Sorcery and Cecelia or The Enchanted Chocolate Pot: Being the Correspondence of Two Young Ladies of Quality Regarding Various Magical Scandals in London and the Country by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline StevermerBook 100 of 100 for the 100+ Reading Challenge
Book 3 of 4 for the RIP IV Challenge
Book 30 of 50 for the New Author Challenge
Series: Book 1 of 3 (Cecelia and Kate)
Awards: VOYA: The Perfect Tens; YALSA Best Books for YA
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
This novel combines two of my favorite bookish elements--novels written in letter form and novels set in Regency England. Add to that, an alternate reality where magic is part of everyday life, and you are in for a good time.
Cecelia and Kate are best friends and cousins who are apart for the summer. Kate goes to London for her first Season while Cecy must stay behind in Essex, and so their only form of communication is through letters. The Season starts off interesting for Kate as she is nearly poisoned. Cecy has odd things happening in the country as she is being stalked by a young man. And Oliver, Cecy's brother, has apparently been turned into a tree. It becomes clear that the girls are dealing with evil sorcerers, but the girls are in over their heads...or are they?
Interestingly, this novel was originally written as a writing exercise by the authors. They had so much fun creating the characters and writing the letters, that eventually they put it all together and were able to have it published. I will say that there were times at the beginning that I could tell the authors weren't sure where they were going with the story. But, it was neat to see how they worked together without any foresight for the plot and wrapped it up nicely at the end.
This book was just plain fun. It wasn't perfect, but it was perfectly enjoyable. I would recommend it for girls aged 12+.
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Source: BookMooch
7 comments:
I love epistolary novels too. This one does sound like a lot of fun and the fact that the word chocolate is in the title is an added bonus.
I, too, thought this book wasn't perfect, but it was perfectly enjoyable. I loved watching the two writers work it out. Did you read the other two?
Congratulations to you too Tricia for completing the 100 books challengs. It's kind of interesting to reread your list and see how many still stand out for you. And you're signing up for more!!
LOVED this one. Such fun - there is a sequel that I also liked :)
I love these books!!
You've got to read the other two-- the letters between the men in the third are hilarious.
Sounds really good. I like epistolary novels and I like alternate reality stories. The cover and the long, long title are quite delightful.
Congratulations on finishing 100 books, Tricia. I wonder if I've even read half that this year. That's an awesome acheivement.
good review! I read all 3 of these books and enjoyed them very much
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