Celestial Banquet

by Roselle Lim

Iron Chef meets The Hunger Games in Roselle Lim’s dazzling YA fantasy debut, following a young noodle chef who competes in a cutthroat cooking competition for the gods.

Once every generation, the Major Gods hold a Celestial Banquet, inviting chefs from all over the Continent to prepare mouthwatering fantastical feasts. The winner is awarded the fabled Peaches of Immortality, along with a lifetime of fame and fortune. The losers perish per the whims of the fickle gods.

Hot-headed noodle chef Cai enters the competition with dreams of owning her own restaurant and supporting her impoverished Peninsula town. Along with the drunken Minor God Kama, her childhood crush-turned-friend Bo, and dreamy noble Seon, Cai must now compete against the Continent’s finest culinary masters in trials that range from hunting and serving up mystical sea serpents to preparing a magical omurice from the eggs of the legendary Jian bird.

Battling impossible odds and inconvenient feelings for both Bo and Seon, Cai is determined to prepare a feast fit for the gods—even if she loses her life. Set in a spectacular world inspired by Chinese and Southeast Asian folklore, Celestial Banquet is an ode to food, home, and family, wrapped in an epic and thrilling adventure.

Genres: Fantasy, Young Adult, Audiobook, Mythology, Romance, Young Adult Fantasy, Fiction

321 pages, ebook

First published June 3, 2025

About the author

Roselle Lim was born in the Philippines and immigrated to Canada as a child. She lived in north Scarborough in a diverse, Asian neighbourhood.

She found her love of writing by listening to her lola (paternal grandmother's) stories about Filipino folktales. Growing up in a household where Chinese superstition mingled with Filipino Catholicism, she devoured books about mythology, which shaped the fantasies in her novels.

An artist by nature, she considers writing as "painting with words."

Reviews

[Ricarda · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's "following a young noodle chef who competes in a cutthroat cooking competition for the gods." Well, yes please.

Update: Well, this sounded way better than it actually was in the end. I'm still very much in love with the idea of a cooking competition for the gods, but the execution lacked in every way possible. The book is fairly short and everything is sped up to the point where I'm unable to care for literally anything. And why would I? Everything about the plot is so terribly convenient, it's laughable. A problem would occur, everyone would lose their mind over it, and then the solution is found within 2 pages, usually by the main character Cai. Somehow she has the answer for everything after barely thinking about a situation and she is also better than everyone even though she has had the least training. And don't get me started on the love triangle featuring three flat characters. There is a life-threatening competition to impress the gods, and somehow everyone is talking about the love life of these random teenagers. Even the gods are interested in that for whatever reason! Wasted potential on every level and a big disappointment for me.

[Aisvarya (Semi-hiatus) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Five cooking teams. Three deadly trials. One final winner.

If you've watched the Netflix shows, Iron Chef or Culinary Class Wars & wished for it to be a book, you absolutely gotta read this. And if you add some fantasy elements to the shows & make the judges into major gods (aka pompous pricks with so much power in their hands), and the challenges into even higher stakes (as in you could literally explode if one thing goes wrong), you'd get Celestial Banquet!!!

Final rating - 3.5⭐

What can you expect -
🍜East Asian inspired YA fantasy
🍜Strong FMC with a short temper
🍜Two strong & handsome MMCs
🍜Deadly, exhausting trials hosted by the gods
🍜Lavish feasts & mouthwatering delicacies
🍜Love triangle

Celestial Banquet is every food lover's paradise, cuz you could get lost in the elaborate descriptions of delectable delicacies & may also end up with more cravings, so do tread with caution, aka have your snacks or meal prepared by the side while you read it!!!

The story follows Cai, a young noodle maker & cooking prodigy who wants nothing in life than to participate & win in the Celestial Banquet, the cooking competition that's held every decade by the major gods! The winner is bestowed the peaches of immortality which are priceless & coveted by every chef in the Peninsula. And we follow her journey into the competitions that prove to be more strenuous & demanding than she thought it'd be.

The book gets straight into the plot by introducing our FMC who's skilled and knowledgeable in the culinary arts, and introduces the competition right away which might seem to be a bit intimidating if not done right but it doesn't seem to be so. Plus each chapter starts with a titbit about the world or the gods or even some of the mythical creatures, so you're always made aware of the things you should know before getting into that chapter. And this gets you slowly acclimated to the world than making you feel overwhelmed with the info-dump. And the world was quite detailed & interesting as well, and it made me feel like this book would translate so well into an animated movie. The writing was so flavorful & descriptive that every single time a dish was described, the picture was immediately evoked in my mind & I felt like I was there beside them preparing & tasting it!!!

Coming to the characters, Cai was quite an interesting character to follow cuz even though she was skilled in cooking, she wasn't perfect and had her own flaws, one of which includes her sharp tongue. No matter the situation or the status of the person she's talking to, she doesn't hesitate to speak out her heart if they do so much as utter something insulting!! And I admired that about her cuz it showed how much self-respect she has & that she would not let anyone talk bad about her place or her parents without knowing the reality about them. And she has so much empathy even towards her rivals in the competition which might appear to be dangerous to have esp in such a setting but it distinguishes her as a character who'd readily aid anyone in danger over herself.

And I'm gonna be completely honest, I didn't really care about either of the love interests nor the love triangle!!!! Both of their advances towards Cai felt juvenile & I found myself rolling my eyes every single time they wanted to talk to her about their feelings. Like you're literally minutes away from being obliterated, and you want her to kiss you & tell you how she feels?!!!!!🙄😮‍💨 Idk if it's because I usually get icks from reading cliched YA romance or it was really done for the sake of doing it but the love triangle in here wasn't it.

Other than that, I really liked all our other characters - minor god Kama, Tala, even the two MMCs (Seon & Bo) when they were aiding in the competition or talking about their families, etc but just couldn't handle the romance.

Also the narrator, Natalie Naudus brought Cai to life with her amazing narration. Usually with YA books on audio, there's a fine line between making them sound just right or making them too childish & immature (which I absolutely hate), but the narrator made Cai sound perfectly stubborn & confident, and not even a tiny bit childish which I appreciate. And this made my experience ten times better as I found myself listening to it non-stop.

Overall, if you love books with trials, and also LOVE FOOD & different cuisines, you gotta pick this one up.

Huge thanks to Dreamscape Select & Sweet July Books for the ALC through NetGalley!!!

[Bookishrealm · Rating 3 out of 5]

Celestial Banquet had all the makings of an interesting food based competition against the gods. Unfortunately, for me, the execution didn't deliver in a way that would have made this a more enjoyable read. Though the premise was intriguing, Lim didn't delve into intricate world-building that would keep readers invested in both the plot and characters. I appreciated Cai's enthusiasm and passion for cooking and her fierce love and loyalty for her father, but she often felt one-dimensional. Those moments most frequently occurred in direct relationship to the "love triangle." As a reader, I wanted to know more about Cai's community, her relationship with her father, the community's connection to the gods, yet the text lost it's ability to create powerful moments when it focused on whether she should choose Bo or Seon. This goes back to my feeling that every teen novel doesn't need to have a romance. Had the relationship taken a back seat to the world-building and fleshing out of characters, the story itself would have been stronger and more enjoyable. That being said, I still had good moments with the story and enjoyed the intricate descriptions of food and the challenges. This is a debut so I'm interested in seeing what Roselle Lim will produce in the future.

[Roselle Lim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the book of my foodie heart.

I injected as much of The Mummy (1999) vibes into this.

I hope readers love Cai, Bo, Seon, Kama, and Tala as much as I do.

9.9.24

The cover is so beautiful. I can’t wait for readers to see it!

[Krissi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for providing a free audio arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cute and quick read. Every 10 years, the Gods hold a banquet, which involves a competition between lesser gods and the best cooks they choose in the kingdom to win a peach of immortality. The concept was very unique and fascinating, and the book was done well. However, I feel that more regarding the lore and gods could have been elaborated on. The world building was good, though, and you did feel immersed in the story and world.

The characters were very interesting and well developed. I thought that the romance subplot needed some serious work though as it almost felt like an afterthought and was not well developed. All in all, this was a cute, quick read and for the author's debut book it was good! I am definitely interested in reading anything else this author comes out with.

[nika.ex.libris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this as an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In "Celestial Banquet," the story unfolds in a unique world where every ten years the main gods host a lavish banquet. At this event, lesser gods choose talented chefs who will compete on their behalf, presenting delicious dishes to the powerful deities. The main character, Kai, a master noodle-maker, decides to participate, representing her patron, the god Kamu. Her goal is to win immortal peaches to open a restaurant in memory of her late father.

Each chapter begins with an excerpt from a scroll that deepens the world and provides context, which is very enjoyable.

The pacing feels quite fast to me; I struggled to connect or feel the romantic subplot, which isn’t really necessary here.

I would classify this as a short story. The idea has potential! The book is not clichéd in terms of concept and plot, but it lacks depth and detail.

While reading, I found myself wanting to try their dishes!

Idea: 5/5
Plot: 3/5
Characters: 3/5
Emotions: 2/5

[Andi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a chance at reading this book.

I understood the plot, I understood what the author wanted to do with it, but I rode it out because I had to see where the romance would go. The romance that became an obsession over everyone - including the gods, and including the empress. For some STRANGE reason everyone was hung up on who she would choose: Bo or Seon?

Their characters were poorly written and existed to be simply there. Bo, the strong muscular, friend who was always there for her and understood her. Seon, the pretty rich boy who hardly knew her and who she kind of just started having feelings with over the course of the tournament blossom. If I had to choose either of them, Bo, but overall? Both of them lacked depth that I saw no romance between either of them.

BUT, for some reason, our main character was having a devil of a time choosing. I did have to hand it to her - she kept telling the guys to f off while she focused on winning the peaches that would (checks notes) grant immortality to mortals... and lengthen immortality to mortals? She also wanted the peaches because it would force the empress to back off / not go to war / overtake her city.

As I said, everyone became fascinated on this dilemma over which boy was better for her. ... Then the ending happened and I was like, WELP WHAT WAS THAT. Because she made her choice but it made no sense, as I stated - just couldn't see her with either boy.

Also, I don't know if this is supposed to have a sequel or another two books lined up, but how it ended made it feel like that couldn't be the end. And yet, with the lack of world and character building, could another book help this book?

I think this book needs to be given more background / backstory on the war with empress and why our female lead has beef with them - besides her dad dying for the empress. I think the relationships / characters of both men need to be built up better. In return, explain why these gods gave a shit about what boy she chose like they were tuning into their own live action Bachelor.

I gave it two stars because I did like the girls, and I did like the tournament based around food and the outcome of it, but the end game didn't make sense as to what I read / knew about the story.

[Lastblossom]

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.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sweet July Books for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own!

[Izzy⁷♡•° · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review

To sum up this reading experience, I just have to say that I was so aware that I was reading words on a page, you know?

Intriguing concept, however the execution was extremely lacking.
There was basically no world building. Why was there a war? Beside there being an evil empress. How was an immortality peach, that was going to be sold to buy a building be the solution to stop this supposed war? Absolutely nonsense, that is what I say.

Besides the descriptions of food, the writing left a lot to be desired. It was so to the point that it was painful, there's was absolutely no nuance in this entire book. The author constantly told us how everything made the characters feel. The message of this book was also so heavy-handed.

The characters were as flated as a piece of paper, and that is me being generous. They had no personality besides the author really trying to make us believe they did.

Now, as if it wasn't already bad, the worst for last, the live triangle. That was the most painful thing I have ever read, no chemistry at all. Why was everyone so obsessed with who this sixteen year old girl "ended up" with.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review: 3 stars

Celestial Banquet depicts the story of Cai, a inspiring cook who dreams of participating and winning the “Celestial Banquet” cooking competition to win the magical peach of immortality. To do so, she must convince Kama, her minor god, to participate in the competition and journey to Xianling to cook for the major gods. However, things take an interesting turn in this deadly competition as each contestant goes through deadly tasks for every round of the competition to reach the final round. Will Cai succeed?

Ok, I have very mixed feelings about this book. Hence, the mid-star rating. Also note that I was buddy reading this with two others who are still reading the book 🤣 (I seem to have a knack of rush reading…and leaving everyone behind)

Great
- I find Cai a wonderful main character - steadfast in her belief and so determined to win this competition
- The worldbuilding was easy to follow yet wonderfully pronounced to the Asian theme centering around 5 major gods followed by the minor gods
- There was some aspect of found family here as the contestants have to go through the competitions with teams of 4 people
- The plot was interesting and fast paced. It was never dull where the story line was moving forward, it also makes this a fast read as I finished this in 2 days.
- The depiction of Asian food was amazing. I find myself drooling with hunger when reading this book
- The cooking competition depicted was not just a cooking competition but also involved the task of obtaining the main magical ingredient, the prep that goes into it and the cooking aspect

Not so good
- A love triangle: WHYYYYY?!! I feel like the book could have done without a love story. The love story where 2 boys vy for attention is soo distracting. In fact, there were times where Cai admits to feeling - distracted. AND also why is everyone so interested to know who she picks?! It’s like everyone right down to the major and her team wants to know.
- More time could have been spent on Kama and his history, eg: what made him not participate in the competition the past years and what made him change his mind to do so when it was Cai’s generation?
- For a fantasy book, this book is surprisingly morbid in its deliverance of punishment
- I feel like some of the major emotions the characters experienced are very surface level, eg: the deaths of the others, it was like oh, this happen - moving on, then…
- More depictions of the history of the competitors could be provided to make the stakes more pronounced which was only casually mentioned at the end
- There were also some unexplored plot holes which might be explored in Book 2

Overall, I did find this an interesting read but the execution was somewhat lacking. So, I am unlikely to be reading book 2 to continue the story.

Thank you Zando Projects and Netgalley for the arc. All thoughts are my own.

[Leo · Rating 1 out of 5]

Proper RTC. This is unfinished and amateurish. It's very disappointing. Most of the book is spent childishly harping about a love triangle in which there is literally 0 chemistry. It ends abruptly and without any sort of satisfaction.

[Mikey ಠ◡ಠ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to start by saying I know this is supposed to be YA and I believe you can read YA at any age. If you love YA books, I love that for you! I even do read and enjoy some YA books here and there. But in this case I found the love triangle first of all confusing because love triangle where? Cai liked Seon period. And Bo made it weird. Sorry if Bo is your fave, I just. He was giving major Gale (from The Hunger Games) vibes and I never liked Gale. Also it was just grating, to me the triangle nonsense got so much in the way of the story. I'd say keep this edition as is for the young adults & the romance readers, but then also release an edition without the romance stuff for those of us who just care about the cooking competition.

If this was all about the competition, I would be all about this book in return. It really was the forced romance aspect that brought this down so much for me. I felt like every time I started to get into the world and the stakes of the completion we were dragged back to who will Cai choose. Like girl, no one, if you don't let this poor girl focus on her cooking, her life is at stake!

What I will say is the cover is absolutely STUNNING and I do really like that we wasted no time jumping into the story itself. Sometimes I feel as though authors don't trust young readers to pick up the story as it progresses and therefore wastes a lot of time with unnecessary and prolonged setup, but that was not the case here and we love that.

I also had a feeling this might become a series, which, good for the author, truly! But if so, I am going to bow out of any future books, it's clear to me I am not the intended audience here this time.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the high stakes cooking competition, to the quests, to the classic YA 'best friend vs. crush' love triangle, this book delivered on everything it promised and I loved every minute of it. It was just so much fun. I only wish it could have been a little bit longer, so I could have spent more time with this ragtag crew and delved deeper into the world. I had such a good time with this book and it's one I'd happily return to for a foodie fantasy fix.

what to expect:

- lots of food
- love triangle
- cooking contest
- meddling gods
- deadly trials

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super fun YA cozy romantasy that had a baking competition element with life or death consequences. There was also a love triangle and it was just an overall entertaining experience especially as an audiobook narrated by Natalie Naudus - my very fav! Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an early audio copy in exchange for my honest review! Recommended for fans of books like The heartbreak bakery by A. R. Capetta.

[Sydney ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to love Celestial Banquet, but after slogging through 300 pages, the best thing I can say about it is that the concept is cool. Everything else—characters, plot, pacing, writing—fell far short of the stellar concept.

The one positive about this book is that the concept is super unique and definitely delivers on the foodie aspect! I’m always a sucker for a good tournament arc, so it was fun following Cai and the rest of the characters on their culinary adventures. I loved the East-Southeast Asian fusion cuisine described in each cooking scene and the specific mentions of garnishes and sauces, though for a book with a chef MC, it was a little light on specific cooking details (not that I minded—I’m a mediocre cook at best). I haven’t seen too many YA fantasy books that focus on cooking, so it was a nice way to innovate the tournament trope, even if Cai’s specialty (noodles) don’t play a huge factor in the actual tournament. There were also lots of interesting fantasy creatures and magic-infused ingredients that made the dishes seem extra tasty!

Unfortunately, that’s the extent of my praise for this book. For me, it was incredibly obvious that this was the author’s first YA (previously she’d only published adult romances) because everything felt incredibly forced. The narrative voice came across as 80% immature (especially as the main character Cai obsesses over her two male love interests) and 20% visually stunning prose, which seemed to be the author trying to embody a YA voice while trying to preserve her normal adult-leaning writing style. I read a quote from a literary agent a few weeks ago that said teen readers can immediately spot inauthenticity in YA and this is very true when it comes to this book. While I’m technically just past my teenage years, I clocked the inauthenticity immediately. I’m a huge advocate for younger YA, but this book reads far more immature than “young.”

On paper, the main character Cai has a great motive in wanting to honor her father’s legacy, but it’s only told to the reader and not shown because she spends an insufferable amount of time angsting over the love triangle. I know teenagers are hormonal and grapple with romantic crushes, but my god was that all Cai (and every other character!!) talked about. Both love interests felt far too archetypical (the childhood friend vs. the handsome rich boy) and had very little personality aside from being nice and sacrificing for Cai; the same can be said of all the side characters, which each have one unique trait per character. The stakes also flip-flopped all the time—Cai’s personal interests are to open a restaurant and honor her father, but she’s also constantly worried about imperial colonization with zero actionable plan aside from a hazy “oh no my way of life will disappear.” There was no sense of imminent danger or stakes, which made the important commentary on cultural displacement and colonization extremely one note. The lack of stakes also negatively impacted the worldbuilding, which had the potential to be as immersive and intriguing as Elizabeth Lim’s similar East/Southeast Asian-fusion world of Lor’yan but felt haphazard with little impact on the characters and their conflicts.

Speaking of Elizabeth Lim, this book had the potential to be a successor to Spin the Dawn (Tournament arc! Magic-infused arts and trades! Mythology! East/Southeast Asian fusion!) but instead read like a hodge-podge of its tropes with lackluster execution. I loved Spin the Dawn and adore Elizabeth Lim’s books in general, which made Celestial Banquet all the more disappointing. I really wanted to support another YA Asian fantasy as well as Ayesha Curry’s first venture into publishing (I’m from the Bay Area and the Curry family are local celebrities lol), but it’s clear that this is a shaky first step for both parties. I sincerely hope both are able to deliver in their next ventures because there’s some fascinating conceptual work here, but this first attempt completely fell flat for me :(

2/5 stars
Thank you to the lovely publicity team at Zando for sending me a physical ARC of this book for review. This does not influence my review in any way—all thoughts and opinions are my own.

[salmonflakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75.

First and foremost, I'd like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me the ARC Audio of this book.

This book was described as Iron Chef meets Hunger Games. I think it was more of a high stakes Iron Chef with Deadly Trials.

Every 10 years the Gods hold a food competition for a chance to win the peach of immortality. The teams are usually made up of 3 humans and a lower God who is the sponsor of the human team composed of one chef, one noble, and one bodyguard. They go through dangerous trials to obtain specific ingredients the higher Gods wish to have in their dish and of course the Gods would have to like their dish to move on.

As a foodie myself and who also loves c-dramas about cooking (Chef Hua and Delicacies Destiny), I really enjoyed this book, a quick easy read!

However, I do wish the world building was a bit more developed, the characters had a bit more depth and the romance was more thought through and not just plopped down in random places.

But it still didn't deter me from enjoying this book and I would read more from this author. As a debut book it was good enough that I actually would continue this story if it becomes a series and it sounds like it will, so I am excited!

The narrator did a wonderful job and did all the different characters voices well.

[Andria Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started out strong, the premise is amazing (Iron Chef meets Hunger Games? Yes please!), but it seemed much too rushed to be fully enjoyable. Still, this was a fun read, and highly recommended for anyone that's interested in food or cooking or competitions. 4.5 ⭐

[Brittany · Rating 3 out of 5]

"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.

[Phoebe · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC.

I was entranced by the cover art and intrigued by the premise, but unfortunately, this book was severely underbaked. The author delivered with her descriptions of all the mouth-watering and fantastical ingredients and dishes that pop up throughout the book (I started getting very hungry at some parts), but everything else was...lacking. Though the beginning was promising, we are quickly thrown into the Celestial Banquet without much room to sit with the world the author creates or to learn about Cai's experience and reputation in her hometown as a renowned noodlemaker. While we are given the opportunity to see her ingenuity, it's still hard to believe that she could be the best chef suited to be a candidate out of the entire Peninsula from just one challenge. This disbelief continues in the actual competition; it's difficult to understand why and how she wins the Banquet when we aren't given the opportunity to see what her competitors cook in comparison.

Speaking of the actual competition, for being so deadly and overseen by fickle gods, while the stakes were high, they never felt that way. The majority of the book felt like a detailed summary; we're told so many things instead of actually shown them (except for the food), and we're overwhelmed with tons of info-dumping at the exact moment whatever concept is introduced. For the trials, they were described and solved so quickly that it was hard to develop any emotional investment in the outcome when Cai and her team succeeded for the most part without any major risks or injury. I also found it odd and kind of a cop-out for Cai to mostly just copy her competitors' solutions or get the exact thing she needs from her teammates (like Tala somehow possessing a surprise spice that makes objects float so Cai doesn't have to swim??) instead of relying on what should've been her own ingenuity when this competition is supposed to be about showing how skilled and talented she is. Despite the competition leaving Cai and her friends mostly unscathed, it is severely deadly for the other competitors yet their deaths are not really handled with the appropriate weight, mostly again because of the author's writing style. I never believed that Cai felt true regret, horror, or even fear for her own life because of how underwhelmingly everything is described.

Speaking of Cai herself, I know that she is described in the synopsis as hot-headed but she can be immensely frustrating, with the way that she is in a deadly competition serving food to gods who can kill her if they don't like her tone, yet she can't stop herself from speaking out and somehow everything turns out fine for her. It would've been more interesting if we actually saw consequences for Cai's hot-headedness and would've made the competition seem more lethal, as well as enhance Cai's later realization that the Banquet was a means of fear and control. The story was also heavily bogged down by the love triangle, and frankly, Cai's indecisiveness made her deeply unlikable to me. It was annoying how each boy kept pushing Cai to choose between them in the middle of a life-changing competition, but they had a point that she should choose instead of stringing them along because she even admits to herself she *knows* who she wants more. To Cai's credit, she does keep insisting that she needs to focus on the Banquet first and foremost but this is unfortunately undermined by her actions where she keeps kissing each boy a few pages later and constantly thinking about them. Still, she refuses to give an answer until the very end, and despite the losing boy being understandably heartbroken and pissed at her for stringing him along, she selfishly keeps pushing things to go back to normal. I really wish the story had solely focused on the Banquet and didn't have the love triangle forced in at every turn; even the minor and major gods were all pressing her for a choice, which just made things ridiculous.

As for the other characters, they were all terribly one-dimensional and their dialogue mostly very bland. I also didn't understand at all how they came to grow bonds with Cai, particularly Tala and Songwon; it just felt like after an eternity of ignoring her or being stand-offish, a switch flipped and they were suddenly best friends revealing deep secrets to each other. Tala's revelations were particularly baffling and not given enough weight. I also thought it was pretty inappropriate of Cai to get excited about her being a princess the second Tala says her parents were killed. Lots of backstories were given as unnatural info-dumps, which again was underwhelming. The Empress, the overarching antagonist, was disappointingly one-note with not a hint of cunning or grace, just a caricature of a tyrant. How is this the woman who conquered most of the Continent and who has the privilege of dining with the gods?

I did enjoy the last surprise twist about the immortal peaches, but I found it slightly odd that Cai changed her mind about them solely to save Kama and not, like, for the people of the Peninsula that she keeps telling the reader she would do anything to help protect against the Empress. Cai's vendetta against the Empress and ambitions to help the Peninsula felt kind of out of nowhere for her character and perhaps even too large for who she is, not to mention they aren't properly fleshed out to make us believe that that's what Cai wants. Aside from the tasty food descriptions, I also did like that the major gods were genderless, embodying both male and female, but that and the Empress's prominent position felt a little dissonant with the fact that strict gender roles supposedly still exist (which also weren't really enforced as a struggle Cai experiences despite us being told so). Additionally, the book could use another round of editing, as I found multiple typos including a misgendering of Indulgence, though I know this is an early copy and hopefully most were caught before publication.

Overall, I was really disappointed with this book and probably won't be picking up the sequel if there will be one.

[Betty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you NetGalley for the chance to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

Lately I have been loving reading books related to food, so I thought this would be the perfect read for me. It has a high-stakes food competition, and it is also fantasy, but I feel sad to say that it did not satisfy me.

My favourite thing about Celestial Banquet was the competition; I really liked the way it played out. Cai was a wonderful protagonist to follow. Cai’s thought process while making dishes was cool, and I would have loved if the book had focused on her cooking even more.

I feel like the romance could have been written way better, and at certain parts I felt like it was taking away from the main plot. I really didn’t care who Cai ended up with because both Bo and Seon felt distant to me.

Throughout the book these big moments drop on us, but they actually don’t do anything to make the book better. This made the ending not satisfactory because I thought everyone would get closure or it would all connect, but it just didn’t.

[bailey elizabeth smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

2⭐️

I loved the concept, but the execution sadly feels flat for me. This is the author's debut in the fantasy genre, and I unfortunately found the story to be quite underdeveloped when it came to the world-building. There was just too much going on while the plot tried to balance trials for a peach of immortality, a looming war, and a love triangle.

The characters and the plot were flimsy, and the love triangle (if you can even call it that) was just sort of there to be there.

I don't know, it just made me hungry and frustrated all at the same time.

[Lauren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Goodreads for my copy of Celestial Banquet! I loved this book. Every character has depth and you end up wanting all of them to win. The magical ingredients were cruel because I’ll never be able to try them, but this was such a high stakes yet cozy read that I’ll forgive the author for temping me with unobtainable foods.

[Maddy Newquist]

there’s a special circle of comp het hell reserved for authors who make their female YA protagonist choose between two guys while describing every other woman in the book as the most beautiful woman their MC has ever seen

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

both Bo and Seon have absolutely no romantic chemistry with Cai whatsoever, but chopped with dragons was fun

[♡ Tkay! · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up! ⭐⭐⭐⭐

‧₊˚ ⋅ 🍙🍣🍱🥢 ‧₊˚ ⋅

Iron Chef meets Hunger Games?! (Okay, I've never read the Hunger Games, please don't come for me). However, I live for binge-watching the Food Network and adore anything culinary related. A book that incorporates not only a cooking competition, but powerful Gods, Chinese and East Asian folklore, legendary creatures, trials and romance? This author is speaking my absolute love language.

💫 Synopsis/Plot:

Every generation, the Gods hold a cooking competition, inviting people from all over the Continent to compete. The winner receives not only a lifetime of fame and fortune, but a Peach of Immortality. The losers, well, they perish at the hands of the Gods. Cai, who has dreams of opening to her own restaurant to honor her father, enters the competition alongside her friends Bo, Seon and their Minor God, Kama. They fight through hungry trials, determined to make a meal worthy of the Gods themselves and come out alive.

💫 Thoughts:

There were a few things that I think could've been amped up a little bit to put this book over the edge. Overall though, this was a solid fantasy debut for this author and I really enjoyed it! Also, this cover is stunning!

💫 The Characters: This was my biggest issue with the book. We didn't get a TON of character development, and I wish we had gotten the chance to get to know them better in the beginning and learn a little more back story. They all seemed to be missing that extra sprinkle of salt, which I hated because they all had so much potential, especially the gods and goddesses. Our main character, Cai, was fighting for a chance to open a restaurant in her fathers honor, but I didn't quite feel the motivation and fire for that throughout the book. I also thought she was slightly oblivious to the obvious romance cues around her. To be honest, I think this book didn't even need a romance aspect. Overall though, I thought the characters just needed a little bit more and I was missing that connection.

💫 The World-building/Setting: The world-building was really vivid, and it was very easy to picture the magical setting they were in. The author did a great job of describing the extravagant places, and it added a really nice touch to the book. The food descriptions and the cooking scenes were what I looked forward to the most. I wanted to taste the dishes through the pages, and I didn't quite get that.

💫 Plot: The plot was fun, and fast paced. There was never a dull moment, and something was always happening. Some of the main moments in the story, like the trials, seemed rushed and weren't as played out as I wanted them to be. As soon as it started to get intense, it was over. There was a scene where a certain someone was hurt and practically on their death bed, but by the next page they were fine. I wanted to shed some tears and have my heart broken in two, but I didn't get the chance.

💫 Final Thoughts: If you are a fan of Chopped, Iron Chef, the anime Food Wars, Squid Game & The Hunger Games, you will probably like this. If you are just a foodie in general and love cooking, you will probably like this. If you enjoy a fast-paced, fun book with YA themes and a touch of Mythology and Asian folklore, you will probably like this. Despite it's minor quirks, this was a enjoyable read. I really liked the authors writing, and will be looking out for more of her works.

‧₊˚ ⋅ 🍙🍣🍱🥢 ‧₊˚ ⋅

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

[Winnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 2.5/5.0 stars

Celestial Banquet unfurls a world where ancient gods, having banished Death, now host a decennial culinary competition. Teams from the mortal empire, comprising a sponsor, a noble, a guardian, and a candidate, vie for divine favor and the ultimate prize: peaches of immortality. We follow Cai, a spirited noodle chef from the Peninsula, as she navigates this contest, aiming to honor her late father's legacy and secure a future for her homeland. It’s a compelling premise, indeed.

However, while the concept itself is a feast for the imagination, the execution proves painfully poor. The narrative often feels as though it skipped a crucial proofreading stage; editing appears nonexistent, and plot holes abound like misplaced ingredients. Many elements, such as the curse of extreme honesty, don't quite land with the impact suggested, often feeling utterly pointless.

Despite the constant threat of death, dismemberment, and divine wrath, the cooking competition itself strangely lacks tension. Characters are brutally maimed or obliterated, yet readers rarely feel the weight of these consequences. Furthermore, the protracted, and frankly unnecessary, love triangle consumes significant page time, distracting from the central culinary journey.

The prose itself, while generally accessible, frequently strikes a jarringly modern note, pulling one out of the purportedly historical setting. Cai, despite her undeniable culinary talent, often frustrates with her reactive outbursts. The Empress of Wan, meant to be a formidable antagonist, remains a flat, one-dimensional villain. And while some side characters boast compelling backstories, many ultimately remain underdeveloped. Most critically, Cai’s victory feels largely unearned. Despite her culinary descriptions, the narrative struggles to convey what truly elevates her final dishes beyond the merely satisfactory, leaving readers wondering what distinct flavor profile secured her the win or was it just thanks to other teams’ bad luck.

The sole consistent strong point, and indeed, the book's saving grace, is Lim's unwavering commitment to delightful culinary metaphors. These expressions genuinely tie into the theme and offer moments of genuine charm and wit.

Ultimately, Celestial Banquet serves up an intriguing menu with a few flavorful flourishes, but the final dish leaves a rather unfulfilling aftertaste, much like a promising recipe missing the necessary polish.

[Sakura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hunger Games meets Iron Chef in this YA fantasy novel. Sadly, the only strong element of the Hunger Games I got from this book was the annoying love triangle 😅

Let me back up though. The premise of this is good. I was interested in exploring more of the amalgamation of all Asian cultures into one fantasy land, as well as the melting pot (hehe) of their cuisines. The book jumps right into the main plot and the pacing moves pretty fast throughout the book.

Almost too fast though. I feel like a lot was skimmed over. Especially the cooking aspect, it seemed glossed over when it was basically the main plot of the book: cooking for the gods. There could have been greater world-building in this novel for the ending to really pack a punch. As things were tying up towards the end, it seemed like a lot of things were an after-thought. The author could have really dug into the brutality of the Hunger Games-like competition. But each trial felt a little too fast and not explored enough with its after effects and other contestants.

This fast pacing also affected the characters because they came across quite flat to me. There was an opportunity to have a fun found family aspect, but I wasn’t getting it. The roles everyone took on were too cliche: ambitious female main character who doesn’t know how to hold her temper, suddenly-a-man-childhood best friend (aka potential love interest #1), classically handsome, popular rich guy (aka potential love interest #2), a foil to the FMC and a comic relief. Though I will admit the character of Kama was endearing and my favourite part of the whole book.

The FMC also had way too many cliched lines that they were saying. But I’m reeeeally hoping that it was just the ARC I read that made it feel messy. The basic bones of the book is actually quite good and the ending left an impression as well. The author is also an exceptional writer. There was so much potential for this to be really good.

I was also able to listen to the audiobook for this, because at the 60% mark I was almost ready to DNF it. I thought maybe it was the younger voice in the narrative that was tripping me up. But I found the audiobook (ALC) a bit messy too. The pronunciations were a bit wonky and there was a singing portion that really made me cringe. But I did manage to finish the book because of the audiobook. Again, it wasn’t horrible, just not the greatest, unfortunately.

Thank-you to NetGalley for the chance to read this ARC and ALC!

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recieved this in exchange for an honest review, thanks to NetGalley

The descriptions of the food, clothing, setting are absolutely amazing. The food descriptions left me salivating; the descriptions of the gods appearances and their clothing was so magical and so easy to imagine in my head; the architecture and the buildings were describe so well and it was easy to picture in my mind. I really, really enjoyed these parts of the book and they are definitely the strongest parts. I could read a whole nother book of Lim just describing food and clothing - she is really talented here.

This is the third book recently that has involved a cooking competition, similar to The Great British Bake-Off, and it is clearly a trope/setting/idea I am loving. I really enjoyed reading about the competition in this novel, just like I have in the other books.

However, and it is a big however, this story is VERY weak in the emotional, romantic, and conclusion departments.
Emotional - the story has a few very shocking and sad very sad moments but they happen and we move on in about two sentences. There is literally no build up, the description is not there, and it's rushed. For example; there was an explosive, this person died, that's really bad. Oh well, but back to cooking. Done.

Romance - I absolutely hated the romance and the love triangle in this. It made no sense, it was stupid, and the conclusion to it was absolutely ridiculous and lacklustre. Again, there was absolutely no build up to the romance or feelings. Also, if the main character hadn't liked them, there would've been sexual harrassment multiple times, but because she's into the person/people, it's fine. I'm sorry but the romance pissed me off. It felt almost fake because of how poorly written it was; I was seriously expecting an A-HA! moment from one, if not both, of the love interests because I could not believe the romantic feelings were actually happening. I was genuinely waiting for a "silly girl, you've been manipulated all this time" or some ulterior motive to be revealed towards the end. This was Lim's weakest area in my opinion. It gave me the ick multiple times and made me cringe. Both love interests and the romance itself were not written well.

Conclusion - The conclusion was very rushed, again no build-up or tension towards the finale of competition; it was literally revealed, again, within about two sentences and it was over. And then the actually ending was so bad. If there is a sequel, then I'll forgive the very end. But where were end was just genuinely rushed and not a happy ending for any of our main characters in my opinion.

[Vrinda's Book Nook · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 ⭐ - 🥗⚔ A cozy foodie fantasy with deadly celestial trials! I loved the concept of a celestial cooking competition, and the characters were great fun. The food descriptions throughout the book were rich and delightful. I loved the scrolls at the starting of each chapter, capturing a facet of the history/lore of the world - it was an interesting and vibrant setting that felt quite fresh. I always find the culture, concepts and magic in eastern-inspired fantasy books to be quite creative.

I was quite happy to get both the e-arc and audiobook for this story through NetGalley.

🎧 Audiobook Rating: 4.25 ⭐
Narrated by Natalie Naudus (Dreamscape Media)
The narrator's voice is rich and earthy. I found her tone to be quite comforting and expressive - the voices for all the characters were done really well, especially the male characters. And I have to say, I absolutely LOVED it when she sang in a chapter towards the end! I added a 0.25 to the rating purely on account of that. This is a rare instance where listening to the audiobook actually enhanced my enjoyment of the story, and made it feel more cozy and fun. I'm now curious to know whether she has released any songs! 😋

What didn't work for me:
The back and forth romance with two love interests - Cai was simply too young and indecisive! I think this story could have done without such an emphasis on the romance, because there was a lot of fun potential for the world and setting to be explored better. Critical events in the story were overtaken and overshadowed by conversations around her romantic life, which felt silly or cheesy at times. Also, everyone in the story from the Gods to competitors to friends, were invested in which of the two love interests she would pick. 😂 Somehow, because of the audiobook and other positive elements of the story, I found it dramatically funny for the most part. (Otherwise there are far too many books I have dnf'ed on account of getting annoyed by such things 😋 )

Overall, this was an enjoyable cozy read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the complementary e-arc and audiobook of this story. All opinions expressed here are my own.

[✧ Beanie Reads ✧]

Read: May 27th - June 1st
Format: E-Book
Rating: No rating, DNF-ed @ 50

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this listening ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I wanted to try to finish this book. It's only about 7 hours, and I was at 50%, but that entire 50%, the book felt like a 2-star read to me, and I couldn't imagine the next half getting any better.

I don't know exactly where to pin my issues. Maybe the fact it's so quick paced? The plot had to keep moving forward, so I never really learned who anyone was in this book, but also, there's this focus on a love-triangle, so it feels like I should know the people involved more? Yet I don't. I only know the role they fulfill, nothing more. And there's so many names, which makes sense in this sort of situation, but some of those names should have weight, you know? Instead they feel like fodder for people to lose.

The only character I really cared about was Kama. I always love gods that don't let godhood make them lose their humanity and genuinely care about the people they're patron over.

The cooking scenes, which was what drew me in because godly cooking competition sounds awesome, were at least pretty decent. I think they'd have worked better for me if not for the other issue: the writing felt juvenile. And yes, I know this is a YA book, but I don't think YA book means the writing has to feel so young. Books can still be fast paced, teenage accessible, and all that without feeling as weightless as the writing in this did. That lack of meat and weight to the writing is what I think made it come across as juvenile.

Others seemed to really like this book, so it may just be a me thing. As always, I hope people can pick this up and love it because all books deserve someone to love them. I just am not the right person in this case.