Wren
“I’m not asking it to be easy. I’m asking it to be possible!”
I was warned by two different people the ending was going to upset me, so really, I only have myself to blame. It’s just, the cover is so precious. And I remember loving Sangu Mandanna’s other cozy fantasy, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, so much. And her brand of humor always makes me smile, and I’m in a place where I could use some extra smiles, you know? So I let myself be lured in by all the shiny things about the book, telling myself whatever potential disappointment awaited ahead couldn’t be that bad, and now here I am, upset and angry and rolling my eyes. Go figure.
Really though, the ending isn’t even the only problem of this book, even though it felt kind of, dare I say, cruel to give the character a main goal, have her go through all the steps to successfully achieving it, and then snatching it away from her forever pages later—and all that in a feel-good genre. But there’s also the fact that the book kind of… didn’t know what it even wanted to be, for most of the way? Some parts read like a regular feel-good cozy fantasy. Others came across as almost a deconstruction of the common cozy fantasy tropes, because there Sera was, living in a magical inn surrounded by quirky lovable weirdos, and so often she was quite simply miserable. At times, the narrative tried to get all serious and reminisce about the mistakes our elders have made, and how maybe we can’t fix them all, but we can learn from them and make the world a better place for the next generation. Just a big overall lack of consistency.
I did like the actual cozy fantasy parts of it a lot. There were many sweet moments and turns of phrase that made me smile or laugh. I really enjoyed Matilda and Jasmine’s storyline. And the zombie chicken. And Clemmie’s shenanigans, too, for the most part. I also liked how kind and loyal Sera remained even through her most fed-up moments. I adored the way the overall feel of doing magic was described—it was really enchanting and wondrous. And I found the autism representation very thoughtful.
Sadly though, all these details that I enjoyed have only made the overall “not coming together” feel and the bad vibes from the ending more poignant. This could have been such an overall uplifting read for me, but alas.
“I’m not asking it to be easy. I’m asking it to be possible!”
I was warned by two different people the ending was going to upset me, so really, I only have myself to blame. It’s just, the cover is so precious. And I remember loving Sangu Mandanna’s other cozy fantasy, The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches, so much. And her brand of humor always makes me smile, and I’m in a place where I could use some extra smiles, you know? So I let myself be lured in by all the shiny things about the book, telling myself whatever potential disappointment awaited ahead couldn’t be that bad, and now here I am, upset and angry and rolling my eyes. Go figure.
Really though, the ending isn’t even the only problem of this book, even though it felt kind of, dare I say, cruel to give the character a main goal, have her go through all the steps to successfully achieving it, and then snatching it away from her forever pages later—and all that in a feel-good genre. But there’s also the fact that the book kind of… didn’t know what it even wanted to be, for most of the way? Some parts read like a regular feel-good cozy fantasy. Others came across as almost a deconstruction of the common cozy fantasy tropes, because there Sera was, living in a magical inn surrounded by quirky lovable weirdos, and so often she was quite simply miserable. At times, the narrative tried to get all serious and reminisce about the mistakes our elders have made, and how maybe we can’t fix them all, but we can learn from them and make the world a better place for the next generation. Just a big overall lack of consistency.
I did like the actual cozy fantasy parts of it a lot. There were many sweet moments and turns of phrase that made me smile or laugh. I really enjoyed Matilda and Jasmine’s storyline. And the zombie chicken. And Clemmie’s shenanigans, too, for the most part. I also liked how kind and loyal Sera remained even through her most fed-up moments. I adored the way the overall feel of doing magic was described—it was really enchanting and wondrous. And I found the autism representation very thoughtful.
Sadly though, all these details that I enjoyed have only made the overall “not coming together” feel and the bad vibes from the ending more poignant. This could have been such an overall uplifting read for me, but alas.