I don't usually read fantasy books like this with this much worldbuilding so fast, but this book had me HOOKED.

I like cooking, but I'm not sure I'd call myself a foodie - so I wasn't sure that the Chef/magical meals/cooking academy would gel with me, but the writing just pulled me right into the smells and flavours they described. I genuinely heard my stomach rumble after Paprick created his rub for the first time.

It was just the right level of poetic to be beautiful but not overly prose-y and annoying, I could really feel Paprick's love for creating an amazing meal. I really felt like the style pulled me right into his head, and the romance plotline also felt incredibly real and genuine.

I really liked the general structure of the book too - it was reminiscent of Dragon Age: Inquisition where you flip from the interrogation to the flashbacks of what actually happened (or close to what happened given the potential unreliable narrator issue, which added an extra dimension to the plotline!) and made me so curious about what happened between the flashback/narration and the 10 years after when Paprick is recounting his story. Hopefully enough to fill another two books as I think I'll need at least that in this universe to feel satisfied.

One slight negative (though not enough to take a star off for me) was I wasn't a fan of how his mum's were treated, they just felt like they popped in occasionally to give him some useful advice and then just got dangled around the threat of death for every other time. It was sort of like the fridged woman trope for me, they just seemed to be used to give Paprick the drive to keep fighting, and I think two queer women deserved more.

But overall I found this book incredible engaging and unique - I never see a food-based magic system around and I absolutely loved it. Bring on even more!

This book was intense and unputdownable! I read an eARC of this book on Net Galley so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This books has been compared to Attack on Titan, The Bear and Red Rising. All of these are fair and the book definitely has elements of all three of these. However it exists as something beautifully unique in its own right. The ideas are original, though rooted in familiar tropes. The writing is compelling and rich. We see a huge amount of world building created in not a particularly long book. I appreciated the craft of the author to do so much in a shorter space. The tenacity of the editing keeping the pace and tension of the book exquisitely taut. This is a book you’ll read with your breath caught in your throat, it is so intense.

While the food writing is often sumptuous and beautiful, it’s juxtaposed with gruesomeness and horror. The early scenes of the book when our main character Paprick works as a butcher are stomach churning and incredibly upsetting. The book doesn’t shy away from showing you where meat comes from and this is quite distressing. However it didn’t feel gratuitous, it felt like important commentary to cast a light on the society and why rebellion is brewing. The callousness of the ‘rare’ as they are labelled and their lack of empathy to both ‘common’ humans and animals is horrifying.

The plot is exceptionally written, compelling and hard to put down. I found for all that I was sickened by the early chapters, I was riveted by the main character’s journey. This is a brutal novel, but one that justifies its violence through the world building and commentary it seeks to raise. Check trigger warnings, but it is a book that’s well worth a read.

This is another one I have struggled with this past month. I feel like I am the wrong audience for this for sure. If you are really into the Bear with high fantasy - you will like this. I personally do not like stories that back track with a bunch of time jumps. And I really didn’t get the hype with the food and recipes and everything involved and I knew that going into it, thought maybe it would click, but alas… nope.. The formatting in the arc was also super super difficult. I’ll probably pick this one up when it’s published and see how I feel then if I can buddy read with my husband who is a huge foodie, again it just wasn’t for me and that's okay! A lot of potential here. It was a DNF.

Thank you!!

I had been craving a book like this for years!
Epic fantasy with flow writing and all the elements of a great story to keep you reading and reading.

The best analogy for this reading experience is probably the feeling of being so greatly satisfied after a deliciously and lovingly cooked buffet; every possible craving satiated and addressed!

READ IT!

The cover of this book is what drew me in. This is such a unique take on fantasy. It felt a bit like Spirited Away meets high fantasy. It drew me in and kept me there, with political subtext hiding between the lines. This is my first read by this author, but it certainly won't be the last.

4.5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this one.

We meet Paprick as a butcher in the King’s Factory, carving a literal gargantuan living creature, whose meat provides magic powers to the country’s elite – so long as it’s cooked right. After creating his own magic-granting recipe, Paprick finds himself amongst the elite he hates so much, but it is far more dangerous and deadly than he could have imagined.

I’ll admit that it took me a couple of chapters to get used to the style of this book, but once I had, I was hooked. The style was interesting, with Paprick recounting his life to an unknown archivist after his arrest, with the story taking place both in the past and present. What I really really loved most of all was the magic system, I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a food based magic system before and I found that so unique and fascinating. And I liked how well the theme of food and sharing meals formed such a basis for the magic and overall themes of the story.

The main character, Paprick, was also a compelling and somewhat (potentially) unreliable narrator, it is interesting to see (some of) how he went from the boy at the start of his story to the man recounting it years later, and I will be looking forward to the next installment to see how the story progresses.

Thank you so much to Daphne Press and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

There are 2 reasons to read this book: one, you're enamoured with the premise of magical cooking, and two, you like narrative gimnicks a la "omniscient 3rd person sliding into 1st person when mc tells his life story, but is he an unreliable narrator?" I'm generally not a fan of gimnicks, just give me a good story in a plain narration and stock worldbuilding and I'd be cool. Give me a creative worldbuilding and narration, but a boring story, and I'll be disappointed.

Since the whole story starts with mc captured and interrogated in prison so he can tell his life story Name of the Wind style, it made me not even curious where is this story going, because we know where will the mc end.

As I said, the worldbuilding here is the best part. The whole culture, language, customs, everything revolving around food (for example "starving" is a swear word a la f-king, or exchanging snacks as a greeting gesture). There's also casual diversity, mc has 2 moms and several characters were darker-skinned.

But the plot? I was so bored. Even when a big action sequence happened I felt it was all for "the rule of cool" rather than because it mattered. I had no emotional investment in the protagonist Paprick or his goal (also everyone being named after foodstuffs got old really quick).

I swear I need to think twice before I request another fantasy debut written by a man. So far it's been flop after flop. All of them have "things happen but it's all just going through the motions, plot for the sake of plot". Make me care, goddamnit. Give the protagonist some real moral or emotional struggles that aren't hand-waved in a minute, please. The last time I cared about the protagonist in a male-authored debut... one was self-published and the other was through a small press kickstarter.

Thank you Netgalley & Daphne Press for the ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC and opportunity and many thanks to the author for writing such a unique story. This book had all the elements of a story i thought i'd enjoy, but sadly it just didn't click for me. I had trouble connecting with the openening and never really found the momentum to stay engaged. But if you like gory details, food magic systems, and anime i think this is worth giving a shot.

Imagine a cross between Red Rising and The Name Of The Wind, all based on the set of Masterchef, and I imagine you’ll end up with something a little like Seven Recipes for Revolution! The uprising elements to the story remind me a lot of Pierce Brown’s series, with lead character Paprick infiltrating the higher echelons of society and becoming a member of two different worlds. Paired with the ‘story within a story’ retrospective style of The Name Of The Wind, you get a fascinating new blend of high fantasy that succeeds in feeling wholly original, a difficult thing to achieve these days!

I was impressed by how cohesive the world felt in this novel, right from the beginning. Food is the centre focus of the story, and influences most of the character’s livelihoods and social life; it even influences the language and how characters speak to each other! The mechanism for characters gaining superpowers by eating Kaiju steaks is a fantastic hook into the story, but I’m glad the story goes in a direction where the nuts and bolts of how this works can be explored. This world is developed further as the plot advances, and the introduction of an elite culinary school brings an academia feel into the story too. Despite all that is going on in Seven Recipes, this is a revolution story through and through, and watching Paprick form close friends and improve his craft all while sleuthing for the revolutionaries was a joy to behold.

Two factors led me to drop my rating to four stars. Firstly is a heavy trigger warning for animal harm for the first segment of the story, which happens to be my main trigger for stopping reading a book! I stuck out the first few chapters, after which the story moves in a different direction, but the opening chapters were a difficult read for me. I also found the plot and world started to unravel somewhat towards the end. There’s a lot more to explore in sequel novels no doubt, but I didn’t like how the novel started to break its own rules on what was possible in this world, leaving the explanations and clean-up for a future book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Daphne Press for the ARC

4.5 Stars

Seven Recipes for Revolution is a unique new epic fantasy that weaves together storytelling, friendship, gore, love, inequality, family, violent resistance and food. Lots and lots of food.

The book is set in a world where there are Commons (regular hard-working people, with few rights, like districts in Hunger Games) and Rares (who oppress the Commons and have access to magically enhanced food, again think like the Capitol in the Hunger Games).

The story follows the (mostly) true tale of Paprick, a common who becomes the King Chef, figurehead of the revolution. I love the way Ryan Rose has told this story, with Paprick recounting his tale to the Archivist after his arrest, jumping between the past and the present, while the world goes to hell around them. I loved the twists and turns of the tale and all the underlying themes covered.

The magic system was particularly unique, with magic granted by the consumption of enhanced meat from massive (really really massive) magical beasts. We discover more about this as we follow Paprick from butcher of the beasts to chef. The book is highly descriptive, and very gory at times, do not make the mistake of consuming it whilst eating!

Ryan Rose has woven together a brilliant story, touching on important themes around oppression and class, the importance of family recipes and cooking together and finding your place in the world. I loved all the different characters and how they developed, my only disappointment was realising it was not a stand-alone and that I’ll have to wait for the story to continue.

Seven Recipes for Revolution follows Paprick, a common butcher who discovers a great recipe which results in deadly consequences and a call to action he’s not sure he’s ready for. This book is part of a series which is unfinished.

One thing that truly stuck out for me in this book is that I did hang onto every single word throughout reading it. It was only a short book but it was incredibly immersive and descriptive. I enjoyed the food references throughout and how each ingredient mentioned had a particular connotation to something which you’d find out as you got further into the story.

Another thing I really enjoyed was the back and forth between the narration from here and now. It’s not something I am usually keen on as it can be confusing however Rose made this very simple and easy to follow and I found myself enjoying the interludes to the story as much as the story itself.

That being said, I can say the pacing was incredibly slow and I found myself flagging on the first half of the book when Rose was setting up the scene. In hindsight, after finishing, it’s very relevant and it makes sense why it is so slow at the beginning but I can see why people would struggle to get into the story.

The final half of the book definitely picks up the pace whilst remaining immersive and descriptive but giving some twists and some shocks throughout. I really enjoyed the last 50 pages or so as I didn’t guess where we would end up and the shock factor of the final line has definitely encouraged me to want to read the rest of the series.

Overall, this book would be great for those that like slow-paced, descriptive and immersive books with a rebellious plot line, minimal romance and characters hell bent on revenge.

Thank you to NetGalley and Daphne Press for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fire tof all, this book surpassed all expectations in the best way!

Fantasy meets horror, with food based magic, and adventure... it felt unique and yet familiar, and I absolutely loved it!

The plot was even more than i gooes for! It followed Paprick who managed to miraculously make the leap from butcher to chef through creating a greater recipe, totally by accident, and some how, also totally by accident, became the face of the uprising. I feel like everything that happens to our ain't by is totally coincidental and he just goes with it 😂 it definitely keeps you on your toes.
It had a lot more borrow elements than I would've ever expected, that all work together and add to the story and contribute to the world building and tension. I did not go in to this expecting cannibalism and ritualistic murders, but here we are! I loved it! It felt so unique blending fantasy. Magic, horror... I can't wait for the next books!

The supporting characters were well-developed buuuut I wasn't a fan of the romance sub-plot - it didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the story, and felt very awkward because of the characters' ages.
But what i did love was how detailed and unique the magic lore was. I love the magic system and how no one is born powerful. Its about access, and ability to consume what is needed to become strong (food based magic). Fascinating, i haven't read anything quite like it

Thank you to NetGalley, Daphne Press & Ryan Rose for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4.5 stars.
Genre(s): fantasy, horror, romance sub-plot.

Overall impression: this surpassed all expectations I had. It was an epic fantasy x horror x romance debut novel that had insane world-building, a multi-layered solid plot and diverse characters. I'm so excited to read the rest of the books in the trilogy when they're eventually released!

Tropes:
➵ Food-based fantasy
➵ Food gives power
➵ Butcher turned chef
➵ Set in a cooking academy
➵ Epic world-building & magic lore
➵ Uprising against the upper class
➵ People vs animals
➵ Rich vs poor
➵ Found family
➵ Romance sub-plot
➵ Coming of age story
➵ Flawed characters
➵ Ritualistic murders
➵ Religious & cult elements
➵ Not everyone lives
➵ Story inside of a story
➵ Ends on a cliffhanger
➵ Happy-for-now (HFN)

⤷ Plot:
The plot was everything I was hoping for and so much more! It followed Paprick who was born poor and in debt to the monarch, and who managed to miraculously make the leap from butcher to chef through creating a greater recipe on accident. He unintentionally became the face of the uprising and got more involved as he saw the disparities between the lives of the upper class and regular people. It had more horror elements than I was expecting with people going missing, ritualistic murders and cannibalism. I absolutely loved the story and can't wait for the next two books to be released in the trilogy, so I can find out what happens next.

⤷ Characters:
Paprick was an imperfect hero. He wasn't born with the desire to change the world or be the face of the uprising but stumbled into the role when he designed his first greater recipe. He had to grow up fast to navigate the complex political environment and learn what his values and morals were.

The supporting characters were well-developed and each added something different to the novel. I wasn't a fan of the romance sub-plot - it didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the story, and felt very awkward because of the characters' ages.

⤷ World-building:
I loved how detailed and unique the magic lore was. It was one of the first books I've read where the magic level of a person wasn't predetermined at birth - and anyone could become powerful if they had access to and consumed the right food.

The settings were really easy to visualise and you could feel what Paprick felt in them - from the sense of love and community in the spice market or at his his parents' home, to the sense of sterility, precision and routine at the cooking school, to the sense of cold terror in the meat lockers.

⤷ Writing:
The story read as a 'story inside of a story' with Paprick retelling the events that led to him becoming Chef King whilst locked up in prison awaiting final judgement. It worked really well and we weren't jarred away from the main storyline very often.

⤷ Everything else:
The book cover is absolutely gorgeous. The art style and scene chosen fits the writing so perfectly. I hope one of the book box companies pick the title up for one of their special editions because I'd love a copy of this book on my shelf!

I'll start by saying that I sadly didn't had the time to finish this book due to personal reasons, making my way to about 53% of it.
I have quite contrasting thoughts about it. On one hand I loved the idea and so much about it, on the other it was terribly underwhelming.
I'll start with what I loved: the worldbuilding. This is book did something I rarely see other do but that I love so much: focusing on the micro, instead of the macro... sure I would have preferred some more detailes about the macro, it was all quite confusing. But I l-o-v-e-d all the little ditails, the culture that Ryan Rose created. From the rituals for mourining to the way they introduce themselves. It felt like real people in a real society!
I also quite liked the back and fourth between past and present, and I'm so sad that I didn't get to discover who the archivist was (I have my theories).
But in this amazing context, in this unique magic system... the plot felt quite bland. I know it's a trope at this point, but it was terribly similar to Red Rising by Pierce Brown. (17yo poor boy "changes identity" to go to enroll into the rich people school while being scouted by the revolutionary people to be their spy).
Another downside were, sadly, the characters... but this might very well be my fault, not having finished the book I couldn't fully appreciate them. But still, for what I read, they all felt kind of flat and I couldn't really bond with them and feel that much intrested in them. They felt like scketches, more than finished creations, if that makes sense.

The narration style didn't felt that much compelling, although I can't really pinpoint why. Life got in the way so the time I had expired on me, but at the same time I rarely feel like picking up the book. I liked the idea of it but not so much actually reading it. Still I would like to know how it ends so I do see myself reading it after it's release.

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to make of this at the start. However, as I got into the story and the characters, it grabbed me and didn’t let go. We have a unique fantasy world, magic, heroes and villains, but above all else, there’s FOOD. Glorious, delicious, magical food.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my copy of this earc!

I have mixed feelings about this book but know I overall enjoyed it. It was a good device to tell the story. It was innovative

EArc provided courtesy of NetGalley
Strap in lads because this is going to be a long and glowing one with some light spoilers thrown in for flavour, since Ryan Rose has managed to weave a story that is going on my list of comfort books (despite its grisly bits). There's simply something in the combination of the veneration of food and fantastical magic that scratches an itch in my soul. I too like Paprick grew up with mothers (though mine were my gran and my mum) who consider food the lifeblood of the family. I read this book in practically one sitting which I think says most of what I'm about to for me.

Before continuing on to my praise I think it necessary to air my grievances. The first of which being the result of my Britishness I did spend a portion of the book translating herbs into English, since Cilantro is not what I call that very useful herb which I thought Cori was named after. The second and larger gripe is the lack of Earth versions of the recipes within since this not being Olearth I can't precisely use carnephon, guavacado or skyroot powder in my cooking. This meaning much to my regret I can't do an 'eatalong' as it were, not that I could afford the amount of beef involved in 7 courses (providing my assumption that carnephon is beef on our less magical planet rings true). Upon publication when I invest in a copy it is likely to become spice covered and more than a little battered when I try and replicate these recipes. Likely relatively poorly since Mexican food which I think Paprick's food is based on that is opposite on the globe to my comfort cuisine of British Indian, not that that will stop me trying.

Now to return to praise, which is nothing technical as I was far too engrossed in the plot to note any of that. I saw myself in the way Paprick's mums measured with their soul after all who needs timings or measurements when they have instinct. I loved the greeting snacks and wish it was more of a thing in reality. Also the way Ryan Rose set up the relationship between the archivist and Paprick with the prologue and then carried that through the book is something I really appreciated and wish I could employ to such effect. That along with the use of food as a medium for protest, revolution has earned this book a place in my heart. Especially as someone who volunteers in a community kitchen it feels close to truth.

I've likely wittered on enough now about my appreciation for this book so I'll leave it there with the simple recommendation that if you like food and fantasy this is the book for you.

Thank you for this eARC!

The mostly-true story of how an ordinary common becomes the legendary Butcher, king-killer and Chef extraordinaire.

Paprick as a main character in both timelines was great—his journey from a young, quite naive man to a leader (and killer) was believable and at times gut-wrenching.

The magic system was unique and super interesting—it also kept me on my toes, developing and expanding as the novel went on, and as the characters themselves also learnt more about emphon. The dystopian setting was relatively simple in its setup (Rare vs commons) but well-executed, and the class politics were explored in depth (again, through Paprick’s eyes as he navigates the different sectors of society)

The interludes with the Butcher and the archivist were my favourite moments—a framing device reminding us that the narrative we’re hearing is a spin, and not necessarily the whole trust, whilst still teasing what is to come. In fact, I almost looked forward to these parts more than the main narrative, which at points felt like it could have moved faster—though the final chapters really sped up, and it was well worth pushing through!

All in all I really enjoyed this book—would definitely read the sequel and recommend to those who like their fantasy with a side of revolution!

This one took me a while. I really enjoyed the narrative device used to tell the story, It doesn't give anything away but really gives you a sense of direction, that you're building to something truly awesome. The world was super interesting, even if the details are a little hazy, like i never really understood the context of the mysterious war which is alluded to throughout the book, the other nations are only passingly mentioned but the magic system and the characters and the nation of the ranch is super fleshed out and feels very visceral and real when it's being described. The ending gets a bit comically out of proportion very quickly, I'm not sure the butcher's final lesson really makes sense in terms of what we learned about him up until that point, but it wasn't so crazy i was completely thrown out of immersion. That does only go to show what good a job was done up until that point. I would be interested in where this series goes next because again the ending felt a bit rushed so fleshing that out would be very cool!

It’s very difficult to sum up how I feel about this book, there are so many amazing elements of this book, but there are also a few things that didn’t quite land as I think they should have done.

I loved the world building in this, this society that revolves around food and that by creating a recipe that imbues magical abilities you could elevate yourself in society.

I loved the recipes interspersed between the chapters and they made for great breaks between events. The recipes are such a fun addition and I don’t think I have ever read anything that does this. I loved Paprick as a reluctant leader, having to make decisions but also challenge the decisions of others in charge, and seeing his tone change from the beginning to when he spoke to the archivist.

I think having the interactions with the archivist randomly throughout the story was a really interesting way to present this story. Having someone call out the unreliable narrator, but also challenge what they didn’t find important was really interesting. I also spent a lot of time trying to figure out who the archivist was, and I’m happy to say I did figure it out. However, and this may just be the formatting of the edition I read, these interjections were not nearly clear enough. I would read the next sentence and then have to go back to make sure I hadn’t missed anything, I think they could have benefited from being more obviously separated or even more regularly spaced so you could expect them.

The pacing was my main issue in this, and I think it only really became an issue at the halfway point. The beginning did a really good job of establishing the world and introducing us to Paprick and the injustices of the society. Then seeing Paprick try to adjust to the Rare society, while balancing his allegiance to the Common was interesting, but it felt like we got more time with the exposition and the set up instead of the action.

This didn’t have a satisfying ending for me, I think if you are telling a story with a circular narrative it needs to connect properly, and you need to get the full explanation or at least mention it, but we got the most basic ‘oh I deliberately got caught so I could tell you this’ we didn’t see what getting caught looked like and it just felt a bit rushed at the end. I am very tempted to read the sequel when it comes out, but that will probably depend on the synopsis.