Eight Tastes of Treachery (What We Eat #2), by Ryan Rose

Seven Recipes for Revolution was a stellar debut, an epic fantasy that tickled all the boxes for me, especially as it put food and its meaning at the center of the plot with a cast that I loved; but in reality, after reading Eight Tastes of Treachery, I can say that it was only an excellent appetizer, as the main course was reserved for this sequel, which continues expanding the world but most importantly, continues to bridge the gap between Paprick, the chef, and the Butcher, the sourcerer and narrator, all while developing many subplots that will captivate our heart through its characters.

From the start, we can appreciate how this is a more ambitious novel than Seven Recipes for Revolution, as Rose fully embraces the dual timeline narration (something that was quite limited due to the first book situation), simultaneously painting the conflict the Butcher is fighting and his own story: one that will take us to the Empire of the Badgeboard, trying to avoid another war now that a truce has been reached with the Rare; a journey that will reveal us more about their religious customs and their questionable elites, putting Paprick, his partner Cori, and his brigade at the center of a conspiration they might stop while trying to forge a new alliance for the Common. And of course, Paprick's story is also a story about cooking, bringing meaning to dishes together with power, and most importantly, a complicated one about the Source.

Bridging the gap between what Paprick was at that point and The Butcher means examining his growth as a character; this journey to the Empire of the Badgeboard will put him in really compromising situations, revealing also how he's prone to ire and act fastly, only caring about the consequences after, which is not exactly the best way if you represent a relatively new nation. It's in those moments when his partner, Cori, will play an important role, being the cold ice to the fire that Paprick represents; if there's something you can be sure about Paprick, is that he's madly in love with Cori, being Cori the most important person in the world for Paprick. He's still grieving for the death of his beloved ones, and we can see how he hasn't overcome it yet, becoming overprotective of Cori and the rest of those he cares for.
The rest of the characters are also remarkable, but a bit overshadowed by Paprick, partly as he is the narrator; said that, I would like to say that I absolutely loved how Rose introduced a character outing themselves as non-binary, how supportive the rest of the cast was, sending an important message in those days (and perpetuating how his world is queer-normative).

Second books in a trilogy tend to be a complicated beast to tame, but I felt this one has everything I could have asked for: not only expands the world building (without losing the focus on the dishes and meals of this new region) while focusing on the character-growth, but it also embraces an increased complexity that is layering the foundations we will need to conclude both timelines in the third book. The pacing is pretty much on point, keeping you engaged from the start to the end.

I loved every single hour I spent reading Eight Tastes of Treachery, an excellent sequel to continue what was started by Seven Recipes for Revolution; I can't recommend the What We Eat series enough. I'm not sure how Ryan Rose will close the trilogy, but he can be sure I will be there to read it as soon as it is released!