There's Nothing Wrong With Being You

I recently finished reading The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong. This is OwlCrate's December '24 book.

This exclusive edition features an exclusive redesigned dust jacket by @danlinz_art, with stenciled edges by @divineliterary, a reversible dust jacket by @artbywu, foiled hardcover case design by  @saiyre.art, and end pages by @jessichenliu. The book is also signed by author Julie Leong on an author page with an author's letter bound into the book and bonus content.

~POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT~

  Rating: 3.25/5 stars

"Tao is an immigrant fortune teller, traveling between villages with just her trusty mule for company. She only tells "small" fortunes: whether it will hail next week; which boy the barmaid will kiss; when the cow will calve. She knows from bitter experience that big fortunes come with big consequences…

Even if it’s a lonely life, it’s better than the one she left behind. But a small fortune unexpectedly becomes something more when a (semi) reformed thief and an ex-mercenary recruit her into their desperate search for a lost child. Soon, they’re joined by a baker with a knead for adventure, and—of course—a slightly magical cat.

Tao sets down a new path with companions as big-hearted as her fortunes are small. But as she lowers her walls, the shadows of her past are closing in—and she’ll have to decide whether to risk everything to preserve the family she never thought she could have."

Can a cozy fantasy be too cozy? Unfortunately, the answer here is yes. When I think of a cozy fantasy, what I want is to be swept away in a story that's warm and comforting, but also compelling. And that last part is perhaps especially important since it can often be hard to achieve the right balance in this cozy genre. Because no matter how seemingly low stakes a tale may be, there must still be some depth and things of importance on the line. And for me, The Teller of Small Fortunes just never quite got there.

It pains me to say that my mind wandered constantly. The story failed to grab me, not in the beginning, nor in the middle, and not even eventually in the end when we get to the most exciting scenes. It lacked that all-important tension throughout, without which nothing really propelled the story forward.

It doesn't help that we had no permanent setting. Instead, Tao and her friends go from one town to the next. Each chapter brings a new location, so it felt like a string of short stories instead of one cohesive whole. Even though there were a few overarching goals for the merry band of travelers, they somehow felt very diluted and lacked the weight necessary to hold the story together.

Even the dialogue felt very low stakes, with no actual conflicts or surprises at play. As you enter each conversation, it's clear where it's going, and indeed it goes there. The way the characters talk to each other doesn't hold the authenticity of real, distinct people. Instead, it feels like an approximation of what dialogue should be, but cozified so that everyone talks the same and it achieves the warm fuzzy feeling without any of the give and take of real conversation.

And when we finally reach the end, that felt like a letdown too. All the overarching conflicts were instantly resolved, without any pushback or depth or even the slightest unexpectedness. It just felt so insubstantial after the whole journey.

Maybe it's me and this style of cozy isn't to my taste. A friend read this and greatly enjoyed it, as did the majority of readers for this book. So take my thoughts with a grain of salt and don't let me dissuade you, especially if you're a fan of this cozy genre.

Check out Teller of Small Fortunes, and discover what happens when you're a traveling fortune teller.

If you are interested in this OwlCrate edition, check out my Pango here --> https://pangobooks.com/books/00358cae-5e84-4e36-aaed-2c86b3b0526b-c964dlg3g1SmNw0EokuFHVFENdg2 where I am looking to re-home my beautiful edition to someone who might enjoy it more than me.

Happy Reading :)