Small Miracles

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There are numerous witty footnotes spread throughout the book, again like Pratchett, that amusingly prompt the reader to keep their own personal tally of the sin lost or virtue gained on the balance books. I loved this feature of the worldbuilding, and laughed out loud at some of the footnotes.

After a lost bet with Barachiel, Gadriel owes the (still) angelic one favours. In this case Barachiel sets Gadriel to tempt a mortal named Holly Harker into a little bit of sin because Being set in modern-day London, there isn’t much worldbuilding per se, and a lot of that happens in footnotes. Some might find that insufficient or annoying, personally, I enjoyed the added tidbits and religious references. Gadriel is a fallen angle who specializes in petty temptations. They’re not trying to bring down humanity, they just want to make sure we’re enjoying it sufficiently. They’re still a “fallen” angel, though, so they were surprised when their sibling, Barachiel, shows up and WANTS them to try and tempt a human into sinning. Just a little bit of sinning. This human, Holly, has lived such a joyless life that even the “good” angels are like, okay, wtf, that woman needs some happiness, STAT.

FBC Info

Atwater likes Terry Pratchett, in particular his novels Small Gods (1992) and The Wee Free Men (2003). [3] Reading Pratchett convinced her that her "love of fantasy wasn't lesser in any way" and inspired her to write young adult fiction. [4] As a child, she enjoyed the works of J.R.R. Tolkien. [3] She said her writing was influenced by Christopher Vogler's The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers (2007), in particular her understanding of the structure of the hero's journey and the classic fairy tale. [4] Personal life [ edit ] This book focuses on Gadriel (not to be mistaken for Gabriel), a fallen angel of petty temptations, who has strong views on chocolate not being a sin. As a favor for their heavenly sibling, Barachiel, Gadriel agrees to tempt Holly Harker to sin some, which sounds simple enough, but we know things are never simple. As Gadriel tries to figure out what is going on, they get to discover some long-lost parts of themselves.

Atwater has a degree in technical writing and editing. [3] She lives in Montreal, Quebec with her husband Nicholas and her two cats. [3] Bibliography [ edit ] Regency Faerie Tales [ edit ] I won’t dwell on the story details. It deliberately seeks out the small pleasures of contemporary life that occur everyday and help you wade through the daily grind. Chocolate being one major example. I had already read and very much enjoyed an earlier self published trilogy by the author (E.g. Half a Soul) which gently satirised Jane Austen/Brontë sister storylines by inserting a slightly harder edge to life in those periods, and with more contrarian characters. Maybe that harder undertone to the plot which I’d liked wasn’t quite as clear here as in that previous trilogy. My only other concern was the use of footnotes, which I’m not a fan of, especially when reading in my preferred ebook format. Fortunately their use wasn’t excessive and I saw why they were used in some instances. We meet Gadriel using her small powers of persuasion to shorten a queue of customers before meeting her unfallen counterpart, Barachiel the Angel of Good Fortune. As they catch up over coffee Atwater sneaks in references to the story’s central plot device – the accounting of sin. As with the charming TV show The Good Place Gadriel and Barachiel are involved in the maintenance of celestial balance sheets, you might think of it as the accountancy of sin (not to be confused with the sin of accountancy), with chocolate counting as ½ a point of sin, while heartfelt compliments and other modest good deeds earn points of virtue. But yes, a fine little book that is a worthy winner of the SPFBO (beating 299 other entries) and one you should snatch up right now if it sounds the least bit like your thing, or perhaps an interesting experiment.Utz, Judith (July 29, 2022). "Longshadow". Booklist. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023 . Retrieved March 5, 2023. Longshadow". Publishers Weekly. June 3, 2022. Archived from the original on March 5, 2023 . Retrieved March 5, 2023. Just as God created the platypus out of spare parts, Lucifer created the original chihuahua out of spare spite…one would be hard-pressed to find a more concentrated form of evil that the average chihuahua.” Nielsen, Rune S. "Author Interview: Olivia Atwater". runesnielsen.com. Archived from the original on October 15, 2022 . Retrieved March 2, 2023.

While companionably meeting up over a coffee, Gadriel becomes indebted to his/her non-fallen angelic bookie and sibling, Barachiel, after losing a friendly wager. Barachiel is the Angel of Good Fortune. Were Pratchett alive, I dare to hope he’d agree with my rating, if he read the book, which according to Atwater, is somewhat of a homage to his “Good Omens”.SPFBO Finalist Interview: Olivia Atwater". fantasybookcritic.blogspot.com. April 6, 2023 . Retrieved September 9, 2023. Holly’s gruff niece Ella was also a fabulous character, and her teenaged life at school provided more exceptional opportunities for character development for all three: Gadriel, Holly, and Ella. Both Holly and Ella are dealing with emotional and psychological pain, and the bond between the three becomes one of catharsis and healing, in unintended ways for all of them. So, this is my 5th book of 2023, and amazingly it only took me 3 days to read. In part because I spent nearly 5 hours on various trains, in part because it's short, and in part because it's a very easy read. And I don't mean that last bit as anything other than a positive. What I really like about writing Gadriel is that while she isn’t a bad person, she’s definitely a petty person, in all possible respects. After thousands of years, she doesn’t see the problem with things like casual thievery or causing someone a bad day just because they annoyed her. But at the end of the day, she doesn’t want to hurt people deeply. In fact, she’d really like to see most people happier than they are. Also, I just have to note that this book is a whole lot gender. Which ended up in one of my favourite, long-running jokes. (nodnod. So terribly gauche.)