What a high concept book! I am always interested in food writing, and after just having watched Culinary Class Wars (set in Korea, but did feature Chinese cooking), seeing the "Hunger Games meets Iron Chef" comparison was all I needed to hear to want to read this book. This will find many happy readers; I was not one of them. The prose was absolutely fine, but the plot construction and characterization were really lacking. An example: perhaps three quarters or more through the book, minor God Kama must select a member of his team to complete the next challenge. "Who will you pick?" someone asks. To which Kama responds, "I don't know, I need to know more about you all first." They are not just meeting each other; this team has already bonded over two previous challenges. This sentence felt forced and inorganic and the vulnerabilities shared as a result were not impactful for it. Similarly, there was no real chemistry or build up between the protagonist and either love interest. The reader is asked to simply accept the love triangle without creating any real tension to root for one party or the other. And the first kisses?? In 2025, I have a really hard time accepting those kisses. (Both basically occurring as trauma responses). I would recommend this for the right reader, but not as a general reading recommendation.

This was so fun to read and of course it made me hungry (both literally and for more of this story). If you love reality competitions in books with a dash of magic and a slice of romance, you have to check this out!

Charming and lighthearted for the most part with such beautifully descriptive passages about food that I wanted to dive into the pages. Perhaps a little caught up in some YA tropes that won’t see it work as well for adult readers of YA,

Roselle Lim’s Celestial Banquet is a feast for the senses—a novel that blends magical realism, family bonds, and culinary traditions into a rich, emotional story. Lim’s signature lyrical prose brings to life a tale of food, memory, and the search for identity, making it both heartwarming and bittersweet..

Also that cover?? It is very beautiful artwork!

I typically approach books with comparisons to the Hunger Games very cautiously, but I was excited for this. Deadly cooking games? It's such a unique concept! Unfortunately, the execution fell flat.

This books felt like reading a laundry list. Things just happened, with no explanation or build-up. There were several times when something, like a character's backstory, would be revealed, but we were never allowed to sit with the revelation. It would immediately become relevant, and then after its relevance had run its course, we would never hear about it again. This made it really difficult to connect to any of the characters, since I barely knew them. I did love the world-building and imagery in this book, though--the passages describing Cai cooking or food made my stomach growl at several points while reading. Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to keep me invested in this book.

There were many other issues I had, most glaringly being the underdeveloped love triangle, but I'll leave it at this: if you want a relatively quick read, with interesting fantastical elements and mouthwatering descriptions of food, read this. If you want a cohesive plot with concrete stakes and engaging characters, don't read this.

This book was so sweet! I loved all the food and there was enough going on to keep the pace pretty fast. There was one thing that slightly bothered me but I think the fact that it’s for a YA audience, makes it okay. The romance felt so inconvenient and as an adult I would be like get out of here with that, I’m trying to win this HUGE competition but I know teens are crazy lovestruck goofballs and they don’t necessarily feel that way. So that redeems the romantic plot a little. I would’ve also loved to learn more about each of the main characters. They briefly talk about their past but it’s just not enough for me. I think I’m saying I want to be in this world even more!? I can’t wait for this to come out and have some of my middle school kiddos read it and see what they think about the romance… they’ll probably love it. 🥰

Thank you Net Galley and Zando for the eARC.
Do you know when you start reading a book and immediately realise that this is going to be a good read?
This is exactly what happened when I started reading the Celestial banquet even though this is my first Roselle Lim book.
The characters are well-developed (except for Bo, I feel like he had a good start, but his character was ruined in favour of the romance when he became very jealous), the world building is amazing, the pacing is just right. I really loved Cai, she is smart, very determined and such a girl boss. Another character that I absolutely loved was Kama, he was humorous and caring towards his people.The writing style was very engaging and immersive. I loved the trials of the culinary competition and the Asian mythology.
This book lives up to its reputation of Hunger Games x cooking competition.
As in every book with gods in it, the major ones enjoy playing with the mortals. In addition, the risks and consequences of failure in the competition cause a dark turn.
The romance was a miss for me, while the characters themselves were well-written on their own, the relationships felt like they were hastened and definitely needed more work. I believe this is why many reviewers felt that there was no character development. Love triangles are a case by case for me, but it wasn't well-written in this case.
In a nutshell, if you are a fan of fantasy and hunger games X cooking competitions, you will love this book, but if you are here for the romance, you won't like it a lot.
This is merely my opinion, others may find both to be suitable for them.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and it was a fun read

I love the unique premise of a cooking-based world set in historical Asian lands. Before starting the book, I got similar vibes to Food Wars manga. The cooking challenges and ingredients were fun to read and see how it plays out. Many of the challenges had me thinking about how I would approach the dish myself—like making noodles without eggs. The ingredient names were fun to read like Demon’s Breath, Wine of the Diyu, and Petty Revenge. I also appreciated how each chapter begins with a scroll excerpt which helped add depth through worldbuilding and background information.
One of my favorite dynamics in the book was between Cai and Kama. Their shared love for food created a balance of moral depth and lightheartedness. Kama’s role as a god who sides with the immortals and respects them made him stand out from the other gods, and his sacrifice for Bo was really sweet. However, the execution of his near-death scene felt rushed and anticlimactic, which lessened its impact.
On the other hand, I wasn’t a fan of the love triangle between Cai, Bo, and Seon—it felt too fast-paced and unnecessary. The scene where Cai kissed Bo despite not having feelings for him felt misleading (poor Bo), and then later she just turned around and kissed Seon as if that was the only way to comfort him during a panic attack? It just didn’t really make sense nor felt like it would help the book in any way. These moments made Cai seem pretty indecisive and if I’m being honest - a bit foolish too. I would have much preferred the story to focus more on the food challenges than the romance. Like sure, Seon and Cai share a connection through food, but that alone doesn’t make their relationship compelling, especially since Cai could explore the culinary world on her own after winning the competition.
Character relationships in general felt rushed, particularly between Cai and Tala. I wish their development had been given more time to grow naturally from the challenges they went through together instead of from one instance with the second cooking challenge.
Overall, this book was a great cozy read, though faster-paced than I expected. The execution could have been stronger in terms of character development and making the cooking challenges more difficult. Cai seemed to breeze through the competition despite some minor setbacks and those setbacks were resolved too quickly (more showing than telling would help). I can see this book being a fun read for younger teens. I hope the next installment dives deeper into the world in terms of food and the political system. I’m especially curious about what the other gods were discussing when they saw Kama at full power, whether Pubu’s immortality was partially taken to create the peach, and what Cai and the others discussed with the Empress about saving the Peninsula.

Thank you to Net Galley and Sweet July Books. This sounded so interesting, but alas the stakes were missing. Tension is what makes reading competitions fun, but this lacked tension.

Thank you to Sweet July Books and NetGalley for accepting me for an eARC of Celestial Banquet!

Celestial Banquet is set in a world where every 10 years the major gods hold the Celestial Banquet, where each minor god can choose a talented chef to compete on their behalf to cook for the major gods. Our main character Cai is a talented noodle chef and enters the Celestial Banquet alongside her region’s minor god, Kama, to compete for the prize of peaches of immortality so she can open a restaurant to honour her late father’s wishes.

I really enjoyed this one! The pacing is very speedy; I read it in two days, and it’s super engaging with high stakes. I mean it’s like Masterchef meets The Hunger Games, of course I was engaged! The food descriptions made me so hungry throughout, and I really enjoyed the parts where Cai gets absorbed into her work and her love for cooking. I also loved seeing the different mythical creatures and the gods in this, they were really interesting to read about. Kama stole the show for me, I really liked his character.

I think my main gripe with this was the romance; I’m really not a love triangle fan! Bo and Seon both had their good and bad qualities, but the whole of the book they were both badgering Cai to make a choice when there’s literally a life or death competition going on around them! We have better things to worry about gents. I’d have preferred it if the romance was dialled back a little bit so we could focus more on the competition. There were also some plot points that were brought up but not dealt with, which makes me think we’re setting up for a sequel, so I’m interested to read that if it happens.

Overall I really enjoyed this one! If you love cooking shows, especially cooking style anime, definitely give this book a go!

While there are so many interesting things about this book, I found that it just ultimately wasn't for me.

Think hunger games meets masterchef!
This fast paced story follows young noodle chef Cai as she enters the celestrial banquet, a competition that sees contestants cook extravagant meals from mystical ingredients in an attempt to please the gods and win a coveted peach of immortality

This was so much fun, the life and death element combined with the cooking competition created a really unique story that had me gripped.
I only wish there less focus on the love triangle as it just pulled me out of the high tension moments.
I really hope there is going to be a sequel and I will be first in line to read it!!!

"Celestial Banquet" follows a young woman named Cai who dreams of winning the Celestial Banquet cooking competition in order to obtain a magical peach, notoriety, and a new life. Along with her friends Bo and Seon, she attempts to convince the minor god of her region to let them enter as his contestants, but when she arrives at the competition, things are a lot deadlier than she ever could have imagined.

Strengths: Lets start with the positives of this book!
-It was super fast paced. I managed to read within 2 days, and the plot was always moving forward. There is never really a dull moment. The characters always have something going on, a new task or challenge, so it kept my attention.
-The plot was super unique! There are not too many celestial cooking competitions that I know about! I enjoyed reading about the magical food items they had to obtain in each challenge and how they were prepared.
-The world building was easy to understand, complex, and interesting. I liked how we had 3 major gods and 5 minor gods who helped to rule over each province, and especially liked Kama.

Weaknesses: These are what brought my rating down to 3/5 stars. Although the plot was interesting and unique, there were parts that were roughly executed:
-There is no character development and the characters are bland. I have not a clue what any character looked like besides the fact that Bo was ripped. It took me 10% of the book to figure out if Cai was male or female, and then I only got that because someone mentioned she was pretty, and her gender was brought up as a reason why it was harder for her to become a successful chef. Other than that, I have no clue what she or any of the other human characters looked like, or their age. they act like teens, but Cai has been on her own without a family for a few years and owns her own food stall, so maybe she's in her 20's. Who knows? I also found the characters to be stereotypical. Cai, the clueless girl who has no idea her 2 guy friends have been pining over her. Bo, the jealous best friend. I just wish there was a bit more about these characters.
-The characters lack emotion. When the Celestial Banquet competition turns out to be deadly, every death is just brushed off. Especially at the end! Without spoilers, the characters are like "This goes against our morals" and within a paragraph have completely change their minds because it is the only way to get what they need. There is no internal conflict.
-When I heard "celestial cooking competition", I was hoping for descriptive and immersive cooking scenes where I could smell and taste the food, kind of like "Legends and Lattes". I really was uninterested in all the food they ate/cooked.
-The book leaves off on a really mild cliffhanger. The author introduces 2 points which are constantly brought up during the novel, but never touched upon(one being the reign of the empress, the other a secret princess). These plot points are left open in hopes of there being a book 2. I truly think if both of these had been left out and the author condensed the plot into a standalone, it would have worked much better! The constant mentioning of these plot points without further progression was a detriment to the story, and I'm just not interested enough in the plot to continue on to a second book. However, I do feel like if you wanted to try this, you could read it as a standalone and be fine.
-Really poorly done love triangle. I knew how it was going to end from the moment it started. I did not have any love for the character that was not chosen.
-The characters are so juvenile. Cai constantly stomps her foot to demand attention or show that she's angry (who does that unless they're 5?! Again, how old are these characters?). Bo acts like the most typical, jealous, overbearing guy who wants something he can't have. I just feel like with all the characters have been through (loss of family, abuse, the fact that Cai is old enough to live on her own and run her own business, etc), they would be acting a little more rationally and mature.
-I have no idea what the minor gods are supposed to look like. At the beginning of the book, they show pictures of 5 animals which somehow represent the gods. Are the gods in animal form at all time? Or are the human with animal characteristics, or do they shape shift?
*Please note that 3/5 stars for me personally means average. The book was not my favorite, but also was not bad. I truly think others will enjoy this, especially a younger audience.

Overall, I think if you are a younger reader(teens) or a foodie, you might enjoy this. While the plot was overall original, the execution let me down. However I think that younger readers might not be as focused on having in depth characters and would really enjoy it!

3/5 stars
Thank you so much to Netgalley and Zando Projects for providing an arc in exchange for an honest review.

What a fun story this one was! A magical take on Iron Chef, replete with Chinese folklore and engaging characters! Highly recommended to any fans of light-hearted fantasy, particularly those interested in the culinary arts! Thank you to NetGalley and Zando for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review!

tl;dr
A fast-paced plot painted on a world canvas that feels a little too vast for the scope of the book. Lots of food descriptions.

Thoughts
Have you ever read a book and thought "This should have been a video game?" Because that thought sat in the back of my head the whole way through. The plot is fast-paced with a structure of narration (cutscenes), hunting for ingredients (map exploration), and then the culinary battle (boss fight). There're also dating sim elements, and plenty of one-on-one campfire chats with supporting cast that slowly reveal everyone's personal motives. Heck, there are even tidbits of world lore on the "loading screens" between chapters. And speaking of world lore, there's a lot of fun stuff to mine in here. The author's bio talks about growing up in a diverse Asian neighborhood, and that's evident in the variety of food and names presented here (shout out to the calamansi mention). The competition is as brutal as promised, with Squid Game-esque levels of punishment for losers, and there are plenty of layers of backstory for all of the characters with a much larger world just beyond the doors of the competition. And that's where a video game structure might really have come in handy. There's too much to fit into one book, but plenty for a game with multiple playthroughs. On this route, Cai can date Bo. On this route, she skips romance entirely to learn more about Kama. On this route, she absolutely obliterates the competition early on. Heck, can we add that rival kid from the first chapter as DLC?

My point is that the world is so vast that I felt really locked in to the choices that actually appeared on the page. Love triangles aren't my thing, for example. (I accept the fault is with the reader here.) Especially the kind where the two options get increasingly hostile with each other, and then the MC. Spending most of the time on the romance took away the potential of the competition plot for me, but I'm sure it'd be the selling point for other readers. There are just so many enticing ideas and plot hooks dangling in front of me, and the book only had time to chase down one of them. Alas!

The food content is mixed for me. I cook a lot, and I cook Asian food a lot. Make no mistake, I'm very mid. That being said, I expected more cooking here. This book is overflowing with sumptuous descriptions of food and eating, but the actual cooking techniques and moments are surprisingly sparse. The first round gave us some insight into Cai's ingredient choices, but after that, there's very little. Cai's supposedly a genius cook, but we never get any look into that genius. I cheered when (mild spoiler alert) the final theme ingredient was eggs, because eggs are used to make noodles, and we'd spent the entire book hearing that she's a master of noodle-making. I couldn't wait for her to show off kneading the dough, the stretching, the twisting, the flourish with her knife as she cut noodles with precision. Everyone else would finally see her at her best and most brilliant. But instead she made omurice? Right after she admits in the narrative how much she misses making noodles for an audience? Anyway, this last point in particular doesn't seem to bother anyone else, so I'm gonna put a mark in the curmudgeon column for me.

Overall, this book didn't land with me, but if you told me it was being converted into a video game, I'd buy it in a heartbeat.

I loved the premise of the book, iron chef vs hunger games is very unique and I think it was played out well.

A huge thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and Roselle Lim for providing me with an ARC of Celestial Banquet in exchange for my honest review.

Celestial Banquet is a YA fantasy novel that follows Cai, our determined FMC, as she competes in the prestigious Celestial Banquet, a contest held once every decade for the favor of three major Gods. Cai’s team consists of Kama, a minor God representing her region; Seon, a noble who also happens to be her longtime crush; and Tala, a fierce warrior hiding secrets of her own. The competition is perilous, but glory awaits the victor.

One of the standout elements of this story is undoubtedly the food! Fans of the manga and anime Food Wars will appreciate how the culinary aspects take center stage. Roselle Lim’s descriptions of the dishes are incredibly vivid and mouthwatering, bringing each meal to life in a way that practically left me salivating. The world-building is also a highlight, enriched by magical creatures and a well-developed mythos that keeps the reader immersed in the story.

Interestingly, despite being a devoted romantasy fan, I found myself wishing the romance—particularly the love triangle—had taken a backseat. The core fantasy plot is strong enough to stand on its own, and the romantic elements sometimes felt like a distraction. Bo, in particular, raised some red flags for me; his childish reactions when things didn't go his way detracted from his appeal.

In conclusion, Celestial Banquet was a thoroughly enjoyable read. I awarded it 5 stars because it perfectly aligned with my tastes, offering a compelling mix of food-centric fantasy, vibrant world-building, and high-stakes adventure.

Thankyou to netgalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this as an ARC in exchange for an honest review:

While I enjoyed the concept and plotline, I felt like the writing was under developed, lacked depth and really needed more emotion to connect us to the characters.

I feel like this could have been a really beautiful cosy fantasy if it were just a bit deeper with its storytelling.

oh YA fantasy is so back. i tried one of lim’s adult works and it just wasn’t for me, i felt her prose was better suited for YA— AND I WAS RIGHT! this is for the foodies, the readers who want a fast paced adventure, the cooking show fanatics. i had the time of my life with this.

This book was so good. Different than I expected and it took me a little bit to find my footing. But once I did I loved it. Fun and different than anything I have read recently. This was a really good read that I devoured in just a few days.