The Ickabog by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I admit that I wanted to read this mostly because I heard it had a nicely satirical (political) bent to it as well as being a quite fine YA fairytale about selfishness and greed and death.

I'm pleased to say that it delivers on all of it. HOWEVER, as a satire, it's buried rather deep -- instead delivering on the fairy-tale first and foremost.

This is good news for fans of Rowling who want something timeless, traditional moralistic, (be nicer, people,) and wise. And it is fine writing, a worthy fairy-tale I feel proud to give to my daughter.


So why do I wish it was more satirical? I mean, sure, Boris and Trump might very well be targets, but it's general enough that they don't have to be. Suffice to say, this isn't A Modest Proposal.

Instead, it succeeds in every other way.





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