Jemis and his friend Mr. Dart are still recovering from the events of the previous weekend as described in Stargazy Pie, when new adventure finds them. This time, a dragon appears and gives Jemis a riddle that seems to be connected to his family, and his old college roommate Hal happens upon his doorstep and has shocking news about what really happened to Jemis's father, Jakory. All Jemis wants to do is keep his head down 'til the reading of his stepfather's will, but adventure - and town gossip - seems to follow him wherever he goes.

I enjoyed this book so much that I read it in a day. Not a day I had no responsibilities, mind you, but one that I fit reading around and then, in the evening, chose not to do anything else so that I could finish the book. The banter between Jemis and Hal (really more of a personality than Mr. Dart in this one) was delightful, and I loved getting more hints of Jemis's family story, both his father and his maternal grandmother. The Kindle version is not perfectly copyedited, but I was forgiving because I was having fun. Very much looking forward to reading the next one. ( )

Ridiculous! Charming! Finally Jemis is starting to realize that he has many friends and allies and is a little less lost in the pity party -- delighted that Hal has shown up to be another conspiratorial friend. There's a wonderful set of weird plot lines, revelations, unexpected happenstances, a dragon and a footrace. The thing that kept blowing my mind is that the previous book took place over the course of 1 week. This is week 2 back in town, and it's also just packed with things. Great fun!

https://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2023/02/2023020-bee-sting-cake-victoria-goddard.h... ( )

Thanks again go to @tannat for bringing this series to my attention. It’s not without flaws, but it’s a delightfully fun read in spite of them.

The two biggest flaws, up front, are incredibly poor copyediting, leaving some sentences in need of decipherment, and a few purely nonsensical, and a brand new paperback copy that was so poorly perfect bound that I had at least 3 pages fall out as I read. They’re print on demand, but I have quite a few other POD books and none of them fell apart on first read or subsequent re-reads.

I know there are smaller flaws in the story itself, but I can’t really bring them to mind; I read for enjoyment, and enjoyment is what I got out of this book. Sinking into it after a particularly bad day of rehab was exactly the antidote I needed to distract me from the pain in my leg and my eggplant coloured – and shaped – foot. So, you know, bonus points for that.

I particularly like the way the author strung the resolutions to the differing plot lines throughout the book, and of the story lines, the one concerning the bees was my favourite. The introduction of Jemis’ university roommate, Hal, was welcome and I liked the chemistry between Jemis, Hal and Mr. Dart (Perry). I loved that there was a significantly reduced volume of sneezing, but would have appreciated even more a likewise reduction in the wallowing – Jemis needs to get over it. All of it.

I’ve ordered the third book, and I’m looking forward to continuing the series, although I feel like it’s inevitable that there will be a book about Jemis facing Lark, which I plan on skipping. Hopefully it will be better constructed that this one. ( )

I liked it a tad better this second time through
Jemis encounters one of the two friends who stood by him at the end of his college career when his former lover turned the campus against him. That his friend Hal is an Imperial Duke and knows that Jemis' father was innocent of any treason begins to shift his status in Ragnor Bella so things are looking up until they encounter the dragon that requires Jemis to solve a riddle. ( )