I really enjoyed reading this very funny and quirky alternate medieval fantasy. It's set in a world of magic where, if you don't perform proper funeral rites, a body can rise from the dead as a zombie. There are also goblins who are essentially fungal in nature and spread accordingly. And there's a wizard. Isabella Nagg is a woman who discovers her aptitude for wizardry and sets out to save her husband from the clutches of the goblins and the zombies that have taken root near her village. Her talking pot of basil turns out to have a very nasty secret indeed and her sentient donkey is one of the best characters in the story! I loved every minute of this book and highly recommend it!

Thank you to Hodderscape and Net Galley for this copy. Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil was everything I hoped it would be. A charming, witty and cosy story with memorable characters.

Isabella Nagg is a practical woman who is unsuccessfully married to the atrocious Mr Nagg and whose only true companion is a pot of basil. One day, through circumstances, Isabella ends up with the missing town wizard's spell book and familiar and this leads her on adventures involving giant worms, headless reanimated corpes and goblins with their deliciously tempting deadly fruit.

This book reads like a magic guide book in itself, with amusing footnotes and passages straight out of a magical encyclopedia. The formatting was slightly off for me which made following these footnotes difficult and did detract from my enjoyment slightly. Hopefully this is easily fixed. The book has tonnes of quaint village charm and would be perfect for fans of Paladin's Grace or Legends and Lattes. My favourite character has to be Bottom the donkey, whose existential despair and voracious appetite I really relate to.
I'd happily recommend this book.

surprisingly emotional read, full of empowerment and growth. I wouldn't say it was a cosy story, but it had all of the elements of one: a talking (not) cat, a magic spell book, and a funny cast of characters. However, it ended up being so much more than this at the end, when all of the stories pulled together in a satisfying way. It is definitely worth the read.

The humour was very dry and witty, reminiscent of Douglas Adams and Terry Pratchett (two of my favourites!). I personally enjoyed the use of footnotes to include more world-building, but these could easily be skipped for people who aren't so keen. The magic system was also very cool, and I loved the side story about the goblins. Overall, this was a funny read that surpassed my expectations.

Part folklore, part gothic fairy tale, with a haunting, dreamlike quality that really sticks with you. The writing is lyrical and rich, and the story feels like stepping into a dark myth or a tragic old ballad.

That said, this is not a cozy or comforting read. It’s dark, sad, and unsettling, with themes of obsession, loss, and madness. There’s beauty in the storytelling, but also a lot of bleakness. The story follows Isabella, a quiet, intense character living on the edges of society, whose relationship with love and grief takes a surreal, dark turn. The story takes inspiration from the classic tale of doomed love and obsession (think Keats’ “Isabella; or, the Pot of Basil”) and reshapes it into something strange, lyrical, and entirely its own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

ISABELLA NAGG AND THE POT OF BASIL is an absurdist tale of spells going very wrong (to the point of being very right) and a goblin plague.

This book very quickly acquaints you with the absurdism of it all (if the title hadn't hinted enough at that) and then doesn't let up. From a talking donkey (who calls himself Bottom) to the evil mastermind who has an employee problem to the village's Homeowner's Association, the book is full of quirk and bizarre happenings. The world is built such that anything "normal" would seem out of place in it.

It's very anachronistic. It's not obviously based in any specific location but is certainly of the "medieval vibes" persuasion, albeit with HOA and potatoes and trousers with suspenders. This anachronism fits the overall off-kilter sensation of the world. I think a care to accuracy with regards to food and speech would be jarring against the events of the book, so the moderisms work well here.

It's quite a short book, letting you read it in one go. This means you can stay in this world of peculiar happenings without having to surface into our own far more dull sensible one and break the spell.

This is a book that comes with footnotes. The few I did read were very humorous asides - the problem is that footnotes are very difficult to read in a digital book as they're rarely anywhere near the thing they are a footnote to. This makes it hard to follow them.

Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil is a delightful read. The book is fantastical, funny and flamboyant. The magic flows from the pages and envelopes you. I was totally in that kitchen with an endless supply of bubbling porridge. I loved the miserable town, the lack of joy and generally downtrodden cast. In a story of wizards, goblins and living corpses, Isabella is able to use magic to empower and transform herself. The footnotes that accompany the plot are perfect, wit and creativity shone throughout but especially in these added extras. If you like cozy yet interesting fantasies then this is a must read. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this advanced reader copy. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Completely unexpected in the best kind of way. Isabella Nagg is not exactly living her best life at the start; she's definitely made a few wrong decisions over the years. And Mr Nagg, well he's also made some bad choices but he's also a lazy oaf! It's goblin season and the local wizard has departed, leaving the town in chaos. It's up to Isabella to step up and make some changes.
This was so much fun, and I really enjoyed the undertones of female empowerment, there were definitely Pratchett vibes and it's a definite recommend.

The storyline looked intriguing and I had read the authors memoir Once upon a Tome so decided to give this book a go.
We find ourselves in the village of East Grasby, the setting is medieval and definitely fantastical with goblins, wizards and magic part of the fabric of life. Every Autumn the goblins come to the village to sell their goblin fruit. This fruit has an irresistible draw but one bite is enough to turn someone into a drone and then wither to death, however the village wizard Bagdemagus confines the goblins to a valley close by to protect the villagers. This all changes when the wizard decides to retire leaving the goblins to extend the bounds of their influence.
Isabella is married to Mr. Nagg, an inattentive and unsatisfactory husband, who wants a wife who does all the chores, leaves him to his own devices and provides food for the table. To be fair Isabella fills this role to perfection and has tuned Mr. Nagg out of most aspects of her life. However when her husband comes back with a part of the Household Gramarye from the village wizards house, in lieu of payment for his collection of mandrake leaves (the only income he makes), Isabella's life takes a turn for the different as she evolves into a woman of power.
With the Gramarye comes the Grimalkin, a helper that only wizards can see and resembles a rather ratty cat, Grimalkin helps and guides Isabella on the wizards path. Another constant companion to Isabella is her pot of basil which she brought to her marriage and to whom she confides all her secrets and woes - however we discover that it has a dark secret as it contains the head of her former beau Lorenzo.
Twists, turns and an unlikely path unfurls for Isabella where she learns spells, engages with a ruthless businesswoman and redefines herself.
I enjoyed the story but due to formatting issues for my ARC the footnotes were out of synch to the story, I will be reading a published copy to fully enjoy the story.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for Access to this ARC, all views are my own.

This has been described as cosy fantasy, which is not a genre I read very much, however, I had previously read, and loved Once Upon a Tome by the author, so I was intrigued enough to request this book. I don't think this is what I would expect from cosy fantasy, being a bit too gruesome and vindictive to be described as such, and I think it would need to find the right audience. The author is widely read and there are a lot of influences in here including The Goblin Market, (Christina Rossetti) and Isabella, or the Pot of Basil (John Keats). The humour is reminiscent of Terry Pratchett, and though it has been a long time since I read it, it also reminded me of Lud in the Mist.

Isabella Nagg has been unhappily married to Mr Nagg for 20 years, spending the time looking after him (despite his ingratitude), and clearing up his messes. When he steals the village wizards book of spells, his mess becomes rather more complicated for her to sort out.

*Many thanks to Netgally and the publishers for a copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*

So Oliver Darkshire decided to try his hand at fiction. His debut novel is basically a wild reimagining of the Decameron's Isabella (yeah, the one with the creepy basil pot) but throw in talking animals, chatty plants, and wizards who can shape shift.

Meet Isabella Nagg, who's stuck living this tiny, pretty miserable life on a farm next to the equally miserable village of East Grasby. She spends her days putting up with a useless husband, dodging snarky neighbours, and cooking up something called "scrunge" (which sounds about as appetising as it sounds). Isabella keeps thinking there's got to be more to life than this. Then her husband comes home with a spell book he nicked from the local wizard, and Isabella figures—what's the worst that could happen with a little magic?

That's when things get interesting. Isabella goes on this whole journey of self-discovery with a grumpy cat-like companion, and Darkshire just goes absolutely wild with his imagination. We're talking a completely bonkers world full of magic and folklore, plus goblins, capitalism, and sorcery all mixed together.

Now, I'm a huge Terry Pratchett fan—loved the whole Discworld series—so when I saw this compared to his stuff, I knew I had to read it. And honestly? I wasn't disappointed at all.

Look, this isn't going to win any literary awards, but it's definitely a cozy, quick read that's packed with humour and just the right amount of weirdness. You get the whole package: a woman who's totally taken for granted, crazy farm animals, and yep, a talking plant.

I really loved Darkshire's writing style and all the illustrations scattered throughout the book. They actually helped pull me into the story instead of just being decorative. My only real complaint is all the footnotes. I get that they're supposed to add to the story, but honestly they didn't seem that valuable to me and became super distracting with all the back-and-forth flipping.

This book isn't going to change your life or anything, but man, it's a fun read. Perfect if you just want some laughs with a bit of fantasy thrown in. I would've loved a bit more meat to the story—maybe some deeper character and plot development—but that might just be me wanting more of a good thing.

Overall, grab this for a cozy reading session when you want humour, magic, and a nice break from reality.

Fair warning: this isn't a warm and fuzzy feeling cozy fantasy (unless you are the sort to be comforted by murder, necrophilia, and slowly decaying bodies).

I almost DNFd this book at 45% as it was so slow and dry. I'm glad I persevered though, as the action picks up almost exactly halfway through the story and it suddenly becomes darkly comic and thoughtful.

Isabella is a housewife who isn't appreciated, and her husband is deeply flawed yet believes himself to be put upon by the world. They barely tolerate each other, yet there is safety in the monotonous frustrations. One day throws their acknowledged stasis into chaos, and between the goblins and the unscrupulous business woman who recently rolled into down, it's not long before death visits the quiet village...

The references to Chaucer were fun Easter eggs, and while the pacing wasn't great, the story overall was interesting - it's tragic, a bit mysterious, and gives a sense of the inevitable.

I just wish the Linnorm had more page time!

‘isabella nagg and the pot of basil’ is a bizarre and darkly funny medieval fantasy, full to the brim of talking cats/donkeys/plants, beguiling goblins eager to share their wares, and tricksy magic.

i loved isabella as our main character. she’s sarcastic, stuck in a cycle of monotony, and is sick to death of her husband (mr nagg), but finds some change and lightness in the strange and archaic magic that has unexpectedly found its way into her life. we also follow such an intriguing cast of side characters throughout the book, both human and not, who make it all the more fleshed out and unique.

my only critique is that i felt the plot slowed down/came to a halt in certain areas, and due to the lower page count, i wish it progressed a little more quickly. i also found the footnotes throughout the book to be slightly unnecessary, those of which took me out of the story from time to time.

overall, it all felt very reminiscent of terry pratchett’s work, and because of that, really nostalgic, hilarious, and so full of heart. would highly recommend to anyone looking for something cosy, but just as equally mad!

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

Unfortunately, this one didn’t really hit the spot for me. Whilst the concept sounded whimsical and hilarious, I mean: goblins, sentient animals, shape-shifting wizards, and talking plants, I just couldn’t get on board with how utterly miserable everyone is. And I know it was intentional, but it just made the book feel like a slog for me. When I read a cosy fantasy I want to feel all warm and fuzzy inside, I did not.

The (in my opinion) overuse of footnotes also kept pulling me out of the story, whether that’s the formatting of the eARC I’m unsure, but it certainly didn’t help.

The books Pratchett-esque prose and setting will definitely have appeal for some readers, unfortunately, just not for me.

An absolute delight. Such a charming narrative style, a generous, whimsical approach to footnotes (I'm really enjoying seeing Pratchettian footnotes appearing more often in narratives), a no-nonsense sight into small-town life and the assumptions and conventions that plague women older than 40 -- oh, yes, our heroine, Isabella Nagg, is over 40, and fat to boot. In a way, this reminds me a little bit of Lolly Willows, except without all of the things that infuriated me about that book. What happens when a woman whose life has been full of -- not even disappointments, but grey nothingness, decides to take up magic and turn herself into an entirely new person? I loved the donkey; I love the ideas of Goblin Market (Rosetti-style) being the above-ground form of an invasive fungus. Gwendolyn Gooch was a bit broad, but in keeping with the unconstrained humor of the rest of the book. I will definitely read more by this author.

It's slightly unfortunate that I ended up reading two footnote-heavy[1] humorous fantasy books back to back, because I'm afraid that for me, this book comes up the worse against <em>How To Become the Dark Lord and Die Trying</em>. I didn't much warm to any of the characters here and spent much of the book wondering why Isabella and Mr Nagg ever got married. These people actively despise each other and live their lives as apart as possible, although Isabella is quite fond of her pot of basil. I'm afraid I've never heard of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summary_of_Decameron_tales#Fourth_day">Decameron</a> until one of the stories in it is mentioned as as inspiration for this story, and from there, along with the prologue, it was fairly easy to work out the history of the pot of basil and why it gets to be in the title.

I didn't find the humour in the book to be particularly engaging. The donkey called Bottom was as thigh-slapping as you're going to get here. That may be a me thing, but it just didn't do an awful lot for me.

I also don't really understand why Isabella went back for her husband into the valley, considering that a) she dislikes him and b) what happens next. I also kept expecting the Nagg stone to be a macguffin of some kind, and it was just a stone. The climax of the action sequence at the end (or, as close as the book gets to an action sequence) also just left me confused. From reading other reviews, I seem to be in the minority here, and I'm glad that some people are getting a lot out of it, but I fear this is a Not For Me book.

Note: I got an ARC of this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[1] the footnotes in the ebook weren't particularly well-formatted and ended up being difficult to read, but I'm putting that down to it being an ARC so won't hold it against the book

I might have liked this book more had I not read it mere days after reading one of Sir Terry's books. The ideas were good, but I just didn't like the execution.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

The publishers describe Oliver Darkshire’s Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil as “Cosy, full of wit and Pratchett-ian footnotes”. I would agree that it’s full of footnotes, but would dispute all the other adjectives.

Isabella and Henric Nagg have been in a loveless marriage for many years, each permanently irritated by the other and barely tolerating them. Isabella has always saved Henric from the consequences of his stupidity, for which Henric has never been grateful. However, stealing a spell-book from the local tetchy wizard’s house when he was absent is really stupid, even by Henric’s low standards. Isabella discovers she can make one or two of the spells work and things progress from there.

I’m afraid I didn’t enjoy this book. The issue is that neither character is sympathetic. Henric’s attitude towards Isabella is summed up in his thought, “Maybe when she’d finished cooking and cleaning, she could make herself useful for once.” That’s exquisitely phrased and should automatically make us sympathise with Isabella, making her the heroine for whom we all cheer as she defeats the mean, the bad and the downright dangerous. However, as Grimalkin, the wizard’s familiar that accompanies the spell-books, tells her, “You’re not that likeable.” When reading a book of this type, it really helps to have a character with whom the reader can identify - not in terms of age, gender, physical characteristics, etc., but from whose viewpoint we experience the world depicted in the book. The more empathy we have with that character, the more absorbed we become and – most readers will usually say – the better the book. Isabella is not Granny Weatherwax – rude, sly but very very clever – nor is she Nanny Ogg, loveable and well-connected. She is an unpleasant self-centred woman within a community of similar people. We don’t particularly care what happens to her and so the reader becomes a detached observer of events rather than a participant.

The author cleverly works in references to classic works by Hans Christian Andersen, Kipling and Shakespeare. And, of course, Keats’ poem, Isabella; or the Pot of Basil, has inspired the plot. The publisher describes the footnotes, hopefully, as “Pratchett-ian”. There are, indeed, a lot of footnotes - but some are more successful than others. I’m afraid a lot of the ones in the format of “(text added by Wizard X)…” didn’t resonate with me and I found them tedious. Other readers may well enjoy them.

This would be a great book with a much more interesting main character and some judicious pruning of footnotes. I shall definitely look out for the next book from Mr Darkshire but I can’t really recommend this one – sorry.

#IsabellaNaggandthePotofBasil #NetGalley

Si seguís el blog con cierta asiduidad, veréis que aunque tengo mis autores fetiche intento también salir de mi zona de confort para descubrir autores nuevos. Esto es lo que intenté con Oliver Darkshire y su Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil, pero esta vez el tiro me ha salido por la culata. Os explico las razones.


Aunque Isabella aparece incluso en el título del libro y debería ser la protagonista, lo cierto es que el principio de la historia no se centra en ella, si no en un mago que entierra un cuerpo decapitado para que no reviva y olvida actuar sobre él después, dejando al destino qué pasará con ese ser. Años después, la acción sí que cambia al pueblo donde vive Isabella, pero Darkshire prefiere que conozcamos primero a su odioso marido, que malvive recogiendo y vendiendo las hojas de mandrágora de su huerto a los magos. Lo único que Isabella tiene de su vida anterior al matrimonio es la maceta de albahaca que la acompañará en sus desventuras, aunque esconde secretos inesperados que no tardarán en salir a luz. Los distintos puntos de vista sirven al autor para ofrecernos un collage de la vida en el pueblo de East Grasby, un sitio al que recomiendo encarecidamente NO IR.

Los elementos más destacables del libro son el gato que no es un gato, que le servirá de ayudante con una actitud pasivo-agresiva bastante bien narrada y la existencia del Grimorio Mágico, un compendio de volúmenes que reúne todo el saber mágico para convertirse en mago… o perecer en el intento.

La producción del audiolibro me ha parecido destacable, sobre todo en los interludios entre capítulos cuando se leen capítulos del Grimorio mágico, acompañado del sonido de una pluma en pleno proceso de escritura para crear ambiente. El autor y lector del audiolibro, que obviamente conoce al dedillo su obra lleva a cabo una labor encomiable, pero el tono impostado de la voz de algunos personajes es insufrible, con mención especial para la maceta de albahaca.

El libro pretende ser divertido, pero a mí al menos me resulta cargante. Las referencias al mercado goblin prerafaelita son constantes, pero imbuido con un aire de modernidad y un esquema piramidal Ponzi que podría resultar divertido, pero que estira demasiado el chicle como para aguantar la broma. El del autor es un humor muy particular que me temo que o te encanta o lo aborreces y yo estoy entre los del segundo grupo.

This is the first book I've read from Oliver Darshire, even though I am familiar with the way he writes, since I follow him online. I was very curious to read his first novel (his first book being a memoire). I must admit I was a bit wary, not wanting to expect too much since I can be easily put off. Fortunately, "Isabella Nagg and the Pot of Basil" was everything I didn't dare hope.

It is a funny story, but not a light one. It's satirical, bittersweet at time, and a journey of self discovery (and shedding).

The story sets off as Mr Nagg, after bringing mandrake to the sorcerer (who disappeared), brings back a book on Grammarye. Isabelle Nagg, unfortunately married to mister Nagg for more than twenty (unahhpy) years, decides she will bring back the book. But before doing that, she takes a look inside and tries to cast a spell. It doesn't work, or at least that what's she think at first, until she realised she just gave sentience and ability to speak to her donkey and beloved pot of basil.
From there, with no sorcerer in sight and a new cat-like companion (but it is not a cat), Isabella sets upon herself to learn magic. All the while, a lady is trying to turn the goblin market and their fruit into a capitalist business. And a headless corpse rise from the dirt.

I had a lot of fun reading this. It is whimsical, drawing strongly on folktales and legends in a delightful way. Readers who like very tight magic system will be annoyed, because the magic is, by its very nature, not tamed. In fact, it is change, and you can only hope to have the desired results by following a few steps, and even then it can turn awry.
Similarly, readers expecting a very soft and comfortable cosy fantasy might be surprised while reading this book. I would not call it cosy, despite its humour and tone. It's silly, but in a very pointed way, with atrocities being made, miserable characters and actions with consequences (the cross road and the grimalkin, for those of have read the book). It uses archetypal characters wisely, carving them into more while still keeping that fairy-tale like atmosphere. Like the setting, medieval but not really.

In the end, I enjoyed Isabella's journey, her self awakening and her shedding her old skin to start as a new self. The donkey (and a suspiscous poney), as well as the grimalking were a fun addition to the cast and helped getting a few persepectives on things, each having their story, wether they were spelled out or written in between the lines.

A book for fans of comedic fantasy such as Terry Pratchett, and for fans of folklore books like Greenteeth. I read an eARC of this book so thank you to the author and the publisher.

This is a really enjoyable read about a woman called Isabella Nagg who finds herself in possession of a magical set of books when she tries to clean up after her husband’s misdeeds. With the books she inherits a wonderful familiar called Greymalkin. Isabella is forced to learn quickly as trouble is afoot in her village, perpetuated by a new business enterprise of local goblins.

Isabella is a great character. She’s middle aged, married to an unappreciative man, who she regularly winds up by doing things deliberately she knows he doesn’t like. She’s caring and tries to look after those around her, even whilst being a bit cynical about some of her bossier neighbours.

I enjoyed the folkloric references in this book and how they were interwoven whilst being given a slightly new flavour. This book does contain a lot of footnotes, which was fine for me but I know some readers don’t like this. This book was amusing, with a soft comedic style that poked gentle fun where characters were being slightly ridiculous.

This was a fun read and I would read more from this author.