Automatic Noodle

by Annalee Newitz

From sci-fi visionary and acclaimed author Annalee Newitz comes Automatic Noodle, a cozy near-future novella about a crew of abandoned food service bots opening their very own restaurant.

While San Francisco rebuilds from the chaos of war, a group of food service bots in an abandoned ghost kitchen take over their own delivery app account. They rebrand as a neighborhood lunch spot and start producing some of the tastiest hand-pulled noodles in the city. But there’s just one problem. Someone―or something―is review bombing the restaurant’s feedback page with fake “bad service” reports. Can the bots find the culprit before their ratings plummet and destroy everything they created?

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Audiobook, Novella, Cozy, Fantasy, Dystopia

129 pages, Nook

First published August 5, 2025

About the author

Annalee Newitz is an American journalist who covers the cultural impact of science and technology. They received a PhD in English and American Studies from UC Berkeley, and in 1997 published the widely cited book, White Trash: Race and Class in America. From 2004–2005 they were a policy analyst for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. They write for many periodicals from 'Popular Science' to 'Wired,' and from 1999 to 2008 wrote a syndicated weekly column called 'Techsploitation.' They co-founded 'other' magazine in 2002, which was published triannually until 2007. Since 2008, they are editor-in-chief of 'io9,' a Gawker-owned science fiction blog, which was named in 2010 by The Times as one of the top science blogs on the internet.

Reviews

[Milly · Rating 1 out of 5]

Started as a 4 star, then plummeted straight to 1 star.
Ok so here’s the 2am rant. Let me start off by saying that when I started reading this I was all about it, it seemed fun and cute but not much later my feelings on it dropped.

If you only have time to read one of my reasons for hating this book please read #5.

1. I’m sorry but I thought this was a book about robots setting up a noodle shop? Can we get more of that please? Everyone’s reviews talk about how cozy this book is, “cozy this, “cozy sci-fi,” “cozy that”. Is the cozy in the room with us? It was “cozy” for a very small portion of this book. I’m all for exploring major topics and themes, but being preached at for the entirety of this book didn’t mesh with cozy well at all. There is a way to introduce big themes and thought provoking moments while maintaining the cozy aspect and atmosphere but Newitz didn’t try hard enough to balance it.

2. Dear author, stop trying to FORCE me to like these robots. One of my fav robot characters is Murderbot and my love for Murderbot grew naturally, not forced at all. This book takes a poor shot at trying to do that. Everytime I felt an opportunity to really appreciate the character you’d ruin it with your tone of voice. Please for the love of all that is dear to me SHOW DON’T TELL or in your case don’t force.

3. The inconsistencies man! The INCONSISTENCIES!! Bruh. Where is your editor?!? Fire them. Now. What do you mean one minute they’re sentient robot and the next they’re using what they’ve downloaded or been programmed with to mimic sentience? They’re using fake facial expressions to mimic human emotions but then they can feel genuine love?? They can voluntarily kiss but they have to force themselves to act human? How are they genderfluid? They don’t even have a gender at all, they hate humans but adopt the very human idea of gender-fluidity? Maybe I’m just oversimplifying it but this all seems incompatible with each other. Not to mention all the tiny narrative inconsistencies that add up.

4. The absolute unintentional ridiculousness. It’s very clear when an author is writing something cringy or ridiculous on purpose and that they are fully aware it is so, but that’s not the case with this book. I genuinely believe this author doesn’t know how ridiculous she sounds. I’m supposed to sympathize with a sentient robot car that’s saying that Transformers, the franchise, is offensive to cars?!? And that it’s supposed to represent actual racism in the world!?? Let’s go into your world for a second; if I was a car I would not be offended by Transformers lol. There’s more ridiculousness in this book but I didn’t bother myself with taking notes.

5. Playing off of #4, you’re saying your whole book is a metaphor for how people think about immigrants right? Ok that sounds good. But then you say this on instagram: “Meanwhile, people hold the same ideas about robots that don't even exist yet. It seems like a pattern. These are the kinds of fears we have about groups we imagine without ever doing any research about the reality of who they are. Or, in the case of robots, who they might be..” I mean it writes itself people. You are actually advocating for non existent robots as if they’re immigrants. “It seems like a pattern.” Really? Really are we 12? This is textbook tone-deaf virtue signaling if I ever saw it.
Ai DOES have serious potential to steal jobs. It’s ALREADY been “directly linked to 10,000 jobs lost in the first 7 months of 2025” And that might not seem like a lot but that’s just what’s directly linked. I honestly don’t know what numbers are true or not.
I do know that immigrants aren’t stealing people’s art to make their own it their own. I mean you’re an AUTHOR!!? An AUTHOR!! The irony!
I don’t want to be the one that throws out the “IT’S AI!” accusations but if weren’t for the fact that I think AI would’ve done a better job and maybe a little less tone deaf, than I’d be saying Newitz used ChatGPT to write her book. But then she’d be advocating for AI’s personal rights to the book and end up suing herself.

Honestly my bad, I should’ve have looked the author up first before reading this because then I would’ve know what level of maturity to expect from someone with “pervert” on their profile. Omg Newitz you’re like soooo quirky. 😒

Read August 13th-16th 2025

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t realize there was such a thing as cozy sci-fi, and it works surprisingly well here. I guess if you swapped the robots out for unicorns or trolls or something, it would basically be a cozy fantasy because it follows a similar story structure.

Overall, this was a fun, short read. I was fully engaged when it stuck to the happenings at the restaurant. When it veered into the past lives of the robots, my mind started roaming. I think it’s because they didn’t tie in to the main story in a satisfying way- kinda like jigsaw pieces that don’t snap together perfectly.

There were things about this book that I absolutely loved, but I can’t go into detail because of spoilers.

Happy reading!

[MagretFume · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook version and it was fantastic, the narrator was perfect. 

It was short, sweet, cozy, but powerful. The characters are full of hope and love despite living in a world hostile to their kind and having to endure segregation. 

Having such passionate descriptions of food as the conductive thread of the story was brilliant, and the tastes felt as vivid as the characters. 
It is beautiful writing. 

Thank you McMillan audio for this ARC!

[Lyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sigh.

What is it with modern writers, mainly since 2020, who need, are compelled, to lecture us on some social justice issue? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m an educated adult who has lived a long life and have for the most part figured things out. I read for pleasure, enjoyment, and a fair amount of escapism from the drudgery of daily life. I read fantasy novels to get away from the news, I’m not looking for a lesson. The quickest way to turn me off is to start preaching. No thanks.

Don’t get me wrong. A well crafted allegory can add texture and depth to a good story. When I first heard about this and picked it up, I even thought, “Hmm, this seems a fecund ground for a good allegory about immigration and citizenship.”

The key is “well crafted.” Literature, particularly allegory, works best when a story is told in multiple layers. There’s the surface story that can be entertaining and then a talented writer can add in allegorical elements, symbolism, and even, yes, commentary, that is made to appear organic to the story. Perhaps a soliloquy from a character, who, while waxing eloquent within the friendly confines of the tale, is a voice of the writer, gently nudging us towards some message. Vonnegut was good at this, as was Chekhov.

Some great examples of allegory include The Crucible by Arthur Miller, which never mentions McCarthyism or communists, but we know that the speculative witch hunt in the story can also represent the Red Scare that the senator had weaponized against an already paranoid populace.

The Lord of the Flies is another great example. Author William Golding has given us a terrifying glimpse into the thin veneer of civilization that unfolds surreptitiously behind a sad story of children cast ashore on a deserted island.

And hell, let’s throw out Dr. Seuss’ The Sneetches. Some have stars upon thars. It doesn’t take a Literature professor to see that what Theodore was getting at was racism and conformity.

But then I have to consider that maybe this is a generational thing. I’m a Gen Xer, raised on garden hose water and neglect. I was a senior in high school before we got a computer in the house and my dormitory in college had only ONE per floor and it went largely unused as we were unsure of what to do with it. Nowadays that dinosaur would only be fit for a boat anchor as any out dated cell phone has more power.

But the Millennials and especially the later generations grew up with computers everywhere and even in their pockets. Perhaps, that’s the new communication—just tell us everything. But, do they really need to smack us in the face with a message that we are likely to get on our own? And if we don’t get the message, is that on us the reader or can we go back to the “well crafted” idea about allegories?

Let’s consider memes: these are basically shorthand parables. Think of the screaming, pointing woman and the cat. Or one of my favorites is the little girl smirking at the camera while the house burns down.

And check this out!

Wikipedia’s definition of a meme is this: A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas, symbols, or practices, that can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals, or other imitable phenomena with a mimicked theme.

Kind of like an …

Allegory?

Wut?

So I check out the author’s bio and Newitz has a PhD in English and American Studies and has worked as a journalist.

And for that reason, I feel like Newitz should know better, that it seems somewhat condescending to assume that we (the reader) need to be explained what’s going on. Because the beauty of an allegory, like a meme, is that you can cut to the chase and tell the story—your audience will make the logical conclusion without your having to show every receipt.

Anyway.

This somewhat cozy story about sentient robots cooking in a post war San Francisco was a delicious idea. And it was short (165 pages), so the soap box oration was endurable (barely). The idea and texture of the story is Philip K. Dickian but there is enough virtue signaling to choke a wub.

Meh.

[Alina ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

☆☆☆☆

Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz took me by surprise in the best way. It’s a sharp, imaginative story that manages to be both timely and deeply comforting—especially if you love good food. The descriptions of dishes throughout the book are vivid and immersive. As someone who counts Biang Biang among my absolute favorites, I was thrilled to see them portrayed with such texture, heat, and love.

But this novel isn’t just about satisfying cravings. Underneath the culinary richness is a smart and important commentary on America, specifically, on identity, fear, and the potential for transformation when people choose to challenge their biases. Newitz doesn’t offer easy solutions, but they do imagine what a better world might look like if we dared to understand one another beyond labels. That message, especially right now, feels both urgent and hopeful.

If you’re into speculative fiction with a strong emotional core and bonus points for mouthwatering food writing, Automatic Noodle is worth your time.

[Simeon Tsanev · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this novella well written on a style level, and passively charming in parts, but it did three things that ended up ruining the experience for me.

1. It’s not cozy. To be clear, I find most cozy writing boring and the novella didn’t NEED to be cozy. However, it’s advertised as such, while ultimately focusing on war, trauma, citizenship insecurity, and bigotry, and the fact that it’s set in a noodle shop does nothing to offset any of that.

2. As others have pointed out, I find it creepy to use sentient robots as allegory for undocumented labor and robophobia as targeted harassment towards minorities, when in our current world AI is actively destroying entire creative fields. The anti-AI note at the end of the book feels almost satirical in that context.

3. The story ends up completely undermining itself.The Big Conflict in the novella is whether the bots will succeed in getting the shop off the ground (so they don’t get SOLD INTO SLAVERY btw, for all you cozy readers), and the antagonist is an online provocateur trying to review bomb them into oblivion through a sock puppet army. So far so good, pretty compelling stakes. However, the solution turns out to be an incredibly simple private server infiltration, some screenshots, and done. Even that though then gets immediately undermined by the bots cheerfully abandoning the platform they’d been getting the reviews on because they’ve achieved independent success and no longer need it. This is the equivalent of Han and Luke blowing up the Death Star only for Vader’s suit to suffer a spontaneous catastrophic malfunction and the Emperor to die of heart failure somewhere off-screen. It just amounts to retroactively negating all stakes as irrelevant from the start, which makes the whole story feel frustrating.

[Ricarda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just four robots, a human and a car opening a noodle shop in a futuristic post-war San Francisco. How lovely. The way I was genuinely upset when someone started review-bombing their restaurant. Like, these are such tender creatures, could you leave them alone, please?

[The Belladonna · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goodreads, this book was not for me, it was a struggle to get through. When I read the blurb -a group of food service robots open up their own noodle restaurant, I thought how cute. Sounds like a comfy read, I'm all for it. The writing was just not for me. But in the spirit of delicious Asian noodle dishes (they mention Ramen and Biang Biang in the story), here is one of my favorite Ramen Noodle recipes. (Yes, I use a Crockpot for this.) 🍜😋🍜

Crockpot Caramelized Pork Ramen Noodle Soup w/Curry Roasted Acorn Squash

2 pounds pork shoulder roast or butt
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth plus more as needed
3/8 of a cup (6 tablespoons)+ 2-4 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1/4 cup + 2-4 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons Thai red curry paste
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1 tablespoon Sambal Oelek chili paste, or to taste
The juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon Chinese five spice
1 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons sesame oil
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cups chopped carrots
2 cups wild mushrooms, left whole
1 small package/bag of fresh whole leaf spinach (cleaned, ready to serve)
4 packs of Ramen noodles, seasoning packets discarded
4 soft-boiled or fried eggs for serving
salt & pepper, to taste
Thinly sliced jalapenos, chopped cilantro, chopped scallions, lime wedges as garnish for serving

Curry Roasted Acorn Squash

1 medium acorn squash, seeded + diced
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tablespoon white miso paste
1 tablespoon brown sugar
Pepper to taste

1. Add the pork and 1 1/2 cups of carrots to the crockpot. Pour the chicken broth, 3/8 of a cup soy sauce, 1/4 cup rice vinegar, and fish sauce over the pork. Add the Thai red curry paste, ginger, sambal oelek, juice of 1 lime, Chinese five-spice powder, black pepper, and 1 tablespoon brown sugar. Cover the crockpot and cook on low for 7-8 hours (I recommend going low and slow).

2. About 40 minutes before you are ready to eat, roast the squash. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

3. In a small bowl, mix the melted coconut oil, curry powder, miso, brown sugar, and a good pinch of pepper. Add the cubed squash to a greased baking sheet and pour the curry mixture over the squash. Toss well. Bake for 30-40 minutes, tossing a couple of times during cooking. You want the squash to be lightly browned and crisp.

4. Meanwhile, remove the pork from the crockpot and add the mushrooms. Cover the crockpot and crank the heat up to high. Lightly shred the pork with two forks or your hands.

5. Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sesame oil. Once hot, add enough pork to cover just the surface of your skillet, do not overcrowd the skillet. Sprinkle a little brown sugar over the pork, add 2 tablespoons soy sauce and 2 tablespoons rice vinegar, and toss. Allow the pork to caramelize, about 2 minutes. Stir and allow the pork to continue to caramelize, about 3-5 minutes total. Remove the pork from the skillet; repeat with the remaining pork. Keep the pork warm.

6. Add the Ramen noodles to the crockpot and allow them to cook for 5 minutes. Once the noodles are cooked, stir in only half of the pork. Add spinach to crockpot. Ladle the soup into bowls. Top with extra caramelized pork, curry roasted acorn squash, and an egg. Season the egg with salt and pepper. Add the jalapeños, scallions, cilantro, and lime wedges as a serving garnish, if desired.

[Melanie (meltotheany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

♡ i received this in my 2026 hugo awards voter packet

“It was the perfect team: a chef, a marketer, an ops manager, and a security expert who could fix things. Plus, a human for camouflage.”

this novella is all about a found family of robots opening up a noodle shop, in san francisco, in an apocalyptic united states where california is a separate entity. but this is also a powerful story about discrimination based on race, gender, sexuality, immigration status. i feel like one of the biggest dog whistles for me in the year 2026, is how people talk about california. i also feel like randomly praising california is one of the easiest ways to accidentally ragebait lol. but as a queer, asian, certified sf (and la) lover - i extra loved reading this. and i really loved what it was loudly saying, especially in 2026. i will just forever love seeing people carve out safe spaces for themselves and their communities. and this really is a love letter about reclaiming and rebuilding, with hands that choose to create in a world where so many hands choose to destroy.

trigger + content warnings: war, talk of slavery, racism, xenophobia, hateful online comments, self harm mention, talk of debt, propaganda, cancer fear mongering, fear of deportation, one sentence rape mention

blog | instagram | youtube | wishlist | spotify | amazon



♡ 2026 Hugo Awards 🚀 Novella Reviews:
➛ Cinder House by Freya Marske
➛ What Stalks the Deep (Sworn Soldier, #3) by T. Kingfisher
➛ Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
➛ Murder by Memory (Dorothy Gentleman, #1) by Olivia Waite
➛ The Summer War by Naomi Novik
➛ The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar

[Ruben · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hands, Sweetie, and the Hand-Pulled Heist: A Clever Look at Bot Labor

It is 2064 when the service bots—Staybehind, Sweetie, Hands, and Cayenne—reboot from a forced stasis. After months of inactivity, they awaken to a disaster: their former workplace is flooded, and the restaurant's human owners have abandoned them and their accrued debt.

In this future, autonomous bot operations are strictly forbidden, yet these four are on the hook to pay their substantial dues. With no human oversight, they face an impossible task: earning money without alerting the authorities or their creditors. Based on a technicality in their contracts, they execute a daring plan: they will illegally operate their own high-end dining establishment, specializing in the city’s most famous hand-pulled noodles.

Their initial success is swift, but their unauthorized enterprise is quickly jeopardized by a viciously critical online review. Everything hinges on discovering the identity of this saboteur and understanding their motives. The immediate danger forces the bots to investigate, with the truth initially remaining a blur. Little by little, they piece together the answers. Will they uncover the conspiracy in time to pay off their debt and evade decommissioning?

I thoroughly enjoyed this short, speculative fiction novel by Annalee Newitz. While certainly not a masterpiece, it was a clever and enjoyable read that successfully explored themes of debt, labor, and identity.

[Bethany (Beautifully Bookish Bethany) · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 stars rounded up

A cozy sci-fi novella about found family and sentient robots opening a noodle shop in San Francisco! This was charming on its surface, but it's also using the othering of robots in this futuristic world as a metaphor for the treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, and immigration status. It feels like a hopeful and timely story about noodles that sound absolutely delicious! I really enjoyed it and I think it's smartly done. The audio narration is great as well. I received an audio review copy via NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

[Jaime · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5/5

Crypto and AI robots? I really don't want to read about any of this shit in sci-fi.

Why would anyone write about AI robots and make them behave like humans? Cause these are the least artificial robots I've ever met.

Beyond that this is a cozy sci-fi novella with no real plot. Just a bunch of robots trying to run a restaurant, so I guess it's sci-fi Legends & Lattes.

The robot trying to keep humans away and make it a robot only space pissed me off, but I don't give the book 1 star because the character was genderfluid, even though I don't get why a robot would have a gender in the first place. Fuck it, 1 star.

[Elentarri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Rating: 1.5 stars

This is supposedly a cozy science fiction, feel-good novella. I'm not sure how cozy anyone else found the really depressing and monotonous past war-stories, or that this book is essentially about slavery and issues that reflect current USA-politics? So, not really "cozy" in my book. In short, I found the whole thing insipid and lacking in a thoughtful exploration of any of the themes raised (and shoved into the sidelines) by the author. The emotional, huggy robots that are indistinguishable from generic humans didn't do anything for me either.

The novella revolves around semi-autonomous, intelligent robots starting a noodle restaurant... for various reasons. Setting up the noddle shop is a surprisingly simple (and entirely implausible) affair. They are in dept but conveniently have enough money saved up to pay the arrears in rent and new supplies and whatnot? And what about health and safety inspectors? But I suppose that is not a thing in this world? I found the minutiae of making noodles, ingredient logistics, and ruminating over noodle cooking just plain tedious and uninteresting. The plot picks up when the noodle shop gets review bombed by a sock puppet account, but that doesn't add any drama or tension either, since it is easily resolved. The looming threat of the city government finding out that the noodle shop is run by 'bots instead of humans (which is illegal) never happens. There is far too much exposition and not enough "showing". We are repeatedly told the 'bots are robots, but they sound exactly like generic emotional humans (with needs, wants and feelings, oh so many feelings! I was waiting for the romance sub-plot!) and not any type of robots. You can replace the robots with any type of marginalized group, and it won't make one iota of difference.

The plot is very thin and unsatisfying. This story seems to be more an allegory for immigration, slavery and xenophobia, along with current politically and social commentary, than any type of examination of the future role, or ethical treatment, of sentient robots in a human society. None of the themes vaguely mentioned in the story are even halfway adequately explored. I have a sneaking suspicion the author decided to jump on the currently popular "relatable sentient robot" bandwagon and wrote this story without much thought, but ticking all sorts of boxes for extra brownie-points. This novella is an example of lazy writing, which has apparently gained fans simply due to the warm, fuzzy feelings the book engenders in those readers who don't look too closely at the actual contents of what they are reading. War, trauma, slavery, debt, xenophobia (robophobia?), homelessness, immigration, artificial intelligence taking over, current American politics, are not exactly warm, cozy subjects for most people.

P.S.: The author is also something of a hypocrite. The reader is presumably supposed to feel sympathy for robots (who come across as "just like humans", with the same feelings, wants and needs), but then promptly states at the end of the book that her novella may not be used to train AI/robots. Make up your mind!!! The poor AIs just want to learn just like any human kiddie!

P.P.S.: I listened to the audiobook. The narrator has a mellow voice that induces drowsiness.

P.P.P.S.: By the time I had got to the end of writing this review, I was so irritated with the sloppiness of the author's half-arsed treatment of various themes and the blandly emotional robots, that I demoted my rating by a star.

[Lily · Rating 1 out of 5]

My third and final Newitz book, what the fuck was that? I was first drawn to Newitz’s books because of their prominent leftist themes, but like always, there’s something that comes off so horrendously that it has me questioning where they actually stand.

Comparing robots to real life immigrant experiences when they could’ve written a story about an immigrant surviving capitalism is a bold choice. Not to mention the anti-capitalist themes feel so half baked, just like every other damn aspect of this book. This doesn’t work for the same reason Zootopia’s racism allegory doesn’t work, prey have genuine reasons to fear predators, and robots (AI) are taking jobs from real people who need to survive. But I guess these fears are unfounded according to Newitz because why should we be afraid of something that isn’t a part of our reality right now and we need to be hopeful or whatever. On their Instagram is a post from July 13, 2025 explicitly stating that they feel the fears of robots (“that don’t even exist yet”) are similar to the fears of immigrants and that we shouldn’t be so hasty in our hatred of them yet. So fucking stupid.

And yet they basically insinuate that AI is alive??? Although I was never the biggest fan of Newitz I was still surprised to find pro-AI themes present so I checked their instagram again only to find a post from Sept. 23, 2024 with AI photos as the header of an article they wrote!

It’s just so disappointing to see a progressive author have such a strange stance like this, and I just don’t get it. Do they think robots and AI are separate? Do they fully support AI? And to leave in the acknowledgements that you hope we get through these years of “climate chaos”, bro what do you think contributes to that?

Newitz is quite self righteous so I doubt they’ll be willing to look back on this type of thinking and ever think they’re wrong about it. I mean they even have a podcast called “Our Opinions Are Correct” so I’m sure they’re pretty damn confident in what they’ve written. Which, I guess, good for them, but this feels like a very ignorant way of thinking.

[abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m robophobic

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish this were longer!
I feel like there was so much more that could have been developed and said. This felt very surface level which could have been intentional… but for someone, like me, who loved books like Annie Bot and Thirteen Ways to Kill Annabelle Lee, I wish there was more world building and character development.

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read, errr... listened to this novella on the recommendation of my online friend Mike Finn. I'm so glad I did!

Set in a future time, where the U.S. is no longer what it once was, the plot focuses on a group of robots, with a human here and there, that were contracted to work for a certain restaurant. The robots wake to discover that the owners of the restaurant are being investigated and the restaurant is now closed. As a group the bots decide to reopen the restaurant, but only after careful research as to how to create the perfect noodles. They are a huge success, that is until someone decides to tank their ratings online. Will the bots be able to keep their restaurant running? You'll have to read this to find out!

This all boils down to a quirky novella about robots, found family, and a noodle restaurant. I found it to be delightful and I recommend it!

*Thanks to my local library for the free audio download! Libraries RULE!

[Sonali Saini · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked up Automatic Noodle because it was one of the options for Goodreads’ Worlds Away challenge. Although it’s a science fiction novel about a group of abandoned food-service robots who come back online and decide to open a neighborhood noodle shop serving hand-pulled biang biang noodles, the story is less about futuristic technology and more about warmth, belonging, community, and finding purpose through small acts of kindness.

Unfortunately, it didn’t quite work for me. I found the plot confusing and struggled to stay engaged with the story. While I appreciated its cozy, hopeful premise, I never felt invested in the characters or their journey, making it an uninteresting read overall.

[Drusilla · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an extremely weird story.
I'm not quite sure what to make of it. I liked the science fiction dystopian part of it. I liked the robots, somehow. Even though they reminded me a lot of robots in Star Wars.
At the same time, I didn't like the absurdity of the robots. Who would think of building such strange robots...? I had to remind myself that this genre isn't about reality, and I never really have a problem with that, but somehow everything about this story felt wrong.
The business idea of robots also felt completely wrong. Something like that would never work in reality. And there I am again, off on the wrong foot. I really don't know what that is. Damn it.
And then there's the thing with the social media ratings... that was so gruesome and disgusting and far too real...
I'm really in a dilemma with this book.
It's good and it's interesting, but I can't say I liked it. I'm far too conflicted about the story, and I'm also a little annoyed that I didn't learn more about the background, and there's really no reasonable solution, and the story is ultimately open-ended.

Still, humans were humans. They wanted you to know their opinions about your body, even if you hadn’t asked. At least one thing had changed since Independence: thanks to bot civil rights, she could control her facial expressions. Now, at last, she could frown when someone asked what was hiding under her skirt. 🥺🥺🥺

[♥Milica♥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked Automatic Noodle up because of the Goodreads banner challenge, I'd never seen it before, so when I came across it on the challenge page, I thought it seemed interesting and decided to give it a read.

It became clear, early on, that me and this book were not going to be friends. I tried to like it so bad, I really did, but it just didn't work.

My first impression was that it wanted to be like Murderbot, which actually made me have a bigger appreciation for that other series, because this one didn't even TRY.

There were so many topics included which are relevant today, but none of them were explored properly, they were always in the background.

It's also not as cozy as I was expecting it to be based on the blurb, like the idea of them running a noodle shop, and the actual cooking scenes were, sure, but not much else.

The robots felt so human too, if they didn't have those names to remind me, they'd practically be indistinguishable.

And the main conflict was solved so easily, that it made me wonder what the point of this book even was, other than vibes, I guess? Maybe I just don't get it y'all, maybe I just don't get it.

[Book Riot Community]

This is one of Book Riot’s Best Books of 2025:

All the coziness and character of a Becky Chambers novel with the wit and charm of Martha Wells. I never knew I needed a book about robots running a restaurant in a near-future San Francisco, but Automatic Noodle proved I did. I would die for these robots—or at least leave them lots of really, really good reviews.

- Rachel Brittain

[Rosh (on a medical break) · Rating 3 out of 5]

In a Nutshell: A sci-fi dystopian novella set in the near future. Quirky robot characters. A whimsical storyline that is dark and cosy in turn. Goes overboard on the preachy themes and agenda. Lopsided in its allegory. Contains a subtle equivalence between robots and immigrants/enslaved people – weird. Suspension of disbelief and doubts necessary to enjoy the book better.

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Plot Preview:

2064. San Francisco, Independent California. A group of food service robots find themselves abandoned in a ghost kitchen. With no human around and with a desperate need to keep things going, they decide to take over their delivery app account, rebrand their food service, and serve the best authentic hand-pulled noodles in town. Just when it seems like they will be successful in their endeavour, someone starts review-bombing them, and worse, not all the one-star reviews are exactly false. Can the robots save their future before everything they worked so hard for is destroyed by some mysterious reviewer?
The story comes to us from the third-person perspective of the robots.

Bookish Yays:
🍜 The creativity of the concept. Yes, the execution is a bit flawed, but the idea still deserves credit for thinking beyond the box.

🍜 The setting of independent California that has won a war against the big nation it belonged to erstwhile. This might be a bit too political for certain readers, and the barbs are really intense at times, but as I have no personal connection with the location, I found the whole thing absurdly comical.

🍜 The robot characters. Given that this is a cozy SciFi, the key robot characters are obviously endearing. I couldn’t decide who’s my favourite, but I guess Sweety earned a special spot in my heart. StayBehind, Cayenne and Hands were also amazing.

🍜 The teamwork and bonding across the robots. Very interesting to see robots using their tech contacts to resolve real-world issues.

🍜 The pacing. At just 160-odd pages, this is a quick novella. And the quirky storyline and easy-going writing makes the pages zoom by even faster.

🍜 The title. Has a special role to play in the plot and suits it perfectly.


Bookish Okays:
🤖 The wavering level of coziness. Though promised as a cozy novella, the plot has several dark themes. The book does have fun but it is not always fun.

🤖 The foodie stuff. I loved learning about biang biang noodles (I’d never heard of these in my life!). However, the idea of hand-made noodles being made by robotic hands was a bit depressing to me, especially given what’s happening in the real world.

🤖 The multitude of themes in the book: PTSD, mental health issues, found family, relationships, politics, survival, independence, experiences of immigrant and enslaved persons, grief, war… None of the topics is overt or aggressive, just hinted subtly. It is a reflective experience, but might not click with those looking to avoid politics or hot topics.


Bookish Nays:
💸 The allegory. No matter how the book tries to convince us of this, the experiences of enslaved people and immigrants can never be the same as that of robots. Humanising robots is one thing, but equating immigrant experience with that of humanoids? Nope, goes too far.

💸 The whole review-bombing subplot. Starts okay, but is quite farfetched, and the end resolution is too easy. We also keep hearing of the restaurant breaking several rules, but this angle is not explored further.

💸 The whole “authentic Chinese noodle” thingy. How come cultural appropriation doesn’t apply when robots are involved?

💸 The depiction of gender diversity in the robots, with them knowing their exact gender and even their pronoun preferences. Can we please stop forcing this theme on non-human characters? Not every book needs to have commentary on gender! Let’s reserve this much-needed inclusivity for stories where the topic comes up naturally. Applying it to robots is almost a mockery.

💸 The emotional sentience of the robots, which also includes romance – absolutely not something I would expect to find in a near-future dystopia featuring robots. Thankfully, the romance is limited to a flashback scene, but even that tiny scene weirded me out. In a world where AI is getting more and more intrusive by the day, I don’t want to read a book showing robots being called “as good as humans” and having emotional feelings. Also, why are we forcing in a romance subplot in every single storyline?


🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 4 hrs 13 min, is narrated by Em Grosland. They do a masterful job of rendering all the voices in a non-robotic manner. If you are interested in the book, the audiobook is a great choice.


Overall, I did like some things about this cozy sci-fi novella. But by shoving in too much social commentary and humanising the robots more than necessary, it didn’t allow me to enjoy the content more. Maybe this would have worked better for me even a couple of years ago when AI wasn’t so ubiquitous. But in today’s day and age, seeing the plot upvote sentient robots and even justifying them as ‘human’ because they think is more annoying.

Recommended to readers looking for an unusual story and who can suspend disbelief easily, and can be more forgiving of the whole ‘robots have the same rights as humans’ idea. I have no idea if this was meant to be a satirical work, but perhaps it works better if you think of it as such.

2.75 stars.



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I follow the Goodreads rating policy:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Lifelong favourite!
⭐⭐⭐⭐ - I loved the book.
⭐⭐⭐ - I liked the book.
⭐⭐ - I found the book average.
⭐ - I hated the book.
The decimals indicate the degree of the in-between feelings.

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Connect with me through:
My Blog || The StoryGraph || Instagram || Facebook ||

[Ian Payton · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engaging novella in a near-future San Francisco where robots are self-aware but are still subject to ownership and being treated as property. A group of robots, which had previously been deactivated and forgotten, are reactivated (almost by accident) and decide to run their own noodle shop. Well, you would, wouldn't you?

The story touches on themes of slavery and prejudice, but without really calling them that, and in quite a light-hearted way. The robots can't own a business, and could be reclaimed and sold on by their owners - but somehow they fly below the radar and succeed in starting a noodle shop. It felt a little odd to have such a light-hearted treatment of slavery and prejudice - even erring on the whimsical at times. And while the 4-hour audiobook was engaging and entertaining, I didn't come away from it in any way changed.

3.5 stars rounding down.

[Stacy (Gotham City Librarian) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book absolutely melted my cold, bitter heart.

It was a quick read, less than 200 pages, and I flew through it. I honestly wish it were longer, but I do appreciate that the story is succinct and has absolutely no filler. Though I am admittedly biased and love anything about robots and androids. The bots in this were so lovable, each with their own distinct appearance, personality and backstory. And their friendships with each other were adorable and sweet. I also loved the dialogue. (Example: “That’s why I didn’t want to tell you. I knew you were going to be a trashcan about it.”)

The plot was legit, and lest you think it was all sunshine and rainbows, this takes place in a post war society in which California has separated from the rest of the country and is trying to recover. Topics like identity, freedom and bigotry come into play as the robots attempt to open their own restaurant as free citizens.

The bots become a little family as they support and encourage each other through this intimidating venture, and I was rooting so hard for them! There were many heartwarming moments throughout, such as Hands the robot discovering packets of Ramen noodles for the first time and realizing a love for the culinary arts.

Another bot, Sweetie, is finding her real identity and gradually changing her appearance to match who she really is instead of who the humans wanted her to be.

Meanwhile, another robot called Staybehind was designed to fight in the war, before robots were recognized as citizens. He was traumatized by bad memories and his story is one of the more grounding aspects of the book.

But my favorite bot was definitely Cayenne, an absolute cinnamon bun shaped like an octopus. I pictured Cayenne sort of like Codsworth from Fallout 4, but more squishy and feminine, and able to change colors!

One thing I did notice in this advanced copy was that there were a few times when the various bots’ pronouns were inconsistent, but that will likely be fixed before publication.

I highly recommend this! It’s one of my favorite reads of the year so far. Even with the occasional serious or sad moment, it was overall a wonderfully cute and delightful experience. And it made me want delicious noodles very badly!

Thank you to NetGalley and to the Publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Biggest TW: Racism, Depression, Mention of SA

[Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

A San-Fran Sci-Fi.
Very Smartly written :)
I felt so bad those robots were getting 1-star reviews! They worked hard on those noodles, it made me sad. That’s the point of sci-fi. Find empathy for the “other” whatever that other may be. A delight!

[Sadie E · Rating 5 out of 5]

Why are four robots, a homeless dude, and a minivan giving me more emotional depth than most prestige TV casts???

You’re telling me it’s possible for robots to feel pain. Not because they need to. But because humans wanted it. “Courtesy sensations. The courtesy, of course, was for people who wanted to hurt their bots.” EXCUSE ME???? I’m not even surprised 😭

So naturally the story becomes: our motley crew decide to open a noodle shop. As one does.

This is how you do cosy fantasy. Or sci-fi? Cosy speculative noodlepunk?? Whatever. It’s gentle and heartwarming with plenty of found family energy, but there’s a LOT going on and there are genuine stakes. The warmth never cancels out the tension, so you’re constantly aware that these characters are one bad day away from being crushed by systems much bigger than them.

And it turns into an emotionally devastating exploration of labour, autonomy, friendship, and personhood.

For a book with almost no humans, this is incredibly human.

The robots are trying to build a tiny life for themselves and I’m over here ready to fight capitalism with tears in my eyes and broth on my shirt.

[Kyra ♡ ‧₊˚ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Give me the form-e-oly. I’m just hungry now.🍜
Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz was such a fun and unexpectedly poignant read. Cozy, clever, and a little weird in the best way possible. On the surface, it’s about a group of robots reopening a noodle shop in a post-war San Francisco. But underneath that, it’s a story about resilience, belonging, and what it means to build something meaningful in a world that values capital over community.

I loved how Newitz used food, something so universal and comforting as a form of rebellion and connection. The idea of “food as solidarity” really shines here. These robots cook not just to survive, but to exist fully, to participate in something human, and to claim space in a society that keeps trying to erase them.

The pacing was snappy, the writing had heart, and the found family dynamics absolutely hit. Sure, it’s a little quirky, but that’s what makes it work. It’s not about toppling empires, it’s about feeding people in the ruins and finding hope in the ordinary.

Final Verdict: 4 stars. Quick. Cozy sci-fi comfort food for the soul. If you like your rebellion served with a side of noodles and existential tenderness, you’ll devour this.

[Abby Draper · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m a pretty gracious reviewer, but I just really didn’t like this book. It sounded like it would be a fun and uplifting read, but it was actually really sad and underwhelming. It’s described as “cozy” in the description, but it focuses mostly on a past war and the trauma caused by it. The author was trying to generate sympathy for the robot characters, but it really just made me think about how gross humans can be.

If you’re looking for a cute little book about robots starting a noodle shop, this, surprisingly, is not it.

[Siavahda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dec 2024: if you one-star a book before there are even arcs of it I will five-star it, sorry-not-sorry.

Apparently this is “a cozy sci-fi novella” about “a crew of abandoned food service bots that take over a ghost kitchen in late 22nd-century San Francisco,” and I'm here for it!

Sept 2025: after reading, three stars!

[CarlysGrowingTBR · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cozy sci-fi novella that tackles themes of capitalism, identity and community against the backdrop of authentic pulled noodles and garlic.

Audiobook Stats:
⏰: 4 hours and 12 minutes
🎤: Em Grosland
Honestly, this audiobook was perfection. The narrator does an absolutely excellent job of the different voices needed and had great tempo. The narration was clear and concise. I did have to listen to this a little bit faster than my typical audiobook speed, but it was still done very well and clear. I really think this is going to be a new favor audiobook narrator for me.

Themes:
🤖: Capitalism
🤖: Building Community after war
🤖: Dependance on social media
🤖: Fighting for individuality and acceptance

Representation:
🥢: Cultural and authentic pulled 🍜
🥢: Queer coded characters (robots)
🥢: Immigrant coded characters (robots)
🥢: PTSD rep

Tropes:
💗: Found family
💗: Food porn 🤤
💗: Robots 🤖

🥵: Spice: 🚫
🧟‍♂️: Gore: 🚫
Potential Triggers: Homophobia, discrimination against immigrants, online bullying/attacks **check authors website/social media

Short Synopsis:
In a near-future San Francisco setting a group of forgotten robots pick up the pieces left after war in order to turn an abandoned building into an authentic pulled noodle restaurant. Despite numerous attempts to sabotage their new business against people who are "anti-robot" the restaurant thrives with the diverse and inclusive community that they have built around them.

General Thoughts:
This audiobook was absolutely adorable. I enjoyed this so much. I really feel like the synopsis does not give an accurate representation of just how much is packed into this short novel. This tackles so many important and relevant themes to today's society in a way that is super cute, zany and fun.

The characters and food were the stars of this show. The descriptions of the food were tantalizing. It definitely made me want a nice steaming bowl of noodles. So if you are someone who gets hungry when they read, beware this book will absolutely get you!!

The themes represented throughout the novel are extremely apparent to anybody paying attention to the novel. Watching the robots who are just trying to get by the best way they know how come up against all of these unfair and unwarranted attacks was definitely disheartening, but the grace with which these robots handled the adversity was so commendable. The rising of the community to surround them in love and support was absolutely inspiring. It sometimes does help to know that the voices that are the loudest are usually not the most numerous.

Overall, I really enjoyed the novel and I definitely will read anything else that comes out by this author.

Disclaimer: I read this book as a free audiobook through the Macmillan Audio and NetGalley . All opinions are my own. This is my honest and voluntary review.