Princess Book Club ep.1: Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood

listen, there are lots of aspects of my life that i like to broadly keep soft and gentle - most of them even! When it comes to most forms of media, whilst i enjoy branching out, I'm perhaps more likely to pick up a cosy game than anything else (though my definition is broad, Crusader Kings 3 is cosy in my book) and if I'm watching a film by myself it can probably be described as a 'chick flick' (though i do love a wide range of genres). I definitely cannot contain my tastes into an easy box, but if I'm looking to relax, I prefer gentler media. When it comes to books this generally cannot be said. My taste in books has been aptly described as being about "women who are losing it". Usually they are darker and unusual in tone. Gothic literature is my favourite genre, i tend to like something you can really sink your teeth into. However, my life hit a slightly more high stress period recently and I was reading one of these books, usually my favourite, and I simply had to put it down and admit to myself that it wasn't making me feel any better. If I need to use my downtime to de-stress, why on earth was I escaping into a dark and stressful plot. Sometimes that has genuinely been helpful to me at times but it clearly wasn't working. I needed a new book. A nice one.

I went to an independent bookshop with a friend with a great selection and decided to do the exact thing we're advised never to do: judge a book by its cover. I'm a pink girlie (in case it wasn't obvious) so one particular cover jumped out at me:

a rose covered cottage window, with a woman clad in all pink, magically floating a strawberry cake with a fluffy white cat by her side. It was a very me cover. Perhaps the most me cover i've seen. my partner later commented that she even looked a lot like me. Immediately I knew it wasn't my usual read. I read the premise. A romance; not usually my thing in books. Still, the main character was a witch who uses her magic to run her own bakery? That sounded like my dream life honestly, so i took it to the till, paid up, popped it in my tote bag and took it home. Admittedly, I was apprehensive that i might've just wasted my money. 

It didn't take me long to realise, Uncharmed by Lucy Jane Wood is an utter delight.

 So here is my:

Spoiler Free Review 

Here's the description of the book on Goodreads (where it is rated 3.8, not too bad, but should be higher imho). I'm doing this because I've never written a spoiler free review and I'm worried I'll give away too much plot, so this gives you the basics without me accidentally ruining it! 

"Perfection is a spell. It’s time to break it.

Andromeda Wildwood is practically perfect in every witch way. As the proud owner of Celestial Bakehouse, a bustling London bakery, Annie’s life is a haze of pink, magic and impossibly high standards. Annie devotes her powers to pleasing others, believing that perfection is a price worth paying, no matter the magical toll it takes.

But Annie’s charmed existence is about to get delightfully messy . . .

Annie is tasked by her coven with mentoring a troubled teenage witch, and she couldn’t be more different from fiery, stubborn Maeve. Or from Hal, the gruff but handsome owner of their temporary lodgings, who is not best pleased to find the coven has offered up his woodland cottage to two headstrong witches.

As the unlikely trio slowly bond, outside forces begin to take an interest in Maeve’s extraordinary powers. Will Annie risk everything to protect the true magic she’s finally found?"

 

First, I have always loved a book that is really good at creating a really clear visual for the reader, without spending too much time chewing on scenery. This is even better if the scenery the book is describing adheres to my own personal aesthetic tastes, which Uncharmed undoubtedly does in all it's pink-ness. Annie isn't a princess, she's a witch, but she's the most princessy witch I've ever read of (aside from perhaps Glinda?). Annie is a baker, pinkaholic, and chronic perfectionist. Super relatable! 

 

how i imagine magical baking wld look for me

Perfectionism is a big theme of this book, and I'm sure many princesses relate to the feeling of always wanting to be the best for everyone, but still never quite feeling like you're enough. Many of us are constantly holding it all together for the sake of those around us, and putting ourselves second, or worse. I won't go much further into exactly how that presents in Uncharmed, as it is slowly revealed throughout the book, but the story has a message about the importance of being kind and gentle with other, of course, but also to ourselves. In my experience that's a message many princesses need to hear. It was a message that I absolutely needed at the time I picked it up. I had recently been in a situation where I had to finally put my foot down and stick up for myself. I had been trying my best to please and be helpful, it's in my nature. However, I realised I was being exploited for this trait and removed myself from this situation (in a professional and possibly still too-polite manner). I had been worrying over whether or not I had done the wrong thing, this story was incredibly validating. 

 

 

At the same time I was receiving this incredibly relevant and timely message, I was also able to escape into this incredible world. The book is set probably in the late 90s/early 2000s (it's never explicitly stated) and as such there's no super modern tech to speak of, which i quite like to be honest. It takes place in England, primarily London, in an alternative universe where there is an hidden society of magic users, witches, wizards and warlocks. Much of what we see of the magic usage, however, is rather mundane, in the best most domestic way. Think 'Practical Magic'. Magic is often used to swiftly decorate, perfect baking, clean up after baking, change outfits, make outfits and so on and so forth. Honestly? I was jealous I wasn't apart of this world. The idea of using magic to conjure demons or fight them after you've conjured them up has never really spoken to me. Cinderella's fairy godmother making her a beautiful dress? Sleeping Beauties fairy aunties cleaning up their woodland cottage? That I could see having a practical application day to day, and there's something just so whimsical about it. Naturally spoke to me. 

 

There's one scene where Annie is baking breakfast with the help of a cohort of woodland animals. I had to put the book down I was so blinded with jealousy that I wasn't her

 

 I read this book in the summer, and it wasn't entirely seasonally appropriate as it's very much set in the autumn. But if you're a princessy gal lining up your next reads, I would like to STRONGLY suggest you give Uncharmed a go! I'm going to make a post about my personal pink autumn aesthetics, and this book fits them perfectly, in a way that I don't think anything else has before. I'm planning on reading more of Lucy Jane Wood's books this autumn, even if they aren't as pink as this one. Her writing style is really visual and it's easy to immerse yourself in. After this book I decided that a gentle read is sometimes the best way to decompress during stressful periods. I even liked the romance! it was sweet :)

 

If you have any recommendations for me based on this post please let me know! I'm looking to read more books that I think would fit this blog in terms of reviewing and recommendations.

 

 if you're reading this, thank you! please leave a comment about your fave girly book!

 

Until next time, live happily ever after!

xoxo