Tao is a fortune teller. She roams the kingdom with her faithful mule and cart and stops in villages to read tea leaves and palms. For a small fee she tells people about insignificant events that may or may not turn out to be important. Tao doesn’t deal in grand schemes and destiny-smattering omens. Those can often do more harm than good and may have been the reason why she fled her home in the first place. Tao is happy keeping her own company. Or is she ? When she finds unlikely travelling companions, life becomes that little bit sweeter, and burdens can be shared, even if that means confronting the reason why Tao is on the run.

This cosy fantasy novel is really lovely. It does tackle difficult themes like racism, but in a gentle manner. The cast of characters is very cute and the way the travellers become their own kind of family is very endearing to witness. This is very light fantasy, so you won’t get a ton of world-building and some elements will require you don’t look too closely, but I have absolutely no problem with that when the focus of the story is on feelings, specifically belonging and opening yourself to new possibilities. The narrative moves on at a steady pace, with an underlying tension that is alleviated by much baking and friendly chats. And a cat, of course. One chapter felt a little disjointed from the rest, but it was fun and let the characters demonstrate the full range of their personalities so I’m not mad about it.

I’ll just say the ending (for which the author all narrative arcs were tied with a neat bow) left me a little frustrated on Tao’s part, but that is spoiler territory so I won’t go into more details.

Rep: MC of Asian-inspired ancestry, who is also aro-ace coded. Hints of queer characters in a world that isn’t queer-friendly for the most part.