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A review by sarah984
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
adventurous
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
“But as long as they gave us medals, that fixed it, as far as the army was concerned. You expect heroes to survive terrible things. If you give them a medal, then you don’t ever have to ask why the terrible thing happened in the first place. Or try to fix it.” He made a flicking gesture with his fingers. “How else are you gonna have heroes?”
This was a really charming story about a teenage baker and her group of misfit friends joining forces to save their city. The writing is punchy and fun (Mona’s bakery creations are fantastic) and the character’s voice is great. I loved how she would constantly describe things in baking metaphors, and she had realistic fourteen-year-old reactions to what was going on around her. I liked that she was heroic but the story carried a message about how heroism basically requires the failure of all measures to prevent a crisis first.
I did notice a few editing errors (Uncle Albert became Uncle Earl in one scene for example) and I was kind of disappointed that in a story about how people shouldn't be judged based on stereotypes and rumours the Carex mercenaries were exactly the savages Mona thought they were. Aside from those complaints though I would definitely recommend this.
This was a really charming story about a teenage baker and her group of misfit friends joining forces to save their city. The writing is punchy and fun (Mona’s bakery creations are fantastic) and the character’s voice is great. I loved how she would constantly describe things in baking metaphors, and she had realistic fourteen-year-old reactions to what was going on around her. I liked that she was heroic but the story carried a message about how heroism basically requires the failure of all measures to prevent a crisis first.
I did notice a few editing errors (Uncle Albert became Uncle Earl in one scene for example) and I was kind of disappointed that in a story about how people shouldn't be judged based on stereotypes and rumours the Carex mercenaries were exactly the savages Mona thought they were. Aside from those complaints though I would definitely recommend this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Excrement, Stalking, and Murder
Minor: Ableism, Body shaming, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Vomit, Medical content, and Death of parent