AKA one of the most delightful books I've read this year. I mean, I was immediately hooked when it said the main character Mona had a pet Sourdough starter named Bob. Like come on! Who wouldn't want to read that?
Mona is a wizard, but in her mind, she's just a pipsqueak. All she can do is make dough rise and gingerbread men come to life for a bit to do a little dance for the customers in her aunt's bakery. Then one early morning, she arrives at the bakery only to find the dead body of a girl and by the end of the day, she's been accused of murder! The kingdom she's called home has always been kind to magickers, but something is changing in Riverbraid, and Mona is about to become all tangled up in its mess.
There are many things to love about this book. The characters are charming, have their faults with wonderful character arcs; the magic and the book's approach to it is unique and accepting; dancing gingerbread men, rambunctious sourdough starters, and a slippery little thief with a big heart all had me in love. But most of all, I really did love the character building and the introspection of heroism. Mona never wanted to be a hero. She wanted to be a really good baker who made people happy with sweet buns. Instead, the adults in her world are ignoring problems right beneath their noses (cough cough sound familiar?), and it is up to her and her new friend Spindle to fix them, save the kingdom, and become unwilling heroes. Heroism isn't always being a hero. Heroism can also be someone made a mistake, and now they're honoring someone to fix it. Heroism can be doing what's necessary, no matter what it does to you. And often, a lot of heroes never wanted to experience what they did, nor do they want the expectations laid on their shoulders after the fact. And all this coming from a 14 year old baker. Whew!
T. Kingfisher's book is self published with Argyle press. She writes in the back of the book that she worked on this story for a long time with her agent who wanted her to change a lot. Then she worked with editors who wanted her to change a lot until the story was no longer the story. So she made an integrity move by choosing to publish it herself, and I so respect her. Her book didn't fit into any of their categories or tick all the boxes, so she went off her own. She didn't change it to fit the publishing's criteria, she just wrote the book that she wanted to write.
I was taught on my Master's degree to know where the book we're writing fits on the shelves. Align them with other authors, whose readers might enjoy your book. This will help it sell. And that is true. However, that's not always true. Bearmouth by Liz Hyder is another book that doesn't really fit into any one category is amazing and so well received. Yes, a Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking fits into the fantasy category, but the content might be "too old" or "too dark." Forget the categories! Forget the boxes. This book is a delightful/slightly dark tale of a baking wizard who saves her kingdom! So sit down with a cookie and a big cup of tea and enjoy (though maybe not a gingerbread man...you'll understand why after you read it).
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