Sorcerer to the Crown is basically tailor-made for me: Jane Austen but with MAGIC and a sweet, awkward, prim-and-proper black hero, and a sly, clever, shamelessly ambitious South Asian heroine, who fight against oppression and fall in love????? AND IT'S EVEN WRITTEN IN YE OLDE REGENCY STYLE? 
 THE BOOK GODS HAVE ANSWERED MY PRAYERS. 
 I love mmm, basically everything about this book. I love the way that the world is put together, with the magic and the dragon familiars, and the non-magical-warfare treaties between England and France, and the relentless magical politicking. I love that the plot is serious and important and has potentially devastating political consequences, but that there's still room for talking caterpillars and lecturing dragon aunties and witty banter. I love the characters, OH MY GOD did I love the characters. 
 The male lead, Zacharias, is Sorcerer Royal, the highest-ranking magician in Britain, who gained the position when his mentor, the previous Sorcerer Royal, died mysteriously. He's also a black man in Regency England, so like nobody in the magical establishment wants him around, much less running things. Zacharias has to deal with all manner racist bullshit on top of the potentially politically devastating overarching plot, with little to no support and ALL OF THE OPPOSITION. Poor bb. 
 Zacharias's personal arc is pretty rough, too, as he tries to find a way to reconcile his relationship with his mentor and his life as the Sorcerer Royal with his own complicated feelings about them. The stuff with his mentor is particularly difficult, but really gratifying to see acknowledged and addressed. This book feels pretty fluffy, initially, but there's more weighty, meaningful shit in here than I've seen in lots of other books that take themselves way more seriously. 
 Also Zacharias is a goddamn DOLL. He's sweet and gentlemanly and SO FLUSTERED by the force-of-nature women that come into his life. Like Prunella. 
 OH PRUNELLA YOU GUYS. Prunella is the co-narrator of the book, and she gets the more typical fantasy hero origin plot, as a naturally gifted orphan sorceress who discovers her powerful magical heritage. But Prunella WORKS that cliche premise, because she only gives a fuck about her magical destiny as far as it will secure her economic future. I live for this girl's drive and shameless self-interest. Magic is rad and all, but it's not gonna keep her off the streets and out of the poorhouse, so when Prunella learns that she has an inheritance of super-rare magical artifacts, her first thought is "HOW CAN I SELL THIS SHIT TO GET SOME CASH?" 
 Well, second thought. Prunella DOES get an emotional arc as well, which is set off when she's shown, somewhat abruptly, that her "place" in the world isn't what she thought it would be, and certainly isn't what she deserves. She has to secure a better future for herself, by any means necessary. 
 It's also worth mentioning that while Prunella and Zacharias face similar social obstacles, as non-white people in a white supremacist society, the ways in which they opt to deal with them are completely different. Zacharias holds his tongue, turns the other cheek, and does his best to play nice, because he knows that his anger, however justified, will be used as evidence of his inferiority. Prunella, on the other hand, gives no fucks. She knows that she deserves more than society is willing to give her, and she has no qualms about saying so. There are moments where you think she's going to be hurt by what people think of her, as a woman and as a brown person and as a brown woman, but instead she just laughs at the utter ridiculousness of it all, and goes on her merry way. While it's glorious to see in action, I liked the characters had varying survival strategies, and weren't shamed for them. 
 I see Prunella get a lot of hate online for her ambition and her self-confidence and audacity, and it ANGERS ME SO. I'm SO HAPPY to be able to read a series with a heroine like this, and I want it to happen more, so y'all need to take you misogynistic ideas of how a female character should act, and stuff them. Prunella is the best, and if you don't like her, you are categorically wrong, please come back when you have better taste. 
 So Prunella is awesome, and Zacharias is ADORABLE, and THEIRS IS THE KIND OF ROMANCE I WANT MORE OF. This is one of the few relationships where I feel like the characters are actually equals, but not gender-swapped versions of one another. They have different strengths and weaknesses, and those traits compliment one another - Zacharias is disciplined and chill, studious and polite; Prunella is powerful and ambitious, charming and quick-witted. THEY'RE BASICALLY THE PERFECT LOVERS/CRIME FIGHTING TEAM AND I WANT THEM TO HAVE THEIR OWN BUDDY COP SHOW WHERE THEY RUN AROUND SOLVING MAGICAL MYSTERIES. 
 And once again we've got a rad cast of side characters who are funny and interesting and badass and I would talk about them more but then I'd just be talking about every scene in the book that I liked, and I'm trying to keep this quick, so really, you should just go read this book. Go read this book now, and be assured that it has men and women of color (and some white folks) helping one another and being friends and mentors, fighting the white patriarchy and overturning the status quo. It's got sadness and sacrifice and bad-ass magic fights, inter-dimensional politics, DRAGONS AND MERMAIDS AND SHIT, an adorable romance, and a fucking A+ satisfying ending that will hopefully be the start of something beautiful. 
 READ THIS. READ IT NAO SO THAT IT'S EVEN MORE RIDICULOUSLY SUCCESSFUL AND WE GET A THOUSAND MORE LIKE IT, KTHNX. 
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