Book review: Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos

Cosy fantasy is the latest genre taking the bookish world by storm, and I'm absolutely loving it. It takes mundane every-day activities, such as baking and jam making, and sets them amidst fantastical worlds, showing that even the most volatile of places need home-made baked goods and a coffee shop where people (and creatures) can wind down. My love for the genre started with Travis Baldree's Legends and Lattes and intensified last year with the enchanting The Spellshop by Sarah Beth Durst. Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos is another charming addition to the genre. 

About Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos

Yael has graduated from Auximia Academy and is getting ready to join the family business. But they are deeply unhappy as they see the boring path their life will take if they follow in their father's footsteps. So, in a spur of the moment decision, they run away from home during their graduation party and end up in the village of Bloomfield; one they visited only once, to see their childhood friend Margot. 

The two haven't kept in touch as they live so far apart, leading completely different lives: Yael a party-goer at university in the big city, Margot taking care of her grandmother and tending to plants in the greenhouses. Yet, when they meet again they are thrown together once more as Yael is looking for a job and a place to stay, and Margot could really use an extra part of hands at work so she can spend more time on something she's been working on in secret. 

As the two reconnect, their childhood friendship tethers on the edge of blossoming into something more. However, Margot's secret is slowly but surely creating a deeper and deeper rift between the two old friends...

My review of Homegrown Magic

The book is told from the perspectives of protagonists Yael and Margot in alternating chapters. As we open on a Yael chapter in the big city (with a fair amount of fantastical names and concepts introduced in rapid fashion), I initially worried this book would be more high fantasy than I prefer. Thankfully, Yael soon moves to the small town of Bloomfield where Margot also lives, which launches a proper cosy storyline involving a greenhouse, strawberry jam, and an adorable friendship.... maybe even more. 

That isn't to say that the feeling of danger and despair disappeared entirely when Yael – and as a result, the reader – arrives in Bloomfield. However, there is plenty of time spend first on developing the characters, their relationship, and their slow living lifestyle before tension mounts ahead of the final explosive quarter of the book. 

I'd happily read an entire novel in which characters tend to plants and work together to grow and harvest food for themselves and their fellow villagers. Although I appreciate that a story *just* about preserving fruit and vegetables would probably not make for a very engaging novel for most readers, so I understand why authors Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos added an undercurrent of peril and deception throughout. 

I don't agree with Margot keeping her predicament hidden and Yael's ultimate response – but I can understand both sides and the impossible situation they were in. Personally speaking, though, I enjoyed those moments in the story where Yael and Margot got to know each other again the most; they were both tender and joyous – and it made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. 

Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos really balances the "cosy" (homegrown) and "fantasy" (magic) concepts very well to create a story that will appeal to two very different kinds of readers in equal measures. There's the idyllic setting of Bloomfield, filled with an eclectic cast of supporting characters that really emanate that feeling of community. And, on the opposite end of the scales, there is intricate world-building and high-stakes rumbling in the background to keep Yael and Margot (and the reader) on their toes. 

By the end of it, I absolutely adored our protagonists and the picturesque village they had made their home. Here's to hoping we'll be reunited with them in the future for many more "adventures" (preferably of the jam-making variety, which is plenty perilous to me). 

 

Homegrown Magic by Jamie Pacton and Rebecca Podos is published today by Penguin Books and you can now buy your copy from your favourite local book shop!


Disclaimer: This book was gifted to me, but this has not impacted this honest review.