Miyara is a princess of the ruling house. When it’s her turn to take part in the ceremony that will dedicate her to the service of her people, she realises that she doesn’t know how to serve them, so takes the other option, and leaves. She finds herself in a faraway city, on the edge of the Cataclysm where she gets work in a tea shop. For the first time, she starts to make friends, and maybe even find love, while still trying to find her path in the world and how to serve more than just tea.
As I was reading this charming cosy fantasy, I kept comparing it to The House Witch which I’ve recently as well. They’re both cosy, humorous fantasies, but this one tops the other substantially in my mind. Even though it was originally written as a web serial, it feels tight, well-written and very easy to read. I kept wanting to read “just one more chapter”, which is always a good sign.
I was listening to a recent episode of the Octothorpe podcast as I was reading this, where one of the hosts spent a while discussing another cosy fantasy, Legends and Lattes, as it was a Hugo Award finalist for 2023. One of her major complaints about that book is that there was no real conflict. The protagonist didn’t have to overcome anything. I couldn’t help thinking about that when reading this as well. Despite leaving the palace literally barefoot with not a penny to her name, Miyara falls on her feet. She finds someone to take her in, makes friends, gets a job, finds love, and even negotiates a major treaty without any real obstacles. Even when it seems that she’s failed at something, that gets turned around later. I can understand the sort of book that is, and, in fact, that’s very much part of the appeal to me, but from a literary standpoint, it does fall down.
But I liked the characters, and the vaguely matriarchal setting. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience of reading it and have already started on the sequel.
