The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong is a debut fantasy with cozy mystery elements (4/5 stars)

The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong is a debut fantasy with cozy mystery elements.

Tao is an immigrant and a fortune teller, though she will only tell “small” fortunes like whether it will hail next week or who the barmaid will kiss. Thanks to a very bitter experience, she doesn’t tell “big” fortunes anymore. Travelling around on her cart from town to town has been a pretty lonely experience, until she meets an ex-mercenary and (semi) reformed thief, a baker, and a slightly magical cat.

This was a really cute read! I really needed something light and cozy and thankfully it fit the bill nicely. I’m always a big fan of the found family trope, especially when that family includes a mangey cat who shows up via the Cat Distribution System. Also, this cover is amazingly beautiful!

You may end up hungry while reading this, because there is a lot of tea–reading the leaves is one of the ways Tao tells fortunes–and various baked goods from our uninspired baker to decides to travel to see the world. There’s a bit of a mystery element as well with our ex-mercenary looking for his missing daughter.

It definitely reminded me of scenarios that my friends and I have had while playing Dungeons & Dragons. There’s a lot of slice-of-life moments, which is one of the hallmarks of cozy fantasy for me–and the growth of each character throughout the book is really well done. Many of our characters spend the book learning who they actually are, instead of trying to fit into boxes they were placed into by others. That hit home for me in many ways.

If you liked books like Legends and Lattes or Can’t Spell Treason Without Tea you should absolutely pick this up.

CW: racism, political conflict, death parent (prior to book), parental neglect, grief

I received a complimentary review copy from NetGalley and Ace Books. All opinions contained herein are my own.

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