beebriy 's review for:

The Seven Miracles of Beatrix Holland by Rachael Herron

4.0

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**I received an ARC of this.**

This was a cute, fun, cozy read, with a good mix of queer representation throughout. The Evie Oxby quotes at the beginning of each chapter were neat and (mostly) felt very real. The pacing was weird for me, however. It somehow managed to feel both slow and fast. 

I have a huge personal gripe about the Ceremony of the Dead (In that I feel like a lot of people would need to be in more than one line? As someone who cares deeply about their pets, and lost at least one pet every year for 4 years in a row, would I just keep getting in line? Am I just overthinking it? Probably.) 

Other than that and some smaller things (seriously, she got over her husband's cheating very quickly), I quite enjoyed the first half of this book. But then Minna still hadn't gone missing, something that I felt like should have happened already, given the synopsis. And then I hit about 75%, and she still hadn't gone missing. Then she did, but it was more like she ran away, while everyone watched. Which wasn't what I had expected. 

The complete 180 everyone (literally, the entire town) did with Beatrice/Beatrix didn't help. I understand they were upset, but to blame the person who you withheld information from, and was lied to, was obnoxious. 

I'm also conflicted about Beatrice/Beatrix's relationship with Reno. It just felt a little off, possibly due to the pacing. It also seemed like Reno and Cordelia were possibly a thing at the beginning. 

However, I love Astrid's message at the end. Holland magic is matrilineal and that doesn't exclude Minna. Trans women are women.