More Patricia Wrede

[lunabee34]

Sorcery & Cecelia: or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot by Patricia C. Wrede

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This was so so good. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It's a novel consisting of letters between two female cousins, Cecelia and Kate, at the beginning of the 19th century. One of them has had to stay home in the country while the other is being presented in London, and so they write letters to each other to stay in touch. Magic is real in this world, and both girls become entangled in a plot that sends them into great peril (which, to be fair, they mostly end up enjoying).

We're living in pretty dark times, and reading something extremely funny and witty and utterly delightful was just what I needed right now.



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Comments

[chelseagirl]

I thought this one was lovely but couldn't get into the sequels. FWIW.

[lunabee34]

Yeah, I wondered if the epistolary structure could be sustained over three novels. I'm going to give them a try, though.

[independence1776]

Is this YA or adult? Either way, I going to look for this because it sounds right up my alley; I'm just curious.

[lunabee34]

It's YA, but it doesn't read as YA to me (much in the same way that Austen's novels are mostly about younger protagonists but aren't considered YA novels if that makes sense).

It reminds me a great deal of Gail Carriger's Parasol Protectorate series if you're familiar with that.

[independence1776]

Thanks!

I've heard of the Parasol Protectorate but never read them.

[lunabee34]

It's really, really good. I love the series. Carriger has written at least one other series connected to that world, which I haven't read yet, but which I expect to thoroughly love when I do.

You've got a Victorian setting, steampunk, the supernatural, canonical gay relationships, a delightful het romance, and all the witty repartee a heart could desire.

My older daughter has just started reading the series and is really liking it.

[conuly]

YA-esque.

[independence1776]

Thanks!

[kaleecat]

Yahhhhhh! She liked it. 😎

As much as I love this one I actually have not read the sequels even tho I own -- probably afraid the epistolary style and concept might not hold. So I read this one again. I should change that.

[lunabee34]

I'm going to try to get them from the library once I get the other Enchanted Forest ones in and finish them.

I'm so glad you introduced me to this author.

[sallymn]

Yay! I shall bump it up on my to-read list :)