The Maid and the Crocodile

[psocoptera]

The Maid and the Crocodile, Jordan Ifueko, 2024 YA. I liked this a lot. Charming characters, enjoyable voice, some great moments, the exact right amount of story for the space. I couldn't remember much about Raybearer except that I had really liked it (this is in the same world) but Ifueko did a good job of filling in who the overlapping characters were and anything else you needed to know. Sort of a Howl's Moving Castle homage with a more workers' rights emphasis - there is one overt and acknowledged tribute but also a couple of others including, arguably, the she's-got-to-figure-out-how-to-uncurse-him plot - but felt fresh and original and not at all derivative in a bad way. I still have three more Lodestar nominees to read but this is definitely a strong contender.

Comments

[elysdir]

I liked this one quite a bit too.