The Redwood Palace

Kitchens and Kingdoms #1

by M.K. Hutchins

Plum's thrilled about her arranged marriage. Becoming the daughter-in-law of a great chef will let her take her magical cooking skills to new heights. Then her little sister Dami dresses up as a boy and joins the army—a crime punishable by death. To keep her sister safe, Plum abandons her wedding, assumes Dami's identity, and reports for her sister's duties scrubbing dishes at the palace. Lying for Dami leaves Plum tangled up in intrigue and accused of poisoning the royal family. To clear her name, Plum has to figure out who's really behind the attacks. But delving into the identity of the true poisoner unearths darker plots. If Plum wants to save herself, her family, and her nation, she's going to have to cook the dish of a lifetime.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult

381 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 7, 2019

Reviews

[SamZ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Using subtle world building and strong characters, Hutchins draws you in to her new world from the first chapter. In a world where people are viewed by the talents they receive at birth, being a chef (and using the magic of food to heal and strengthen those around her) is all Dami wants out of life. But, when her sister chooses to follow her own path rather than take the expected job at the palace, Dami is faced with a decision: deny her talent in order to save her family, or move forward with her life plans and continue her education with and engagement to the son of a world-famous chef?
Soon, Dami's choices lead her to the Redwood Palace where the King lives and Dami is caught up in a twisted plot complete with assasination attempts, hungry ghosts, and even a little bit of romance. Dami struggles to make new friends, solve mysteries, and learn who she is outside of her birth-gift. Is Dami just a chef? Or is there more to life?

[Laurie Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chopped meets Magic Master chef meets game of Thrones

Warning spoilers !!!
In a world where cooking is magical a chef is a doctor a healer .
plum is a Chef she could oks food to heal the sick
She is gifted with taste
Her future is set her marriage and career all laid out before her
And then her sister pulls a Mulan and runs off to join the army instead of working in the place.
Plum has to to stop living her life and start living her sisters . And take her place as a palace servant
The palace is full of intrigue
Politics
And poison
And ghosts
And cooking amazing cooking

Plums story is amazing and I love that this story isn’t about the girl who ran off to fight in the war it’s about the aftermath what happens to those left behind they end up having their own adventure

[A.C. Lillywhite · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story feels like a studio ghibli movie in my head. Hutchins once again proves to be a fantasy world-building powerhouse, with a vivid, thoughtful and charming novel filled characters I want to protect. Plum is a wonderful protagonist and I love going along with her on an adventure full of political intrigue and hungry ghosts. Would recommend this to anyone, but in particular, anyone who has ever been exhausted by the struggle to fulfill ill-fated dreams... so older adolescents and young adults, and adults who haven’t yet lost touch with that feeling.

[Adi Greif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked it! Has similar vibes to the book Bitterblue. The plot is basically “What if Mulan had a sister that needed to deal with the fallout of Mulans choices?” - combined with cooking magic and palace intrigue.

[Faith Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars rounded up.

The writing is well done, let’s get that out of the way first. I just personally didn’t like the story. I don’t know if anyone here watches the YouTuber TheOdd1sOut, but this book reminds me of his video about the movie, “The Dark Crystal.” Why? He said that the movie made him feel frustrated because a lot of the time he didn’t understand why things were the way that they were. Take Encanto for example, why does the family have gifts? Magic/because. No other explanation, but it’s fine, we’re cool with it. This book uses the “because” excuse a few times too many to the point that I was left so confused about the lore and rules of this world. Why and how do people get gifts from food? Why is a gift described as magical in the synopsis but not acknowledged as that throughout the book? (That one might not be the author’s fault, but it still bothered me and threw me off). It took more than halfway through the book to finally understand the color ranks, and even then I’m still not entirely understanding how it works. When you create a fantasy world, the readers need to be able to understand the rules, and the answers can’t always be “because,” or “magic.” It’s fine every now and then in some situations, but in the case of this book, it was too much going on all at once.

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Redwood Palace focuses on main character Plum whose birthgift is perceptive-of-taste-and-smell which makes her a chef. In this world a chef's cooking can do wonders for a body and each ingredient targets a certain area of the body for certain things. Though the beginning of this story is rather slow in my opinion, it does pick up and M.K. Hutchins' use of food is quite interesting. When Plum's younger sister Dami joins the army and leaves her family with a mounting debt, Plum takes her position at the palace posing as her sister. While there, Plum becomes involved in a poisoning, royal plots, political ploys and the ongoing war. It was entertaining watch Plum navigate through everything and the friends she makes a long the way. Although there is a clearly written bad guy, I found myself second guessing people and their intentions through out the story. The most intriguing part of this story I felt came out of nowhere and completely caught me off guard which I quite enjoyed. I already rushed to start reading the second book and can't wait to see if some of my guesses are correct.

Thank you to Story Origin for a review copy.

[Susan May · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story. It had great characters and twists that you will not expect. Plum and her sister were very different. Plum was a great chef and healer to boot. Her sister wanted to join the army. Plum had her heart set on marrying a popular chef and a happy ever after. Her sister took that away from her when she left in the night and dressed as a boy and joined the army. Plum had to watch her hopes and dreams vanish because she would replace her sister who was due to start work at the castle. Plum did it because her parents could not afford the fine for lying. While at the castle she had an amazing time meeting people and trying to solve some problems that had appeared. Plum's will to save her parents kept her going and the more she learned about the strange events in her new life the more she strived to get to the truth. I enjoyed the story and will be checking into more on this author..

[Kira · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful and Delicious!

I'm not even sure where to start. This book is so ridiculously creative and unique. I am absolutely in love with the idea of cooking and food as a magic system and she wove it all into the culture and world so perfectly! I loved the writing style and voice - it's one thing to write a good story and good characters, but it's hard to do that and also have the words sound beautiful, and she has done it all! I also thoroughly enjoyed the romance and the politics and mystery - and the main character is strong and smart but also has a lot to learn and it was wonderful to watch her growth and development. I met the author at a writing conference recently and loved her presentation and I'm so glad I took the time to read her book! I highly recommend it!

[Jodi Bennett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plum's talent is cooking and a marriage proposal has been accepted. She is going to a house to work and marry another chef. She is so excited by what she will learn. Then her sister is called to the palace and instead of going she runs away and joins the army. Only girls cannot join the army and if she is found out she will be killed. Now Plum makes the only decision she can to save her family, she will become Dami. That means she must call off the engagement and become her sister. Palace intrigue draws her in, will she be able to keep her secret hidden. This was so well written, the story draws you in and the writing paints such a beautiful picture. You feel like you are part of the story.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did get rather engrossed in it and I think I'll send a copy to my sister-in-law because I think she'll like it. I have the next one (Coral Palace) and will buy the third when it is out. A couple of times it was repetitive and (SPOILERS) Lady Sulat's assumption that Plum was the poisoner didn't make much sense- Plum exposed herself as a chef- if she was the poisoner, why would she have done that? Lady Sulat's line of thinking just didn't work for me at that point. But the world-building was great and the magic system was unique. I think the setting could have had more fog, since it had Redwoods and Redwoods need fog, but my geographical criticisms might only matter to me.

[Jennine · Rating 5 out of 5]

ABSOLUTELY LOVED THIS STORY
From the word go, this book captivated me. As soon as I had finished l searched the author for more books, I really want to continue reading/listening to more in this vein. I have the audio book and the narration was fun, expressive and really helped set the scene.
I recommended this CLEAN, young adult story for ages 10 to 90. For around 11 hours I wasn't on earth, I was in a small village, walking the long walk and suffering with this young girl as she put her dreams behind her. I admire her courage, fortitude and strength of morals.

[Kara Bloomer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a lovely book! I have always been so impressed by this author’s world building. She also has captivating characters. I admit, that once i got to a certain point, I couldn’t put the book down.

I don’t understand literature well enough to offer a real critique, but I feel like the stories are a bit weak. They have a feeling of having been written linearly without any story planning. There are extra details that are clumsily dealt with later. Also, quite a few grammatical errors. I also felt like some of the motivations for certain characters were unsubstantiated.

[Gina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing

Hutchins’ weaving of our natural gifts that we are born with and how those gifts are cultivated was masterful. In particular, the elevation of food and by association, chefs in her magical world is unique and refreshing. All this with an unpredictable plot full of that machinations of pala I al intrigue.

[Emerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

Starts off a little like Mulan, then becomes a mixture of Cooking Mama and Spirited Away. The story was enticing and engaging. Hutchins creates an imaginative fantasy world that feels real. I enjoyed reading the book, especially considering it was on Kindle Unlimited and I had no expectations going into it. Honestly I'm surprised more people aren't recommending this!

[Autumn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reminded me of Lupin saying "eat, you'll feel better". I really liked the idea of food being magical. You have ghost in this story, a hungry ghost might I add with a mystery case that Plum has and needs to uncover. You also have deception, treason, magic. Oh, and Bane *swoon* lovely Bane. I love you! Overall it was a unique, well paced and written. Bane=cutie

[Camille Strahl · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series is fresh. Sort of fantasy ish but without feeling too magicky if that makes sense. The world building is INCREDIBLE. Also, clean language and no hanky panky. But there is some romance! Must read.

[Ms C Macdonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

The magic of cooking?

An unusual and lovely magic system and an enchanting heroine, a foul ghost and a mystery to so!ve. Go on, treat yourself to this feast.

[Shawnee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!

I really enjoyed this novel. A unique and unusual world that flowed beautifully into this story… I cannot wait for the next installment! Xx

[Hanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars - a little boring, but fun worldbuilding. Also fun to follow the sister that *didn’t* chop her hair off and join the war.

[Tasia Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book. So glad it's a series now!

[Jessica Atwater · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fantasy novel takes the idea "Let food be your medicine," and turns it into an entire magical healing system. Chefs are honored magic users who not only can heal the sick but decide what magical talent each person will have by creating the perfect last bite that a mother eats before a baby is born. And this is just the tip of the interesting world building in this book. The cultural details are unique and interesting and weave together so well.

I enjoyed this story of a young girl who sacrifices her own wants for the good of her family, I enjoyed the political intrigue, and I enjoyed the interesting world created. At time, the heroine drove me crazy with her inabilty to see what was going on right in front of her. Her self-delusion made sense (usually), and we all know what it is like to want something so much that we don't see other options or how they might be better for us, but in a protagonist, it was sometimes too much for me.

All in all, I really enjoyed the book, and I would recommend it to those looking for an intrigue, not too heavy, and clean read.

[Michele Hermansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool book

I wasn’t sure at the beginning about whether I liked this book, but soon enough I found myself enjoying the creative magic system and the well-crafted story. So well written... Very well done! Please let there a sequel!

[Cori Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book! I thoroughly enjoyed the story, I was so invested in Plum and the hungry ghost. Super good! I can't wait to read the next one.

[Brinton Berg · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I love most about the Redwood Palace is its highly sympathetic main character, Plum. Plum believes to her core that “interdependence….is how the world works” and her responsibility is to “take care of others.” Time and time again, she does the compassionate and honorable thing, even when it comes at great personal cost. She suffers in ways she could have avoided by making more selfish decisions and I simultaneously admired her for it and felt heartbroken for her.

Like when she gives up her dream to marry Sorrel. Sorrel comes across as a jerk later in the book (and especially in book 2), but early in the book, his kindness toward Violet makes him seem like a nice guy. Plum and Sorrel seem perfect for each other. They both like cooking and Plum really likes it. “Food was heartbreakingly beautiful,” she says. She imagines a future with Sorrel, arguing over “whether juniper berries, or rosehips were better.” But saving her parents from losing their home and her grandmother from becoming a hungry ghost means taking Dami’s place in the Redwood Palace and breaking off her engagement to Sorrel. This part elicited strong emotions from me: admiration for Plum’s selflessness, anger at Dami for putting her in this predicament, and heartbreak that Plum’s dreams were suddenly shattered. I just wanted Plum to be happy, but the author would have none of that. Just to shove the dagger in further, Plum is robbed on her way to the Redwood Palace.

At the Redwood Palace, Plum has to keep a low profile: lying to the Royal House is a crime punishable by death. Fortunately, she’s assigned to be a crock scrubber which is a good thing because “no one would notice a crock scrubber…no one would ask…too many questions…no one would discover I wasn’t Dami.” Keep your head down. Do the work. Seems like a pretty good plan Plum!

But Plum’s goodness is precisely the reason she can’t keep her head down. She chooses to cook a meal to save Lady Sulat’s premature baby, knowing full well that it will expose the fact that she has a birth gift that Dami never claimed on her application. Alder doesn’t seem to care that Plum saved his nephew. He sentences Plum to death for lying to the Royal House. But Plum is such a good person that when King Alder gets kidnapped, guess who rescues him? Even though she has no guarantee that King Alder will reverse his sentence and even though the kidnappers offer her the position of master chef of the Redwood Palace, she is willing to save the king because Ospren taking the throne would turn Rowak into a vassal state. Plum puts country first. No one is more deserving of the title “hero of Rowak.”

But if there were a second place, it would have to go to Lady Sulat. I love her sense of loyalty to the people who are loyal to her. “She gave me a post when she could have abandoned me to whatever fate brought,” Bane says. My favorite part of the book is in Chapter 40 when Sulat sticks out her own neck to save Plum. She announces that she commanded Plum to lie to the Royal House to act as her agent in the kitchens. “Any crimes she may have committed rests solely on my head,” she says, daring the Purple-Blue Council to convict her. Anyone who did that for me would have my undying admiration.

[Amanda]

I completely enjoyed this read! It's the perfect blend of enjoyable, intelligent descriptions, without being so complex that is confusing or no longer entertaining. It's an accessible world of magic that makes you feel as though it could be real with the relatable food references. If you're a lover of the world of food you'll definitely enjoy this tale.

[Myra · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this world, each person is born with a specific ability. Those who are perceptive of taste know how to prepare food so it is more than simple substance for the body. Depending on what you eat and how it was prepared, it can change your vitality, your health, your strength, your happiness. (Not all that far from the real effects of food!)

Plum is a chef, trained by her father in the ways of this magical food that is a part of everyday life. She is ready to follow through with an arranged marriage to a wealthy boy that will allow her to afford the ingredients she needs for a successful kitchen. Unfortunately, not everyone is willing to follow where life leads them. Plum's little sister Dami, born strong-of-arm, is supposed to go serve at the Redwood Palace. Instead, she runs off to join the army. The Palace must receive what it was promised, so Plum gives up on her dreams, takes on her sister's identity, and goes to serve at the palace. ...Where she isn't, in fact, strong-of-arm, people aren't all nice here like they are in her village, someone is trying to poison someone else, and there is a hungry ghost.
If Plum can get through all of this... she could still be executed for her deception.

I loved this world, the magical abilities, all of the food and the magic attributed to it; I liked the plot; and I liked Plum and her character growth. I was never bored, was satisfied at the ending, and ready to read more.

At this point all 3 books in the trilogy have been released, so I just re-read this book and loved it again!

Get ready for the magic of the cooking pot....

[Theresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This goes to show that there are many talented indie writers that get little to no recognition. This book is excellent. Well written, balanced, paced well and unique. I loved it.