Book Review: Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care & Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson

Genre(s): Cozy Fantasy

Book Synopsis:

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.

Review:

Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide had been on my radar for quite a few years, and I’ve heard a lot of great things. It did not disappoint.

As a cozy fantasy, the stakes are fairly low, but the characters are what make it such a great read. Mildred (or Miss Percy) is about forty years old, though she’s still figuring out certain aspects of her life. I really related to that bit, as I feel the same most of the time—at about the same age. She isn’t very outgoing, and often caves to her younger sister’s domineering ways (her sister, Diana, was a piece of work and then some.) But what I loved most about Miss Percy was that she learned to change—and eventually even gained the courage to find her own path. Given the time period (which felt somewhat Victorian era?), it wasn’t easy for her to do so.

The romance mentioned in the synopsis is very subtle, more a friendship than anything else for most of the book, but it was sweet. It was also a very minor part of the plot (in my opinion), since the focus was on Mildred and her inherited dragon.

The dragon (Fitz) is very small as a hatchling, but he still manages to get himself into a fair share of trouble. I don’t know if the author is familiar with lizards (specifically bearded dragons), but a lot of Fitz’s mannerisms reminded me of my lizard…combined at times with a house cat’s. For a non-verbal, pet-type character, Fitz was a lot of fun and had a big personality.

This was a really cute story, and the perfect way to cap off my cozy November reading list.

Author website: quenbyolson.wordpress.com