A review by sassmistress
Sorcery & Cecelia; or, The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede

adventurous lighthearted

4.75

Loved this! Really unique fantasy, Jane Austen meets magic in a letter-correspondence style. So fun, great pace, couldn't-put-it-down adventure. Just exquisite. 

Normally it's a bad sign for me when authors collaborate on a book together, because the voices get muddled and it loses its life, but two characters writing letters to each other is the perfect way to do it well. Bravo! 

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Content Warnings

Minor: Confinement, Death of parent, Infertility, Violence, Blood, Terminal illness, Sexual content, Torture, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, and Sexism

Being from the perspective of two Well-bred Young Ladies with (mostly) Proper Decorum, content is all quite mild. Violence is pretty much all suggested/threatened. Generally stays within Austen-y sensibilities. Technically there is death, but it isn't graphic. About the worst you get is a final showdown in which

an antagonist who is about to steal the youth of a MC has the spell turned around on her and shrivels up on the floor.

I had to reread that twice to realize that it resulted in death. Small amounts of blood on a handkerchief. Someone looks scraped up and disheveled after a fight. Someone "made him tell me" some crucial information, called out as meaning "hitting him". There are attempts to cause fatal "accidents" and vague terminal wasting fevers/fatigue. Romantic / sexual content: Virtually none. Physical contact is limited to kisses on the hand and taking an arm to walk into dinner, topping out into

"I love you"s and showering with (lip) kisses upon becoming engaged. Wedding arrangements discussed.

Reference to virginity is made twice, called out for being shocking to mention in polite society. Evidence of a gambling addiction is uncovered. Very Improper. Alcohol: One of the ladies walks into the aftermath of a drinking contest. The loser is carried out unconscious. Claret is called for and tasted on-page. Infertility briefly mentioned in the context of someone struggling to conceive, then succeeding much later. Tons of magic, much of it witchy. Genetic aptitude, then studied to hone skill. "Charm bags" (for protection) made with herbs, sewing, and incantations, there are hand signals and chanting, professionals have personal objects that focus power for spellcasting. Dark magic is a thing, with the bad guys using spells that

drain a wizard's power and kill the victim.

The ladies (both cousins?) are brought up and chaperoned by their aunts, having lost their mother(s?). This is glossed over, or at least brief enough that I forgot the details.