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A review by stitchigander
The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
2.0
Thank you to ACE and Berkley for providing this ARC to Goodreads giveaways, and thank you Goodreads for holding the giveaway in which I won my copy of The Teller of Small Fortunes.
Tao spends her days roaming Eshtera in a cozy little wagon with her only companion, a donkey named Laohu. She makes little money to support herself and Laohu by telling small, not big, fortunes to the inhabitants of villages she passes through. She continues her life of solitude until she finds herself stuck in an impassable route. Tao starts collecting traveling companions who bond over a shared goal: to find a missing child.
Important themes such as immigrant identity, self-worth, and found family hover around the story. Exploring immigrant identity is a pertinent point that many members of the cozy fantasy genre will identify with. I do wish these themes were explored a little more in depth, a sentiment I also share about the novel’s world building and events that take place. I was not as immersed in the world of Eshtera or Shinara as I could have been. Tao’s magic and fortune telling were rarely executed, which to me was the main draw of the book. There are so many towns the troupe passes through and so little description each town just blurred into one generic town that was visited over and over again. I was easily distracted reading this book.
Something that did bring my focus back was the humor shared between characters. Silt and Mash really had an Abbott and Costello thing going on and I laughed out loud quite a bit. As the reviews suggest, I think this book will be well liked by fans of Lattes and Legends.
Tao spends her days roaming Eshtera in a cozy little wagon with her only companion, a donkey named Laohu. She makes little money to support herself and Laohu by telling small, not big, fortunes to the inhabitants of villages she passes through. She continues her life of solitude until she finds herself stuck in an impassable route. Tao starts collecting traveling companions who bond over a shared goal: to find a missing child.
Important themes such as immigrant identity, self-worth, and found family hover around the story. Exploring immigrant identity is a pertinent point that many members of the cozy fantasy genre will identify with. I do wish these themes were explored a little more in depth, a sentiment I also share about the novel’s world building and events that take place. I was not as immersed in the world of Eshtera or Shinara as I could have been. Tao’s magic and fortune telling were rarely executed, which to me was the main draw of the book. There are so many towns the troupe passes through and so little description each town just blurred into one generic town that was visited over and over again. I was easily distracted reading this book.
Something that did bring my focus back was the humor shared between characters. Silt and Mash really had an Abbott and Costello thing going on and I laughed out loud quite a bit. As the reviews suggest, I think this book will be well liked by fans of Lattes and Legends.