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apollinares 's review for:
Legends & Lattes
by Travis Baldree
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I've read some pretty mediocre books described as "cozy fantasy", but (and maybe this is the DND player in me talking) I enjoyed this one decently, even if I have gripes with it on an intellectual level. The cozy genre isn't supposed to make you think, so I'm defying it by asking these questions - reading other reviews, people don't generally think about the stuff I think about. That's kind of what makes me hate the whole genre, really.
My gripes with it can best be summed up by this online review: https://www.superdoomedplanet.com/blog/2023/02/26/on-travis-baldrees-legends-and-lattes/
I couldn't phrase my issues with it better myself, and I don't want to bog down storygraph by outlining everything I think is wrong with it in equal detail. A few of them, though, include:
• Every relationship Viv has is transactional, resulting in a weird corporate found family where Viv is in a managerial role and has subordinates or colleagues, not actual friends.
• The production of coffee in real life, historically, relied on slave labor, and its procurement is not possible without oppression; this book never elaborates on how coffee is procured within its own worldbuilding, and I wonder why that is.
• The whole thing with The Madrigal, specifically Viv's disinterest in fighting back as soon as she herself manages to buy her off with cinnamon rolls, regardless of if The Madrigal's men have subjugated other business owners and continue doing so. Viv's supposed to have an honor code, is she not? In a book about community, American hyperindividualism on the part of the protagonist seems like a blind spot of the author's. I wonder what Baldree thinks community and unionization and found family actually look like.
There are more issues. So many more. Ultimately, while on the surface it is a sweet and low stakes read, it glosses over a lot of problems that the (white, American) reader isn't supposed to notice or care about. This treatment of the reader - "buy into this cozy world, it's ok for a book to not have anything substantial to say!" - is what I think I dislike most, in the end.
Still, it got me out of a long reading slump, and that's worth at least something.
My gripes with it can best be summed up by this online review: https://www.superdoomedplanet.com/blog/2023/02/26/on-travis-baldrees-legends-and-lattes/
I couldn't phrase my issues with it better myself, and I don't want to bog down storygraph by outlining everything I think is wrong with it in equal detail. A few of them, though, include:
• Every relationship Viv has is transactional, resulting in a weird corporate found family where Viv is in a managerial role and has subordinates or colleagues, not actual friends.
• The production of coffee in real life, historically, relied on slave labor, and its procurement is not possible without oppression; this book never elaborates on how coffee is procured within its own worldbuilding, and I wonder why that is.
• The whole thing with The Madrigal, specifically Viv's disinterest in fighting back as soon as she herself manages to buy her off with cinnamon rolls, regardless of if The Madrigal's men have subjugated other business owners and continue doing so. Viv's supposed to have an honor code, is she not? In a book about community, American hyperindividualism on the part of the protagonist seems like a blind spot of the author's. I wonder what Baldree thinks community and unionization and found family actually look like.
There are more issues. So many more. Ultimately, while on the surface it is a sweet and low stakes read, it glosses over a lot of problems that the (white, American) reader isn't supposed to notice or care about. This treatment of the reader - "buy into this cozy world, it's ok for a book to not have anything substantial to say!" - is what I think I dislike most, in the end.
Still, it got me out of a long reading slump, and that's worth at least something.