The Witches' Kitchen (review)

It is bad enough to wake up with no memory, but the amnesiac protagonist in this novel discovers it is even worse to wake up as a toad, on the verge of being dropped into a cauldron, with no clue who you are save for an inkling that croaking is not your first language. Toad escapes, but the Kitchen is a seemingly endless world filled with dangers, both large (the witches) and small (various creatures who would happily eat Toad if given the chance). Luckily, there is also good in this mysterious place, and Toad quickly gains several allies willing to help her try to find out who she is and how she can escape. Toad does eventually find out many disturbing details about how she came to be in the witches' clutches, but these discoveries are less the point than the journey itself. Toad's willingness to befriend all (and her abilities to help disparate groups see the benefits in alliances) and the scrappy way she takes to her new form make her an engaging protagonist, even before revelations about her past elict reader sympathy. Her ragtag pals are elegantly described, rounding out Toad's sometimes hysterical confusion with their quiet acceptance of the Kitchen's mysteries, even as they are also bolstered and aided by Toad's unexpected presence in their lives. Intricate pencil drawings, mostly of the various odd creatures that inhabit this world, pepper the text, adding details that elaborate on the spare descriptions. The somewhat unresolved ending is complete enough to satisfy curiosity, but it certainly suggests a sequel that will likely be eagerly anticipated.