The Bookshop and the Barbarian

This is certainly a bit different from your usual 'standard-cosy-fantasy' story, and quite a few people seem to be put off by the snarky remarks from the author put throughout the book, but honestly: I enjoyed it.

It's a comforting, and very funny little story that absolutely fits the feeling of a cosy fantasy story.

Yes, the characters do not have the greatest of depths, the tone is a bit silly sometimes, and the story itself mostly entertaining (but, don't be mistaken, it also has quite some depth to it, just not the 'right in your face' kind of depth). But that is totally fine by me if I'm reading anything cosy. I do not expect cosy books to solve - or even address - the problems of this world - that is not their job. That's not why show more one reads a cosy book. Quite the contrary.

If you fancy a light read that is not afraid to venture down the silly road every now and then I can absolutely recommend this book to you! It truly is a charming, cute and sometimes slightly silly little story - and very cosy.

A perfect cosy read for a good long bookish afternoon or evening in autumn or winter, I'd say. Also suitable for younger readers, as it's absolutely spice free.

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Transparency info: Read via Kindle Unlimited. show less

I really wanted to love this book. The blurb makes it seem like the perfect kind of book for me. Sadly, it didn't work out as well as I had hoped.

Asteria (the titular barbarian) was the highlight of the book for me. She is kindhearted, for all that she sees violence as the first answer to most problems, and she is genuine with her questions. If more of the book had been written this way, I would have enjoyed it more.

The part I liked the least was the narrator. (Which meant there was no escaping the part that bugged me.) There is a very heavy-handed implication that we meet the narrator at one point in the book, and that chapter turned me off of the book even further. I can't say for sure what I would think of Stang's other writing, show more because I got the impression that he was writing fully in character as this narrator, and so if he was writing with a different persona I might like his work better. There certainly was a lot of creativity on display in this book, and the concept and plot points all worked for me. It was just the way most everything was presented that I didn't enjoy. I got a definite sense that the author was writing in character to amuse himself (which is fine!) but the narrator character was too overbearing and full of himself for me to enjoy. (Example: the narrator threw multiple pop-quizzes at the reader, and all of them were trick questions. Yeah no. Thanks, I'm good.) show less