I absolutely loved Lessons in Magic and Disaster. It has complex, lovable characters that are frustrating, and feel very alive. There are so many interesting and intereconnected layers and create this immersive atmosphere of being a fly on the wall, watching the events transpire, caring about these fictional people and the situations they get themselves into. It's full of love, and grief and imperfect people trying to do the right things and the wrong things with the best of intentions. 

I also enjoyed the exploration of 18th century women writers. Oddly enough, delightfully enough, this ultra queer, ultra modern book, has me adding books from Jane Collier & Sarah Fielding to my TBR, even if some of the aspects mentioned in this book are fictionalized. As well as many of the books mentioned in the authour's historical note, so if you're anything like me, you'll end up with more books to read as a result for this one. 

There are so many *amazing* lines in Lessons in Magic and Disaster that it made me use the highlights feature on Netgalley for the first time ever. 

It really spoke to me, as a queer, as a person, as a parent, and as an academia dabbler. It has some challenging topics in it - as you might expect when characters are dealing with the death of a parent/partner, and the resonant grief around that, reactionary/queerphobic/transphobic activists, and just generally how well written, complicated parent-child relationships can be - but it's also deeply full of love and growth. 

I was able to read Lessons in Magic and Disaster courtesy of Netgalley, and the publisher, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.