Illuminations

This was a return to the Kingfisher fun, or perhaps more accurately, [a:Ursula Vernon|36276|Ursula Vernon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1271095776p2/36276.jpg] fun. I'm not sure why she didn't publish this one under Vernon, her moniker for the younger set. With a very age-appropriate ten year-old Rosa Mandolini leading, it doesn't do anything too scary. Themes and confrontations are all within range for that age group, and if you never confronted malevolent living scribbles as a child, well, your imagination wasn't working hard enough. At any rate, the feel reminded me very much of [b:Castle Hangnail|22504710|Castle Hangnail|Ursula show more Vernon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1408312316l/22504710._SX50_.jpg|41951499], with Serious Adult Stuff happening, but also Serious Kid Stuff as well.

“No fighting now, girls,” he called, in the jovial tone that grown-ups use when they think they’re smarter than children. “We aaaarrrren’t,” called Rosa back, in the saccharine tone that children use when they know they’re smarter than the grown-up in question."

I'll confess I picked it up for the idea of living paintings, particularly the painted crow what helps Rosa out, but was delightfully surprised by the emotional depth of Rosa. Both the crow and Rosa's best friend get to show some emotional growth. However, it's not all seriousness; the cast of secondary characters is a lot of fun, particularly Aunt Nadia.

“I feel terribly weak,” murmured Aunt Nadia. “As if the life was draining away from me…oh wait, it’s just that there’s no coffee.”

Call it fantasy or call it science-fiction (though unclear, it develops that this may be post cataclysm), what it really feels like is a sort of egalitarian Renaissance-era Venice. The setting is a key part of the story and is used well.

"Between this and Uncle Alfonso, they put together enough to pay the milkman. “If the man selling eggs comes, we are not home,” said Grandmama. “We have moved to the country and then died.”

Considering, I'd say re-readable, absolutely. Tch, who am I kidding? Five stars.

"Rosa scowled. If Uncle Alfonso had a flaw, it was that he always saw the best in people and was happy for everyone." show less

Ten-year-old Rosa Mandolini lives with her extended family at their studio. Nearly all of her family members are artists who create illuminations: magical artworks that bestow a spell where they are mounted, whether that is keeping mice out of a pantry or purifying the city's water. Rosa dreams of becoming an illuminator herself someday, though she's not quite there yet. While searching the basement for a stuffed armadillo, she comes across a mysterious box with a powerful illumination on the lid, one that makes her want to stay away from the box. What is the mysterious box hiding, and can she figure out how to open it?

Another delightful Kingfisher story. This one I would class as juvenile fiction, since both the age of the main show more character and the subject matter are suited to all ages. I got strong Magicians of Caprona vibes from the setting and characters. I did feel like the pacing dragged a bit in the middle, but since I listened to the audiobook, this may just have been a result of my fragmented listening time and not the book itself. Fans of this author, and especially those of her juvenile works, will want to check this one out. show less

Eleven year old Rosa Mandolini is bored when she discovers a magical box, protected by a painted crow, in the basement of her family’s studio. She is determined to find a way to open the box -- only to discover there was a good reason it was magically protected.

I really enjoyed this as a story about being on the edge of childhood (especially of being the only child in a family of adults) and as a story about a family of artists.

“That’s one of the hardest parts of being an artist, you know—learning to be patient with yourself when you’re not as good as you want to be.”

Delightful -- I love the weirdnesses, always -- fanged broccoli, talking crows, murderous vegetation -- it's a cracking good time.

We were going to listen to The Hunger Games on our drive to California, but my hold on the audiobook wasn't available before our trip. So I checked out The Magnificent Monsters of Cedar Street, Bye Forever, I Guess, Gwen & Art Are Not in Love, and Illuminations then made Jesse decide. He liked the cover of Illuminations and the author's name sounded familiar to him.

It was the perfect length for there and back with just the right amount of intrigue. Of course, I picked books that G could also enjoy, but she chose to watch Hamilton again instead. I was able to sneakily increase the narration speed to 1.25x but I would've preferred faster. Slow narration makes me sleepy, but I was only lulled asleep once by the narrators soothing show more voice.

It's a cute story about a girl who opens a mysterious box and unleashes a talking crow AND a monster that wants to destroy her family. She trusts the crow and doesn't tell her family for most of the book which was just foolish, but 10-year-olds are like that, I guess. The author nailed the dynamics between young girls and friendship, I wish G would have listened! I also learned about the French Republican calendar (in the acknowledgments) which was just BONKERS with it's new names for months and days (no more numbers!). I'm a sucker for books that feature art, birds, and quirky facts about history, so it was a win for me show less

Rosa Mandolini is the youngest of a family of painters of magical illuminations. When a malicious creature is released from long captivity and starts wrecking havoc in the studio, she needs to find out how to recapture it. I loved Rosa's ingenuity, the talking crow, and her charming family. Lovely book, very Diana Wynne Jones-ish.

3.5 stars. Unlike T. Kingfisher's other middle-grade books ([b:Minor Mage|52369824|Minor Mage|T. Kingfisher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1564247851l/52369824._SX50_SY75_.jpg|72399665], [b:A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking|54369251|A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking|T. Kingfisher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1593743861l/54369251._SX50_.jpg|84842875] and [b:Summer in Orcus|32182098|Summer in Orcus|T. Kingfisher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1482960864l/32182098._SY75_.jpg|52819916]), this one read like a true children's story. That is the intended audience, so as someone who is 50 years older than the heroine, show more I shouldn't complain that the book wasn't as rich, clever and snarky as my favorite Kingfishers ([b:Swordheart|42747739|Swordheart|T. Kingfisher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542983306l/42747739._SX50_.jpg|66478946], [b:Clockwork Boys|36618062|Clockwork Boys (Clocktaur War, #1)|T. Kingfisher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1511019840l/36618062._SY75_.jpg|58376790], [b:Paladin's Grace|50702014|Paladin's Grace (The Saint of Steel, #1)|T. Kingfisher|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1580209503l/50702014._SY75_.jpg|75730699], among others). Payne the enchanted crow is another one of the author's memorable talking animals, the tool used to defeat the monster is suitably bizarre, and Aunt Nina provides a small but effective dose of snark. show less