The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C.M. Waggoner: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

The Somewhat Wicked Witch of Brigandale by C. M. Waggoner

I’ve liked everything by C.M. Waggoner I’ve read. Her books are cozy, worlds are unique, inclusive, and interesting, and the plots are meaningful and not too easy. Cozy doesn’t mean no stakes or no bad things happening. Everything is simply presented in a low-tension way. This book was no exception.

Gretsella has been the witch of reasonable prices in the forest of Brigandale for decades, dealing in charms and curses—like coughing during classical music concerts—tending to her poisonous plants and attending her coven of equally qualified witches. One day, she finds a baby on her doorstep. She knows, as there are knights ruining her garden, that the boy is special. She takes him in anyway and names him Bradley. Her witch friends grant him good looks, charm, kindness and a mean right hook.

Bradley grows up to be exactly as wished, but he’s not terribly bright. Gretsella loves him anyway, not that she would be caught dead admitting it. But, as tends to happen, forest animals tell him he’s the rightful king, and against her wishes, he sets out to take the throne. He’s successful. Unfortunately, he’s not a very good king, mostly for being too kind. What is a witch/mother to do but to go to the king’s castle and set things right, the only way a witch does things—her way.

This was an absolutely charming book, well-written and witty. It’s low stakes, low tension, but not meaningless cozy fantasy, with great characters that have a good heart—even Gretsella. Waggoner’s characters are never twee, and despite the cozy genre, they’re not perfectly good with only good things happening to them. Between chapters there’s another story of another witch, and though the side-steps break the flow of the story constantly, they’re always short and necessary additions. The ending is happy and conclusive, with everyone getting what they want, even if it doesn’t happen exactly the way they imagined it would. It leaves the reader happy and satisfied with the time spent with the book. I’m looking forward to reading more books from Waggoner.

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews: review

5/5 stars on Goodreads

This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews

I’ve seldom read Ilona Andrews, but the moment this book hit my radar, I wanted to read it. It’s in isekai genre, which has been popular in East-Asia for decades, but which has been making its way to western fantasy only in recent years.

In isekai, a person from our world is transported to a fantasy world, an alternate reality, game or, like here, into a world of a book the protagonist has been reading. They often bring something unique from the original world that gives them an edge in the new world. In this book, the protagonist has an encyclopaedic knowledge of her favourite book, knows exactly what’s going to happen, and sets out to change the future.

Maggie has woken up in a ditch in a strange medieval city without clothes and no idea how she’s ended up there. She’s had a couple of days to adjust when the book begins, so she’s already figured out the pertinent: she’s in the world of her favourite book she’s been reading obsessively for the past decade. She also knows what isekai is and understands that she’s been transported. She doesn’t remember dying, which is often a requirement in isekai, but she knows she’s her original self and hasn’t taken the body and life of an existing character in the book. It’s a cruel and violent world where her favourite characters are more likely to die than not, and she knows it’s headed to a violent and bloody upheaval.

She sets out to survive. She needs money and shelter, and she knows where to find both. The first requires a robbery which she has no compunctions committing. It leads to a stunning discovery: she can’t die, hence the series name, Maggie the Undying. Or rather, she dies and comes back to life a little later unharmed. The world doesn’t reset when that happens, like often in isekai, and she’s able to continue with what she’s gained.

Once she has her basic needs met, she starts making little changes in the lives of her favourite characters. Little changes lead to large ones and before she knows it, she’s leading a group of people determined to prevent the bad future from happening. She utilises the intimate knowledge she’s gained from the point of view characters, and trades in secrets to win people on her side. It isn’t smooth sailing, but with some sacrifices—usually her—they get to their goal. And then it turns out the goal isn’t what they thought, because there are only two books in the series with the third never published. Maggie doesn’t know how the story ends.

This was a great book. It’s told solely from Maggie’s first-person point of view and utilises the tropes of isekai well. She knows what’s at stake, knows the players, and is aware that with every change she makes, the future changes beyond her knowledge of it. She gathers a found family around her, mostly by being nice and helping them, which in the book’s cruel world is unheard of. Her allies are capable and loyal, the mysteries are suitably complicated but not impossible, the twists are good, and bad guys are perfectly evil. The love interest is straight from a fantasy. The narrative flows well, the pacing is good, and the plot keeps in its grip. The ending is the worst kind of cliffhanger, and I hope this series won’t have the fate of Maggie’s favourite book.

My only gripe is that since Maggie knows she’s in a book, she narrates what she’s supposed to feel—fear, love, lust—instead of feeling it. It distances the reader from the emotions, making it difficult to enter into her sentiments. The romance especially suffers from this. The reader knows why Maggie thinks she should find him attractive—although she wasn’t attracted to him in the book—but we’re never shown the attraction and love she feels. There’s no quickening of her pulse, no flushes of heat, or sweating of her palms when he’s around or kissing her, only analysing narrative. So, while I root for the pair, I think I might be fine if they never ended up together. But this isn’t a romance first and foremost, so I can live with that.