The Confectioner's Guild (The Confectioner Chronicles, #1)
by Claire LuanaPublished on October 23, 2018
Format: eBook Source: Owned
A magic cupcake. A culinary killer. The perfect recipe for murder.
Wren knew her sweet treats could work wonders, but she never knew they could work magic. She barely has time to wrap her head around the stunning revelation when the head of the prestigious Confectioner’s Guild falls down dead before her. Poisoned by her cupcake.
Now facing murder charges in a magical world she doesn’t understand, Wren must discover who framed her or face the headsman’s axe. With the help of a handsome inspector and several new friends, Wren just might manage to learn the ropes, master her new powers, and find out who framed her. But when their search for clues leads to a deep-rooted conspiracy that goes all the way to the top, she realizes that the guild master isn’t the only one at risk of death by chocolate.
If Wren can’t bring the powerful culprit to justice, she and her friends will meet a bittersweet end.
The premise was good. A girl from the streets finds work in a bakery. She’s good at it. What she doesn’t know is that she is infusing magic in her food. Her skill is noticed by the head of the Confectioner’s Guild. She’s brought in and told that magic exists and that she can do it. Then the head dies in front of her. She doesn’t know who to trust and who is trying to frame her. She has no idea how to live in her suddenly elevated world.
This book is trying to be a lot of things. It has elements of high fantasy with a kingdom at war and magicians working behind the scenes. It has a bit of mystery – Who poisoned the cupcake that killed the head of the Guild? In the end it was a bit disjointed. It was hard to know what mattered and what was ultimately going to be set aside.
I think a lot of that could have been avoided if the author stayed away from typical YA book tropes. There is an attempt at a love triangle thrown in here for seemingly no particularly good reason other than YA books tend to have them. Even one of the boys in the love triangle wanders off partway through.
This is the beginning of a series but I don’t think that I’ll pick up the rest.
