I was sooo ready for this book to be a new favourite, with the whole "Great British Bake Off in SPACE" marketed to me. I was hoping for something along the lines of The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, but with much more cooking, but alas.

Interstellar Megachef just ultimately fell flat for me. The worldbuilding is superficially intriguing, featuring a socialist society with a diverse cast, yet it feels inconsistent and fails to reflect genuine progress after two thousand years. The characters, particularly Serenity Ko, lack depth and relatability, making it difficult to engage with their stories. The chemistry was also just not there, and felt very forced. The cooking competition is rushed, lacking rich descriptions that would appeal to food enthusiasts (i.e. me). Additionally, the prose is bland, and while the anti-colonial themes are evident, they often come across as heavy-handed. Overall, the book misled me with its marketing, and despite its potential, it didn't deliver an enjoyable experience. It might resonate with some readers, but it’s a pass for me.

Pretty sure this is a me issue, but I couldn't wrap my head around the worldbuilding. While I was a little interested in what Saras was up to, Serenity Ko was just awful and out of touch immediately. I hope she got some kind of redemptive arc, but I was not interested in reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

DNF at 5%

I got 5% into this story before coming to the conclusion it was not for me.
The dialogue is awkward and clunky, and the writing feels amateurish. The technobabble is contextless enough that it draws you out of the story, forcing you to try and decipher what is happening. The food-based prose is too prominent to be charming, and instead comes off as gimmicky.

I will not be leaving a Goodreads review as I feel I did not get far enough into the story for it to be a fair review.

Interstellar MegaChef is the first book in the Flavour Hacker series. The cover was the first thing that caught my eye. A cooking show in space who wouldn't want to read it? But oh boy, that book is so much more than just a cute little show. One of the things that I love about it is the worldbuilding. It was so detailed and complex. The story is well written and funny at the same time. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. I can't wait to read more of this story. Thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion | Solaris for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

"Interstellar MegaChef" serves up an intriguing blend of sci-fi and culinary drama that's more complex than its playful cover suggests. Lakshminarayan crafts a vivid, immersive universe where Earth refugee Saras Kaveri navigates xenophobia and cutthroat competition in an intergalactic cooking show. While the promised MasterChef-in-space concept takes a backseat to weightier themes of cultural imperialism and identity, the author's lively prose and diverse cast of characters keep the pages turning. The budding romance between Saras and the initially unlikable Serenity Ko feels underdeveloped, but their partnership exploring the intersection of food and technology is fascinating. Though some plot threads are left simmering for future installments, this first course in the series offers plenty of food for thought and leaves readers hungry for more.

I enjoyed the various POV and absolutely love the cooking competition vibes! It was the cover that also really drew me in. Overall: a good time!

🛸🍩 Interstellar MegaChef 🍩🛸
Flavour Hacker #1
By Lavanya Lakshminarayan
✨ Thank you NetGalley and Solaris for a copy of this eARC - Available November 5th!

🍩 Cooking competition
🛸 Solcialism
🍩 Xenophobia
🛸 Sapphic romance
🍩 Multiple POV

🛸 Characters 🛸
Starlight Fantastic was one of the high points - their character was something interesting and intriguing from the very first time you meet them.
However, most of the characters have multiple names or names similar to others and it makes it very hard to keep track of, and generally were a little hard to like.
There’s a touch of romance but it felt a little weird to me, the love interest isn’t loveable, morally grey works well if done well.

🍩 Plot 🍩
I went into this thinking I was getting a cooking competition … which I did … but not really? Idk, I guess I’m confused by the way this was marketed.
Politics and inclusion are big themes in this books, which is great. But it didn’t feel well done enough to make it impactful.

🛸 Overall 🛸
This world is incredibly immersive but also didn’t make sense completely. With so many different species of beings plus plants and animals, cities, etc you would think it would feel a bit more alien. Especially considering how distant in the future it took place I expected an otherworldly feel which wasn’t the case here. BUT there were moments when I really enjoyed the world building and atmosphere that this provided.
This is not a feel good story, despite what the cover may convey.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The cover connotes a much more irreverent feeling than what's in this book. This is a true intergalactic space opera. If you're not on board for high tech sci-fi, skip it.

2.5 / 5

Saraswati has escaped a precarious family situation on her home planet of Earth to take part in Interstellar Megachef, the most prestigious cooking show on Primus (which, if you ask a Primian, is the centre of the universe). Unfortunately, Saras has underestimated the levels of xenophobia that are targeted at Earthlings on Primus, and has an uphill battle to even be considered a chef on this planet - despite running her own very successful restaurant on Earth. Meanwhile, Serenity Ko is a Primian intent on finding the next big thing. Her boss has some criticisms of her working style, sure, but that’s just because he doesn’t understand how great she is at her job… right?

The premise of Interstellar Megachef is fantastic - a cosy sci-fi story about a chef travelling across the universe for a reality TV show to prove something to herself and her family, with a hint of a sapphic romance. Unfortunately most of those ingredients didn’t come through in the final dish (if you’ll forgive my terrible cooking metaphor). Saraswati and her little robot AI friend Kili are very likeable, as are the few friends she somehow picks up along the way - side note, can I have a book about Starlight Fantastic & Moonage Daydream instead, please? I’m not sure how Saras picks up said friends, who seem to be willing to do absolutely anything for her within 2 minutes of meeting, but it’s a good thing she does because she could not have progressed anywhere in the story without the entire wider cast.

The diversity of races (human and alien), genders, and sexualities were all great to see, although it did feel a bit jarring that neo-pronouns only seemed to be used for very specific aliens, with no human using them. Regardless, pronoun use and gender expression were never commented on, which felt like a lovely baked-in part of the world. However, for a book that is supposed to be set millennia after our present day, it did not feel like there was any other progression or development of the human race, or of most technology. The majority of the humans and other species have access to “the loop” - a sort of internet within your own brain - and space ships, but that’s really the only technology that is mentioned.

Saraswati's family mystery and wider politics are slowly revealed throughout the book, but aren't interesting or developed enough for me as a reader to care. It felt like this, along with a few other plot points, were setups for a sequel that just felt lacklustre in their introduction. The beginnings of the romance between Saraswati and Serenity Ko is another of those lacklustre plot points. It felt jarring that at one point they were suddenly describing their overwhelming sexual attraction within their POV chapters, when before there had been no hint or suggestion of that blossoming between the two of them.

Serenity Ko herself is a very interesting character to have written in this book. She is entirely unlikable with zero redeeming qualities at the beginning of the story… and in the middle… and at the end… I had no interest in reading any of her chapters because I would only hurt myself rolling my eyes at her inflated ego. She was well-written, yes, in the sense that it was very easy to hate her for being a horrible person. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough as a reader to be interested in her story, and I resented having to read her chapters.

Overall this book was a miss for me. It didn’t feel sci-fi enough to be sci-fi, it didn’t feel wholesome enough to be cosy, and with the inclusion of Serenity Ko, the characters certainly weren’t likeable or relatable enough for it to be a compelling romance. There’s definite potential to it, and I could see myself picking up Lavanya Lakshminarayan’s other novel, but Interstellar Megachef won’t be one I’m recommending to friends, and I won’t be holding my breath to read the sequel.

Such a vibrant and colourful world, it was hard not to become enthralled within it all. Whilst I expected it to mostly reside within a cooking show/competition, it did still amaze.

(Thanks to Solaris and Netgalley for the ARC! This review reflects my unbiased opinion.)

Don't let the giant pink donut on the cover fool you: Interstellar MegaChef is not a silly confection of a book about antics of an alien Great British Bakeoff. The writing is lively and sometimes funny, but the story is more complex and the tone more serious than the cover led me to expect. The themes include cultural imperialism, colonialism, identity, the multiple cultural meanings of food, and simulated vs. actual experience.

Saraswati Kaveri had an award-winning restaurant on the barbaric, conflict-ridden backwater planet of Earth, but she arrives on the planet Primus as a refugee. Primus is the self-satisfied pinnacle of human culture in space, founded on lofty ideals and certain of its own perfection. (...Not that the Primians we meet seem particularly happy.) Saraswati bounces hard off the local food culture on Primus as she tries to escape her past and find a future that is worthy of her. She also bounces hard off Serenity Ko, a hard-drinking and hard-driven corporate entertainment developer and appalling brat. Despite their glaring differences, the two team up to develop a new concept: simulated food that neurotech links to your deepest emotions and memories.

It's very much the first book in what is presumably a trilogy, in that a lot of issues and plot threads are set up that don't pay off in this volume. That includes the developing relationship between the two main characters, as well as their personal character development arcs. The end of Interstellar MegaChef does bring us to a satisfying intermediate conclusion, however. I'll definitely be reading the next one.

Saras Kaveri is a long way from home, but she’s exactly where she wants to be - far away from her corrupt family who seems determined to manipulate her fate at every turn. With an altered appearance and an adorable helper robot in tow, Saras is ready to start her new life.

Here on the megatropolis planet of Primus, Saras can be who she wants to be - hopefully a highly respected culinary figure. On Earth, she ran a successful elite restaurant, but here, no one knows her reputation, and unfortunately Earthlings are rumored to be “primitive” and “savage” in spite of this planet adopting values of equality and inclusivity.

Saras wins a spot on the hit show of the galaxy - Interstellar Megachef. It’s like Top Chef, but in space! And the food technology is unlike anything she has encountered before. She’s intimidated, but determined to win the respect of her fellow chefs.

This proves to be much harder than expected. At the same time, tech genius Serenity Ko is also struggling to piece together her next innovative project - a simulated food experience. But first, she needs to learn the basics of cooking.

Saras and Serenity Ko can probably help each other - that is if they can get along. Serenity Ko isn’t exactly a social butterfly. But she is desperate.
Here, the scifi-for-foodies novel explores the way colonizer culture, xenophobia and performative inclusivity is prevalent in multicultural spaces - even in spaces that strive toward utopian social ideals. It’s like a cozy culinary fantasy folded into a space opera, sprinkled with a dash of romantic comedy and philosophical manifesto. Unique, to say the least!

Examining the moral, political, and socioeconomic impact of emerging technology (especially where it overlaps with consumables), Interstellar Megachef manages to be both fun and sharply poignant.

Thank you to @netgalley for the review copy!

DNF at 30%.

I received a copy of this through Netgalley. I was super interested in the premise of Great British Bake Off vibes but in the future, in space and queer?! Sounds right up my street. Unfortunately I only got those things on at the most miniscule level. It is not often that I give up on a book after 10% but before 50% just to give it a fair shot but I just couldn't imagine putting myself through even 20% more of this book. I just don't think this world was built well. I didn't understand the various parts of the world. I didn't understand the various characters. I didn't get the dynamics of the interstellar relationships between cultures/peoples/species. I didn't even get the cooking stuff. I couldn't even make it to the queer part because I just couldn't read anymore. I also thought the names were super confusing. Nothing felt well drawn out or established. What a bummer with the great buzzwords, cover and title. This might be for folks who are really well-versed in sci-fi and can really easily immerse themselves in new and different worlds even if the world building is less than stellar.

Interstellar Megachef was an enjoyable read, but it felt as if something was missing - it either didn't quite hit the mark, or was aiming for too many marks at once. As such, Interstellar Megachef sits somewhere between cosy sci-fi, humorous sci-fi (which the cover suggests) and its darker relations. I anticipated a found family dynamic, but the cast of characters wasn't sufficiently developed to allow this to happen. The world-building, likewise, was rather on the nose - there was a tendency to tell, rather than show. The dialogue in particular made me chortle aloud a fair few times, and the potential for emotional resonance was there if the characters were given more room to grow. The darker aspects of the novel are the least resolved and focused upon - many of the loose ends at the novel's conclusion arise from these - but they do cause some conflicting tone throughout. I'm assuming this is because this is the first in a series - and the ending felt satisfactory regardless. I may well try the next in the series, as I feel that there's a lot of potential here - it just hasn't all been achieved yet.

thank you to netgalley for the arc!

this was pretty solid! one of the main characters was likeable---the other DID have a character arc but it is clear that the arc-ing is not over yet. i was not aware that this was the first book in a series, but it worked pretty well anyway! one of the plot lines has a clear end at the end of the book, but most of the other questions are left open for sequels, including all of the character relationships (the sapphic relationship that i picked this up for AND the complicated family situation that saras has going on.)

the food part of this book is largely secondary to its commentary on colonialism and moral posturing, which was fine but if you're going into this book solely because you LOVE cooking shows this might not be for you!

Interstellar MegaChef takes the cooking competition to a cosmic scale with a satirical twist. Saras Kaveri, an Earthling chef, lands on Primus to compete in a high-stakes cooking show, while Serenity Ko, a tech innovator, is on leave and seeks to create a revolutionary food sim. The novel delves into xenophobia, cultural clash, and the ethics of technology, wrapped in a richly imagined sci-fi world. Though the initial world-building can be overwhelming, the story's exploration of food as a cultural and political battleground is both innovative and thought-provoking.

At first glance I thought that Interstellar MegaChef by Lavanya Lakshminarayan was going to be a cozy, somewhat silly story. The cover does, after all, have a space donut on it. The book itself, however, was intelligent, and thought provoking, and I can’t wait to read the rest in this series. I was provided with an eARC of this book by NetGalley and Rebellion/Solaris.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and publisher.

This was a really interesting exploration of how integral food is to culture, even hundreds of years in the future and on other planets!

While the book is named after the cooking competition that takes place in it, the competition wasn’t a huge part of the book which surprised me a little. It does occur at different points in the book, but it’s what happens in between that takes the bulk of the story.

We follow two characters, one a chef who has fled earth from her family and is entering the competition to escape her family, however her earth cooking doesn’t have the reaction she’d expected. We also meet a person who designs simulated experiences who is expecting to have a significant career success but has to rethink instead. We see the moments their stories interconnect and the ways they both have to grow and overcome different challenges.

Throughout this novel we explore the different ways people interact with food, what it means to them, and how relationships with food evolve in different environments. This was fascinating.

There’s also an exploration of xenophobia. Our main character Sara’s faces cruel and hateful interactions purely because she is from earth, being dismissed in spite of her talent because of her origins.

An entertaining novel and something really quite innovative in sci-fi!

This was so much fun to read! The worldbuilding was so rich in details. I loved the entire cast of characters. The romance needed more buildup, but overall a very enjoyable book. Can't wait for more.

What a complex and rich scifi universe! So many different cultures and world views. I loved that this was not just a rehash of social issues on earth. Yes, there was some carryover of modern social problems, but it felt rooted in this universe, not our own. Which I found refreshing.

I struggled with not enjoying some of the characters’ personalities. And I did have trouble keeping the character names and planets straight, but it was still a fun ride. I enjoyed all the fun interstellar food. Iron chef in space!