Synopsis
Fern has weathered the stillness and storms of a bookseller’s life for decades, but now, in the face of crippling ennui, transplants herself to the city of Thune to hang out her shingle beside a long-absent friend’s coffee shop. What could be a better pairing? Surely a charming renovation montage will cure what ails her!
If only things were so simple…
It turns out that fixing your life isn’t a one-time prospect, nor as easy as a change of scenery and a lick of paint.
A drunken and desperate night sees the rattkin waking far from home in the company of a legendary warrior surviving on inertia, an imprisoned chaos-goblin with a fondness for silverware, and an absolutely thumping hangover.
As together they fend off a rogue’s gallery of ne’er-do-wells trying to claim the bounty the goblin represents, Fern may finally reconnect with the person she actually is when there isn’t a job to get in the way.
Review
“Fern stared up at a wooden sign in the shape of a kite shield. A hammered hunk of metal representing a sword ran diagonally across the front. Two words bracketed the blade chiseled above and below. ‘Legends & Lattes.’ She had never been more terrified in her life.”
Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for the arc. Fern’s letter at the end of Book 2 made me cry and I couldn’t wait to get to this one. I’m so glad I got the audio arc because Travis’ narration is legendary. I cannot accurately describe how talented and skillful he is, just marvel at his brilliance. He is the voice of cozy fantasy in many ways.
The prologue instantly sets the tone for the book. It is quite different from books 1 & 2 and focuses on Fern’s midlife crisis. There was a small adjustment period for me as I had different expectations but Fern is such an interesting character that I soon folded and was invested in her journey. What hooked me in quickly is how well Fern’s worries and characterization was presented in this book. Even though there were parts of Viv’s journey I definitely identified with in legends…, Fern has got to be the most real character in this world for me. She has her own quirks and motivations, and acts in very unexpected ways that it all feels so authentic.
This book is decidedly less cozy than the previous books, but it also has a lot of fun and light-hearted moments. Zyll pretty much steals every scene she is in and Breadlee is a masterstroke in genius. Objectively Fern’s character arc is the best in this book but I must say subjectively I loved Breadlee’s arc more. I really can’t talk as much as I want about Breadlee to avoid spoiling it for everyone, but IYKYK.
A couple of other things I really enjoyed about this book is how it opens up the world of Legends… both in terms of literal breadth and the groups of people. Instead of the majority of the story taking place in a single city like in the previous two books, we travel vast distances in this book and encounter so much variety in landscapes and people. It is also a lot of fun listening to Travis come up with different voices for the ensemble cast.
While I did enjoy a lot of the book, there were a couple stumbling blocks for me. It felt like this book had more fight scenes than the previous two books combined and I didn’t find myself to be invested in those moments. I wanted more of a cozier flavor to the entire plot because of the expectations built from the earlier books. And while I did enjoy the first half of the book and the ending a lot; I was not very engaged for a fair while in the second half of the book (especially the sections in the monastery and the journey after.)
In conclusion, this book doesn’t reach the highs of the earlier books in this world for me but it still is a good addition to the world of Legends & Lattes. I really liked the new characters introduced in the book (special mention to Nigel and Breadlee) and the way the world has expanded in this book. Legends & Lattes is one of my favorite ongoing series and I will be there day one for the next installment in this world as well.
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