While visually pleasing and full of fun anecdotes about the world and characters of Exandria, this is ultimately a great cookbook only if you're a seasoned chef or have a LOT of time to spend in the kitchen. And by that I mean that most of these recipes are overly complicated and take hours to make.

The illustrations and photographs are beautiful. The introduction to the different continents of Exandria are full of Easter eggs from the various Critical Role campaigns, as is the info under the recipe titles. It's a fun book to browse and reminisce the adventures of all three groups. 

Unfortunately, I don't see myself making any of these dishes. Partly because very few are vegetarians (and even those plucked from campaign 2 rarely have a vegetarian option, which is weird considering Caduceus doesn't eat meat...), and partly because they are way too complicated. The recipes themselves are not accessible and often use ingredients that you will have to buy solely for that one thing.

I tried the Estheros cookies when CR first announced the cookbook and put two recipes on their website for free. They were fine but not anything incredible compared to regular holiday cookies. Except for the aesthetic, I don't see the use of purchasing this. Get it from your local library, read the cool info about the different parts of Exandria, try a recipe or two if you feel like it, then bring it back and you will have saved enough money for a much easier and quicker meal to cook.