Definitely a book to check out if you’re feeling YA fantasy with a nostalgic feel that is still all it’s own. There's a few standard characters rolled in (pushy, loving aunt, a thief) as well as some intriguing ones (the uncle, the horse witch). The story, in typical Kingfisher style, is packed with most creatively delicious (and deliciously creative) ideas.

What I'd like you to know is that I cherry-picked those lines for their content, not their felicity of construction or their stand-out euphony. Bob the sourdough starter is hilarious and steals every scene (and that ranks right up there with things I never thought I'd say about a book, along with spiders are cool). I liked the blacksmith, and I liked General Ethan…although I was dubious about him because handsome men who are close to the ruler who are described as handsome and charming always trigger my spidey-senses. I should have known from the beginning, when Mina stumbles right into a dead body in the middle of her bakery and freaks out—and also because right after that she’s talking about zombie frogs, which really aren’t as bad as zombie crayfish because those are really awful. Despite not being sure whether it would be light-hearted and humourous or darker with super high stakes, I enjoyed this audiobook!One morning, Mona finds a dead body in the bakery and from that point on, her life is completely turned upside down. Oh, and Mona is an “ apprentice baker and half-baked wizard of dough,” which doesn’t sound nearly as titillating as “nefarious breeder of murderous crustaceans” but is actually quite very scrumptious indeed. You’re probably not aware of this, but the diminutive bastards are actually the ghosts of ancient philosophers and will try to suck out the truth from your ankles at the first opportunity. As does the way that someone has been using the powers of their office, along with a whole lot of propaganda and a dab hand at ginning up the crowd and pointing it at a convenient bogeyman. I liked that these people (and the other wizard…no, not Elgar) supported Mina and helped her realize her full potential, even though the need for this was literally because of them.

If they think this book is too harsh (or whatever) to be published for children, then how the heck would Roald Dahl. This is a another great adventure/detective/save the city story with Ursula Vernon's original brand of humour and imagination. Just as interesting as her allies what with their reanimated horse corpses and stuff (those minor magic folk certainly had highly unusual talents). I liked the Duchess, and the fact that this anti-establishment book clearly demonstrates how absolute power isn’t absolute and is also fallible. What is visceral is the amazing descriptions, the smells, sights and textures that pop out of this book, as the characters crawl through, over and around the story.The supporting characters have fantastic depth and personality which really blends well to create this fabulous story. I don't think I've ever listened to so many chapters about battle and preparation for battle in a middle grade book as I did in this one. Also her Aunt was hilarious and I loved how she tried to care for Mona and was a force unto herself. Before I began this one, I only really knew the title and liked the idea of it, but I didn't know what to really expect. Mona of course is in the middle of it, discovering more and more about her power, and what it can do.

It certainly doesn't hurt anyone to be told fictionally that evil should not ultimately succeed, that they can't leave it for others to fight, good people do die, and that, by inference, the hero, as well as the reader will have to work hard to defeat their own particular evil/s. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target.

From the adorable cover and title (and the fact our main protagonist is fourteen years old), I thought this was an MG story. The 103 third parties who use cookies on this service do so for their purposes of displaying and measuring personalized ads, generating audience insights, and developing and improving products. Personally I found Bob, the carnivorous semi-intelligent sour bread starter dough, hilarious and the Nag, the horse skeleton, rather cute. A] knack for creating colorful, instantly memorable characters, and inhuman creatures capable of inspiring awe and wonder. This triggers off an entire round of events, that move from just being inconvenienced at finding a corpse in her workplace, to those affecting the entire kingdom.