Thanks so much to Kaleecat for putting me on this series

[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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The Grand Tour by Patricia C. Wrede

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I liked this book even better than the first one.

In the first, the epistolary format means that Kate and Cecelia can never be in the same place at the at the same time; in this sequel, the epistolary format is somewhat reserved (Kate writes in a diary, and Cecy gives a deposition of the events that transpire), but it allows for the two of them to interact with each other and for the reader to get a much better sense of James and Thomas.

The Grand Tour is also desperately sweet and romantic; they are on their honeymoons after all. Nothing untoward happens; it's all fade to black and rather oblique in even referencing activities which might take place on a honeymoon. All above board for the junior high set. But their love for each other and their delight in each other is so fun and sweet to read. I found myself grinning like a loon multiple times throughout this book.



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The Mislaid Magician: or Ten Years After by Patricia C. Wrede

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


What a fantastic conclusion to the series! We're back to the traditional, epistolary format, but we also get letters from James and Thomas which is fantastic.

I love Kate and Cecy's children; they are just the mixture of adorable, honorable, and rapscallion you might expect from their mothers' examples.

I also really love the way a revelation about Kate made in the second book plays out in this one.

Altogether an extremely fun series. I'd recommend it to anyone who's interested in regency fiction, strong female protagonists, and magic; suitable for the middle school crowd and up.



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Comments

[chelseagirl]

Interesting -- I liked the first book a lot and then the second one lost me. It was over ten years ago, though, so I am no longer certain why.

[lunabee34]

You're not the only one; I saw when Goodreads sent the email they send when you finish a book that lots of people were giving the second book one and two stars and saying it didn't live up to the first. IDK why; I liked it a lot better, but clearly there's something there that some people don't like.

[havocthecat]

I've always wanted to write an epistolary novel with a co-author, ever since I read Sorcery and Cecilia. These really are brilliant novels.

[lunabee34]

OMG, yes! They are so much fun.

And it's such an interesting way to approach writing a novel.

[sallymn]

Oh I remember reading the first and enjoying it! (I love good, different regency fiction :)

I shall chase up the others, thanks!

[lunabee34]

I hope you like them!

[kaleecat]

:D glad my rec brought all that reading enjoyment. I really need to go back and re-read past the first book. lol I re-read McCaffrey's 'Dragonsong' and 'Dragonsinger' while visiting my Dad (so i could leave the book at their community book exchange). Not reading a book right now, fanfiction - lady ra's 'Macavity.'

Wrede wrote a duology which, while not affiliated to these novels, they are again set in a Regency era with magic. Mairelong the Magician and Magician's Ward. I read them eons ago and don't recall my opinion.

[lunabee34]

I really loved them. Couldn't get Emma into them; she refused to read past the first book. I think she felt frustrated by the epistolary set up and would actually have enjoyed the subsequent books more as a result, but she's read and enjoyed most all the other ones you sent me.

I read some of the Pern stuff, but I remember not liking any of them as well as the first book which was truly a sci-fi book about colonizing a planet. I was way more into that than dragons. LOL