I think this was a unique way of using magic. You have these chefs and only they who have been blessed by the gods as chefs can use the magical ingredients to their full potential. I did kind of think it would be more of a cozy fantasy but there is death and poisoning and a sad and dark truth about those magical ingredients that chefs use that comes to light. Plus most of the chefs are either on the run, gone rogue, or conscripted to serve the kingdom either feeding royalty or keeping the armies strong and giving them extra skills from the food. So it was easy to root for Ada and her daughter Solenn as they fight for a better world. And I am looking forward to reading the next book. Hopefully more secrets about the gods are revealed.

The beautiful colors on the cover of “A Thousand Recipes for Revenge” by Beth Cato piqued my interest and when I read the description, I knew it would be something different. And I was right. Cato created a unique world by combining magic, cooking and a looming war.

Cato switches back and forth between main characters Ada and Solenn and narrates their points of view. I always appreciate this format because it’s easier to know what’s going on when the chapters are easily labeled.

Five gods rule over the realm: Gyst, Hester, Lait, Melissa and Selland. Each god rules over certain things like salt, milk, all things sweet, hearth and home and the unseen. And it makes perfect sense because there are people called Chefs who are supposedly blessed by the gods with abilities to cook or bake food items imbued with magic, or epicurea, as Cato refers to it.

Ada is a former Chef who went AWOL on her duties, a crime with a gruesome punishment as Chefs are essentially the realm’s military. From her perspective, she tries to protect her grandmother, reunite with her estranged family and make sure she isn’t found.

Solenn has the ability to detect deadly poison if it’s near her but she is careful to keep that secret to herself.

What starts as a fairly uneventful description of events and characters turns into a political war involving magic which risks all of humanity.

Never once have I read a fantasy book that involves cooking or food and it was a really cool concept to add magic in the mix (pun not intended). “A Thousand Recipes for Revenge” reminded me a little of “The Hunger Games” series while still maintaining its unique qualities.

Of course, the book ended on a cliff-hanger so I guess I’ll have to wait to see what happens in the next installment “A Feast for Starving Stone,” due out in January 2024.

Candice Black can be reached at cblack@newsandsentinel.com.

4/5 stars

I had a lot of fun reading this book! I loved the background of the 5 gods and what it meant to be a Chef. I especially loved the two characters we get to see, from the differing generations of the same family, to the differing stations in life. Ada was this hardened women who has seen some stuff, while Solenn was focused on being the person her kingdom needed through and through. The lore and world-building was some of my favorite, especially with how the gods of this world and how they interacted with their human subjects.

The pacing was a little tough to get through at times — which makes sense since it’s the first in an adult high fantasy series, so set up is necessary. But there were definitely moments, to me, where it felt like certain scenes could have been cut down and the pacing wouldn’t have felt as sluggish in parts. And there were definitely instances where I preferred Ada’s POV or Solenn’s and vice versa, but it never reached the point where I ONLY preferred one over the other, which is a welcome change when it comes to any multi-POV novel.

Definitely recommend and I definitely will be picking up the sequel!

It's always great to come across a fantasy world with a magic system that is different from the many that are out there.

Cato builds a pretty interesting world, but at times the writing feels like it drags a bit, and skimming feels almost required.

The characterization is strange. We have characters who are definitely not teenagers, and are living dangerous lives, and yet they would easily read as teenagers.

I felt like DNFing a few times because it just stopped being enjoyable. It feels like this book just wasn't ready.

While the premise was very intriguing this book just turned out not to be what I like. Just not for me. I DNF'ed this book.

A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato
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This story is set in a fantasy world where magic is a culinary art. Ada is a rogue chef, magically endowed, and on the run. She learns of a plot to kill her and friends from her past. Solenn is a foreign princess betrothed to the prince. She comes across a separate plot that will wreck havoc on her life.
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What I liked:
-I liked the unique magic system here. Magic through cooking is not a plotline I’ve come across before and it was very interesting to learn about it.
-The story was told through only two POVs which made it very simple to follow and keep track of.
-I loved the connections made in the story.
-There was some great chapters of suspense throughout!
-The ending was really good and set up well for the next book in this world. I’m excited to see what happens next, especially after the choices that our characters made!
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4⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Great start to a new series, not sure how many books are planned but looking forward to where things go.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and 47North for letting me read A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato, the following review is my own opinion.

When I read the blurb for A Thousand Recipes for Revenge I was captivated. The premise enticed me and made me want this book to amazing. However, I had to continuously fight myself into not DNF'ing. I still believe this story had incredible potential - the magic system being based on food/cooking, the characters with a complicated history, the unsuspecting enemies - yet it just didn't provide.

A Thousand Recipes for Revenge tells the story of Adamantine, who is a rogue chef that has the rare empathetic powers of connections with food. Ada lives her life in hiding from the royal court with her Grandmother, until unsuspected enemies of the past begin to rise up in the present. Meanwhile, the plot also follows foreign princess Solenn in her proposal of the royal courts Prince, where she soon discovers that she holds a secret that may condemn her in such a court.

The ending did not provide. Nothing really got tied up it just sort of ceased? None of the explored relationships really seemed to progress at all either? Maybe the author is hoping to tie these questions and relationships up later in the series, but something should have still been given, as I am not really feeling compelled to explore the rest of the series when it does release.

A new world with a new and incredibly different magic system was delivered and the author did this incredibly well, but the plot and characters do need improvement.

I found this new series fascinating! I loved getting to know chef's and what gifts the 5 gods bestowed. The idea of tasting everything to clearly, even sensing poison without actually drinking something was such an interesting idea and felt unique.

I liked the 2 POV and mc's and found their connection, as it was revealed, a good pull to keep me in the story. I ended up flipping to an audiobook and the narrator really helped pull the story along. I thought it would slow down as it hit the middle but it built steady and the plot moved quick as each new turn had an interesting reveal.

The ending was definitely shocking but also left it open for another one in the series. I'm glad I started this one, I'll definitely be looking for book 2!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

A delicious blend of high-stakes adventure and culinary magic.

*A Thousand Recipes for Revenge* by Beth Cato is a fascinating and unique fantasy novel set in a French-inspired fantasy world with a magic system based on the culinary arts. Ada, a rogue Chef, is on the run with her beloved Grandmére in a complex relationship which hooked me from the start. Meanwhile, princess Solenn has discovered a plot to kill her fiancé and make her the scapegoat. The strong women who carry the narrative range from teenagers to old women, adding additional depth to the already amazing world building. Cato, an accomplished baker with a longstanding cooking blog, brings her expertise and imagination to create this one-of-a-kind combination of culinary magic and political intrigue. Highly recommend.

An intriguing fantasy where there's more than meets the eye - or the tongue - in a story of lovers, enemies, loss, revenge, magic and struggles for power and justice.
Ada is a renowned "Chef", whose tongue has been blessed by one of The Five - gods that watch over, and direct, the people of this world. Her powers have been weaponized to increase soldiers' skills in battle and to overwhelm her enemies through the basic necessities of food and drink. But after the reigning monarch forced her to make an unforgivable choice, she swore revenge on him and his henchman and disappeared into the shadows to elude her would-be jailers. But 17 years of hiding make for lonely business and Ada's guard begins to relax just in time for an old enemy to arise and seek his revenge. Will she be able to uncover the illegal sources of magic being used against her, her family, and her friends in time to stop the world from discovering something beyond anyone's control? And will The Five help or hinder the very survival of the human race?
I just reviewed A Thousand Recipes for Revenge by Beth Cato. #AThousandRecipesforRevenge #NetGalley

Overall I found the concept of A Thousand Recipes for Revenge better than its execution.

It has a very interesting magic and religious system. I’ve never seen a magic system connected to food in this way before. I liked the opening chapter that gave the reader info on the Gods lore and the magic of the world. Having it at the start like that means it doesn’t have to be spelled out aggressively in the narrative.

The main cast of characters are a family of women of colour and it was great to see their differences as well as their similarities.

I found Solenn’s storyline much more entertaining than Ada’s. Every time it jumped back to Ada, I would check out. It was only near the end of the book that I started to enjoy Ada’s chapters more and that was mainly due to the increasing pace towards the climactic action.

One of my big complaints is that I found Ada’s voice seemed more childish and immature than Solenn’s and given their ages, it should be the reverse. I was much more invested in the court storyline than the intrigue into who was trying to kill Ada and her friends.

I did not expect this book to be a book for horse girlies but it definitely is.

I didn’t like how idiotic the royals and politics became once Solenn was suspected. A lot of the side characters or villains were so cheesy they were almost caricatures.

I found the plot overly cluttered and the point kept shifting. Having lots of plot points and troubles for your characters can be good but the ones in this novels felt disconnected and it felt like you bounced from one to the next so rapidly and without any real consideration for the one you just moved past.

It was good for representation and had a very creative magic system but in the end I found it overly cluttered with the plot and not compelling enough for me to want to continue to the next book in the series.

Not my usual genre so it was slow going for me. I did end up enjoying the story. Not enough to read part two. But to each their own!

3.5 stars

Ada is a Chef. She can taste aromas, and she knows what food is right for anyone she meets. Chefs are property of the Crown and must do the King's bidding. When a Chef's magic manifests, they are usually conscripted to the King's army. If they run rather than serve, they are considered rogue Chef's and the punishment is the loss of their tongue which usually drives them mad.

Ada served her time. After certain events, she flees and takes on a new identity. When someone tries to kill her and puts her family in danger, she knows she can't hide anymore.

I enjoyed this. It definitely wasn't what I expected. I thought it was going to be cozy fantasy, but it wasn't. I still liked it. My only real complaint is that there was no world building at all.

While I liked the premise for this book, I ultimately DNF’d at 55% because I just didn’t feel like the story was going anywhere.

Thank you net gallery for the advanced copy of this book. This was a fast-paced book that had plenty of action. When I started it I thought this would be a story about cooking and battles but instead it turned into the dragon prince. A little preachy on the idea that all animals are sentient don't eat meat. The princess was pretty selfish and hard to like.

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.

A Thousand Recipe for Revenge, by author Beth Cato, is the first installment in the authors Chefs of the Five Gods series. This story alternates between two main characters: Adamantine (Ada) Garland and Princess Solenn Corre of Braiz. Ada 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.

She lost everything of importance to her when she left her newborn daughter in care of her husband and sent to a different country where she couldn't be used as a slave if she was god touched as well. 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. To make matters worse, surviving members of Ada's military unit are also being hunted down and it may be the one person who they most fear.

A foreign princess in a strange court who is supposed to marry a boy who is 2 years younger (Prince Rupert), 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. When a second assassin seemingly makes Solenn out to be the villain, she must a way to reunite with not only her own people including Captain Erwin Corre, but her own mother who she's never met.

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? This a curious world where Chefs come in a variety of powers. Ada and Solenn are empathic. Solenn could taste impending death of Rupert via the ingredients in the food that was prepared for him.

Other Chefs are able to make dishes to their customer's pallet, being hailed as the most powerful and most sought after. This is why Ada was so valuable before she went AWOL. In between each chapter, there's a variety of recipes that the author provides for you, the reader. There are certain ingredients within mundane and magical creatures that can be cooked and give people certain powers for a time like invisibility or keeping them looking younger. There is also curious twisted ending to this story that apparently is leading to a much larger confrontation in the future.

This book was unlike any I’ve read before. The world that Cato built out was fascinatingly original. “Rare family lines are blessed through their tongues with the ability to sense, and understand food like no others can.” These select few people are called Chefs and they give their thanks to the Five Gods.

Cato let this story unfold like layers in an onion. For the beginning 40% of this book, I was not fully invested in what was happening (could have been where my mind was at the time) but once she pulled back another layer, I jumped into the story feet first. Cato did not let me down with the character development and the diverse cast :chefs kiss: If you're looking to read something completely different, add this to your TBR menu! Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This unique premise and world captured my attention and never let go. Each chapter built brilliantly on one another and kept me highly invested. Can't wait to check out more from Cato.

Thank you Beth Cato, 47North and NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC e-book. This book leans to the fantasy genre and those who are fans will easily fall in love with the tale. A story full of deceit and murder plots with Gods and magical spells you are quickly pulled into this realm and all of its possibilities.