Illuminations

What an absolutely charming story. It has good vs evil, tough decisions for the 11 (almost 12) year old heroine to make, life lessons to learn, and a happy ending. Highly recommended for any age.

Very cute and fun middle grade story. I liked this one more than Minor Mage but a little less than Wizard’s Guide. It’s set in its own unique world and is a very romp-y low stakes fantasy.

T. Kingfisher has done it again. She has left me smiling after ups, downs, sideways, and a bit of backtracking. This is a wonderful, magic-filled story! A quick paced read, and worth every letter.Happy to have gotten to enjoy it. :)

A sweet little fairy tale. As I've found is generally the case with Kingfisher's work, the characters are lovable and the story a rich combination of the creative and the familiar. There's detail enough to make the story feel real without an excess that bogs the story down. Thoroughly enjoyable.

As always, amazing. I have to say you are my favorite author and I absolutely devour everything you write! Another amazing fantasy with great playful characters!

What a cute story. I enjoy T. Kingfisher and this is one of those books that were supposed to satisfy her middle grade or kids book publishing but just was too adult for that and so it is published under her adult moniker. I guess this also happened with A Wizard’s Guide to Defensive Baking, which I also found delightful.Rosa comes from a family of artists. But these are not just any artists they have magic and paint things that are useful to society. Like wards to keep pots from breaking, fire from catching, garbage from stinking. I loved imagining a city where there was all this extra art to help keep things running in order. I enjoyed how each artist in Rosa's family was so different and each had their own way of making art.***Aunt Nadia often got a little weird when she was working on a painting, as if most of her brain was involved with art, and the bits that controlled talking were wandering around unsupervised.Cousin Sergio, who believed that the painting was brilliant up until the moment it was finished, when he suddenly discovered that it was terrible and they had to stop him from setting the canvas on fire.***Rosa is still young around ten and she wants to help her family any way she can and since she and her best friend Serena are in a fight right now she can. When she happens upon a mysterious box hidden away in the house is intrigued. Especially since it seems that something on the box makes you forget all about it. Well Rosa is determined that whatever is in that box could help her family and be the thing that make then the best artist family in the city again. Oh how wrong she was.***“He made an evil monster that’s out to ruin us! Does it really matter how good his technique was?”“Of course it matters,” said Aunt Nadia with a half-smile. “You’d hate to see the studio destroyed by a mediocre artist, wouldn’t you?”***With the help of a crow sometimes distracted by shiny objects, her best friend/sometimes nemesis and the rest of her family Rosa will have to find a way to capture the unusual monster she accidentally let lose before it sucks all the magic out of the paintings in the city.Totally cute story and I loved hanging out with Rosa and learning that even kids can do amazing things when they don't know they aren't supposed to.

I had a hard time with this book at the start because I felt everything Rosa felt so I was angry, sad, and frustrated for more than 50 pages and not sure if I even wanted to finish the book. Which just highlights the brilliance of Ursula Vernon's stories. So, it's another brilliant book and I wish I'd been able to read it when I was ten years old.

More of a children's book than adult. Not her best story. Well written as always.

This lovely, slightly scary but life-affirming book is all about art, family, crows and radishes. I recommend you just read it...

Having read the "Wizard's Guide" prior this book, I got a strong sense of deja vu, but everything was explained when I saw the author's notes. I think in terms of plot this was definitely an upgrade, though both books are worth reading due to their unique and whimsical details and world building.It's a lovely read, simple and delightful. Perfect for when one has a bad day.

Loved the premise, the main character was cute and earnest, and the story had all the things I like. Fun little read!

I didn't realise this was a book for kids when I bought it but enjoyed it anyway. Lots of fun!

The first Kingfisher book I felt was very middle school (and I loved Summer in Orcas and all her other books). Not saying it’s not good just felt more aimed at a different age demographic.