The obvious is the whole 14-year-old saves the city thing that makes it YA. Mona is young. She’s still, to some extent, figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up, although her magic has driven her further down that path than most. But she’s also at an age where she’s unsure of herself and her future in so many different ways. She sees herself as young, and small, and weak. She sees her magic as not powerful at all or even all that useful. It’s handy in her aunt’s bakery, where she works, but it’s not otherwise big or showy. And neither, honestly, is she. It's a decent Kingfisher, which means the characterization feels solid. There's a few standard characters rolled in (pushy, loving aunt, a thief) as well as some intriguing ones (the uncle, the horse witch). It's ethics and world-building are probably geared a little simply compared to some of her other works, which may be why it feels a little younger. Still, it's a Kingfisher, and the writing is occasionally quite perfect. YA Buddy Readers'...: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher -- Starting July 12th 2023 stars. After even more time thinking about it, I still LOVE this book, but I'm not sure if it'll be as rereadable as the other books on the 7 stars list. Rereadability is an important factor.

I love that we grapple with the injustice of powerless groups having to be the ones who have to fix the mistakes of the empowered. PDF / EPUB File Name: A_Wizards_Guide_to_Defensive_Baking_-_T_Kingfisher.pdf, A_Wizards_Guide_to_Defensive_Baking_-_T_Kingfisher.epub It felt like Sixteen Ways to Defend a Walled City because to a certain extent Mona and Orhan are in the same position. Their city has been betrayed from within – although not for the same reasons. Both of them are woefully underqualified for the role of city savior. Orhan because he’s a despised non-native of the city and Mona because she’s a despised – or at least feared – magic user. And she’s only 14.

A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking is whimsical and dark and imaginative and fantastic. It gets my enthusiastic recommendation for readers both young and old.

But I did love that at fourteen, Mona is still basically a kid, with young (and snarky) voice and zero contamination with romance that seems to plague so many books aimed at the youngsters. We have our kids grow up too fast in stories, and although Mona does a fair bit of this given the responsibilities thrust upon her, I love that in the end she’s still a kid at heart. I don’t even care about pastries, but think I may sell my soul for a freshly baked sweet bun right now.When you're different, even just a little different, even in a way that people can't see, you like to know that people in power won't judge you for it. It all starts when Mona discovers a dead body in their bakery. Mona is a wizard that works with bread. Yep, bread. That's it - just bread. And although this is considered minor magic, she still gets accused of the murder solely because she is a wizard. It doesn't take long before she learns there is a growing threat that magicas like her are facing in the city-state and while most magical individuals leave (or are killed), Mona soon finds herself in the unenviable position of having to stand-up and fight against the enemy. Mona is a very reluctant hero, wanting “to make really good sourdough and muffins and not get messed up with assassins and politics” — and she would much rather not have to do anything heroic because really, that’s something required of adults. Kids should not be saving the world and fixing mistakes of careless adults, and yet sometimes life does not care what you think, and adults make stupid choices and let you down — even if you are young and careful and try your best to be sensible and follow the rules. Sometimes you have to rise up to a challenge when those in charge have failed in their responsibilities, and hope that you are not alone.