Review: Inspirational Wink and the Altogether Extraordinary Notebook by Delaney Evers

I received an advanced review copy of this book for free via BookSirens. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

Pages: 297
Published: November 2023

Synopsis

Sixty years old and considered perfectly ordinary, Inspirational Wink has never left the small town of Whisper. She’s been perfectly happy to work the farm with her parents and occasionally wonder what lies beyond the Three Creek Bridge.

All that changes when the death of her father reveals a secret and a task that must fall to her and her alone. She must retrieve the Notebook of Whim, a powerful, magical object hidden years before by her mother, so that it can be destroyed.

It’s either complete this quest or be nagged by her mother for the rest of time. So, off she goes.

But she’s not the only one in search of the notebook, and along the way she encounters both magical creatures and very human enemies, all determined to claim the notebook for themselves. Unsurprising, as the notebook grants whatever wish is written on its pages.

Luckily, she has a mouse, a pink horse, and a band of companions to help her along the way. With their help, she is determined to outfight — and outwit— anyone or anything that gets in the way of her search and, more importantly, of her return home.

Because if she fails and the notebook falls into the wrong hands, her mother’s life— and her entire world— could be destroyed.

My Thoughts…

As the long winter nights draw in, a heartwarming, cozy story is perfect for reading near the fairy lights with a hot drink. And this is exactly what Inspirational Wink and the Altogether Extraordinary Notebook was!

Inspirational Wink (better known as Good Idea) is sixty years old, quite ordinary and perfectly content having never left the farm she grew up in. When her father dies, though, her world is turned upside down by the revelation that her mother is a witch who used to possess a very powerful notebook which could destroy everything if it ever fell into the wrong hands. Good Idea’s mother carefully hid the notebook many years before, but having grown old and weak is now unable to retrieve it, a task only her firstborn can undertake on her behalf. The only problem? It seems every prince, witch and demon in the country will be trying to snatch the notebook from Good Idea, making this quite possibly the worst trip ever… Good Idea will have to rely on a motley crew of hastily assembled allies and her own wit to carry out this task… and try not to be killed in the process.

I loved the characters! Good Idea especially was a fabulous main character. At sixty, she’s not exactly your typical fantasy hero and she made for a perfectly reluctant hero, keen as she was to return to her quiet farm life, far away from all adventure. She’s smart and caring, resourceful and extremely good at managing crises and thinking outside the box. I loved seeing an elderly main character rep in this novel, especially since it felt very realistic: Good Idea is strong and resilient (which would make sense after a lifetime of farmwork), but she also has frequent aches or gets tired and cranky when she has to skip a meal.

The side characters were also delightful! They were a really diverse bunch but I came to love each and every one of them, and I enjoyed every second spent with them. It felt as though a few of the characters received much more attention than others, making the latter come across as rather thin, but it really wasn’t a big issue overall.

The plot itself is quite straightforward, with this being an almost classic Big Quest as the characters set out to search for the titular notebook. It’s a cosy fantasy, so it is fairly predictable overall in its results but the journey to get there was still enjoyable, and the characters managed to surprise me a couple of times with the way in which they got out of a sticky situation. There is a lot of humour as well, which makes it even more pleasant to read and lends a whimsical quality to it.

Overall, this is a cute and endearing cozy fantasy, perfect for a heartwarming light read on a winter night. I hope we’ll see more stories set in this universe and have a chance to discover more of the absolutely delightful characters who were introduced here.