Miss Percy's Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons

Miss Percy Guide #1

by Quenby Olson, Zara Ramm (Narrator)

Miss Mildred Percy inherits a dragon.

Ah, but we’ve already got ahead of ourselves…

Miss Mildred Percy is a spinster. She does not dance, she has long stopped dreaming, and she certainly does not have adventures. That is, until her great uncle has the audacity to leave her an inheritance, one that includes a dragon’s egg.

The egg - as eggs are wont to do - decides to hatch, and Miss Mildred Percy is suddenly thrust out of the role of “spinster and general wallflower” and into the unprecedented position of “spinster and keeper of dragons.”

But England has not seen a dragon since… well, ever. And now Mildred must contend with raising a dragon (that should not exist), kindling a romance (with a humble vicar), and embarking on an adventure she never thought could be hers for the taking.

Genres: Fantasy, Dragons, Cozy Fantasy, Cozy, Romance, Historical Fiction, Fiction

13 pages, Audible Audio

First published October 26, 2021

About the author

Quenby Olson lives in Central Pennsylvania where she spends most of her time writing, glaring at baskets of unfolded laundry, and chasing the cat off the kitchen counters. She lives with her husband and five children, who do nothing to dampen her love of classical ballet, geeky crochet, and staying up late to watch old episodes of Doctor Who.

Reviews

[Olivia Atwater · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Percy's Pocket Guide is easily one of the most wholesome books I've read. Though the book is historical fantasy, it has the tone of a novel like Legends & Lattes, where things unfold at a mostly sedate pace.

Also, it has a dragon. To be fair, my ten-year-old self was instantly sold by the dragon on the cover. But it was a lovely and fantastically written book on top of having a dragon, you should know.

The novel follows Miss Mildred Percy, a middle-aged spinster living with her younger sister and acting as both governess and errand-woman for the household. Mildred is a meek soul when the book begins; though she isn't physically mistreated, her younger sister browbeats her and uses her as a sort of prop for her own ego, while expecting endless gratitude for giving Mildred a home. This is a slightly subtler dynamic than happens in a physically abusive relationship, but I feel like many readers can heavily relate to the way that it weighs on Mildred and causes her to doubt her own worth.

One day, however, Mildred receives an unexpected inheritance from her great uncle—a cache of research papers and little objects from his many adventures. For the first time in many years, Mildred hides the inheritance in an act of rebellion, knowing that her sister might try to pick it over for anything worth selling and then discard the rest. Among the objects in the inheritance is a large stone which Mildred believes to be a geode... but of course, given that this book deals with "the care and feeding of British dragons", we all know what's inside.

I loved this book very much for many different reasons. For one thing, Mildred is a shy, middle-aged protagonist, which you don't see very often in a Regency novel. For another thing, Mildred never does become a spitfire; though she learns to stand up for herself in a few ways over the course of the book, she does so in her own way, without changing herself completely. From a romantic standpoint, while the romance in the book is very light, I truly loved the male love interest, Mr Wiggan—the local vicar, who is gentle, kind, and slightly balding.

But of course, the character who takes the cake is really Fitz, the little baby dragon, for whom I would happily die a thousand deaths. For a character without a single spoken line, Fitz really steals the show just by being painfully adorable and slightly (okay moderately) dangerous. The one time someone dared to swat at Fitz in this book, I was ready for Mildred to commit fully-justifiable homicide.

Style-wise, Miss Percy's Pocket Guide has its own unique voice, which is full of run-ons, and parentheticals, and parentheticals within parentheticals. This is all very clearly on purpose, and it's definitely written in a charming fashion. That said, if you happen to be sick or tired, it can be a little difficult to follow at times, as you might have to reread once or twice to put together all the pieces of one of Mildred's meandering thoughts. I loved the book as-is, and I wouldn't change this for the world—but because of this, I'd recommend not to read this book while distracted by other things. Give it its own little block of time, with a cup of hot cocoa and a cat in your lap. You won't be disappointed.

[✘✘ Sarah ✘✘ (former Nefarious Breeder of Murderous Crustaceans) · Rating 2 out of 5]

💀 DNF at 28%.

This book in a nutshell? Enough boredom to bore a bored barnacle to death (and back), a meek-as-fish heroine who has as much backbone as a deep-sea sponge, page-long parentheses within page-long parentheses (I'm pretty sure the author broke the Guinness World Record for longest, most pointless, most unnecessary parentheses here), ridiculously contrived everything, and complaints about soggy toasts (don't ask). I rest in my case and stuff.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Percy's Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons is a warm, cozy, and utterly delightful comfort-read about a downtrodden 40-year-old spinster who inherits a dragon egg and discovers magic, possibility, and even some romance. It's like Cranford with dragons, but even more fun! I love all of the domestic details and characters in the village and the humor is SO sly, wry and perfect.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.bookwormblues.net/2021/10...

Last night I was up until five in the morning with COVID booster shot symptoms. I was pretty miserable, and for a while I watched TV but then I flipped it off (it was making me dizzy) and decided to read until I finally managed to pass out. I ended up trying to read a few things, but my mind just wasn’t there for any of them. Then, I landed on Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide, and blazed through it in one sitting.

First, I should say I was 900 different kinds of miserable, and this book got me to forget about all of that. If you understand how terrible I felt, you’d know what an accomplishment that was.

Secondly, it should also say a lot that I read it in one sitting. I don’t have a ton of time these days, for reading outside of my own editing and writing, so devouring a book in one sitting is pretty much something that never happens anymore.

I really admire Olson. I guess that’s a weird thing to put in a review, but I kind of want you to know where I’m coming from with her stuff because I feel like the author, in this particular case, is just as important as her work. So, I really admire Olson. I read one of her books for the first time earlier this year, and I knew instantly she was someone special. Someone I wanted to watch. She is unapologetically who she is. In a world where I feel like so many fantasy books are aspiring to the same markers and the same heights, Olson writes exactly what she wants to read, and due to that, her books are infused with a passion and love that I find a lot of others lack. Her enthusiasm for the stories she tells is infectious.

Olson is a huge, huge inspiration for my own writing, and a large reason why my upcoming book, The Necessity of Rain, is even a thing that is happening. I look at her, and I see someone who is not only brave, but full of refreshing zeal, and I admire that so much.

Okay, so now I’ve told you all about how sick I was, and how amazing Olson is. What about the book itself?

Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide is both exactly what I expected, and nothing that I anticipated. I’m not a huge fan of regency books (I know, I know. Don’t kill me.) However, sometimes I find one that just works for me, and this is that. There are a few unique approaches here that kept me from feeling like this is the same old, same old. Our protagonist, one middle-aged Mildred, is the primary reason for this. I haven’t read a ton of books with middle-aged protagonists, and I have absolutely never read a regency-style one and I loved it.

Mildred is one of the most vibrant, human, relatable characters I’ve ever come across. She is both flawed and captivating, with a unique voice that really kept me engaged as the book progressed. More, I could feel Mildred. Under Olson’s care, Mildred became three-dimensional. She was positively infused with life and blinding realism. She’s had a rough go at life, and that is evident in her sarcasm and wit, her absolute emotional exhaustion in some ways, and yet she is full of wonder as well.

I was actually pretty surprised by how Mildred seemed to punch her way right into my soul and make a home there for herself. By about the fourth paragraph, she stopped being a character I was reading and became part of me. As the book progresses, Mildred sort of comes into her own, and I was really surprised by how empowering that was, and how much I connected with that aspect of her story. Mildred is a bit of a spinster, and in a lot of ways, her world has been grayscale for a while. Then, she inherits a dragon egg, discovers magic, and a bit of romance as well. The transformation from grayscale to her life slowly gaining vibrant dimension and hues is nothing sort of enchanting.

This isn’t really a romance, though, and to bottle it as one would be, I think, packaging the book wrong. There is love here, and a touch of that romance, but really at its heart, this is really about the dynamics of power and powerlessness, about self-acceptance, and self-confidence. The force that upsets Mildred’s ho-hum existence is a dragon named Fitz, and he was an absolute delight.

Olson weaves humor throughout her book, balancing out the light and dark moments with a bit of levity that worked really well for me. This kept the book from every feeling too weighty, and yet it never came across as ham-handed, nor did it obscure the glory of what was happening in the plot and with the characters. It is very rare that I read a book where I feel like the humor was so effortlessly natural, and yet didn’t overwhelm the book itself. It was, if anything, icing on the cake. The element that tied all of this together stylistically, and brought it from charming, to positively enchanting.

Olson has a gift for writing. Her prose are fluid and effortless, never purple and never too dry. She has a knack with hitting the exact tone each scene needs to make it land the way it needs to land. Her world comes to vibrant, blazing life, and so do her characters. Mix that dollop of humor in there as well, and you’ve got this brilliant blend of elements that transported me almost instantly out of my body and into Mildred’s world. I could see the landscape, and the people, and smell the food. Olson is one of those authors I read as much to admire her prose and appreciate how she uses words, as to immerse myself in her stories.

I’ve said a few times that this book is empowering, and it really is. Mildred learns to accept and love herself. In spite of outside forces, of the hijinks and the shenanigans that ensue throughout the book, it’s the love story of a middle-aged woman learning to accept herself that really spoke volumes to me. It’s something, I think, I needed to read, and I was left after finishing the book feeling like this is a story a lot of us need right now.

Ultimately, Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide left me feeling like I’d just experienced the warmest of hugs. Flawlessly written, enchantingly told, with an unforgettable protagonist and a relentless plot, reading this book was an experience I won’t forget anytime soon.

Last night, I felt sicker than I’ve felt in a very, very long time, and Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide got me outside of my body, away from my misery, and pulled me through the darkness.

That really says all that needs to be said.

[Rebecca Crunden]

“Bats don’t hatch from eggs,” Mildred said, her eyes still on the not-bird/not-bat. If anything, it most resembled a lizard. But with larger feet. And strange bumps running across the top of its narrow, pointed head.

Perfect follow up to my Austen marathon! And so funny!

Miss Percy’s been on my list for a long time and I was delighted to finally dive in! Such a fun, witty tale! Perfect for those who want dragons but don’t want to enjoy those dragons with a side of magical dragon-backed war.

Olson has a wonderful way of evoking the past whilst bringing in a fantastical elements whilst also keeping everything decidedly cosy and wholesome. I loved the progression of relationships between the characters and it was great to see the MC pushing back and standing up for herself as the story moved along. I also enjoyed the snippets on dragons between the chapters.

Very excited to see where the series goes from here! More dragons, yay!

☆ Book Reviews | Bluesky | Twitter | Threads ☆

[Intisar Khanani · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been meaning to read Miss Percy for quite some time now (in fact, Book 2 came out while I was reading this!), and I finally made it through after dropping off earlier in the year. The drop off was 100% burnout related, and coming back to the book was an excellent decision, as it's a warm, gentle story (though not without teeth) that follows a spinster aunt who inherits a dragon egg, and the local vicar who becomes her unexpected but not unwilling ally. I was cheering for Mildred as she slowly learned to stand up for herself after a lifetime of boxing herself in to others' expectations and desires. And the dragon--Fitz--is such a delight! Enter a somewhat nefarious villain, a cunning and selfish niece, and an overbearing sister, and you have all you need for a delightful story. Also, there are biscuits.

[Gohnar23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books read & reviewed: 5️⃣7️⃣🥖4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣


╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗


5️⃣🌟, CUTE AHHHHHHHH QWQ *-* :D
——————————————————————
➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗

I just want to saw that AHHHHHHHHH this book so cute so muchhh,. The entire thing is basically Percy finds a dragon egg, egg hatch, she takes care of it and adventures adventures.

That it, its not really that deep or philosophical but it does deep dive into taking care and the importance of pets and the responsibilities one must have when taking care of it. Much like our own pets in real life, they need and deserve the care and love that we give to them.

And im currently reading as many books as i can cuz damn im so bored,.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*Pre-Read✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Book with cute dragons? sign me up!!!

[Muffinsandbooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

J’ai bien aimé l’ambiance, l’humour et l’univers, ainsi que le style d’écriture MAIS je dois aussi avouer que ce même style m’a pas mal ralentie au début et a vraiment ralenti tout le rythme du roman à mes yeux. C’est en même temps une force pour l’ambiance et un point d’originalité dans le récit… mais je n’étais sans doute pas dans le mood pour ça, ce qui explique que ça m’ait ralenti ! Ça reste une chouette lecture !

[C.M. Caplan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons) is a book that’s so delightful you could spend an entire review trying to come up with analogies and comp titles to fully capture how impossibly brilliant it is. The novel’s only downside is that the book is so good that nothing I can say will fully capture how phenomenal it actually is. I will make two attempts to do so, though the first: “The Princess Bride x Bridgerton with tea and cake and dragons”, fails to fully do it justice.

Make no mistake. There is tea. There is cake. And boy, there sure is a dragon in it. His name is Fitz and I love him with my whole heart.

But the biggest sticking point in this comparison is the fact that Miss Percy is not exactly a romance. The focus here rests on finding self acceptance, not true love. And though there is a love interest, this novel centers on the learned powerlessness of one Miss Mildred Percy, and the overcoming of it.

It is a book where the central character’s diminished self worth, and everything that has been done to strip her of that, has become so routine that when the novel begins it is something to be expected. To be anticipated. There is a degree of intertextuality between this novel and Cinderella. The abuse Miss Percy deals with is so commonplace, so everyday that it is at first seen as a kind of force of nature that couldn’t possibly be chafed against.

Ultimately, it takes quite another force of nature to disrupt it: a dragon. Fitz.

Mildred, and the people in Mildred’s family, only perceive her as valuable so long as she has use. She is tolerated if the things she does can outweigh the economic cost her presence incurs.

This transactional way of thinking suffuses itself through the actions of the book’s antagonists, in ways that permit them to be threatening while also at times comic. Though importantly, neither element takes away from the other.

Which is quite a feat. I’ve never seen these themes handled in this way before, and never this well. There have been remarkable novels I’ve read in which a character has felt useless. Ones where their perceived uselessness is a theme or motif. but none that so completely capture the transactional ways that uselessness can be learned, in such an intimately familial context.

And to do it all subtly, in a way that never sacrifices the comedic tone? It’s astounding. Mildred must learn to love herself, and believe she is worthy of love.

It’s remarkable.

And it also means “The Princess Bride x Brigerton fails to fit a fair summation of this book.

So how else could you describe it? I believe the first way I ever thought to was “Neil Gaiman meets Douglas Adams,” which I find apt. But there are still problems with that comparison as well.

Sure, the novel reads as suitably Gaimanesque. An everyday character living an ordinary life finds a supernatural element, hijinks ensue. There is comedy (and we will come back to that), and though Miss Percy skips the more horrific overtones of Gaiman’s work, the prose in Miss Percy could go toe-to-toe with Gaiman’s best, if not surpass him.

And that’s not even counting the parentheticals.

The asides in this novel are not unlike something out of Hitchhiker’s Guide. The comedic elements to the prose are often interwoven throughout the events. Sometimes it is not so much what’s happening that makes you laugh so much as how Quenby Olson tells it. Which seems sufficiently like Adams.

Except for the unfortunate fact that none of Douglas Adams’s books ever got as many chuckles out of me as this book did. And I’m sure we’re all aware that Adams was a very funny man. But he is ultimately, believe it or not, on a line-by -line basis, outclassed by Quenby Olson in this book.

So how to do it justice? How do you get someone to read a book when you can’t even find the words to explain how wonderful it is? And how wildly disparate elements are contained within? The number of elements Quenby Olson juggles in this book, and the fact that all of them together result in a compounding meaning that enhances the text, rather than taking away from it, is nothing short of masterful.

Perhaps that is ultimately the best way to describe this. Masterful. Have you ever seen those videos of glassblowers working their craft? Or one of someone making chocolate sculptures? A sped-up video of a portrait being painted? You know the awe it inspires to watch somebody who’s at the top of their game, the best in their class, throwing their weight around and making something unparalleled? There’s a certain satisfaction in watching someone who’s the best in the world do what they do. In sitting back as they create something gorgeous, in watching all those layers come together.

That is the appeal of Miss Percy.

And that’s why no words can do it justice.

[Isabelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5/5 If you like cozy reads, then you definitely should try this one. I added book 2 to my TBR to be read as soon as it publishes, which hardly ever happens but since I’m reading so much sci-fi lately, this just really breaks that up so nicely.

The MC in this book is 40, nervous about speaking up around people, and has those aches and pains that tend to come along when you get older. She’s also super snarky in her mind, loves books, and has a soft heart for creatures and children and cakes. I may still be a decade off in age but I don’t know if I’ve ever related to a character in a book this much, with the snark, the anti-social feelings, the pains, wanting to go to bed early with a book, etc. Some days, I feel like an old spinster too (never mind the husband and child that live in my house…).

The narration in this book is a little different to what I usually read also. Every once in a while, the author speaks directly to the reader and there are a lot of additional comments that point out little observations, feelings, memories, internal dialogues, and the like. Those comments make up the majority of the snark in the book as the MC isn’t confident enough to speak her thoughts out loud. That is SO relatable to me as a non-confrontational person that is so fed up with people’s ish.

While most of those additional comments I enjoyed, I did have two little gripes with them, which are really the only issues I can really think of that stood out while reading. One: In some chapters, there are just too many of those comments. They don’t wait until a sentence is finished, which shows the MC’s or narrator’s train of thought and is fine in a lot of instances, but sometimes there are just so many comments and so many times in one sentence that it makes it a little overwhelming and I have to read the basic sentence without the comments three times before realizing what it’s trying to say. And two: The chapters are told from two POVs and you get a lot of comments about those characters’ internal thoughts and feelings. That’s something that I’ve experienced a lot in other books and generally enjoy. Here though, every once in a while, you get insights about other people’s thoughts and feelings as well in those chapters, which sometimes threw me off a little because they are things that the MC of that chapter shouldn’t know. With most of the book feeling like a third-person limited narration, the instances of omniscient narration sometimes felt really smooth but sometimes also felt a bit jarring.

Overall though, this book was entertaining, comfortable, relatable, and exactly what I needed. I read about so many grand adventures that every once in a while, little breaks with ordinary characters living (mostly) ordinary lives in a fantasy world just really hit the spot. I can’t wait for her Travel Guide!

[Esmay Rosalyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars (rounded up)

I didn’t know exactly what I was getting myself into with this one, but Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons) turned out to be just as delightful, amusing, entertaining, wholesome, endearing and fun as you might expect from that title.

This is the story of the meek 40-year-old spinster Mildred Percy, who lives an unadventurous life being bossed around by her sister and taking care of her sister’s children. But when she inherits a dragon egg, which unsurprisingly doesn’t stay in egg-form for very long, her simple life is suddenly turned upside down. What follows is a delightful slow-burn regency romance full of chaos, magical mayhem, rebellious acts, self-discovery and acceptance, blooming relationships, lots of tasty baked goods and, of course, dragons!

I think you will discover very quickly if this is the type of story that will work for you or not. The authorial voice is very strong, bold, witty and sarcastic, which is either going to amuse you to no end or just drive you up a wall. I personally found the tongue-in-cheek tone to be quite entertaining, but there were some moments where the humour and unholy number of parenthesized side tangents started to wear on me. Maybe it wouldn’t have bothered me as much in audiobook format, but I guess we’ll never know now.

Still, I had a really good time reading this book. The characters aren’t too complex; you will love the characters you are supposed to love and you will hate the characters you are supposed to hate. Yet, that didn’t make them any less fun to follow as they try to navigate all kinds of chaotic, messy and amusing situations.
I was pleasantly surprised by the character growth of our MC Mildred over the course of the story, because it was so believable. We don’t get a full 180 in terms of personality, but instead we slowly see Mildred starting to embrace and accept herself as she begins to explore her suppressed desires and dreams.
Also, I found myself relating to Mildred on a level I wasn’t expecting, especially considering I am about half her age. The anti-social spinster lifestyle, the snarky inner thoughts, the desires to just cosy up with a book instead of going out… Yeah, I feel that.

The various interpersonal relationships that started to bloom here were also very strong and sweet. The romance is very slow-burn and innocent, which honestly worked really well for me. And all the other character interactions were also just entirely too amusing and heartwarming!

All that said, I think this book was a bit too long for the amount of story that it had to tell. I don’t mind a slower story with lower stakes, but this one started to drag a bit for me at points. And upon finishing, I can’t help but feel like I just read an unnecessarily long prologue for the real story that’s about to kick off in the rest of the series. I personally wouldn’t have minded if there had been a bit more dragons and adventure already in this instalment. However, with how this one left off, I have a feeling that there’s a lot more of that to come in the rest of the series, so I am interested and excited to continue on.

If you are looking for a comfortable and cosy story with a strong and witty authorial voice, some entertaining magical mayhem, a heartwarming romance and a good dose of draconic disorder, then this is the perfect book to pick up!

[Suzannah Rowntree · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful fantasy of manners with measured pacing and sly asides. The heroine is a 40 year old spinster, the love interest is a balding vicar, the narrator breaks the fourth wall with impunity, and fans of LM Montgomery's THE BLUE CASTLE will love Miss Percy's slow and painstakingly subtle acquisition not just of an adorable baby dragon but also of a backbone.

[Cailey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I, unfortunately, hated this.

I will preface this review by saying that I do believe that there is an audience for this book. But, I am not that audience. The writing was skillful for quirky/meta writing. I thought that the writing felt similar in tone and style to the Veronica Speedwell series. I also do not like those books, but they are beloved by many. Perhaps fans of that series may enjoy this book.

I found every character incredibly obnoxious, even the ones that we were supposed to like. I also don’t think many of the characters were well-developed, and for the length of this book, I expected more satisfying character development. There was some character development with our protagonist, but I would have enjoyed a more significant change. Miss Percy is my least favorite type of protagonist to read about. She is meek, submissive, and quiet. And yet, her internal monologue is full of complaint after complaint about her life and family. It was exhausting to read about how everything wrong in her life was always someone else’s fault.

The plot was also so slow moving, with the only bit of actual conflict happening in the final 20%. Somehow, the dragon was boring. Probably due to its lack of any sort of personality and being more of an object than anything else in this book.

The world-building was also odd, as this story was set in a real life 19th century England and feels like a Victorian domestic novel, but if the main female protagonist accidentally hatched a dragon egg. I wish we got much more lore and investigation into the dragon’s origins and how this dragon was able to exist. I think this book could have benefited from having our characters trying to solve this mystery through looking at mythology records or actively traveling to museums/experts, etc. I do believe that this will eventually happen, but with the lack of any sort of urgency over the dragon’s existence, the world felt cartoonish and confused.

Overall this book felt like a 400 page set up to a story that I no longer care to read about. I wouldn’t recommend this book to fantasy readers looking for fantasy books. But, I would perhaps recommend this book to readers wanting a very minimal foray with fantasy alongside a Victorian domestic drama.

[Lukasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5

Miss Percy lives with her sister in Upper Plimpton, a pleasant but dull village. She possesses nothing of value. She firmly believes that ladies of her age do not have adventures, and has resigned herself to a daily routine to pass the time.

Then, one day, she inherits a dragon egg. The egg hatches. Her life becomes complicated. And, shudder, exciting.

I had a blast reading it. Miss Percy tells an uplifting and warm story. Elegantly written, fast-paced, and with just the right amount of humor. It's the kind of narrative that reassures you that everything will turn out okay in the end, but still offers suspense, frights, humor, and psychological insights.

Mildred Percy may lack agenda and charisma, but she certainly does not lack empathy. Her knees and lower back hurt. She's shy, withdrawn, and can not say no to a good pie. It was refreshing to have such a unique protagonist. felt refreshing. Observing her growth and her growing hunger for adventure.

Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons focuses on the importance of (found) family, acceptance, kindness, and love, but it's also an exciting story about adventure, overcoming adversity, and teamwork. It’s packed full of lyricism, poignancy, and heart. Highly recommended to readers of all ages, especially those tired of doom and gloom.

[Dom]

No rating - I read this as part of a challenge to read the SPFBO8 finalists, but this is so far outside of my usual tastes that it would be unfair to provide a rating.

Despite giving this book a fair shot, going into it with an open mind, I just couldn't get along with it. It's too far away from the usual type of book that I like to read, in terms of setting and tone. This meant that I wasn't able to form any real connection with the characters, and the storyline did nothing for me either.

I'm left with the technical elements then, and there, the book also failed me. I didn't like the conversational tone, with asides within asides scattered liberally throughout the pages. Out of curiosity, I did a search and found nearly five hundred sets of parentheses in this just-over-four-hundred-page book. This is clearly a technique used to develop the voice of the narration, but it just didn't work for me, and constantly took me out of the story.

Overall, I didn't like this even a little bit, but again, it's so far from my usual tastes that I feel my views on it are invalid and should be weighted accordingly.

[S. Bavey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Taking place in the fictional town of Upper Plimpton in Wiltshire, during the Regency period, Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons is a humorous and whimsical story, with an enchanting plot. The main character is a middle aged spinster named Mildred Percy, who has a humdrum existence on the sidelines of her overbearing sister’s life.

Miss Percy is suddenly plunged into adventure and a life less ordinary with the help of a bequest which brings the fantastic into her life. Fantastic both in terms of a dragon’s egg – a thing of fantasy, but also in terms of her getting to know the ‘oh so suited to her’ vicar a whole lot better as part of her adventure. This being a fantastic development for her personal lack of love in her life since her father passed away.

There are snippets at the beginning of each chapter, taken from Miss Percy’s book, which show how adept and experienced she is with British dragons by the time of her writing and were clearly written a long time after the end of this story. They also act as a foreshadowing of what is to be found in the following chapter – whether mating rituals or fighting amongst family members, which was a device I thoroughly enjoyed. Equally enjoyable, were the moments when the narrator of the story spoke directly to the reader, in an entertaining tongue in cheek manner.

The main story starts before Mildred knew such a creature as a dragon really existed and follows her first experiences with suddenly having this knowledge thrust upon her and the responsibilities that accompany becoming the owner of a dragon. Mildred has been put upon by her younger sister, Diana Muncy for the majority of her adulthood. She is living in a small uncomfortable room in Diana’s house and for seventeen years she has been looking after Diana’s children without a word of thanks in return.

The tone of this book is that of a comedy of manners, where young ladies take ’a turn about the garden’ for exercise, yet with the most welcome addition of a fantastical fire breathing baby monster setting the proverbial cat (dragon) among the pigeons and I loved every second of it!

As the story progresses and we see the dragon flex its wings and become more independent, so too does Miss Percy. She makes friends outside of her home in the form of the vicar, Mr Wiggan and his housekeeper, Mrs Babbinton and begins to spend a lot of time with them. Luckily for her the vicar is quite fond of her already and their mutual respect develops in an extremely slow and mannered, yet wholly respectable way:

“There’s still time, you know.” He said it so quickly and so simply she might have thought he had not said it at all. She glanced at him, but he was not looking at her anymore, instead knocking the side of his foot against a loose brick that edged a bed of lavender. “For your adventure.”

The burgeoning romance is so subtle yet so present and wonderfully written. Mr Wiggan is a little backward at coming forward but I was rooting for the two of them and their mutual respect throughout their scenes together:

“But this smile sparked in his eyes with the brightness of flint and tinder, and she saw something there that filled her up as well as the first breath of fresh air upon opening the window in the morning.”

The characterisation in this book is masterful. Poor put upon Miss Percy is a caring, self-sacrificing woman of character who has done everything within her power to help her sister and the Muncy children, Matthew and Nettie, without thought for her own future:

“Poor Aunt Mildred. Silly Aunt Mildred. Aunt Mildred who slept in her box of a room beneath the attic, stalking about the house like a shadow, waiting for someone else’s sun to give her definition. Miss Mildred Percy, who rarely said what she wanted to or did what she wanted to.”

There is a very likeable adventurous side to her character which has remained hidden until now, but which is about to come into its own as she gains self-confidence and independence.

Mildred’s sister Diana is the villain of the piece. She is as nasty, self-serving overbearing, mean and uncharitable as anyone could wish for from a bad guy. Her older daughter, Diana has inherited many of these traits and is as manipulative and self-centred as she is beautiful. Miss Percy is no fool and is well aware of Belinda’s character, but would never voice her real feelings out loud:

“She is…” A chameleon, a shapeshifter, a siren luring sailors to their deaths. “… incomparably talented at making people love her or loathe her as she will. Thankfully for us, she seems to thrive well enough on our collective indifference towards her.”

Belinda entrances and manipulates Reginald Hawthorne, who has come in search of the dragon egg, thinking it ought rightfully to be his. His father lost the egg in a drunken gambling session to Mildred’s great uncle, who then left it to Mildred in his will. Belinda believes the egg will be the key to their future together. Reginald Hawthorne is greedy and desperate. Down on his luck and gullible he is easily manipulated by Belinda. He finds himself helpless in the face of her beauty

In contrast to Belinda and her mother, Mrs Babbinton, the housekeeper who looks after Mr Wiggan is a delightfully kind, friendly and caring person who becomes a good and trustworthy friend and support to Mildred. Mrs Babbinton accompanies Mildred on a quest to track down Great Uncle Forthright’s assistant Mr Gorman, who inherited the house and most of her Great Uncle’s possessions. This is the first adventure either of these ladies have had for some time and despite the hardships of the journey itself, they thoroughly enjoy it.

By the end of the story, Mildred has found her freedom from the confines of her small contained life, trapped in a tiny room with little freedom, via a dragon and a vicar and I applaud her for stepping outside the comfort zone she had become accustomed to over her seventeen years of sisterly obligation:

“But then I think of a simple dragon egg, tucked away in a dark trunk, as still and quiet as any ordinary stone. Unremarkable and underestimated. But inside that stone there rested an exceptional creature, one that had only been lying dormant until the time came for it to burst forth from its shell, and— Oh,”

This was easily one of my favourite books of this year and I will be eagerly awaiting the sequel and a return visit to this ‘exceptional creature’ and her dragon.

[Terrible Timy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This review was originally posted on Queen's Book Asylum with my choice of song!

Actual rating: 4.5*

“Mornings were never welcome. Mildred understood their place in the world; everything must have a beginning of some sort, and things like days and weeks and years and even time could not be exempt from that. But mornings weighed on her like a burden, like a trial to be endured before she could arrive at the legitimate part of the day, with the sun fully risen and the birds already digesting their ill-gotten worms.”

I’m going to go ahead and “blame” Bjørn Larssen and Quenby Olson for making me read this book – it’s not that I wasn’t interested in it for a while, but when someone (Bjørn) keeps telling you how good it is and then a certain other someone (Quenby) goes and drops the name Judi Dench in a tweet description, you just can’t pass it up. And so, after being so blatantly attacked repeatedly, I gave in and decided to jump Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons to the top of my TBR. And I’m happy to report I have no regrets whatsoever. It really was the nice cozy read I was hoping for.

Miss Percy leads a very, well, let’s face it, dull life living under the roof of her sister’s family, caring for the children, and being pretty much unnoticeable. Until, that is, their great-great uncle dies and leaves some of his possessions to Mildred (the aforementioned Miss Percy). Which kickstarts a series of events that changes not only her life but everyone elses’ too around her. Due to a baby dragon landing in her lap, Mildred finally has the chance to bloom into the woman she always dreamed of becoming. One with a life of wonder and adventure, new friendships, and newfound confidence in herself that propels her to take control of her own fate. Which is the most important message of this book: it’s never too late to reach for your dreams even if society says you are too old, or unworthy or whatever the fuck they say. Mildred is 37 years and is perfectly capable of whatever she sets her mind to do, thank you very much. What I’m trying to say is, she is a character that’s easy to identify yourself with. She is kind-hearted, brave, a bit nervous and shy but instantly likable. It’s impossible not to root for her.

And did I mention the baby dragon yet? It appears that I have a very soft spot for baby dragons. I fell in love with A.J. Norfield‘s Stone War Chronicles series because of one (although that’s an Epic Dark Fantasy series so maybe proceed with caution), and then Quenby Olson came and gave me another one to coo over. Damn you all! *shakes fists in old woman* Who knew all I need for my happiness is a baby dragon and cute crotch biting? And no, I’m not going to elaborate, you’ll have to read the book to get that reference. You can thank me later.

In all seriousness, Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons was a breath of fresh air I didn’t know I needed. I loved the characters – one way or another. Some I loved for themselves, some I would’ve loved to slap repeatedly. I’m looking at you, Belinda. I had mixed feelings about Reginald Hawthorne. On one hand, I could sympathize with him to an extent – having lost his father and having no prospects could be hard, but on the other hand, he gradually lost all of my sympathies as he sank lower into villainhood. Apart from Miss Percy, Mr. Wiggan and Mrs. Babbinton were an absolute delight and made this book come alive with their kindness, friendliness, and general amazingness. I would have liked to learn a bit more about their background story though. But I loved how Miss Percy and Mr. Wiggan’s relationship was budding and the way it was developed throughout the book just as Miss Percy bloomed.

Many before me compared Olson‘s writing to the likeness of Terry Pratchett or Jane Austen and I can see why. It definitely has a regency-vibe laced with some humor. Not necessarily my type of humor, but I was entertained so that works for me. What didn’t work for me, however, were the long run-on sentences, and excessive use of thoughts put in parenthesis. I felt that less would have been more as I was taken out of the flow quite a few times. And that’s why I knocked half a star off of my rating. But this is only a minor, and very taste-dependent thing.

Overall, Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons is the perfect read for a cold winter night, if you want to escape to a small British village and go on a journey of self-discovery along with Miss Percy and her adorable baby dragon, Fitz. You’ll find friends, budding relationships, and adventures at the end of which you’ll want more. As do I.

[Kitty G Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this one up after I heard it was part of the SPFBO and because it was all about dragons (or so it seemed). I personally have a bit of a soft spot for a regency-style plot or romance every now and then, and I kind of thought that was the direction we were going in here, and to some extent it is.

We follow a ‘spinster’ called Miss Percy who is living in her sister’s house as a kind of nanny to her niece and nephew. She’s there because she’s never married or had any reason to leave, but she can’t exactly say she enjoys it. Her life is a pretty dull one and mostly she keeps herself to herself and just does what her sister asks (although her sister is a bit of a brute at times and doesn’t really consider feeling above how she might look to the town).

One day Mildred (Miss Percy) is left an inheritance from an elderly relative she knew little of. As part of the inheritance a stone is given and whilst it may seem a little fanciful, maybe there is a secret among all the odd things she’s been given and maybe she can uncover something exciting. Of course, she gets more than she bargained on!

What I like about this is that it’s very easy reading on the whole. When I sat down with some time I managed to read a lot and enjoyed the personality and perspective of Miss Percy. Each chapter starts with an extract from Miss Percy’s Guide to the Care of Dragons and so you know straight away that the stage of life Miss Percy is in at the moment isn’t where she ends up, and mostly it’s an adventure to follow how she gets from her current life to the one we know she ends up at.

The story was nice in that it’s not a typical character and she’s older, wiser and a bit more sensible with most of her decisions. She also befriends nice people and thinks a bit about situations before just rushing in, so that’s a nice change from a typical teen heroine. It’s always nice to try reading a different kind of character.

The book has a lot of parentheses which the author breaks through and adds comments and stories and background. Sometimes I really enjoyed the breaking of the ‘rules’ to chip in and add to the moment, and other times it felt a little heavy-handed, so that’s one of my slight complaints with this book.
The other slight complaint is that this really only starts off the story of Miss Percy and although there’s clearly more to come (and I have bought the sequel to see what’s next) I wanted to have a bit more resolution in this one. We end on a bit of a cliffhanger and we also don’t see as far into Miss Percy’s progression towards the life in the extracts of her book as I hoped, but we do have a slightly over dramatic and fun plot to follow when someone else comes looking for part of her inheritance.

Overall, I definitely had fun with this one and I will happily continue the series as it’s an enjoyable read and has some good moments. I have it 3.5*s in the end (would be 7/10 for SPFBO) and I definitely think this is a great lighter one for between some heavier reads.

[N · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know how a book about dragons turned out to be so boring.

I'm really just upset over how completely underwhelming this is, and it truly is, by every metric available. It's not noteworthy, it's not fun, the dialogue was stale, the writing was average, the plot went nowhere... it's just boring.

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The books pace is quite fast and detailed in descriptions. I absolutely adored all the characters especially the MC who was really endearing and believable, but it was the dragon that captured my heart.

”It really was the little things, she reminded herself, that raised each day to the level of something bearable.”

The story is set in the early 19 hundreds in the beautiful English countryside which made it all the more exciting. The author is an expert at creating characters and an imaginative setting. Her sense of humour comes through the MC (especially in the her thoughts) which had me smiling a lot. I really liked the fact that she speaks to you as a reader in brackets..

A joyful, cosy gem of a book which I absolutely loved. It has great characters and plot which will keep you reading with what I can only describe as the feeling of your favourite blanket on a cold night. I’m really looking forward to the next one..

[Chloe Frizzle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Witty; had me laughing out loud. Great storyline of empowerment and adventure.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5/5 Full review to come

[Esme · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who could resist a title like this?

Generally speaking, Regency Fantasy is not something I put at the top of my TBR, or go out of my way to go find. There are some notable authors who I make exceptions for, this author and Olivia Atwater would be the two most prominent examples.

This is an intimate character driven story. If you’re looking for lots action scenes with magic flying this way and that, this is might not be the right read for you. But if you want a cozy story that makes you smile, then yes, pick this up. Fans of Becky Chambers would probably enjoy this kind of a story.

Mildred is about 40 years old, unmarried, and living with her younger sister and her family. She’s been the unpaid governess for her nieces and nephew since they were born and it’s a thankless, tiring job. She’s the older of the two sisters but her younger sister, Diana, has a very loud personality and has dominated her sister for almost two decades. She feels she has a right to boss Mildred around since she’s the black sheep of the family, unable and unlikely to ever get married.

They receive a letter that their great uncle has died and he left Mildred an inheritance. Diana being the insufferable person she is quickly tries to get her hands on it. Mildred is slowly growing a backbone though, sort of. An opportunity arose where the trunk arrived when no one else was around, and she made the decision to stash it away and not tell her sister about it. How bold! She hid the trunk full of strange possessions where her sister wouldn’t find it and started to go through it. It was mostly ‘junk’ but it also included what she thought was a stone, but every reader knows was a dragon egg. She gets the help from an academic named Mr. Wiggins, and together they try and unravel the mysteries of the trunk. I absolutely loved watching Mildred try to navigate how to properly raise a dragon. It’s full of a lot of trial and error, and the dragon himself is charming as well.

Enter stage right Mr. Hawthorne, who wants to get this egg back because he thinks it’s his, in his backwards way of thinking. He’s a younger guy, good looking, but clearly down on his luck with second rate clothes. He manipulates Mildred’s oldest niece into working against Mildred and there’s a whole subplot about their romance.

The prose is the highlight of this novel. There is a consistent tone and atmosphere kept throughout that was just so, for lack of a better word, delightful and charming. The prose is … not bouncy… not perky… not snarky… I really do not have the word for it. It’s Jane Austin but with dragons. The dialogue was just top notch. I generally get bored with fantasy of manners type dialogue, but the inner thoughts of Ms. Percy were just so relatable and funny. I got through this in one sitting once the audio came out — I was listening to it on TTS, but as soon as I heard it was getting an audiobook I set it down for a couple months to wait for the real deal. It was so worth it. This is definitely one of those books where the narrator chosen was perfect for the material.

As a personal note, I love the trope of having natural history notes/academic notes with tidbits about the world at the start of chapters. I find it a great way to deliver clonky information that doesn’t fit anywhere else, but are fun for me to read and get to know the world a little better. Trying to shove some of this information into the dialogue or even the narrative could have been awkward and jarring. There are several fourth wall breaks which surprised me a bit, but they worked for me.

Overall, this was just utterly charming and I’m not surprised at all to see it’s ratings and reviews skyrocketing at an impressive pace. This book deserves all the success in the world and I highly recommend it to basically anyone who wants a comfy dragon story.

Ratings:
Plot: 12/15
Characters: 14/15
World Building: 13/15
Writing: 15/15
Pacing: 14/15
Originality: 12/15
Enjoyment: 10/10
Final Score: 90/100

[Sara (sarawithoutanH) · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was so cute! It was a little slow but I loved the humorous writing tone and the characters. fitz was the cutest 🥰🐉

Booktube | Instagram

[Jennifer (bunnyreads) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this for SPFBO. To find out more about the SPFBO contest and to see the participating bloggers/authors and reviews follow the links below



You’d have to have been living under a rock this last year, if you hadn’t heard a little of the buzz surrounding Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons (from hereon Miss Percy) about the spinster Mildred Percy, inheriting a trunk containing an unhatched dragon egg.
I mean, I practically live under a rock myself, and my little corner of book twitter was definitely buzzing.

Anyway, whether you had heard of it or not, is beside the point. I just wanted to preface this review by saying- it was very hard not to go into this one with my expectations so high, that I feared nothing could possibly live up to them.

But don’t you worry, because Miss Percy was very near perfect.

The Cast

The Heroes:

Mildred, our forty-year-old spinster, proves it’s never too late to stand-up for yourself. Mildred had so much growth over the course of this story. I wanted to cheer for her when she finally threw caution to the wind and didn’t listen to that nagging little voice of self-doubt that has held her back from doing and saying things, that should have long been said, or done.
And I was glad she found people who appreciated her and loved her, as much as she deserved.

The Vicar Mr. Wiggan, and his housekeeper Mrs. Babbinton, were the perfect welcoming counterbalance to Mildred’s sister Diana. I wanted them to keep Mildred, and never let her go back to her sister’s home.

And let’s not forget Fitz, who managed to win my heart by being a combination of all my farm animals and pets, at once.

The Villains:

Diana, the bratty Belinda, and Reginald.

Reginald, wins all-time favourite intro of a character ever, with this line- “If Reginald Hawthorne had known he was going to be the villain of the piece, he might have made a greater effort to dress the part.”

A good villain for me, is someone you can feel a little sorry for but also want to slap to the moon and back. These three qualify, on all accounts. Some needed a little more slapping than others though.

The Bad:

My only real quibbles in the story had to do with the abundant use of meandering thoughts in parenthesis, sometimes even doubled-up! I occasionally would lose track of the train of thought that the whole process started with, especially in some of the longer ones.
And I do feel a little hypocritical complaining about this, since it’s something- if you’re familiar with my reviews, you’ll find I am pretty excessive about myself.

I did find that these lessened quite a lot, as the story went along and there was more happening to fill the space and thoughts.


The Good:

I’m one of those weird readers that isn’t all about having dragons in my fantasy… that is until they become the size of small puppies, with roly-poly warm bellies (I could not help but think of my sweet lab, Ellie, when she was small and fat) and apparently, I am all over that.

I think a lot of why this story worked so well for me, is that everything is understated (other than the asides).
There’s just enough Fitz, to make me want more. Just enough romance (well honestly, there never can be enough but in this case- it was enough) to satisfy. Just enough villain and bratty side-kick plotting to worry about the outcome for the heroes (I kind of want a story about these two going through hardships and learning to live with their choices). And the humour was spot on; not too much, doesn’t try too-hard to be funny, and the occasional wall break- the “quiet you” had me chuckling a lot.


One more thought and then I will shut-up. Not only were the entries from the Pocket Guide, at the beginning of the chapters great for filling in the dragon-lore, but they also allowed for us to believe there was a happily-ever-after. One where Mildred, went on to spend her life as the Jane Goodall of dragons- studying and living among or at least near them. And this, was all on top of the lovely ending we did get.

I really just liked the completeness that the story gave me as a whole (especially since I apparently didn’t crawl out far enough from my rock, to realize that at some point, the second book had been fully-written and published, and I somehow forgot all about it) and that if I never went on to read another in this series, I would be happy with everything the way I left it.

The TLDR:

Miss Percy won my heart bit-by-bit, with every page I turned. The story was full of humour, charm, and all the feel-good sweetness that you’d hope for from a story surrounding a toddling baby dragon named Fitz.


SPFBO score 9 or 5 stars



Learn more about the contest here-

https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...

Phase one is here-
https://mark---lawrence.blogspot.com/...


Finalist board is here
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[Jamedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Score: 4,5/5
Full review here: https://vueltaspodcast.wordpress.com/...
Miss Percy's Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons is the first book in the A Miss Percy Guide series by Quenby Olson. We have a really cozy fantasy history, situated in the Regency and extremely well written, which I personally loved (Note: from now on I will refer to the book as Miss Percy's, just for concision's sake).

Miss Percy's is a delightful book, one that I can say I really enjoyed despite being so outside of the genres I usually tend to read. There is certainly some distinctive approach to the genre from Olson, as the first different thing we can observe is how the character goes outside of the molds. Miss Mildred Percy is totally the opposite of a classic MC, a middle-aged woman, single, and it is well developed throughout the whole novel.

Despite the unconventionality of the main character, it is one that thanks to the writing of Olson grows fastly into you, as her voice is really unique, full of sarcasm and humor, drawing more than a laugh from me. We will also see how the character grows during the novel, learning to self-love and to appreciate herself over the family, over social conventionalism. And what is the real trigger that unleashes the story? The inheritance of a dragon's egg from his great uncle.

And here is where the fantasy was introduced to the book when the dragon egg hatches and Fitz enters into the story. As the first dragon alive in Great Britain in centuries, this certainly poses challenges to Mildred, and to the vicar. Despite this not being a romance book, it is true that the love component is there, mostly in the relationship between Mildred and the vicar, a kind soul who helps Mildred before the eggs hatch.

Mention apart to the dragon, I found it kinda adorable, Fitz is practically like if my cat had wings and could breathe fire. It's just a little trouble creator, but at the same time one of the most valuable things in the world of the novel, as he can probably cost millions, which is exactly the reason our villain wants to get Fitz and causes trouble.

Not diving more into the plot, I feel I must talk about how well-written Miss Percy's is. The prose is fluid, never too dry. Despite the chapters being slightly longer than I usually prefer, I never found one that I felt had too many pages. And let me talk about two of the main strengths of Olson: breaking the fourth wall, but making it in almost an adequate manner, more like hitting a little before throwing the wall into you; and how good the humor is in this book. I don't want to finish this paragraph without also noticing how well the food/drink descriptions are written, totally I didn't want to stop reading for getting a refreshment.

n definitive, I think all the praise this book receives is totally deserved. If you are on the look for a cozy, warm fantasy, with humour and adorable character, Miss Percy's is for you. And we will return for traveling to Wales with Miss Percy soon!

[Joanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great fun read telling the story of Mildred Percy, living the life of, basically, a servant in her sister's home. One morning a letter arrives informing Miss Percy she has inherited from her Great-Uncle. This comes as a surprise to everyone, Mildred has not seen the man since she was child. Mildred's sister starts mentally spending the inheritance (that in fact does not belong to her!) without anyone knowing what it really consists of. One day, when Mildred is alone in the house, it arrives. To keep her sister away from it,(which in fact, is not money) Mildred hides it away.

The Vicar in town befriends Mildred (who he has a crush on) and the two of them begin a friendship and research project to uncover the secrets inside the trunk. There is a rock, that is not really a rock-and out pops Fitz the dragon. Suddenly Miss Percy has a life that includes adventure!

I really loved this book and will read the sequel. Light fun and entertaining.

[Tori Tecken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story that appears when you ask, "what would happen if you dropped a hatched dragon egg into the lap of an Austenian vibes spinster?"

Miss Percy is an absolutely charming and wholesome triumph of a novel. I don't read cozy fantasy often, but as a lifelong regency era fan, this book was a delight. Quenby Olson deftly weaves her delightful spinster protagonist, Mildred, into quite a pickle when she inherits a chest of oddities from her great uncle. One of those oddities happens to be a dragon egg, and Mildred's adventure finally catches up with her.

First of all, I love that Mildred takes center stage, our unlikely hero combating an everyday life as unofficial governess to her nieces and nephew under the critical gaze of her appallingly insufferable younger sister. There is so much space within fantasy for heroes outside the normal spectrum, and Mildred represents a character type all too often absent from the genre: middle aged women.

Olson draws on her own experiences and repertoire of influences to create a lushly detailed world and characters who breathe right off the page alongside the author's own quirky anecdotes and commentary. Mildred's little sphere of the world provides the perfect backdrop for an inciting incident, and while our protagonist's toast may get a bit soggy, your immersion certainly won't.

Dragons are widely known as a staple of fantasy, and Quenby proves that they belong in the cozy subgenre as much as any epic. It is always a pleasure to read animal companions written by people who clearly have had experience around their own, leaning into the little quirks and mannerisms that make creatures so endearing.

Overall, Miss Percy's Guide gets an enthusiastic recommendation from me as a masterfully crafted specimen of its subgenre, and shows the depth and breadth with which fantasy can be written with charmed grace.

[Rowena Andrews · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been on my TBR forever. I’ve seen it spoken of in glowing terms, been recommended it many times and yet I hesitated – not through any doubt that I would enjoy Olson’s writing (one of her short stories – – lives rent free in my head), or any lack of temptation. I mean it has a dragon on the front. A dragon in the title. And I am nothing if not vulnerable to the scaled critters. My hesitation came from the ‘cozy’. I am in general not a cozy reader – my comfort reads are harrowing, emotionally devasting books and that is the way I lean, and I have bounced off many cozy books. But then I was struck with the need to read to read something with dragons, something I hadn’t read before – and what came up first – Miss Percy, so I went what the hell, let’s go…

And I am a bloody idiot.

I SHOULD have read this book, weeks, months – years ago. Because it was love at first epigraph (I’m a sucker for epigraphs – particularly where it drops nuggets of information or just helps build up the world), and right from the beginning this book was so wonderfully, unapologetically itself.

‘She understood the mechanics behind it—the man rising so that he might be at the ready to aid her with whatever she should wish—but it always made her think the men in question were contemplating running away at the sight of a new female encroaching upon their space.’

Honestly. If I hadn’t already been in love with this book, then this line would have sealed the deal for me. One, it gave me the most glorious mental image of regency men just turning and bolting as women enter the room – the ball at Netherfield Hall would have been a very different affair; and two, it left me chuckling aloud and unable to read on for a few minutes. It’s also a perfect example, of how this book takes its regency setting and all the social niceties and nettles and nonsense, and deliberately takes a step to the side, to comment, to tease and poke fun, and to explore the ups and downs of a life in that world…especially one sprinkles on a little bit of fantasy (and more than a little mayhem).

I will say that I could see how the writing style and voice might not be everyone’s cup of tea – but it is a quintessential part of the charm of the book. The asides, both mundane, fantastical and everything in between were a delight, like the little sweets of a high tea – and for me at least, it slipped me right into the mindset of the book and of our main character. Because we’ve all had those thoughts, those little side comments that we have in the privacy of our mind (usually while questioning the sanity of those in front of us or trying not to curse out loud); and the way Olson does it with an infectious sense of humour is just the icing on the cake. (There might be quite a few cake related analogies and whatnot in this review… this book made me hungry, and very jealous of those who got to enjoy Mrs. Babbinton’s food).

It was undoubtedly the tone and humour that reeled me into this book.

But it was the character’s that sat me down for a cup of tea and a slice of cake and pulled me into their story and we must start with Mildred.

Mildred Percy.

I have no words to describe how much I love Mildred as a character. It feels like there is often a never-ending discussion of ‘strong female characters’ both positive and negative, and very much a feel that she needs to be this catalyst for change, no matter how far off her own path it takes her. Olson has laughed at that very notion, and in doing so has created one of the most wonderfully, powerfully strong character’s – not because she is filled with brimstone or spite, or has an armoured heart, or the ability to twist men around her little finger – but because she is a cake that is taking a little longer to bake to perfection (did I mention there was a lot of cake analogies in this review), or a butterfly waiting to emerge…or a dragon waiting to hatch when the time was right.

Mildred had a powerful character growth, because it was mundane – not in how it happened, because no one could ever claim that a dragon hatching and fantasy and magic bursting into one’s life was mundane – but because there was no startling burst of transition, no veering sharply onto a different railway track, no profound realisation. Instead, it was little subtle, gentle moments of introspection – with the humour that permeates the book, tempered by that feeling of being caught in the ebb and flow of life. It is so easy to get caught in how life it, particularly when stepping off the beaten path carries some form of risk – which for Mildred at her age, and with the path her life has taken – does, and I’m sure I’m not alone as a reader of having had those moments of eyeing a change or a choice, and wondering whether it’s worth breaking the status quo or the comfort of the familiar, and we see that play out beautifully with Mildred. She has a ‘comfortable’ life if you ignore her browbeating sister and the feeling of being a convenient inconvenience, and that would be hard enough to shake off, without the wider context of the regency setting, and the limits or propriety and wealth and opportunity.

So, when Mildred puts her foot down and says No. When she takes that step off the beaten path. It is a seemingly small moment, but for this character in this context, it is the rumble of the earth trembling and pressure giving after a long time. There had been moments where we had been offered glimpses of this moment to come, watching Mildred blossoming within the constraints of her position. Yet, when the pivotal moment came, I was on the edge of my seat rooting for her, because you could absolutely understand why she might not take that step, but you wanted her to. And that beautiful, understated moment was for me, as powerful and triumphant as any victory in an epic fantasy, and all because Olson had well and truly pulled us into Mildred’s position, her life, and feelings and made us care.

Mildred is not the only character to shine though, and Olson has a deft hand for making her entire cast memorable – even those that are…unpleasant. Two who I absolutely have to highlight are Mrs. Babbinton, who feels like a warm hug in human form (although I absolutely would not want to anger her – I just have visions that end in a nasty meeting with a rolling pin); and is one of the few characters who seems to look at Mildred and see beyond the veil of circumstance and treat her as herself. That she can handle a baby dragon with aplomb, as well as children and a hapless (at least around the house) vicar all with good humour – which really is a superpower.

And of course, I can’t not talk about Mr. Wiggan. In some ways, he was a perfect mirror to Mildred – caught in a comfortable life with Mrs. Babbington keeping his house (and him) in order, a role to play in the village (or town depending on the week), but the differences here reflect the expectations of men and women in this period. He is comfortable, with the only real shackles being the expectations of his profession. For him to divert his time to curiosities, or to set off on a journey would only be subject to normal gossip rather than social censure. Yet, like Mildred, we see him being pushed out of his comfort zone by the arrival of an egg and a dragon. With the push against his faith, and the idea of people thinking him mad if he reached out about a dragon; and as with Mildred, his stepping forward and pushing the boundaries are understated.

‘It wouldn’t do for the decidedly unmarried town vicar and a decidedly unmarried woman of about the same age to have their heads bent together in the same room for hours on end with the door shut tight and no one to know if they were simply cataloguing an old man’s collection of artifacts or if something more scandalous were transpiring between them.’

The romance element is wonderful and understated, befitting the period, but also the characters. Olson doesn’t rush the relationship, letting the buildup flow naturally, with all the stumbling blocks that come from two quiet characters, meek and bound in their own way. We get to see the little sparks, the kindred souls that blossom through shared discoveries and interests, over cups of tea and delicious cake…and over the care and worries for a baby dragon. They complemented one another so beautifully; and what I really loved was that when their moment came, as with their individual tipping point moments it was powerful in its understatement and again it didn’t present a radical shift in the characters or the plot. It was a natural curve in the river of their story.

Moving to the villains briefly – which makes it sound like they were out there lurking in the dark, which is very much not the case. Avarice. Social Standing. Wealth. Scheming. The villains of this piece were not larger than life, and some were much closer to home that any of us would like.

For example, I would very much consider Mildred’s sister Diana a villain in this – not that she acted directly against Mildred as some others did, but because she was one of the chains holding Mildred in place. What I did like about Diana is that through her Olson managed to personify so much of the regency life – the focus on social standing and wealth, the desire for advantageous marriages – while also capturing that awkward, sharp-edged relationship between siblings where life and circumstance has eroded what affection existed. It was almost visceral, and I could feel myself flinch in sympathy for Mildred when she encountered her sister’s tongue and aspirations. Whereas Belinda (Oh that girl I wanted to give a good shake too) bridged that gap, an echo of her mother, but willing to act against Mildred. But yet again, is she a true villain? She was sly and cunning, and just gave me an itch on the back of my neck from the start, but her descent began under the influence of someone else. Would she have been a villain without that influence?

Even Mr Hawthorne who is very much the villain of this piece, had reasons…maybe not entirely reasonable ones, but reasons. In him, Olson created a character who was understandable in many ways, and even when he lied and manipulated others, you could almost sympathize with him. (He did lose my sympathy after the window incident). What I particularly liked about his story and Belinda’s since they become intertwined, is how it contrasts with Mildred and Mr. Wiggan’s path; Belinda and Hawthorne push and pull, and step onto a different path with force. They break the rules. They leave hurt and worry in their wake, and they end up not necessarily in a worse situation, but on the backfoot.

And of course, we cannot ignore the star of the show.

Fitz. Fitz the dragon.

Firstly, please can we have more dragons with names like this? It just made me smile from the moment he was christened as such. Also, just more dragons like this – Fitz felt like a wonderful combination of our traditional idea of dragons, mixed with a dash off Toothless and a sprinkle of feline mischief (I say, writing this as my cat pins a puppy to the floor…thankfully without claws and fire); and I love that Olson nails the attitude and behaviour of a youngling moving from needing everything done to him, to the toddler exploring and causing havoc because of having no sense of ‘no’. I love everything about Fitz. And what I adore, and what really set this book apart from me – is the care for him – everything that flows from that egg hatching, is all centred around Fitz and his wellbeing; this isn’t about a mythical creature with the power to change the world (unless you want him for money….glares at Hawthorne), or about scientific advancement, it’s about a young creature needing love and safety, and that is just beautiful.

Are there world-ending stakes here? Absolutely not, but there are stakes and Olson through her writing and characterisation, and a wonderful talent for investing her readers in the minutia of the character’s lives and relationships, until we are so personally invested that their stakes are ours. It was there in how I held my breath and willed Mildred to say ‘No’, it was how I felt relief when we heard about Belinda after she’d disappeared (even though I still want to shake her), it was in the happy dance at the kiss. I was utterly invested in every development in this book. There’s also a feeling that this book is reaching out and reminding the characters – and through them us- that the children that dream of dragons, that go on adventures, are still there within us no matter how many chains life has wrapped around us – and that there is magic in embracing that child.

“You never said. Do you believe dragons exist?”

“Yes,” she said. Such a small word, and yet bearing all of her courage on it. “Yes, I rather think they do.”

Miss Percy’s Guide (to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons) was a book that I absolutely needed in my life, to the point where I immediately picked up the second book and promptly ordered physical copies of both, and where I know that the moment I have the third book in my hands, everything else will cease to exist. It’s also proof that no matter how much you might think a genre isn’t for you, there will always be those gems that will prove you wrong. This is one of those gems – only it didn’t need a geode, just an egg, a dragon and Mildred Percy and one of the most charming and outright amusing authorial voices I’ve read in a while.

[Bjørn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read a lot of books in my life. Possibly more than is healthy. And I have never read anything like this.

Imagine that Dame Judi Dench, glass of sherry conveniently placed in her reach, is reading a story to you. The story has been written in collaboration between Lucy Maud Montgomery and Terry Pratchett. Dame Judi frequently interrupts to add her own thoughts – or even her thoughts about her own thoughts. Since she apparently lives in Upper Plimpton now, she throws some local gossip here and there. A detail, or fifty-seven. A baby dragon. And all of it is hilarious – in that absurd, slapstick, wrong way, taking all of the writing advice and using it in reverse. All the adverbs, synonyms (many a thesaurus has been worn out in writing of this book), way, way more words than necessary, and a story that goes left, right, up, down, and possibly in many other directions, none of which I knew existed. There is quiet romance that you have to notice in order to notice it – and it made me emotional between the laughs and the gasps. And there were plenty of both.

This is not to say the book is perfect. There were parts in the middle which I thought could have been shorter – and at the end, where the pace becomes somewhat random, faster, then slower (which was actually a very interesting device ensuring I had no idea what was about to happen, so this is not really a complaint). One very slappable character doesn't get slapped anywhere near enough (not even once). Another, uh, not-actually-very-romantic thread seems to flounder somewhat. Still, all I needed was for Dame Ju– I mean, the author to break the fourth wall addressing us, readers, directly, and everything was great again. This is a book so imperfect it's perfect. So wrong it couldn't be more right. One that demands a re-read, and soon.

I know Ms Olson is a multi-genre writer (this is not my first book by this author) but I am yet to meet someone who is better at this – now that Sir Terry and Lady Montgomery (and maybe Ms Jane Austen would be passing by…?) are unavailable to collaborate. Rest assured, if the sequel existed, I would finish this review, buy it, and proceed to read it immediately.

A stunning read joining my top 3 books of 2021… okay, top 2 books of 2021 so far.

I have received a free ARC from the author, the above is my honest opinion, and I'm going to bother her forever if she threatens to stop writing like this. Have I mentioned I loved this book? I'm worried I'm not coming clear here.