Krystal's Reviews > A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking

“You haven’t lived until you’ve seen a cookie look smug.”

Kingfisher’s work has a unique cozy vibe. She blends whimsy and charm marred by a shadow of danger with a deft hand. It’s no wonder this novel has received multiple accolades including the 2021 Lodestar Award for Best YA Book and The 2020 Nebula Award for Middle Grade and YA Fiction.

When our pear trees produced this year, I grabbed a few and headed into the kitchen to prepare homemade cakes and loaves of pear bread. I thought this audiobook would be a perfect fit for a day of baking. To my surprise, one of my teenagers heard the book playing, pulled a stool up to the island informing me that he was “into this one”. (Push me over with a feather-I didn’t see that coming-major points to Kingfisher) 🪶 🤣

“It is nearly impossible to be sad when eating a blueberry muffin. I’m pretty sure that’s a scientific fact.”

Mona is a fourteen year old orphaned baker’s assistant, working in her aunt’s bakery. She has a humble demeanor and genuine talent for baking with a dash of magical ability geared toward bread. 🥖 She considers her talent a minor one. One day while opening the bakery, she stumbles upon a dead body. This is the catalyst that shakes up life as she knows it. Someone is killing magic wielders, no matter how minor their abilities. The adults aren’t great at their responsibilities or “adulting” in general. Mona, ever the reluctant hero, and her street smart pal, Spindle step up and risk it all for their city. What I love about the way this is presented is that the situation is called out. The kids completely understand the adults should have done more and didn’t. I love how Kingfisher wrote these scenes.

“You expect heroes to survive terrible things. If you give them a medal, then you don’t have to ask why the terrible thing happened in the first place. Or try to fix it.”

Mona’s given an odd talent as paranormal reads go and I think it was a brilliant move. I loved it! 💜 We see her make gingerbread men dance and put so much life into sourdough starter that it becomes her familiar, but her powers aren’t over the top. She isn’t a perfect saving the world guy magnet. Mona is forced to think outside the box and rely on her allies. The creative ideas shine, the humor sparkles, and the characters stole my heart.

“Don’t ask me where the cookies get the dances they do- - this batch had been doing hornpipes. The last batch did waltzes, and the one before that had performed a decidedly lewd little number that even made Aunt Tabitha blush. A little too much spice in those, I think.”

Although this story has cozy fantasy vibes it is quite dark for a middle grade novel. Tighter editing in the middle would’ve made for a better read and perhaps a slight lowering of the stakes plot wise might’ve made for a better fit, but I found the novel enjoyable. The clever and resourceful characters were fabulous and I liked the creative use of magic instead of seeing magic used as a crutch.

“After a minute, I said, “I never wanted to be a hero.” His face was solemn, “Nobody ever does.”

(If anyone is wondering my teenager lasted through the entire book and loved it. He also thought the content was dark for younger kids, but for his age he thought it was perfect.)