Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher

20 reviews

vivivi's review

adventurous dark emotional funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Oooo so good! It's funny, a little silly (in a good way), and unexpectedly serious without being serious. It's especially interesting to learn about how this book had so much trouble getting published the traditional way (something about the book's content not quite fitting the mould that the various publishers wanted for their type of fiction), and I'm glad the author decided to self-publish it! I love the bits of darkness that gave this book some roots in reality even while the concept (a teenage baker whose familiar is a barrel of carnivorous sourdough starter) and Mona's running commentary kept it light and fun, most of the time. The baking puns are the best xD

The vibes I'm getting for this book sort of remind me of the Septimus Heap books, actually, and that's pretty nostalgic. I might reread that series after this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death, Murder, and Violence

bexi's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, War, Murder, and Violence

Minor: Confinement, Animal death, and Ableism

meganpbell's review against another edition

adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I love T. Kingfisher’s comically dark, oddly cozy fantasies, and A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking gets the recipe just right. Mona is a 14-year-old bread witch with a sourdough starter familiar—and she’d be just fine making gingerbread men dance at her aunt’s bakery if she hadn’t just found a dead body and gotten all mixed up in a wizard-killing plot that endangers her entire city. A wonderful fairy tale about how powerful your gifts are, no matter their shape or size, especially when you break the mold! Highly recommended for fans of Kiki’s Delivery Service, Legends & Lattes, and The Princess Bride!

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Murder, Police brutality, and War

Minor: Death of parent and Vomit

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful 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

5.0

This book was an utter delight. Wonderful characters, humor, suspense... I just loved it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Death of parent, War, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, and Injury/Injury detail

lmagie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful 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

An upbeat middle grade book with a darkish turn.
There’s death, war and violence, buy without the fear or gruesomeness.

Plot was great, but 2/3 into it it felt like the story had been split in 2, without a clear ending for the 1st.

Also the argument for

Oberon being banished instead of held in the dungeons

wasn’t strong enough.

P.D. Please beware, you can’t stop a fire (for minor that it looks) with flour. Please just asume all sorts of dust are flammable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Vomit, Animal death, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail and Murder

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Grief

purplepenning's review against another edition

adventurous funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

"A weird little anti-establishment book with carnivorous sourdough and armies of dead horses" was just what I needed, thanks. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Child death, Classism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Vomit, Animal death, Excrement, Blood, Colonisation, Grief, and War

Minor: Body shaming and Death of parent

novella42's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

Such a fun, weird, dark-yet-delightful book! I love baking bread and reading fantasy stories, and found this book to be hilarious and just the right amount of snarky. I usually avoid dark/horror themes but I love Kingfisher's style and take on mental health and relationships enough that I keep going back to read a lot of Kingfisher's other books in the Clocktower universe. I kept imagining this story taking place there, too. It's certainly dark enough for it, to the point where I kept feeling surprised that this is a young adult novel. But then Mona would do or say something and I'd have a little argument with myself that of course this is a young adult novel. If Hunger Games is Young Adult, than this can be too, and is a heck of a lot sweeter. (And not just because of all the scones and gingerbread.) I genuinely love Mona and all the people in her life. Kingfisher has a real talent for writing group dynamics and I think that shows here. I was surprised to learn in her afterword that she first wrote this in 2007, as many of the themes are especially relevant in the 2020s. I'd love to read another in a series, and I also think this makes a lovely standalone story too. Well done, Kingfisher!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Death, Hate crime, Police brutality, Excrement, Murder, Violence, Grief, Vomit, Child death, Animal death, and Blood

Moderate: Ableism, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Stalking, Body horror, Xenophobia, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Classism, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Confinement

Minor: Genocide, Cannibalism, Body shaming, Fatphobia, and Medical content

lex_y's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny lighthearted relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: War and Injury/Injury detail

naldorah's review

adventurous dark emotional funny reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Violence, and War

caitlinjadams's review against another edition

adventurous dark funny hopeful tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A friend recommended this to me after I loved Sourdough by Robin Sloan because vaguely sentient sourdough starter books is a delightful genre. I’m glad she did. 

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher is wonderfully stubborn and grim and bothered and feels so much more real than anything with vaguely sentient dough golems has any right to feel. On top of that, it feels particularly urgent and timely in its themes of what it means to be a hero. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and War

Moderate: Animal death, Death, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit and Death of parent