[ 376 ]

[katara]

Title: A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking

Author: T. Kingfisher

Genre: Children, Middle School, Fantasy, Magic Realism, Young Adult, Humor, Fiction, Paranormal, Science Fiction, Cozy, Witches

Date Started: January 10th, 2023

Date Finished: January 11th, 2023

Status: Finished

Rating: 4/5

Sypnosis: 2021 LODESTAR AWARD for BEST YOUNG ADULT BOOK

Fourteen-year-old Mona isn’t like the wizards charged with defending the city. She can’t control lightning or speak to water. Her familiar is a sourdough starter and her magic only works on bread. She has a comfortable life in her aunt’s bakery making gingerbread men dance.

But Mona’s life is turned upside down when she finds a dead body on the bakery floor. An assassin is stalking the streets of Mona’s city, preying on magic folk, and it appears that Mona is his next target. And in an embattled city suddenly bereft of wizards, the assassin may be the least of Mona’s worries…

Review: Okay, is there a Bob fanclub?

We need a Bob fanclub. If there is one, I want to join!

Also, there should be a Gingerbread Man fanclub too!

Unlike the other wizards in the city, Mona's speciality is bread-making. Sometimes she can make gingerbread men come to life or grab some sourdough from her creation in the basement named Bob. But something happens when Mona finds a dead body in the bakery. She even becomes the prime suspect in the death. What is even worse, flyers start appearing with her name and picture calling her a traitor. Now Mona has to find a way to clear her name and stay ahead of the Spring Green Man and whoever he is working for. Can Mona find a way to stop the wizards and magic users from disappearing?

This was a really fun read. Honestly, I felt sorry for Mona from time to time. Here she is with the magic to make bread come alive and yet, she is being hunted because of this ability. Even worse, there are people out there who are dislike magic users and many of them even become pleased when it comes to rounding them up and forcing them to be rounded up and registered. Sounds like Nazi Germany, right?

I loved Mona because no matter how down she became when she knew her magic was only for baking, she did push herself on to find the Duchess and get rid of the Spring Green Man and whoever was part of controlling him.

This book is fun and you will be rooting for the characters more than anything. You will have moments of giggles and you will have moments where you will be on the edge of your seat hoping Mona finds a way to save her friends. I loved, loved this book. I am really happy to have it when I was skimming through BookTok. This book did not disappoint me at all and you will fall in love with the characters.