*Disclaimer*
Everyone is different and likes and dislikes different things. Reading is no exception. One person’s all-time favorite might seem too bland or too high stakes for another. That being said, the opinions of our judges in this contest are just that, opinions. Just because we let a book go, doesn’t mean it isn’t good. It could be your next favorite, who knows?
If you have no idea what I’m talking about, you can learn more about the contest here.
Today we are reviewing Small Miracles, which was Queen’s Book Asylum‘s pick for this year’s Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off. You can read their review here. And you can see the finalist spreadsheet here.
Gadriel, the fallen angel of petty temptations, has a bit of a gambling debt. Fortunately, her angelic bookie is happy to let her pay off her debts by doing what she does best: All Gadriel has to do is tempt miserably sinless mortal Holly Harker to do a few nice things for herself.
What should be a cakewalk of a job soon runs into several roadblocks, however, as Miss Harker politely refuses every attempt at temptation from Gadriel the woman, Gadriel the man, and Gadriel the adorable fluffy kitten. When even chocolate fails to move Gadriel’s target, the ex-guardian angel begins to suspect she’s been conned.
But Gadriel still remembers her previous job, and where petty temptations fail, small miracles might yet prevail.
Our Thoughts
SPFBO 8 was a fantastic year for books. We haven’t had this many books rated this high in a long time! (If ever!) And in this, Small Miracles is the cream of the crop!
Atwater has stirred together some of the coziest, funniest, and heartwarmingest moments and characters into hot chocolate in book form. Highlights are the Pratchett style humor, it’s highly inclusive use of gender fluidity, and its complicated, but loving found family of characters.
But you don’t have to take my word for it! Here are some selected quotes from our judges:
Kerry
This is the book I didn’t know I needed as it was the balm for a terribly bad personal year.
I also loved the footnotes and the humour within them; it takes a good author to do these well…I must admit to some muffled laughter and nose snorting giggles on the morning commute whilst reading them.
[My] profound thanks to Olivia Atwater for the pure joy this book bought me and enforced my belief in the power of chocolate.
Max
[A] very warm and enjoyable book, perfect for a gloomy day, to introduce some much needed cheer. The writing is breezy and fun, if a little too familiar. Specifically, familiar to Good Omens, with a touch of The Good Place.
Julia
Small Miracles is funny, cosy, humourous, warm, inclusive, and very entertaining. In short it is the utterly perfect book for me.
It starts out very easy, and I wasn’t sure if it would fully click with me. Ha. But how it did! Those weird people grew on me imperceptible, and before I knew it I loved them. The way they interacted, the found family vibes, the budding friendships, and growing love just was amazing to read.
It’s easy and fun, but also hits on quite some deeper things. Be it loss, grief, or just being overwhelmed by everything. However, it keeps the balance in between those, that makes it so much more than just fluff or a sob story.
I also adore how the book plays with things like gender. Angels don’t just adhere to human genders on their own, but when on earth they pretend to be humans, but switch genders all the time on a whim. This again kept the story humourous and fun on the one hand, on the other hand people just taking that in stride really made me well warm and fuzzy.
I couldn’t get enough of this hot chocolate in book form.
Overall, we are pleased to give our highest score of the year to Small Miracles!
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And again, you can see the list of all the finalists and their scores here. Our judges are Julia Kitvaria Sarene, Kerry Smith, Max Freeman, and Jennie Ivins (me). If you’d like to learn more about us, including our likes and dislikes, you can read about them here.
Any queries should be directed at me, Jennie Ivins, via DM on Facebook and Twitter.
Julia Kitvaria Sarene