The Keeper of Magical Things
The Keeper of Magical Things by Julie Leong
i was charmed by The Teller of Small Fortunes, so i've been looking forward to reading this book set in the same world. it didn't disappoint! actually i enjoyed this one much more, purely because it involved a lot of things that are particular catnip to me, like people and objects with small talents finding just the right ways to use those talents, and girls from different backgrounds who have to work together and subsequently fall in love on the side. also i'm just a sucker for a story in a pastoral setting!
this book did everything a cozy fantasy should do, imo. the stakes were personal, relatively small without being at all toothless; appropriately, the conflicts were also personal but meaningful, and movingly resolved. the pacing was lovely—sort of bouncy, if that makes any sense, energetic without huge highs or deep lows. very restful to read even when conflicts and problems were happening, and foreshadowing solutions just enough to make all the little pieces of the plot fit together like lego bricks, with that same amount of satisfaction as each thing clicked into place. it has the same "strangers change a community for the better" feeling of To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything! Julie Newmar, and i cried just as much.
the characters also really shine here! country girl Certainty, trying so hard to seize her one opportunity to advance from novice to mage in spite of her very weak magic, was a perfect POV character. her cheer and optimism and empathy really carried the story, and gave it a beating heart. and city girl Aurelia, a skilled Mage with a brusque exterior covering deep uncertainty and loneliness, provided so much curiosity and growth and joy in the story. (i always fall for these types in books, i kick my heels over girls who just need love and are finally getting enough!) their slow, sweet romance was pleasantly grounded, enhancing the plot rather than taking it over or being the only point. and the cast of side characters were all delightful too, each one rounded just enough to feel real and enhance the sense of community.
all in all, this was a perfect lighthearted read for me, right up there with Travis Baldree at the top of cozy fantasy!
how i read it: another NetGalley and Libby combo.
try this if you: love a small but meaningful story, enjoy organizing things, have a fondness for country villages, or just dig a sapphic country mouse/city mouse teamup.
some lines i really liked: these all felt like moments Leong was talking directly to me lmao
Certainty supposed that, from a mage's point of view, novices were just scurrying notetakers who bumbled about causing accidents and asking for letters of recommendation until they eventually became mages themselves, and therefore competition.
The innkeeper, who had been eyeing the wagons with curiosity, snapped his attention back to her. "Oh! I'm sorry, lady mage, but we only have one more room available. It's a busy time for the silk merchants, you see, they're traveling to Margrave for the season's auction—"
"Then we'll take it," Aurelia said impatiently. "I assume. you're not down to one bed, as well?"
The innkeeper looked offended. "Of course not! What sort of respectable inn doesn't have any extra beds?"
and a bonus Adventure Zone reference???
"Time to go have some forty-clove chicken?"
pub date: October 14, 2025. go read this! bring it to the beach or on a plane! read it cuddled up in bed!
