Rebecca Nicole

I knew I was going to love this book from the very beginning. Well, as long as it had a decent ending I would love it. It did not disappoint.

The themes about parental abuse and forced isolation really spoke to me. Cordelia was way braver and more bold than I’d expected of anyone who has been abused their whole life, but I loved it. It made it feel like there was hope for getting out of awful situations.

This book was doing so much. It was dark, and cozy, and charming. T. Kingfisher has a way of telling dark, horrible, terrifying stories in a way that feels almost cozy and charming. The middle part of this book reminded me a little of Pride and Prejudice, but then something would happen to remind me how dark and twisted this story actually was.

I love Heaster as a protagonist and I love that we have an older person as a main character in the story. I also love that Heaster kept referring to the sorceress as Doom in her head. She used the expectations of old people against the sorceress in the best way possible, and often in amusing ways.

Seeing from both Hester and Cordelia’s perspective really helped paint a better picture of what was going on. Cordelia is socially awkward and doesn’t know how to handle many of the situations thrust upon her, but she knows that her mother is a sorceress and she knows some of her mother’s plans. While Hester might not know everything that is going on, she has a much better grasp on the social dynamics than Cordelia. In addition, we get to see Cordelia’s awkwardness both from Cordelia herself, and from an outsider.

As painful as it was to see Cordelia try and often mess up in social situations, I also loved that she was finally getting out of the isolation she had grown up with. I also love the conflicted feelings Cordelia has when she meets another sorceress who is really nice to her. It forces Cordelia to see things from a perspective she might not have encountered otherwise.

The side characters are wonderful. Practically all of them felt very alive and real. We have so many fun characters to hang out with too!

Basically I loved everything about this book. It’s one of my favorite T. Kingfisher books, and one I will definitely be rereading.

SPOILERS!!!

Also Cordelia is definitely a sorceress too, but she doesn’t realize it. Aaaah!!

December 2022
OH MY GOSH THAT ENDING THO

November 2023
I'm really glad I gave this book a second try! I have now reread it because I love the writing and the atmosphere and the characters!

My full thoughts (and my adventures making November cakes can be found on my youtube channel

Review from January 2017, preserved for comparison purposes:

DNF page 80 ish

I'll admit that I did not give this one much of a chance. But the pace is soooo sloooow, the characters are uninteresting, and nothing at all has happened. I looked at a few reviews to see if it is worth continuing, and decided to ditch it when I read the race is not until the very end and only lasts about 10 pages. Umm, no.

The narrators for the audio book are awesome.

Very gripping yet very enraging.

I understand the point of the book was how easy it was to accept the way things are, even if those things are horrible. And the complexities of caring for people who perpetuating those horrible things.

But

Dana is way too accepting of a rapist. She even encourages her ancestor into accepting being raped, and is happy when they have a child together. Would I really want my ancestor to be raped just so I could exist?! I'm not sure my family tree or existence is worth someone else's pain and suffering. Of course if it hadn't been Rufus, it could have easily been someone else. Who knows what would have happened to Alice if Rufus wasn't around. But Dana's attitude still feels icky.And then Dana kills Rufus when he tries to rape her. That seems very hypocritical


This is also a book about a concept. I would have preferred it be a book about characters. We didn't see the deeply intense internal personal conflict that could have easily arisen from a story like this.

Easily one of my favorite books! I read it so fast because I had to know what happened next. Now feel like I need to reread it to fully explore all the themes. I don't think I've ever fallen in love with a book or author this fast

My full review can be found on in this video on my youtube channel



“Then find out. Find out the nature of the Cosmos”

Ren thought it was somewhat unreasonable to ask her to puzzle out what philosophers and theologians had been trying to answer for millennia, but she returned to the library. And came back with more questions still.

“But how does the existence or nonexistence of the gods affect me? Why does it matter how the universe came to be?”

“Because you're part of it. Because you exist. And unless you want to only ever be a tiny modicum of existence that doesn't understand its relation to the grander web of things, you will explore.”

“Why should I?”

“Because I know you want power.” He tapped her forehead again. “And how can you borrow power from the gods when you don't understand what they are?”

- Chapter 9 (6:40)