Review: The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry

The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book was obviously written by an introvert. Not that is a knock against it. In fact, if someone offered me a choice between a book written by an introvert or an extrovert, I'd choose introvert every damn time. I merely point this out because it just stood out to me more here than it usually does. There are long excerpts of internalization and description. This is both a plus and minus, but I'll get into more in a bit. If a book deep with introversion sounds like a turnoff, stop reading this review now and write this book off ad something you're not interested in.

I'll also say this book is fun. It's intelligently written, clever, and even has a few sprinkles of genius throughout.  It's super strength strong in the prose and character department. Everything is concise and explained without making it feel you're being talked to. It's just a hands down a well-written book. Bottom line: If reading the synopsis makes you think this book is your cup of tea then it probably is.

Unfortunately, there are two major drawbacks I observed.

One, the actual plot of the book felt like it spends most of its time on the back burner. The pacing is cooked through well enough, but the increased introversion allowed the story to feel unimportant. As if the interaction between the characters is more or less the real draw and purpose of the book. The relationships are just given far more time and care, feeling like the plot is just the reason everyone is together having a good time. The characters and their time together is great, but I just wished for the plot to have a more equal measure.

Two, I honestly felt that this book's author could have written a better book. There's a real talent on display here, but the type of book it is feels a little beneath her station. If that makes any damn sense. It just feels she wrote a book that she thought would be popular (and it should be), rather than writing something that is truly inspired. Or maybe I'm just full of myself. That could easily be the case.

If you made it this far into the review, I just want to make it clear I'm recommending this book. Plot issues aside, it's still a wonderful read. I don't normally like to use the word 'fun' because it can give the impression the book is lesser than what it is. But, that's the word I keep coming back to. Fun. I'm honestly looking forward to what this author has in store for us next.

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