Catching's Updates en-US Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:45:33 -0700 60 Catching's Updates 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Review7080012759 Fri, 14 Mar 2025 12:45:33 -0700 <![CDATA[Catching added 'The Desert Talon']]> /review/show/7080012759 The Desert Talon by Karin Lowachee Catching gave 4 stars to The Desert Talon (The Crowns of Ishia, #2) by Karin Lowachee
bookshelves: reviewed
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
]]> Review7402801499 Fri, 14 Mar 2025 10:14:01 -0700 <![CDATA[Catching added 'Hyo the Hellmaker']]> /review/show/7402801499 Hyo the Hellmaker by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh Catching gave 4 stars to Hyo the Hellmaker (Paperback) by Mina Ikemoto Ghosh
bookshelves: reviewed
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
]]> Review7402797345 Fri, 14 Mar 2025 10:11:59 -0700 <![CDATA[Catching added 'Installment Immortality']]> /review/show/7402797345 Installment Immortality by Seanan McGuire Catching gave 4 stars to Installment Immortality (InCryptid, #14) by Seanan McGuire
bookshelves: reviewed
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
]]> Review7402792626 Fri, 14 Mar 2025 10:09:40 -0700 <![CDATA[Catching added 'Babs and Aggie: The Good, the Bad and the Vegan']]> /review/show/7402792626 Babs and Aggie by Hazel Hitchins Catching gave 4 stars to Babs and Aggie: The Good, the Bad and the Vegan (Paperback) by Hazel Hitchins
bookshelves: reviewed
So, I think writing cozy fantasy--fantasy with a low stakes plot focused on domesticity and interpersonal relationships up to and including romance--is probably pretty hard to write. I say this because a lot of the cozy fantasy I've seen is cute and kind of fluffy. The worldbuilding is light, airy and sugary. This is not a negative assessment, sometimes light and airy is just the thing you need.

Babs & Aggie is cozy fantasy, but the fluffy pastry conceals dark chocolate mousse. Our protagonists are Aggie, an immortal witch who used to be known as Black Aggie. She currently owns a cafe and is having to deal with a "Vegan" who has been causing trouble for her business, as well as causing trouble for other businesses in the same marketplace. After the death of her familiar Misty, she ends up contacting her friend Babs (who is better known as "Baba Yaga") to ask for help.

Together, Babs and Aggie get to work finding out what the Vegan (who is not a Vegan at all) is up to, and foiling his various attempts to ruin Aggie's business and the businesses of her neighbors. There are some interesting twists and turns of plot, and revelations about Aggie's past and a deadly mistake she made. The pacing is a little loose due to the cozy nature of the story, but the eventual revelation of what the Vegan is up to and the escalating series of events that leads to said fake-Vegan's defeat successfully builds tension and suspense. Then there are several cool down chapters where it's clear that things have turned out for the better despite everything.

This was an engaging book, with fun interpretations of characters from mythology and fairy tales. Hitchins' writes both witch characters sympathetically--re-spinning backstories, while not taking out any of the 'scary fairytale witch' out of the equation-- and creates a fascinating "old girl's club" of immortal witches having complicated lives and relationships.

This review was based on a galley copy received from NetGalley. ]]> Review7402787610 Fri, 14 Mar 2025 10:07:10 -0700 <![CDATA[Catching added 'If Wishes Were Retail']]> /review/show/7402787610 If Wishes Were Retail by Auston Habershaw Catching gave 3 stars to If Wishes Were Retail (Paperback) by Auston Habershaw
bookshelves: reviewed
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
]]> ReadStatus8960081676 Wed, 22 Jan 2025 04:50:44 -0800 <![CDATA[Catching has read 'Earth's Magic']]> /review/show/7244118819 Earth's Magic by Pamela F. Service Catching has read Earth's Magic by Pamela F. Service
]]> Review7244116787 Wed, 22 Jan 2025 04:50:08 -0800 <![CDATA[Catching added 'Winter of Magic's Return']]> /review/show/7244116787 Winter of Magic's Return by Pamela F. Service Catching gave 3 stars to Winter of Magic's Return (Mass Market Paperback) by Pamela F. Service
]]> Review7244116183 Wed, 22 Jan 2025 04:49:49 -0800 <![CDATA[Catching added 'Tomorrow's Magic']]> /review/show/7244116183 Tomorrow's Magic by Pamela F. Service Catching gave 3 stars to Tomorrow's Magic (Omnibus) by Pamela F. Service
]]> ReadStatus8960078087 Wed, 22 Jan 2025 04:49:18 -0800 <![CDATA[Catching has read 'Tomorrow's Magic']]> /review/show/7244116183 Tomorrow's Magic by Pamela F. Service Catching has read Tomorrow's Magic by Pamela F. Service
]]> ReadStatus8960074834 Wed, 22 Jan 2025 04:48:04 -0800 <![CDATA[Catching has read 'Yesterday's Magic']]> /review/show/7244113852 Yesterday's Magic by Pamela F. Service Catching has read Yesterday's Magic by Pamela F. Service
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