CR 16 -10(Do you know the gingerbread man?)

[dreadpiratekel]

A Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking T. Kingfisher I need to start this off by saying this book was perfect to me. Well, almost perfect, but I’m giving it a five-star review because the good outweighed my little nitpicks, and it felt like it was written directly to appeal to me. However, before I start raving about the parts of this book that just made my heart sing, I want to flag that I have read other books by T. Kingfisher, and those were for adults and a little more creepy than this one or had adult themes. Yes, this book opens with a murder; it is a young adult novel. (No shade to YAfiction, just didn’t want anyone interested in that genre to go pick up one of the author's horror novels and get more than they were bargaining for.)

Plotwise, the story follows fourteen-year-old Mona, who resides in a city and works in a bakery operated by her aunt and uncle. But, being a fantasy novel, there's much more to Mona's life than meets the eye—she's a wizard, albeit with a unique specialization: her magic works on bread. In this world, wizards possess distinct powers, and Mona's abilities are particularly suited to baking, she uses her powers to do such things as making gingerbread men dance. However, the narrative takes a darker turn when Mona discovers a dead body in the bakery, setting off a chain of events that propel the story forward.

The story quickly transitions from a quasi-murder mystery, focusing on the identity of the killer, to a story with a much broader scope. The plot gains momentum and urgency as it progresses. Initially, I thought this book might fit into the category of my "cozy" reads, despite the murder. However, as the story unfolds, it becomes clear that it carries higher stakes, and I even found myself tearing up near the end. So, while not entirely cozy, it was very delightful. I came across a review describing it as "a Pratchettian world" (referring to the late great Terry Pratchett), and as soon as I read that, I had to agree. When I eventually get my hands on a physical copy of the book (this review is about the audiobook version I borrowed from my local library), I plan to place it on my bookshelf alongside my Discworld collection.

This book by the way has:
* A Sentient sourdough starter ( named Bob).
* Sentient gingerbread man.
* Mentions of zombie crawfish.
* A (dead) horse made of bone (so think a sentient bone skeleton horse).

Each of these things on its own would have been amazing for me, but when you add in a certain snark and almost exasperation in the narrative tone, the whole book just spoke to me.

While our narrator is a 14-year-old girl, my main nitpick about the book is that she often feels older to me. I understand that she is living on her own (being an orphan who works for loving relatives but doesn't live with them), and it is a fantasy world, so she may have had to grow up fast—or perhaps it's just because it's been ages since I was 14. I think of myself as a kid back then, but I suspect that 14-year-old me would have fancied herself quite grown up. I want to add that it does balance out at times; Mona has moments of "but I'm only 14!" and that felt real and relatable because even at my age, I sometimes find myself thinking, "But I'm only [age], and I need a grown-up!"

I also really enjoyed the way Mona came to ultimately view the authority figures in her city. Her journey from the start to the end of the book felt very true to me.

Overall glad to be able to say that this was the first 5-star read of 2024 for me!