What I Finished Reading This WeekGood Omens — Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett As of this reread, the miniseries cast and locations have now completely replaced the characters and locations as I've always imagined them, which I'm a bit saddened about. And some of the original scenes from S1 I like so much the novel seems like it
should have them. But there are also plenty of places where I like the original novel's content over the reworked scenes in the series, so I was glad to revisit them here. And really, Pratchett is one of my forever authors. It still seems strange that there isn't a new novel from him every year or so, and it's always a delight to visit his back catalogue.
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches — Sangu Mandanna Wow, this sure is A Book. I really enjoyed most of it. It is relentlessly wholesome (like,
relentlessly wholesome) and as deliberately cottagecore cozy as it's possible to get. And you know what? It totally worked for me. It was the sort of book that I wanted to read at this point in time.
This book is wholesome in the way
A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and
A Psalm for the Wild-Built tried and failed to be, largely because the characters in
Irregular Witches do their best to treat each other well without spending pages preaching about what they're doing and why, and because they work at being better people
themselves instead having others cater to their emotional needs ala Monk and Robot's massive, juvenile wish fulfillment fantasy. It was whimsical and fun and I loved the found family vibe and wanted the best for these characters.
And then I got to page 255 of this 315-page book. And boy howdy, did it take a
turn.
In order to truly understand just how much of a turn, you have to know what the book is about. Here is how it presents itself on the back cover:
A WARM AND UPLIFTING NOVEL ABOUT AN ISOLATED WITCH WHOSE OPPORTUNITY TO EMBRACE A QUIRKY NEW FAMILY—AND A NEW LOVE—CHANGES THE COURSE OF HER LIFE.
As one of the few witches in Britain, Mika Moon knows she has to hide her magic, keep her head down, and stay away from other witches so their powers don't mingle and draw attention. And as an orphan who lost her parents at a young age and was raised by strangers, she's used to being alone and she follows the rules, with one exception: an online account where she posts videos pretending to be a witch. She thinks no one will take it seriously.
But someone does. An unexpected message arrives, begging her to travel to the remote and mysterious Nowhere House to teach three young witches how to control their magic. It breaks all of the rules, but Mika goes anyway, and is immediately tangled up in the lives and secrets of not only her three charges but also an absent archaeologist, a retired actor, two long-suffering caretakers, and...Jamie. The handsome and prickly librarian of Nowhere House would do anything to protect the three children, and as far as he's concerned, a stranger like Mika is a threat. An irritatingly appealing threat. ...
Know also that all witches in this world are mysteriously orphaned at birth, that the titular secret society is headed by Mika's foster mother, the stern and unloving Primrose who alone among Britain's witches possesses the power to magically alter people's memories; that the retired actor is a FLAMING gay man who is married to one of the aforementioned caretakers (a Japanese man) and whose primary role in the book is to shove Mika and Jamie at one another; and most importantly, that Lillian—the absent archaeologist who is herself a witch—is the three witches' legal guardian who adopted said designer orphans from Africa, India, and South America. Lillian, who is always away on digs, has delegated her parental authority to one Edward Foxhaven—a solicitor who will be checking up on the three children the day after Christmas. The caretakers fear that if the kids are unable to control their magic when Edward arrives, they'll be removed from Nowhere House—hence their desire to hire a witch who can help the girls learn to manage their powers.
It's cute. I like the wacky found family. The magic is delightful (Mika keeps an entire greenhouse and koi pond in her car), and again, it's fucking wholesome. No one ever acts out of true malice. No conflict ever arises that isn't solved by a heartfelt apology. No one ever holds a grudge, or fails to accept an apology when it's offered. Even the mortal peril is never mortal because badly injured witches just go into hibernation (indicated by a twee leaf that sprouts out of their throats) until they heal.
TL;DR, the premise and the worldbuilding are not important: they exist to explain why Mika is lonely and the kids are lonely, and to get them all in the same place so they can build a found family together. And I was
fine with that because the found family vibes are so fun.
Of course, it's also a romance novel, so Mika and Jamie have to have a Big Misunderstanding temporarily drive them apart for a bit, even after they've established their mutual attraction to one another for 100-odd pages. This comes when Jamie reveals he's been keeping a secret from Mika at the end of a chapter. I assumed it would be something like,
My parents were witches who knew your parents, or
I was the son of one of your childhood nannies. But
( wooo nelly, it was not that. )What I'm Currently ReadingThe Worst Woman in London — Julia Bennett I picked this up and finished half of it in about a day. So far it's very well written and follows all the standard beats.
The Women Could Fly — Megan Giddings Very well written, but a bit more of a downer than I'm in the mood for at the moment. That said, I should have it wrapped up by next week.
Ancillary Justice — Ann Leckie As wonderful as every other time I've read it. This one is a forever fave.
The Wolf Age — Tore Skeie This is definitely not an academic history, but it's very enjoyable and the translation is excellent.
Elder Race — Adrian Tchaikovsky Recommended to me as something that will appeal to fans of Ann Leckie and language learning, so I have high hopes.
What I'm Reading NextThis week I picked up a copy of Jacqueline Memory Paterson's
Tree Wisdom.
これで以上です。
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lebateleur has recently emerged from the bout of seasonal illness we thought we'd successfully avoided, or the recent snowfall (the most accumulation since 2016 🥳), but my recent fandom consumption is very old favorite focused.( Read more... )