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A place to discuss spoilers for A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher.

I finished this today! I liked lots of things about the novel. The baking magic is such a fun idea. I loved the little gingerbread man and sourdough bob. I think it was fun and I probably would've liked it quite a bit when I was younger.

I kept feeling like the plot was stopping and then starting again. And sometimes the character interactions or Mona's reflections felt repetitive. My big pet peeve with the novel is with how Molly was portrayed. Everyone kept calling her "mad" or "crazy," but she never once did anything that seemed mentally unstable, and in fact, she seemed like one of the more stable characters. And then she was just killed off! Ugh, I really didn't like how her character was treated.

I'm curious how everyone else ends up feeling about it because ratings from people I follow on here are all over the place! Though in general the novel has a high rating.

I kinda want to know how the Spring Greenman got his name. He sounds cooler than he is, ha! Is that how it's spelled in the book? I listened to the audiobook.

Yeah, the structure put me off. It's not as well-built as some of her others.

I'm such a fan of T. Kingfisher that I find it hard to be objective. It's not a flawless book, but I loved the characters so much, I didn't care about the uneven pacing.

I think what Molly suffered from PTSD, and was called "mad" because of it. In a book taking place in a modern era, I'd be upset, but I felt this took place in a fantasy historical era, and no one really understood mental health issues at that time.

Does that make sense?

Also, did I mention that I loved the characters?

Ozsaur wrote: "I'm such a fan of T. Kingfisher that I find it hard to be objective. It's not a flawless book, but I loved the characters so much, I didn't care about the uneven pacing.

I think w..."

I mean, it's a fantasy world, so we can't really say it wouldn't be historically accurate (and at any time there were compassionate people treating people like, well people). So even if it was Victorian London, the characters could still show some common decency. But it's not actually set in a real historical locale.

And Molly also just didn't act "crazy" to me anyway. Some PTSD, sure, but she seemed to have a lot of common sense than any other character. All I had to base her craziness on was everyone saying she was, not her own actions.

I'm glad you enjoyed it though! I've only read a couple of other books by her. I LOVED The Hollow Places. Excellent characters in that one too.

I enjoy this book, start to finish. I now have to give my sourdough starter a name.

Gem wrote: "I enjoy this book, start to finish. I now have to give my sourdough starter a name."

Oh please do. :) The sourdough starter was probably one of my favorite things about the book, ha!

Margaret wrote: "Oh please do. :) The sourdough starter was probably one of my favorite things about the book, ha!"

Well, Bob is taken... and I can't think of another name!!! lol

Hortensia

It's hard to come up with a name without knowing its personality first. :)

Karl, I've named my starter Karl, lol.

Gem wrote: "Karl, I've named my starter Karl, lol."

:)

Gem wrote: "Karl, I've named my starter Karl, lol."

Karl is the twitter handle that was made up for the fog in San Francisco.