As part of our book club, we read Wizard’s guide to defensive baking by Ursula Vernon. I saw it listed as cozy fantasy and was down to read it. Idk why, but I thought cozy fantasy meant, curl up by the fire with a hot drink and read. lol. I didn’t realize it meant murder and mystery. Imagine my surprise when I start reading this book and the first page is talking about murder??!? *Insert shocked gif. Yeahhhh. I might have done well with reading more about the genre before getting this book. Alas, I got through it and thought it was an adorable, though, at times annoying, read.
Throughout the book, Mona, is so vulnerable to her limitations. I was saddened for her, because, as a child she has so many roads she can take and so many ways for her life to move forward. She continually engaged in self-doubt and held herself back.
First of all, I love the cover. ****Spoiler alerts from here***
Seeing the gingerbread man with a knife on the cover should have been the first clue that this book was not going to be what I was expecting as a sit down and read by the fire type of calm, cozy book. I love how the main gingerbread man ends up rallying the troops when the other baked goods start going haywire, causing chaos, and not listening to Mona. Also, BOB! Bob the starter was the OG. He was holding Mona down and literally holding the Carex army back. Aunt Tabitha was a hoot and definitely a strong force looking out for Mona as well, but also being there for her and encouraging her.
Throughout the story, we see that Mona is kind of bumbling through life, but has enough love and support that she is able to get out of many challenging situations. Spindle was the counterpoint to Mona’s sheltered and gentle upbringing and life. He had been on the streets his whole life, but had a lot of common sense and street knowledge to help Mona through challenges and compliment her.
The giant bread golems and all the items Mona ended up creating were nice additions and helped hold the invading Carex army back. It was tough to see Mona continuing to doubt herself throughout the book, despite being shown glimpses of what she could do. I liked that she was able to get her hands on the defensive baking book and meet with the Wizard to further elevate her skills and realize what she can do it. Why did they kill the Wizard off so easily? I guess it does increase the stakes as now we know Mona is the last wizard around. But…maybe exercise a bit of caution when revealing treacherous knowledge aloud. Watch your back. Literally.
In the end, I loved that they brought back Knackering Molly with her team of the dead skeleton horses. It was a powerfully written scene, but was sad that she had to end her life and story this way. The whole story showing that the children were the ones to make things right was heartwarming and showed the power you can have, but also sad to show that the adults weren’t able to bring about change despite being in positions of power.
It goes to show that you are stronger than you think, no matter what your age and together, we can go farther than we think.
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