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abbey_marie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
I really liked this book once I got into it. As the book jacket says, “High Fantasy, Low Stakes.” It fits that description perfectly and is an incredibly cozy, relaxing read and perfect for fall!
Things I Loved:
- The Food! Cinnamon rolls, coffee, chocolate - this book has all the cozy deliciousness with detailed descriptions that will make your mouth water. I’m not lying when I say that I am now craving a cinnamon roll as big as my head! (And I would LOVE to have a real Legends and Lattes somewhere to go get one!) I also loved that no one had ever heard of them before, because that was just charming and added a bit more magic to the story and the detailed food descriptions.
- The Characters! I loved how Viv was a strong female lead, Tandri too, and the diverse cast of characters that created a community around Viv as her cafe grew and thrived. Val and Thimble were perfect! Thimble especially with his soft-spoken demeanor and baking genius! Not joking - Baldree should totally make a stuffy of him because all the members of my book club would probably buy it lol.
- Slice of Life! This book is perfect for those readers who love slice of life novels. This goes relatively day-by-day and is slow-medium paced, picking up more in the middle. I’ll admit that at first it took me a while to get into it, but once I did it was a cozy book I really wanted to return to at the end of the day under a cozy blanket with a warm bevvie in hand!
- The Setting! Thune was so cozy! It feels almost like a rural, medieval-like Scottish or Irish village, but in a fantasy setting. I really enjoyed the descriptive writing style used by Baldree and the way it drew you into the story. I think it added an extra layer of warmth and coziness to the story.
- Queer Rep! 🏳️🌈 Just love the love story and how it unfolded. I honestly wasn’t expecting it at first and then really grew to love it as a smaller side plot. And the ending! 🥹🥹🥹 IYKYK
Things I Liked:
- The Fantasy. I’m not a high-fantasy reader, so this genre kind of caught me off guard in some ways since I didn’t really know what to expect going into it. I wasn’t familiar with many of the different types of characters (and am still not super well schooled on them now lol), but this book made me like high fantasy and want to learn more about it. I usually shy away from the genre because I don’t know a lot about it and it seems complicated, but this was a great introduction.
Things I Didn’t Like:
-This book is made to be low stakes, so I understand that, but I do feel like the main conflict with the Madrigal was resolved too quickly. I almost wish there had been more tension there and the conflict with Fennus had been cut, even though it did add to the story. I actually loved how the community rallied around Viv after that, but I still feel like the main conflict arc could have been developed more and the tension could have been held onto more before coming to a resolution.
- The beast killing scene at the beginning was a little too gory for me. Maybe it was expectations—I went into the book thinking it would be super cozy and start super cozy, after Viv had gotten the Scalvert’s Stone, and it kind of caught me off guard. I’m not big on gory fight scenes, so it just felt misplaced for me and I honestly skimmed it. (Had to come back to it later obviously lol, since I didn’t know some names.)
-I wish we saw more of the seemingly magical, time-traveling dwarf! My book club said this too and I totally agree, I would have loved to see more of the little guy because I feel like there’s a story there!
Overall, this was an awesome book! I would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy readmaybe minus the slightly gory prologue lol or a relaxing book perfect for fall! Definitely for a lover of cinnamon rolls! 🧡🍁☕️ (Also, why is there no cinnamon roll emoji?! Someone needs to get on that!)
Things I Loved:
- The Food! Cinnamon rolls, coffee, chocolate - this book has all the cozy deliciousness with detailed descriptions that will make your mouth water. I’m not lying when I say that I am now craving a cinnamon roll as big as my head! (And I would LOVE to have a real Legends and Lattes somewhere to go get one!) I also loved that no one had ever heard of them before, because that was just charming and added a bit more magic to the story and the detailed food descriptions.
- The Characters! I loved how Viv was a strong female lead, Tandri too, and the diverse cast of characters that created a community around Viv as her cafe grew and thrived. Val and Thimble were perfect! Thimble especially with his soft-spoken demeanor and baking genius! Not joking - Baldree should totally make a stuffy of him because all the members of my book club would probably buy it lol.
- Slice of Life! This book is perfect for those readers who love slice of life novels. This goes relatively day-by-day and is slow-medium paced, picking up more in the middle. I’ll admit that at first it took me a while to get into it, but once I did it was a cozy book I really wanted to return to at the end of the day under a cozy blanket with a warm bevvie in hand!
- The Setting! Thune was so cozy! It feels almost like a rural, medieval-like Scottish or Irish village, but in a fantasy setting. I really enjoyed the descriptive writing style used by Baldree and the way it drew you into the story. I think it added an extra layer of warmth and coziness to the story.
- Queer Rep! 🏳️🌈 Just love the love story and how it unfolded. I honestly wasn’t expecting it at first and then really grew to love it as a smaller side plot. And the ending! 🥹🥹🥹 IYKYK
Things I Liked:
- The Fantasy. I’m not a high-fantasy reader, so this genre kind of caught me off guard in some ways since I didn’t really know what to expect going into it. I wasn’t familiar with many of the different types of characters (and am still not super well schooled on them now lol), but this book made me like high fantasy and want to learn more about it. I usually shy away from the genre because I don’t know a lot about it and it seems complicated, but this was a great introduction.
Things I Didn’t Like:
-
-
-
Overall, this was an awesome book! I would totally recommend it to anyone looking for a cozy read
Content Warnings
Minor: Cursing, Death, Gore, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
imscrem's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I found this book to be a way more of a slow burn than expected, where queer romance was involved. It also seemed to me that it could be a bit ham-handed with its inclusion of microaggressions and reflections of, essentially, mild fantasy racism. The plot and characters seemed a bit too simple to me. Overall, I really enjoyed reading the cozy fantasy novel Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea, but found this one didn’t quite hit the spot for me as cozy fantasy goes.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
Frequent microaggressions based on fantasy races, although shown as something to quit doingnurr's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Racism and Stalking
valkyriecain82's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
kkulhannie's review against another edition
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Violence, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
lyneobsessions's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Un roman de cosy fantasy comme je les aime ! Ici on retrouve des personnages attachants bien que tous différents les uns des autres. À première vue, rien ne pourraient les rassembler et pourtant !
J'ai aimé que l'histoire prenne son temps, que l'on découvre chaque personne au fil des jours et que le café soit mis en place tout aussi lentement. À l'image d'une histoire qui se focus sur l'introspection de son personnage principal, il y a peu d'action mais les quelques événements qui ont lieu suffisent car le suspense reste présent entre chaque moment clé.
Une histoire douce, qui donne envie de manger des pâtisseries avec une boisson chaude 🥰
J'ai aimé que l'histoire prenne son temps, que l'on découvre chaque personne au fil des jours et que le café soit mis en place tout aussi lentement. À l'image d'une histoire qui se focus sur l'introspection de son personnage principal, il y a peu d'action mais les quelques événements qui ont lieu suffisent car le suspense reste présent entre chaque moment clé.
Une histoire douce, qui donne envie de manger des pâtisseries avec une boisson chaude 🥰
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Violence
johannaplatt's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A really fun read with low-medium stakes, but enough to keep me interested. Characters felt well written and authentic, and I enjoyed the setting and theme of found family. Great LGBTQ+ representation without it being "shunned" by society - it was simply accepted.
I'm aware there are more books in this series from the author, but this serves as a great standalone novel.
I'm aware there are more books in this series from the author, but this serves as a great standalone novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail
feliscatusnum_1's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Kidnapping and Stalking
ahoyitsjoy's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book was like a warm hug. Very cozy and warm, with just enough conflict to keep things interesting. I loved all the characters so much. Thoroughly recommend reading this with a cup of coffee in front of you because god did this book make coffee sound incredible.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Stalking
technobabbletime's review against another edition
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I loved this book. The characters are really well written and I love all of the allusions to D&D. It makes me think a lot more about my D&D characters and what they want. -0.5 because I would have loved a little more about Viv's relationship with some of the characters, especially her old adventuring party.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Gaslighting
Minor: Sexual harassment