Green Year Dragonfly

by Kaye Bellot

Househunting can be dangerous; just ask Sugar Silverdrop, who's been asked to retrieve one that's wandered away!

Genres: Fantasy

244 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Kaesa · Rating 4 out of 5]

My main criticism of this book is that the cover, title, and subtitle do not explain at all what it is about, and I assumed it was a fairly realistic fluffy established-relationship story about a couple trying to find and purchase a house to settle down in, which is definitely sometimes my thing, but I am much more likely to seek that out in fanfiction and much more likely to be poking around in the Kindle app looking for either speculative fiction or a more engaging and adventurey kind of plot, so at some point I downloaded this to my Kindle and then skipped it over repeatedly when it really would've been something I enjoyed reading at the time.

Anyway, this book is not that. This book is set in a world where there are a number of species of living, sapient things that are inanimate in our world, Houses being the most plot-important. Think Baba Yaga's hut, but there's a lot of them and they're friendly if treated well. For the most part it's gentle -- there is some darkness, but the book doesn't much engage with it, and the only death is both richly deserved and to some extent a mercy -- and it's full of silly things that don't make a lot of sense, but are kind of fun to imagine. We also get a lot of people's opinions on tea, which I am always fond of. In general I really liked this book; it was a nice counterbalance to some higher-stakes fiction and drier nonfiction I was reading alongside it.

The stakes are mostly small -- a homebody cartographer trying to find his runaway house and the adventuresome woman with stone-based magic he's hired to look for it, mild tensions within families, etc. There are a few less-mild family tensions that are hinted at -- family tragedy, gambling addictions, etc. -- but these are merely alluded to in the letters. There is also a somewhat harrowing subplot about a woman who's trying to escape her arranged marriage to a sea captain who becomes an obsessive stalker. He kidnaps and poisons her, but she's rescued; he drowns in a spring of unlife and becomes a sort of zombie, and when he comes back for a second try, Magnus' House squashes him. The darkness never overwhelms the main narrative -- I actually would argue that some of it could stand to be addressed a bit more, but I also can see that that might disturb the cozy vibes of the book -- but if stalking is something you're sensitive to you, you might keep that in mind.

The other (minor, aesthetic) issue is that emphasis is done via *asterisks,* as opposed to coded into the text as italics or underlining. I assume this was originally published somewhere online where coding the emphasis would be difficult, annoying, or impossible to use, and I got used to it, but I can see it bothering some people.

[MommaFoxFire · Rating 1 out of 5]

I almost didn't continue reading this one, but I give every book 50 pages to reel me in to the story and the plot of this one was juuuust barely interesting enough by then to make it potentially worth finishing. I was sorely disappointed that the book didn't live up to its potential. There were gaping holes in world building that were just... never addressed. And I get it, the format of letter writing doesn't lend itself to providing the whole story, but for pete's sake this could have been a glorious story had it been written the right way! Sentient houses, herds of malicious unicorns, zombies... by god so much potential missed bc of the dedication to the format. And that doesn't even touch the lack of editing - several spots where words are clearly missing from sentences. I honestly don't know how this has such high ratings right now. I suspect folks were just surprised at the level of (again, unexplained in many aspects) whimsy and that was enough for them. It's the only thing I can think of, bc this was just a huge letdown that I really can't recommend.

[A]

The cover/title combo in no way suggests that this book is (a) fiction, let alone cosy fantasy, or (b) any good, but it is both! A fun, whimsical read told in letters. I loved the idea of sentient wandering houses.

I would have found it helpful if each letter said who the letter writer was at the start since the POV jumps around so much, but even with that small quibble, I had a good time.

Heat level
None. They kiss but it's not really described.

[Joanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book, very imaginative and full of descriptive prose that really pulls you into the story. The format, letters from the book's characters to other characters only took about three pages to get used to and I think enhances the story. You get first person narrative from everyone!

[Marie]

Utterly adorable

I am enchanted, tickled, and in dire need of more books about absconding sentient houses incidentally matchmaking their inhabitants. Absolute gold and my favourite cozy fantasy of the year so far.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! Short, sweet, and utterly unique. Just delightful.
"I know we were all a bit busy on the road what with zombies and unicorns and dancing houses and all..."

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2023/0...

Oh hello, what’s this, an epistolary cozy fantasy?! Please and thank you! Anyway, this involves a mapmaker who hires a young woman house hunter—which may not sound like a fantastic premise, except that his house is alive and has wandered off. So she and her dog and a friend set off to track it down! The whole thing is told in letters between them, and to various aunts and cousins and meddling mamas. It’s all very sweet and funny, though there are occasional dangers (herds of killer unicorns, zombies, pirates, zombie pirates, etc). But super adorable moments balance that out. Really enjoyable and satisfying. A/A-.