Synopsis
Seventeen-year-old Paprick is a common butcher, carving slabs of meat from gargantuan monsters so elite chefs can prepare magic-granting meals for the rich. But Paprick’s true passion is cooking, and if he can learn the secret art, his dreams of liberating his people and sharing the monsters’ magic with the world could come true. He steals the precious ingredients needed to practise recipes at home, but if he’s caught, he’ll be executed.
As his desperation grows, he ventures into the black market and uncovers a spice imported from unknown lands. Combining it with the last of his stolen meat, he cooks a dish the world has never tasted before, with side-effects he couldn’t have foreseen.
The dish’s magic grows Paprick to kaiju-size, and legends of his powers spread among the people. Immediately, the rulers arrest him, but Paprick convinces them to make him a chef’s apprentice―if they ever want to learn his Recipe. However, his exposure to the world of high cuisine reveals the rot at its centre, and with his new power, rebellion is only a few recipes away…
Review
With vibes, themes and character of Attack on Titan and food-based powers that reminded me of Toriko – two of my favourite mangas – Seven Recipes for Revolution is an incredible debut. It also offers one of the most unique and authentic point of views I’ve ever read.
Told in the framed style of POV that we’ve come to love from Empire of the Vampire and The Name of the Wind, we join Paprick the Butcher who is imprisoned and on his way to execution. He has been afforded the Rite, an opportunity to tell us his story, of how he rose to god-like influence and power, in a chance for him to live if he divulges his secrets and what he knows of God. It’s an incredible way to set the story and something that always gets me really invested right away if done properly. And Rose certainly succeeds in this – in the first pages of meeting Paprick, I was sold on his legend, on needing to know how and why such a powerful man is now behind bars.
The magic system is something that will both break your heart and intrigue you. Without going into too much detail to spoil the book, it’s set around Emphons – think Godzilla, think Kaiju, there’s lots of them about – and the meat carved from them, while they are alive. Cooking and eating this meat, if you know a greater recipe, will bestow incredible power (based on said recipe.) This is the part that reminded me of Toriko – where the truly powerful people are Chefs who knows how to cook the meat in the right way that will power armies, conquest and war.
The writing is what stood out to me, I simply could not put this book down (and subsequently ordered the very nice Broken Binding book set, with the sequel included) because of it. Every metaphor, every simile, the curse words, the way they speak to each other and what they reference, is food based. It displays an incredible command and understanding of a point of view that really tightly hugs the character voice and in-world culture. There’s very few books that get the right balance of voice and clarity of prose and this book is one of them. It shines for it.
The plot is fast paced and it’s not too long before a major incident that happens and turns Paprick’s life upside down. The choice of chapter length is deliberate and lends itself to a story that pulls you in quickly and moves you through the Butcher’s tale at a speed that I loved. A warning: there’s characters in this book that you’ll simply love to hate. I was disgusted and angry nearing the end, desperate to see what happened. The plot will move you and make you feel every beat of it.
Paprick is legend but Paprick is also a mommy’s boy – to both of his Moms, who he refers to as Mom and Mother for Sesa and Asabi. Their relationship is so endearing and delightful to read. Often fantasy skips over these relationships, but here we have a character who we’re shown very explicitly to absolutely adore his mothers. It’s heart-warming and was one of my favourite bits about Paprick’s character.
Overall, I was pretty sure I had already read the best book I was going to read this year, but I was incredibly wrong indeed. This is it. And I’m absolutely delighted and incredibly lucky I get to keep reading books of this calibre: from the devastating fights, to the delicately planned and prepared magic system, to the fast-paced and gut-wrenching plot, this is one of the best books you’ll read.
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