Posted by ESME’S REVIEW
There’s so much to love about this book. Both Kristen and I five-starred this back in the day when we read it for SPFBO.
This is one of my favorite comfort books, and I’ve re-read it a few times for no other reason than for enjoyment. I re-read the audio version again for shits and giggles for the Champions League review.
Holly Harker lives a life of zero sin. Her lack of self-care is actually starting to annoy the angels to the point of asking Gadriel (fallen angel of petty temptations) to try and get Holly to do something nice for herself — live a little — sin a little. Gadriel (the fallen angel) and Baracheil (the angel) have a very “Good Omens” kind of relationship where there’s a demon and an angel with a begrudging frenemyship going on. They’ll often meet over coffee or pastries and talk about humans and life in general — but they do annoy each other deeply, and so there’s always a little bit of tension as well.
This shouldn’t have been a complicated task for Gadriel, but Holly is stubbornly selfless, and it becomes a journey for everyone to try and get her to sin just a little bit. Kind of like the show The Good Place, all the humans have a little sin meter where their actions are constantly weighed and scored to determine how good a person you are, and Holly has always been so far in the green that it can be painful to watch her — it’s what made Barachiel reach out to Gadriel, she is such a goody two shoes that Barachiel is afraid she’ll never actually get to enjoy her life since she is living it for others.
This is a very low-stakes book as its sole focus is on Holly and her personal journey through life. She’s had a rough life, and it only gets more complicated when she has to adopt her angsty teen niece. I love a slice-of-life book that can take the edge off real-life drama. I read this back in the day, right after losing my dog, and it was a little bright spot for me to enjoy, even if for a little while. The relationships in here are endearing, and the interactions between the characters were just so much fun to read that I was smiling the entire day yesterday.
This was also a fast and easy read; I was done before I knew it, and I was left wanting more of these sorts of stories. Olivia Atwater has written other books, and I’ve read them and enjoyed them all. I think if you enjoy T. Kingfisher sort of stories, you’d really enjoy Olivia Atwater as well; they have the same sorts of vibes and characters.
Any book that reaches Pratchett’s levels of insight and humor is going to be a long-lasting favorite of mine. I read this years ago, and I continue to re-read it when I need a pick-me-up kind of book. The humor and satire in here were just so on point. It’s hard to get me to read a book in a sitting anymore. I just don’t have a lot of spare time, but once again, I threw on the audiobook yesterday and sailed through the entire thing once again and enjoyed every moment of it, again.
KRISTEN’S REVIEW
I really enjoyed the story of Gadriel and Holly Harker. It definitely gave me the same vibe as Good Omens, obviously, which I think was actually the intent here. The whole ‘Good And Bad Angels In London Doing Shenanigans’ theme is there, obviously, but this one was a bit… lighter. More of a Slice of Life sort of story, in my opinion. I liked Gadriel as a character, in that they are just trying to do what they can with what they have. They have a job, and it is to tempt Holly specifically into sinning, but they try and do so carefully, with small nudges. I liked how the angels had no set gender and just decided day by day what they felt like. That was a great little addition to the story.
The writing was great, the footnotes were often hilarious, and Rafe Beckley gave this book a fantastic narration. I enjoyed every minute I had with this audiobook.
PLACEMENT
For me, it was very, very hard to decide whether Orconomics or Small Miracles would be in the top spot. I maybe probably definitely should have picked a different book to review after Orconomics to give it some breathing room, but the world is on fire, and so I’m reaching for humor first. That said, Kristen and I both rated Small Miracles slightly over Orconomics, and so Small Miracles will be at the top spot for now.