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A review by blackrabbitrun
The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
This book will sink or swim for you depending on your opinion on characters who will say "gesticulate towards the firmament" instead of "point at the sky", and use words like "post-bong-etary" and "enkittenated". Because Dellaria Wells is such a character, and she's the narrator.
The language is a bit heavy in the opening chapters, but lightens up quickly once the plot gets underway and Delly becomes too busy vanquishing undead mechanical spiders to think through too many hoops when talking to her new companions. While Delly's narration drops extraneous flourishes, the overall language of the book stays delightfully immersive throughout - religion, history, geography, wealth, class, personality and character development woven deep into characters' word choice and grammar. The fact that there's a plot (and a romance) as well became almost secondary, though the latter deserves praise for avoiding most of the stupidest romance plot contrivances.
The language is a bit heavy in the opening chapters, but lightens up quickly once the plot gets underway and Delly becomes too busy vanquishing undead mechanical spiders to think through too many hoops when talking to her new companions. While Delly's narration drops extraneous flourishes, the overall language of the book stays delightfully immersive throughout - religion, history, geography, wealth, class, personality and character development woven deep into characters' word choice and grammar. The fact that there's a plot (and a romance) as well became almost secondary, though the latter deserves praise for avoiding most of the stupidest romance plot contrivances.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Drug use, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, and Murder