Reviews with content warning for Death - A Hat Full of Sky

This picks up the adventures of Tiffany Aching after the events of The Wee Free Men. Tiffany is now eleven years old, and she's leaving the Chalk for the first time to apprentice to the witch Miss Level to learn more about how to be a witch. But Miss Level's version of witchcraft seems mostly like chores and helping out the local village people. Tiffany is good at chores, though, and she doesn't complain.

But there's something after Tiffany. Something ancient and unkillable, drawn to power and wanting a body to inhabit, lacking a mind of its own so using its host's until everything that makes its host them is gone and all that's left is it. It recognizes Tiffany's power and it wants to make her its host.

I wish I'd had this book when I was young. Even more than in The Wee Free Men, Tiffany is forced to confront her flaws and the parts of herself that she keeps hidden because she thinks they're bad and wrong (and possibly make her a bad person). It's a magical adventure, absolutely, but it's also very touching and poignant and says a lot of things that I could have stood to hear when I was Tiffany's age and feeling the same anxieties about being a bad person as she is in this book.

It's not a short book, but it feels short because the story just flies by. It doesn't feel rushed or even like there's a lot happening, it's just the kind of story you devour. It also has one of those false endings where it seems everything is pretty much wrapped up but there's still two hours of book to go, which was absolutely delightful.

I've read several Discworld books by now, and I think that the Tiffany Aching sub-series is my favorite at the moment. My library doesn't have Wintersmith on audiobook at the moment, but I am absolutely going to be requesting it.

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ladyfaceplant's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted mysterious relaxing tense medium-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

She's back she's back she's back!

I love Tiffany and I'm very excited to read the rest of this series. The Discworld witches are truly (almost) all my idols. What wonderful women and what a wonderful fantasy world. The Mac Mac Feegles also bring me endless joy.

One more star than the last one because I thought the plot was more interesting and much more tense!

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