7/28/24 9:18am
it's been a hot minute since i did a book liveblog. without getting too into it, i took some time to myself to read some stuff i wasn't interested in liveblogging, i moved onto some stuff i might blog but still wasn't feeling it, then i burnt out on reading entirely for a while (and right as summer reading was starting 😭😭😭😭😭😭)
i was also feeling a little self-conscious. i've had a few liveblogs so far where i've dnf'd almost immediately. i don't regret dnf'ing those books, but it does feel like a bit of a let-down when i get all geared up to post about it and then it immediately kinda sucks lol. i also worry sometimes that my liveblogs are too negative. but i love complaining.
i'm gonna ease back into it, i think. i plowed through the dungeon meshi manga in one sitting which has given me a bit of confidence in my ability to focus i think, along with a temporary inoculation against my natural aversion to high fantasy. which means it's a perfect time to try and read Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne.
All Reyna and Kianthe want is to open a bookshop that serves tea. Worn wooden floors, plants on every table, firelight drifting between the rafters… all complemented by love and good company. Thing is, Reyna works as one of the Queen’s private guards, and Kianthe is the most powerful mage in existence. Leaving their lives isn’t so easy.
But after an assassin takes Reyna hostage, she decides she’s thoroughly done risking her life for a self-centered queen. Meanwhile, Kianthe has been waiting for a chance to flee responsibility–all the better that her girlfriend is on board. Together, they settle in Tawney, a town that boasts more dragons than people, and open the shop of their dreams.
What follows is a cozy tale of mishaps, mysteries, and a murderous queen throwing the realm’s biggest temper tantrum. In a story brimming with hurt/comfort and quiet fireside conversations, these two women will discover just what they mean to each other… and the world.
This thing was advertised to hell and back on tumblr. I don't normally read cozy fantasy (because of said distaste for high fantasy), but my friend really likes them, and I do like cozy mysteries, so why not try one. I'm also kind of a sucker for bookstores in books so.
tag is bats reads cstwot. wish me luck
7/28/24 9:36am
okies, i'm already a few chapters in so let's set the scene.
reyna is assassin working for shitty queen, who sucks even more than a regular queen somehow. some poor sap tries to do everybody a public service and gets killed. his accomplice threatens reyna, and queen jerkface is just like "lol. lmao, even." so reyna quietly quits her job.
kianthe is reyna's secret girlfriend and also the Chosen Special Head Witch or something. she doesn't like reyna's job because dangerous. kianthe gave reyna a magic rock that lets kianthe know when she's in danger. she can also send vague vibes? possibly some kind of morse code? to reyna through the rock?. so kianthe knows reyan got hurt and is on her way.
they meet up and finally get to work on their run away together and start a bookstore plan. they're gonna take over some bandit's hideout or something in a border town. they're not actually gonna leave the country For Reasons.
7/30/24 2:35am
🎉🎊✨ CROCHET MENTION ✨🎊🎉
7/30/24 2:37am
god this shit is so relaxing. i need to read more books about the trials and tribulations of building renovation
7/30/24 2:40pm
awww why are we just breezing past this? i wanted to hear more about plumbing installation
7/30/24 2:41pm
sooo... now it's gonna be half library/half bookstore? that seems complicated.
7/30/24 2:50pm
She visited the more obscure tradesmen in town, such as a local exterminator who prided himself on poisoning rats, and a woman who specialized in "trading cards," which she insisted would be rare and valuable "someday."
???? asdkajsdk WHAT
7/30/24 3:01pm
the way this book treats bandits is weird in a way i can't quite articulate
7/30/24 3:14pm
y'all ain't even serving loose leaf? okay
7/30/24 3:17pm
man maybe i am aromantic. i don't see how that was flirting at all
7/30/24 4:40pm
like seriously you really don't have to do this. just do loose leaf
7/30/24 9:52pm
there's something about how like, yeah there's one wizard who has a visible indicator that they use gender-neutral pronouns but none of the other wizards have any indicators of what pronouns they use. like how even in this very inclusive fantasy world binary gender is still default and assumed
7/30/24 11:53pm
so the epilogue is actually focused on two different characters, i'm presuming setup for the next book? that's... i feel like that's not how epilogues work? but okay i guess
7/31/24 12:19am
yeah wait a minute. how come the arcandor isn't allowed to just get rid of queen tilaine? when the arcandor is supposed to act against injustice and the queen is pretty unanimously agreed to be the literal worst? "oh the mages are supposed to be neutral if she acted against so-and-so there'd be big war against the mages" but like who would do the warring? tilaine purposefully doesn't have any heirs so it's not like there's a clear runner up to be pissed at her, and none of the other countries seem to like her much either. the book is really not doing a good job of convincing me kianthe shouldn't just take her out
7/31/24 12:25am
7/31/24 12:19am
yeah wait a minute. how come the arcandor isn't allowed to just get rid of queen tilaine? when the arcandor is supposed to act against injustice and the queen is pretty unanimously agreed to be the literal worst? "oh the mages are supposed to be neutral if she acted against so-and-so there'd be big war against the mages" but like who would do the warring? tilaine purposefully doesn't have any heirs so it's not like there's a clear runner up to be pissed at her, and none of the other countries seem to like her much either. the book is really not doing a good job of convincing me kianthe shouldn't just take her out
and this is not even getting into the fact that monarchies are inherently unjust, but hey, this is a high fantasy novel. everyone knows democracy wasn't invented until cars were
7/31/24 12:27am
of course we wait until the bonus short story at the end of the novel to tell me i've been pronoucing one of the mc's names wrong lol
7/31/24 12:54am
okies. book is done.
overall i liked it well enough. the structure was interesting; it's kinda episodic, like a sit-com or slice-of-life anime. something of an overarching plot but mostly shorter episodes that wrap up cleanly and quickly. it was, generally, nice to read, and i understand the appeal of the genre.
however, i feel like it's the kinda cozy that works best if you don't think about it too hard. i've mentioned here and there some things i kinda got caught up on.
and while did enjoy the episodic structure, i wonder how i'd feel if it were more traditional and had more of a straight-forward plot. as much as i can see why people would like this, i can also see why people wouldn't.
i'm interested in trying out more of the genre, and i'll probably read the second one, but this one was maybe a 3.75/5? which feels like a very arbitrary decimal, but 3 feels too low, 4 is too high, but 3.5 also feels too low? whatever, i can do what i want.
as far as cozy reads go i think i prefer a psalm for the wild built & a prayer for the crown-shy by becky chambers. they aren't perfect but they're very philosophical, they want you to think about stuff & so there is a lot of thought given to what's there.
