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bookrecsplease 's review for:
Celestial Banquet
by Roselle Lim
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really liked the idea of a cooking contest for the gods with a prize being immortality, but then so many details just didn’t make a lot of sense story-wise and the peach turned out to be just a life boost for already “immortal” minor gods, and so essentially just a large cash prize for all mortals involved.
Like, why would the gods punish someone for not winning or make the games deadly in the first place? You wouldn’t want to kill the second, or even third or fourth best cook in the land? They would be able to elevate the overall nation’s skill from living a great life after the contest. And why would you want to wipe everyone’s memories when that would allow them to continue to innovate and build off of previous contests? It was just a LOT of plot points that were really contrived, just for the sake of making the story artificially intense. Which it never was, because I never once worried that the protagonist would die or even suffer any permanent negative consequences.
Like, why would the gods punish someone for not winning or make the games deadly in the first place? You wouldn’t want to kill the second, or even third or fourth best cook in the land? They would be able to elevate the overall nation’s skill from living a great life after the contest. And why would you want to wipe everyone’s memories when that would allow them to continue to innovate and build off of previous contests? It was just a LOT of plot points that were really contrived, just for the sake of making the story artificially intense. Which it never was, because I never once worried that the protagonist would die or even suffer any permanent negative consequences.