Book Review: Searching for Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede

Title: Searching for Dragons (Enchanted Forest Chronicles 2)
Author: Patricia C. Wrede
Published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2020 (1991)
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 245
Total Page Count: 532,915
Text Number: 1952
Read Because: continuing the series, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: The king of the Enchanted Forest seeks an audience with the king of dragons—and ends up working side by side with her princess, instead. I like our protagonist just fine, but "I'm not like other girls" hits different than "I'm glad you're not like other girls," and while this is a cast of not-likes, king included, the fact that the anxiety often revolves around correct modes of femininity is ... icky. This is still charming, great world and voice and surprisingly interesting magic system; but the plot and its gimmicks are a little more silly and repetitive this time around. Dealing was better, but I'm happy to read on.

Book Review: The Boneshaker by Kate Milford, illus. Andrea Offermann

Title: The Bonshaker (Arcane 1)
Author: Kate Milford
Illustrator: Andrea Offermann (Illustrator)
Published: Clarion Books, 2010
Rating: 1.5 of 5
Page Count: 375
Total Page Count: 533,290
Text Number: 1953
Read Because: reading more of the author/world, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A traveling medicine show comes to town, and our protagonist is must unravel its secrets to protect her home and family. This took me two months, and I would have DNF'd except that I liked Greenglass House (my review) and hold out hope for reading other books in this world. But this didn't do it for me. It's a lot of story, and the scale of town saga and deal with the devil sits uneasy against fairly standard MG characterization/arcs; the fabulist historical fiction with automata/carnival aesthetic touches is very visual, setpiecey and aphantasia-unfriendly. This is a debut, so I expect it to be rough, but I think Arcane as a setting just isn't for me.