Well that was pretty fun. I need to go back and read the first of the series. There were a lot of references to it but nothing that kept me from enjoying this where it started but I definitely want to know more. Great characters, crisp pacing, some reveals, some more unknowns, and tons of pop culture references peppered throughout that I really enjoyed. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC!

This is a voice you will not soon forget., Ropa Mayo, the hero of this adventure fantasy novel, is bursting with colorful personality exploding out in her every words. It's rare to get fantasy with such strong voice and I loved it. The novel transports you directly, like the best of books, and drops you into Ropa's post-apocalyptical world of low means, scientific magic, alternative finance history and big dreams. I did not read the first book of the series but it didn't feel like I had to, all made sense and was a lot of fun. I do intend to read the first installment now! If you like fast paced mystery, smart girls scrambling with time, a bad hand and enemies always a step ahead, then leap on this one. One added bonus, the story all takes place in Edinburgh. Highly recommended!

I was so looking forward to reading this as I loved the first one! This was a great follow up and I love Ropa, Priya and Jomo and was happy to follow along on more adventures. This book moved quickly which I also liked. I loved the addition of a character and place list in the beginning of this. It was a great refresher.

having read the first book in the series, i had a feeling of what to expect. this book takes work to read though. there is a ton of slang I am not used to . the basic story plot is fun , and adventurous, but it is as disjointed and all over the place as the Library of the Dead was. I am not sure if that is just the way Huchu writes or if I just struggle with it. All in in a fun book though once you get past the idiosyncrasies,

I sure do enjoy the personality of Roja, the protagonist of Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments and of The Library of the Dead. She has this foul mouth but a tremendous intellect, way past your average 15-year-old or 65-year-old for that matter. She knows history, philosophy, science; she knows Occam's Razor for heaven's sake. I wish I knew half the stuff Roja knows. (I'm jealous of a fictional character. Sad.)

I admit I miss her ghost talking and playing the mbira to help understand the ghosts. Even though her magic is now beyond ghost talking, I liked the personalities of the various ghosts and the way they always said, "Booga Wooga!" (Disclaimer: As a child I used to play ghost--I was, um, that kind of child, and I always said, "Booga Wooga!" Who knew I could speak ghost when I was a mere tyke.) Maybe in future books we'll see more ghost talking.

Roja, her family, her friends, and her boss are likeable. The badies are nasty, foul, and super unlikeable. And, I got to learn some super cool Scottish phrases and terms. Now I'm going around saying "I dinnae know that."

Thanks to Netgalley and Tor for allowing me to read and review an eARC of Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments.

I was SO THRILLED to be approved for this sequel to one of my favorite books of last year! Ropa is back, and as practical, funny, and fiery as ever. This novel brings us to Edinburgh locations old and new: I particularly liked getting to see into the eponymous Our Lady of Mysterious Ailments, where Priya works as a healer. Priya, Jomo, and Ropa are an unparalleled trio, and while in the last novel we usually got to see Ropa interact with them separately, Huchu upgrades them to squad status in this sequel.

This novel also sees Ropa coming up against some serious classisim, both within the Society and in the old-boy club of the private Edinburgh Ordinary School. I began to better understand the differences in treatment and perception of rich, privileged magicians compared to home-trained magicians such as Ropa, and the way in which certain types of magic are disregarded simply because they are not understood or practiced by the wealthy white elite. I am still enormously curious about the oft-referenced but ill-explained Catastrophe, and OLMA coquettishly drops hints about what happened while tying the situation into a deeper tale of insidious English imperialism that goes back hundreds of years.

Really, my only complaint is that I wished we'd gotten to see more of Gran and Izwi, but I'm crossing my fingers that they play a larger role in books to come.