A review by mariebrunelm
Bookshops & Bonedust by Travis Baldree

emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Viv is a mercenary orc, and she’s good at her job. She might sometimes get a little carried away in the heat of battle, especially that time she ends up with a wrecked leg and is forced to rest for a few weeks in the seaside town of Murk as she heals, letting her team go on with a faint promise they’ll come back to fetch her at some point. But what exactly is someone whose life revolves around quests and bounties supposed to do in what is now her spare time? She’s still wondering when she pushes the door to Thistleburr Booksellers and ends up with a book in her hands.
I don’t know what more I can say beyond: delightful, no note. I’d already loved Legends & Lattes so I knew what to expect, and that’s what I got and more. Delightful, colourful prose, a varied & complementary cast of characters, no world-shattering stakes and the pleasure of holding a book in one hand and a warm pastry in the other.
As much as I love Viv, Fern the bookseller made me *chuckle*. That small and dainty rattkin who swears like a sailor was the perfect contrast to Viv’s brute force and kindness.
There isn’t much more you need to know, really. The tension might be a tiny bit higher than in Legends & Lattes, but to balance it you get snippets of books within the book which the author clearly had fun writing.
Rep: sapphic characters.
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