3/365: The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong

The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong Rating: ★★★ Publication Date: November 5, 2024 Genre: fantasy Pages: 324 ReRead?: No A wandering fortune teller finds an unexpected family in this warm and wonderful debut fantasy, perfect for readers of Travis Baldree and Sangu Mandanna. 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.

A cute but slight piece of cozy fantasy, obviously jumping on the bandwagon of Legends and Lattes by Travis Baldree, which was an unexpected and charming surprise for me in 2023. Cozy fantasy is definitely a thing now. I haven’t liked any of the cozy fantasy that I’ve read since as much as I liked Legends and Lattes, though, so I’m wondering if Baldree just caught lightning in a bottle with that one. I have one more cozy fantasy on my holds list, headed my way, The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst, so we’ll see what I think of it.

Not that I disliked this book – it’s competely inoffensive. I just felt like it tried a little too hard, maybe, or it was more twee than charming. The writing is pedestrian and maybe a bit juvenile, which isn’t to say that it is unreadable. The stakes are low and the loose ends are neatly tied off.

Overall, it’s a pleasant way to spend two or three hours on a rainy afternoon (or, it would be, if it were raining today), and sometimes, that’s just what the reading gods ordered. Not every reading experience needs to be deep, and not every book can be a five-star read.