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A review by pznightingale
A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher
2.0
OK, first of all, the setup was adorable. Trouble is brewing. People have magical powers; our protagonist's power is quirky and low-level. Can she still save the day? I love the idea.
The trouble is: no, she can't save the day. Our protagonist spends the novel crying, peeing herself, hiding and throwing up. All of the ideas and decisions come from other characters. Even the Duchess contributes more than her, and the Duchess is one of the weirdest characters I've ever read about. Not in an interesting way. She spends the book making quirky or sarcastic jokes in the exact same style as the narrative voice at really inappropriate times, as if that's endearing. No wonder there was a plot to overthrow her.
The Molly thing should have come at the start of the battle. Then, bolstered by her sacrifice, our protagonist gets to save the day. She just delayed the army, barely, for long enough to throw up and hide and wet herself and then finally for other people to save the day.
I can't believe a novel meant for clearly such a young audience bothered me so much. And I haven't even mentioned all the editing errors. Seriously—Albert becomes Earl inexplicably for half a scene. Hire a proofreader, folks.
Not sure if this is a fair assessment, because her other books are much more my thing, but this terrible plotting has really put me off of T Kingfisher in general.
The trouble is: no, she can't save the day. Our protagonist spends the novel crying, peeing herself, hiding and throwing up. All of the ideas and decisions come from other characters. Even the Duchess contributes more than her, and the Duchess is one of the weirdest characters I've ever read about. Not in an interesting way. She spends the book making quirky or sarcastic jokes in the exact same style as the narrative voice at really inappropriate times, as if that's endearing. No wonder there was a plot to overthrow her.
The Molly thing should have come at the start of the battle. Then, bolstered by her sacrifice, our protagonist gets to save the day. She just delayed the army, barely, for long enough to throw up and hide and wet herself and then finally for other people to save the day.
I can't believe a novel meant for clearly such a young audience bothered me so much. And I haven't even mentioned all the editing errors. Seriously—Albert becomes Earl inexplicably for half a scene. Hire a proofreader, folks.
Not sure if this is a fair assessment, because her other books are much more my thing, but this terrible plotting has really put me off of T Kingfisher in general.