The Bookshop & The Barbarian, Morgan Stang
I feel unfair giving this one star, because I did finish it and it was mildly entertaining while it went by, but when I sit back to think about it… it just didn’t work for me. One major thing that bothered me was the broken English spoken by Asteria: I get that there’s this idea of what fantasy “barbarians” speak like, but that’s a whole heap of stereotypes about people and about how English-as-a-second-language people speak that just… nope, no thank you, please go away and keep your broken English in your head with your other patronising fantasies. You don’t have to play into that nonsense.
In addition, you can be irreverent and playful in your narration and break the fourth wall all you like, but that does open you up to people thinking your narrative voice isn’t that funny, or is kind of an asshole, and that’s where I’m at with this.
