3/5 stars on Goodreads
 |
| The Hocus Pocus Handbook by Ann Aguirre |
Thea is a human changeling who has lived in the
Winter Court of the fae for all her life. She has her own unique magic,
and since she’s lived so long in fae realm, she can never go back to
human world again. She’s passionate about protecting the wild fae, which
gets her in trouble with the Winter Court. After the latest escapade,
they force her to marry a person from the Summer Court. But at the night
of the ceremony, the entire Summer delegation vanishes.
Kerboros
is the hound of the Winter Court, with a secret ability that allows him
to track anyone. But even he can’t find where the Summer delegation
disappeared to. Winter Lord sends him and Thea to find them, or face a
great punishment. Out of options, they set into the wilderness to do so.
It’s not an easy journey, during which they learn a lot about each
other. And, obviously, fall in love. But Thea is already married.
This
was a good cozy fantasy romance. It has a good balance of cozy and a
bit grim, and never becomes saccharine. Thea is a good and competent
heroine, not a simpering fool fumbling around for laughs, and she has
some personal issues that add to her character. Kerboros is perfectly
grumpy, and has genuine trauma to go through, justifying his grumpiness.
The fae are a bit cruel, but not overly so. Stakes are suitably high,
but not nail-biting, and the romance has time to build. The story was a
pleasant way to spend a couple of evenings.
I had some issues
though, mostly personal preferences that aren’t necessarily what other
readers would find faults. Firstly, I don’t like when the romance has
started before the book begins, which we learn already at the beginning,
even if it’s only one-sided, like in this case. I like to be there for
the whole ride. Secondly, I don’t like that it’s the grumpy one who has
already caught the feelings. It robs the reader of a chance to watch him
change because of love—though there’s some of that too.
Worldbuilding,
for most part, was a good combination of fae lore and author’s own
additions, and it worked well. There were a couple of things that took
me off the world though. The name of the hero, Kerboros, was
unfortunate, more so because he was apparently named after Kerberos from
the Greek myths. Why would the fae care? Especially since they likely
outdate the myths. Similarly, Thea compared a garden to that of Bible’s
Paradise, which … I don’t even know why the author would do that instead
of coming up with something of her own.
And the spells at the
beginning of every chapter didn’t really add anything to my reading
experience and I started skipping them. They were needlessly long, and
unnecessary for the story. Maybe they could’ve been extras at the end of
the book or something. These are small things, but they marred my
enjoyment a little.
All in all, a good, but not memorable read.
It’s book five in the Fix-It Witches series, but can perfectly well be
read as a stand-alone.
I received a free copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
