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.

This was a very detailed and immersive world build. The characters were mostly fleshed out. My only gripe is how quickly everything wrapped up and how neatly. While I appreciate that this was a cozy novella, it still felt too easy.

Had a total blast with this novella. I loved all the characters, who were lots of fun to read (and, imo, adorable)! I don't have a ton else to say, only that this was easily the coziest dystopia I've read in a while. Would love to explore this world and its characters further

Novella set in the newly formed country of California, separated from the US. Here, robots are free, at least in name if not with all the rights of humans. When a small group of robots that worked in a restaurant are awakened after a few months of inactivity, they decide to take control of their lives, which means needing to earn the money to pay their leases so they can make their own choices. They decide to reopen the restaurant, but this time, making the food good, and they become a noodle shop. The robots have personalities, feelings, and desires to live their best lives. They are a bit quirky and sweet too. When robophobes rear their ugly heads, they have to find a way to fight back without pushing too hard on the borders of their rights. A fun short read that overlays a more serious look at how society deals with outsiders and their rights, as well as how opposition groups use tech to undermine those they take issue with. The author does a good job of mixing the fun and the serious. And now I want to try those noodles!

. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.Thank you to Tor for providing me with an ARC for early review!. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁ ⟡ ݁ . ⊹ ₊ ݁.

Automatic Noodle is an inherently human story about robots, which is the best kind of story about robots. It's cozy while also being extremely politically forward and unapologetically diverse.

Making food isn't about the stomach for this band of robots, it's about soul. None of them can eat, only one of them can taste, and they all have primary functions that *aren't* cooking. So banding together to live out a dream of making a noodle shop when the whole world is working against them is just classic underdog intrigue.

A lot of this book is focused on "robophobia" and the resulting civil rights movement for robots in the wake of the war where California split off and became it's own country, away from America. There's plenty of serious allegories and metaphors mixed in with the bashing of Transformers media and traditional gender roles. If you're expecting this to be anything but the most gloriously Woke cozy sci-fi novella ever, I have really bad news.

Some of the questions posed by the text are the overarching emphasis of the story. Can they really be "authentic" noodles if the chef can't taste or consume them? No, but they can be automatic, produced by hands that understand why food is so important even without human anatomy. Can you make biang biang noodles when you don't have any culture due to being a robot? Maybe the technique is the same, but the culture is full-blown new San Francisco, scene of the bustling restaurant succeeding against all of the reviews bombings and trolls.

What I can say is that I wish there were about 50 more pages to this so that we could have really seen Automatic Noodle completely thrive for just a bit without the overhang of sock puppet accounts and robophobia. But, a novella is a novella, and this is the perfect instance of a completely thought out and contained narrative in less than 200 pages. Cheers to you, Newitz. Join the halls of cozy robot sci-fi fame.

This was a short, strange, and entertaining story. It reminded me a bit of Robots but centered around food, more slice of lifey than fight the man though.

A fun short read, the characters were delightful and the futuristic didn't really feel too far off. Spin offs for each character would be fun

A compelling read, this novel takes us to a post-war California and the found-family of robots who, though they are now citizens of California, are not in any sense equal citizens. Determined not just to survive but to have good lives, they set up a restaurant together, creating a family and a community in the process. Great stuff.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was enjoyable! I enjoyed getting to know the different bot characters and how they interacted and worked together, especially with how they handled the food. All in all a fun speculative fiction!

"Automatic Noodle" by Annalee Newitz opens with the eyes of a robot who had been shut down against his will. He wakes up to the restaurant he worked in abandoned and flooding. From there we follow the staff of the restaurant rebuilding it into a shop of their own selling hand pulled noodles.

I was pulled into this story immediately by the descriptions of robots with fully fleshed out personalities and motivations. I enjoyed learning more and more about their situations as the story progressed. The setting was perhaps a bit confusing and wasn't totally explained. That did not stop me from enjoying most of this story. Where Newitz lost me was right at the end. Newitz set up tension very well between the bots and the humans who were anti-robot. This storyline resolved nicely. What I found disapointing was that they never resolved how the restaurant became independent from the organization that owned it. We were left wondering if they were ever found out by the parent company. It felt very rushed and unsatisfying.

Overall, I was able to enjoy the majority of this book. The serious nature of the robots situation was well balanced with levity. With a couple more chapters going a little deeper into the ending, I think this would have been a home run for me.

AMAZING! cozy robot dystopian, cast of characters was fantastic I want more please! I'm sad I've finished I hope this is a series, recommend to fans of sci fi/dystopian but also cozy fantasy lovers, reminded me of murderbot too!

I loved this cozy AND dystopian novella and want more! The cast of characters, their neighborhood, and all the flavors, colors, and emotions of Automatic Noodle are sure to stay with readers! Great read if you love Murderbot Diaries or Monk & Robot!

A lovely, warm, loving story about creating your place in a world that wants to shut you out. Comforting and gentle, with with lovable characters who are deeply human without being human. My only complaint is that it isn't a longer book!