Small Miracles

A witty, irreverent homage to Good Omens, Small Miracles is a fun, fast-paced fantasy that examines the struggles of a single woman, Holly Harker, as she she attepts to juggle two jobs while raising her orphaned niece. We see it all through the eyes of gender switching Gadriel, a fallen angel of petty temptations who only needs to get Holly to sin a bit to be free of a pesky gambling debt. Of course, nothing goes right, or is what it seems, and soon Gadriel is using miracles to help Holly (and maybe themself) find a happier ending. if this sounds confusing, just go with it. The story is amusing, the characters are likeable, and everything is better with chocolate .

Another enjoyable book from Olivia Atwater, in a very different vein! Some of you may have read Half A Soul and her Regency Faerie Tales, but Atwater really did a terrific job with this departure from faerie tales. While no one will replace Pratchett & Gaiman, Small Miracles scratches the itch fairly well, with light humor, divine justice, sin and temptation (if not doomsday) all prominently featured here. (There's even a mention of Queen) Charming, light-hearted, and a quick read, this was a fun book- looking forward to more.

Oh this was so lovely. (I did enjoy Atwater’s Half a Soul regency fantasy/romance as well) A fallen angel must somehow tempt a seemingly everyday woman working in a clothes store after another angel calls in a debt. Only Gadriel is in for more than he/she can foresee, and will need every single one of her/his skills with small temptations (chocolate!) in order to save the day. I don’t know if I am gravitating more towards “cozy” fantasy a la T. Kingfisher etc. these days more as I get older or because of the world, but I have to say this fits nicely in the genre. I can’t say much about the kind of life Holly is living without spoiling the whole set up, suffice it to say that the stakes are not end-of-the-world, more sinking a small number of folks into despair. It turns out Holly is almost untemptable, and when Gadriel looks deeper into her life, it turns out there is a niece living with her at a school, and so Gadriel becomes a counselor and gets sucked into school politics and girl-friendship problems as well. All along there is a focus on the meaning of simple joys, and how those joys can sustain us along with caring friends. And there’s chocolate. And the stealing of chocolate. And biscuits. As a devotee of the sweet myself, I appreciated how this author framed this small pleasure as a sustaining one. And yes, if you like Good Omens, you for sure will love this book. There’s the same restrained self-aware humor, the angels at odds with each other who still have long,…