrong. And that my friends is when things started getting really interesting. Rambo lulls you into complacency even as our intrepid heroes gear up for the biggest challenge of their culinary careers, and then pulls the rug out from under everything and sends the plot careening sideways into adventure and strife from most unexpected corners. Amidst all of this, the characters unfold, giving the reader emotional stakes in the outcome.

A delightful journey, all and all.

I was hooked by the description "Farscape meets The Great British Bake Off."

Alas, I was bored from the beginning where nothing much happens but character introductions. II get that they are necessary and I do enjoy them normally, but it just didn't gel with me. I wanted to see the living ship. I wanted the Space Opera to get going. So, once I got there -to the living ship- (at about 21%), I didn't care anymore and I skimmed to the end.

I'm sure this book will have it's fans, but it's not for me.

Wow. Just wow.

This is why I read sci-fi.

A band of misfits that have escaped indentured soldierdom in the Hive Mind end up on an organic bioship named You Sexy Thing. Shenanigans follow.

This cast of characters is one that I'm sort of hoping Cat Rambo continues writing about. And maybe she already has - I had not heard of her before reading this book and that's a damn shame, because she has many works of science fiction and why are women so little known in this genre?! I digress... The juxtaposition of the alien characters in their little found family with the trials and tribulations of something so relatable as running a restaurant hits so many "this is perfect" notes for me. I loved getting to know each of these characters, especially Captain Niko. This is one of those times I wish I was an artist so that I could create fan art for these characters. There are TOO MANY scifi books I've read that have aliens in them who have the same exact culture as humans but are green. That's so blah to me - a complete missed opportunity. Cat Rambo has created entirely ALIEN creatures with different social norms, mannerisms, and cultures, and then has shown how the dynamic between them works. I'd liken it more to Star Trek - how the learning and acceptance of other cultures can and should be the goal, not war.

I loved this book and would most definitely read any others by Cat Rambo - but I do hope that this continues as a series because while the story closed out nicely, there's definitely room for these characters to have many more adventures!

Normally I'm a fast-paced plot kind of girl, but this one was more slow to medium. That worked for the character relationships in the story but made it slower than what I prefer so I gave it 4 stars out of 5.

TL;DR

You Sexy Thing is excellent space opera. Cat Rambo has created a joyful, hopeful tale of found family. Come for the characters; stay for the fun. Highly recommended.

Review: You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo

Aliens are one of the things I love about science fiction. Seeing the varied lifeforms that different authors imagine makes me happy. Star Trek’s human-like species have always been a let down for me. Star Wars had a bit more diversity amongst species. Babylon 5 upped the game, but no show or movie has ever topped the variety and imagination of Farscape. The variety of aliens, including the living ship, attracted me to the show; the way the writers used that variety made it one of my favorite SFF properties of all time. If a book’s blurb compares it to Farscape, I’m gonna give it at least a look. When reading that Cat Rambo’s novel You Sexy Thing was compared with the show, I knew it’d be the book for me. Rambo did not disappoint. You Sexy Thing is full of interesting aliens that are more than just humans with pointy ears. Along with an excellent cast, Rambo created a book about found family and what it means to be part of one when the situation is dire.

Niko Larson, owner and manager of the Last Chance restaurant, used a loophole to escape the Hive Mind, and she took her former military crew with her. She claimed to be an artist with her preferred medium as cooking. Her first officer, a mystic, two were-lions, her communications officer, and others work in the restaurant to escape a lifetime military service obligation. On the eve of an important critic coming to review the restaurant, Niko receives an unexpected package with a person in stasis inside, and an admiral from the Hive Mind has brought their officers to the restaurant. The officer is using the reservation as cover to talk to Niko, privately. As Niko and crew begins to serve the critic, a rich racing pilot shows up wanting to meet the critic. Niko needs the critic to love the food and award the restaurant a Nikkelin Orb. This award would make the restaurant a desirable destination and solve their financial woes. So, when she tries to fend off the racing pilot, he offers Niko a sum she can’t turn down to just sit at a table near the critic. With the pilot’s incentive payment, Niko can buy a ship and set out on her long held, secret plans. The future looks bright for Niko and crew until an incomprehensible alien species, called the Arranti, blow up the space station home to the Last Chance. They escape aboard the sentient bioship, You Sexy Thing, only to be captured by pirates.

You Sexy Thing is a space opera told in an omniscient viewpoint. This means the reader has access to everyone’s thoughts, including those of the sentient bioship. Aliens and pirates, advanced technology and magic, Niko’s universe is a full one and a hopeful one. There are a lot of characters for an omniscient novel, but Rambo spends most of the time in Niko’s head, which is excellent. Niko, the focus of the adventures, carries the story. She’s an excellent leader, and while the reader learns about her background, it seems like there’s much more that could be explored. You Sexy Thing reads like an opening chapter in a bigger story without sacrificing completeness.

The Characters

The thing I loved about Farscape is exactly the thing I love about You Sexy Thing, the characters. Each member of Niko’s crew feels whole and unique. Rambo wrote them so that they feel like real people, and while they do have an alien-ness about them, they’re not defined by it. Skiddoo is a great example. She’s similar to a squid but, also, more than just a squid. She stood out to me, not because of her squid-like characteristics, but because she’s very tactile. A lot of Niko’s crew stayed with me long after I closed the book. There’s a scene where Dabry, the four-armed first officer, has to wear a shirt made for people with two arms. He cradles one set against his abdomen giving the impression of a beer belly. How fantastic is that?

Grouped by the Military, Family by Choice

In addition to the lovely characters, their interactions with each other is the core of the book. While there exists a hierarchy that began in the military, it’s clear that the group has fallen into natural roles. There is no strife with anyone in the group feeling out of place. In fact, the group dynamic is extremely healthy, and part of that is the after effects of their time in the Hive Mind’s military. But a bigger part is that they actually care for each other with Niko acting as head of the family. These people are together because they want to be together. When Niko escaped the Hive Mind, she could have peaced out, but she took her crew with her. Once free, that crew could have sought their own path, but they stayed with Niko. The crew of the Last Chance are together by choice, and this is their strength.

Politics of Rambo's Universe

We do catch glimpses of politics in You Sexy Thing but not much. Capitalism is very much the dominant mode of trade, and class divisions are quite real. The Hive-Mind acts like a collective but an authoritarian one, and IIRC they trap individuals in military service much like corporations used to make workers debtors of the company store. In addition, there exists a hippie or libertarian community called the Free Traders. The pirates seem to have been a libertarian group that’s slid fully into a dictatorship. We also learn that monarchies still exist. Again, we don’t get much of the political nature of Rambo’s universe, but like all other aspects of it, there’s plenty of options to explore.
Critiques

I loved this book. Still, no work of art is perfect. I felt that the ending was a bit rushed and not as clear as I’d like. The main plot point is solved pretty easily after all the buildup and torture that took place. Final ownership of the sentient bioship felt more like a plot device than a natural extension of the situation and characters. None of this took away from my enjoyment of the book, and I think most readers will find these minor quibbles.

Conclusion

Cat Rambo’s You Sexy Thing is a fun, hope filled space opera. The cast of characters is fantastic, and I think a lot of people will come to love them as much as I do. If this is the first book in a series, sign me up for book two. I want more adventures of Niko and the crew of You Sexy Thing.

I loved the combination of cooking meets space pirates. The characters were realistic and complicated, and the story was well paced

I received an advance copy of this book through NetGalley.

The summary for this book pitches it as Farscape meets The Great British Bake Off, and that's both amusing and apt. <i>You Sexy Thing</i> is a fluffy space opera romp through a far-future packed with various alien beings and unique places. Against this backdrop is an ensemble crew of (mostly) former soldiers who achieved freedom from the collective that once owned them by proposing that their true calling and cultural duty is to have a restaurant. That works out pretty well until the past catches up with them--especially beleaguered crew-leader Niko--when a mysterious box arrives at about the same time as a galaxy-famous food critic. When the station is attacked during that fateful meal, they take refuge on a sentient biological ship, the titular You Sexy Thing. From there, it's time for crew bonding, space pirates, and teaching a spaceship how to cook, because why not?

In case you couldn't tell, there's a definite element of whimsy throughout the book. I'm here for that. I just finished up some of K.B. Wagers' more intense and dark space opera books, so I was ready for a frolic through deep space. I'm a foodie, so I loved the food aspects, and the diversity of the cast is fantastic. My favorite is the most disliked character in the crew, the prophesying alien priest Lassite, who definitely gave me the vibe of Raistlin Majere, one of my all-time favorite lit characters. This particular exchange cracked me up:

Lassite appeared in the doorway. "Permission to speak of doom, captain?"
"Permission denied," Niko snapped.

The end of the book sets things up for a possible series but this would be a solid read on its own. No cliffhangers involved, just a space frolic with banter and pirates and cooking galore.

I love interesting characters, not quirky character, not the ones that are so different that you have no frame of reference with which to understand them, but Interesting.

Capital I

This book is full of them, Were Lions, Four Armed Grade one Chefs (because who couldn't use more arms in the kitchen), healers who don't always heal, and lets not forget the Octopoid...

It's a tale that begins with a retired crew of soldiers trying to get a Nikkelin Orb (read: Michelin Star) for their newly opened restaurant, with their former Admiral (for all of ten hours) Nico Larson. A visit from the food critic who could grant the orb coincides with a visit from an Admiral that Nico knows from her life before, and it quickly escalates into an act of wanton destruction, and the whole crew running from (or running towards) the chain of events that have started.

This brings me to the biggest problem I had with the book, there wasn't enough of it, there's a real warmth between the characters and the story moves along at a good pace, there's plenty to get into, but it feels very much like an origins story, even though it ties up (most of) the loose ends by the end of it. The wry observations are reminiscent of Pratchett, but there's enough grit in the tale to keep the tension present, and that only makes it all the better.

I thought this was excellent, my only complaint was that I was really getting into it when I got to the end.

I enjoyed this book. The ship reminded me of Lexx. I liked the Easter eggs such as whaales leaving earth (star trek voyage home ). Occasionally the writing would feel choppy and I'd have to go back to see if I had missed something. There are several secondary characters that I hope we learn more about if this series continues. All in all a good fun read. Looking forward to more in the series.

This was a really cute, light hearted space opera that blended together my love of science fiction with my love of food. I loved the diversity of the characters in this novel, including some very fantastical aliens. In terms of tone, this story was definitely on the more goofy side than serious, which made for a fun easy read. This story will definitely appeal to readers who love books in the vein of Becky Chambers Wayfarer series. I would recommend to this one to foodie sci-fi readers looking for a fun adventure story

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

You Sexy Thing by Cat Rambo
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This space opera sits on the edge of humorous foodie hijinx and immense regret and honestly, I don't know which it ought to be.

On the one hand, all the ex-military peeps running a culinary enterprise is fun and I had a great deal of fun with, say, Matt Wallace's mercenary cooks and Steinmetz's Sol Majestic, but while this had flavors of those, I'm not sure it knew what it really wanted to be.

There's a helping of planning and desperation, a core of identity exploration, and even a dash of all-out torture. But most of all, there's a bio-ship, foodie sensibilities, and pirates.

I wanted to like this more than I did. It had the feel of a Becky Chambers a lot of the time and then it keeps shifting gears or even stripping them when it went full adventure instead of foodie-identity. Maybe others will get a lot more mileage out of it.

It wasn't bad but it was sometimes a bit all over the place.

What a title. I mean that in more ways then one. I really enjoyed this book, and would love to see what happens next. You Sexy Thing is the name of a spaceship that our band of characters reside in. Or used to reside in. Most were happy to never step foot in again. However, due to circumstances outside of their control they're forced to band together for one last adventure. And what a adventure it is! This book was consistently fun and full of heart! 4 out of 5!