A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking by T. Kingfisher is not exactly what the title implies. Mona is a young girl, only fourteen, when she finds a dead body in her family’s bakery first thing in the morning. Despite her age and her having immediately reported the body the man in charge of the investigation, Oberon, declares Mona a suspect and has her arrested merely because she is a wizard. When taken before the Duchess for sentencing though the charges are dropped when she reveals her only magic is in her baking and all she can really do is make her gingerbread men dance. Mona is soon confronted by Spindle, a young boy asking about his sister who had snuck into the bakery and then disappeared. Working together they discover that his sister was the dead body Mona had found and that she is not the only wizard in the city to have died. Continuing to investigate they stumble upon a potential conspiracy that ends with Mona fearing for her life and having only Spindle to rely on as they struggle to figure out who is actually behind what has been happening.
This book was tricky to read in some aspects because it was very twisty and circuitous but not necessarily in a bad way. Honestly, I rather enjoyed it but I also know it was slightly difficult to follow what was happening at times. The story itself, despite seeming rather dark, was also rather hilarious at times. I am not going to deny it was dark but I also rather frequently found myself wanting to laugh at the misadventures of young Mona and her magic. The incredibly unique use of magic in this story is very intriguing to me. Specifically, the idea of only being able to use magic in one way per wizard was really grabbed my attention. Mostly because if you think about it no one can really train anyone else in magic beyond maybe the bare basics as everyone has different powers. Mona can only use her magic in regards to baking so she can animate cookies and accidently make mutant sourdough starters named Bob but she also can’t use the same techniques her friend uses who is only able to animate dead horses. It allows for incredible flexibility in the types of magic available but also tremendously limits the ability to train others in magic. I found that a really interesting element to add to the story and it happened to be one I haven’t seen very frequently. Actually, I don’t think I have ever seen magic used in the way Mona does in this story. However, even with the relatively novel use of magic the plot itself is fairly typical and mundane. A young woman finds herself unintentionally embroiled in something over her head and accidently becomes one of the only ones able to do anything about it. That seems to be a fairly popular plot line from what I have seen even if many of the other elements are somewhat unique. I did enjoy the story though and that is perhaps the most important thing so I am happy giving this book four out of five stars.
This book is a young adult or teen fantasy novel and a pretty good one at that. If you happen to fall into that age range and enjoy I recommend you consider trying this one. You might keep in mind that it is only fantasy because of the use of magic though as that is really the only fantasy element present in the story. While there is some violence it is really rather minor and not overly graphic so I have no problems with the intended age range of teens and young adults. Mona is only fourteen so I don’t see why readers of a similar age can’t read this book. At the same time I can see it holding some appeal for adult readers as well. Overall it is a pretty good book so I hope you consider trying it. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments if you do.