Review: The Bartender Between Worlds by Herman Steuernagel

Blurb:

Low-stakes magic, crafting cocktails, and discovering the power of who we truly are.

Emma grew up as a Hunter of the Cursed—those charged with eradicating monsters and magic from the Kingdom. She's revered as one of the King's most skilled hunters. At least she was—until she discovered she possessed magic herself.

Before anyone else can discover her secret, Emma abandons her post and flees to the far edge of the Kingdom, where she hopes she can settle down and live a quiet life as a bartender, out of the Hunters' watchful eye.

Fate, however, won't allow us to run away from who we are so easily.

When Emma is confronted by an exiled fairy and a man who claims to be a scientist (though Emma is convinced he's a sorcerer), she must evaluate what she believes and the confines of who she's been allowed to be.

Pulled on a journey that takes her further than she'd ever imagined possible, Emma is led on an adventure to discover where her fate lies and must confront her own biases, hopefully learning a drink recipe or two along the way.

A low-stakes cozy fantasy about cocktails, magic, portals, and finding where we truly belong.

If you enjoyed the themes of leaving it all behind in books like Legends & Lattes, and the fun and low-stakes magic in The Wizard's Guide to Defensive Baking, then this is the book for you.

Review:

Let me start off by saying, I have come to appreciate cocktails a lot in recent years. A perfectly blended cocktail can be just the addition you need to enhance your meal, or your evening out with friends. That being said, when I first saw the cover for this book on Twitter, I immediately added it to my TBR. The title and cover are great advertisements for what you can expect in this book, but there’s much more than just cocktails and multiverses. 

What I liked:

The mixology-based magic system was intriguing right from the moment Emma discovered her powers. The drinks sing to her, and her poignant appreciation of the drinks’ flavors is something you would expect to read in a food/mixology blog. I don’t know if the author has a similar inclination towards mixology, but he’s done a fantastic job regardless. In fact, he’s even included recipes for the drinks that Emma makes, something I look forward to try out myself.

The story itself isn’t anything too complex, as is expected from a cozy book. It’s straightforward, its characters are clear and likeable, and the main setting of the world is explored in interesting ways that I look forward to discovering more of in the sequels. The multiverse parts were intriguing, especially because the author has grounded the concept with his ideas and philosophy. The emotional and personal impact of the differences between these worlds really hits home when you see them through the protagonist’s eyes, something that recent multiverse mega franchises haven’t done justice to. As epic as multiverses can be, this cozy exploration of the concept really favors character and comfort over conflicts and world-ending threats. That for me was one of the biggest wins of TBBW.

Lastly, the ending. I won’t spoil it, but reading the epilogue put everything into perspective. I’ll admit, I had a little bit of trouble getting into the book in the first 5-10%, often questioning why the story is moving forward so slowly. But the ending completely justifies the slow build-up in the beginning. Because this is not your regular fantasy adventure, this is a cozy adventure and you’re meant to be grounded in the lesser more personal elements. 

What I didn’t like:

[SPOILERS IN THIS FULL SECTION]

The biggest disappointment for me—and let me be clear, I absolutely loved the book—was the lack of bartending and mixology. The title of the book is ‘The Bartender Between Worlds’, so I was expecting a lot more of the character exploring mixology. Instead, the focus here remains on the ‘Between Worlds’ aspect, with the bartending taking a backseat. I say disappointing because Emma’s interactions with the drinks were my absolute favorite moments in the book. It’s not that we didn’t get enough, it’s that we barely got a few of these. 

Secondly, there is a lot of adventuring that happens in the book. Although the blurb says it is low stakes, the stakes seem pretty high. This is certainly an expectations problem, not a fault of the author’s. Steuernagel has crafted a brilliant story where all the plot points are connected and everything falls into place perfectly with respect to themes, conflicts, and catharsis. But, these very elements of the story also make the book less cozy and more adventure-y. I’ll repeat, I really enjoyed the story, but I would have enjoyed it more if I knew beforehand that there would be this much adventuring and action.

Conclusion:

The Bartender Between Worlds has successfully established a world that I look forward to revisiting with future instalments. I want to see more of the mixology and bartending. I want to revisit the characters and see what adventures they’re going to embark on across this cozy multiverse. 

If you like cozy fantasy with a healthy dose of fantasy adventuring, do not miss The Bartender Between Worlds. 

TL;DR:

WHAT I LIKED: The magic system, cozy vibes, interesting premise and satisfying conclusion

WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE: Not enough focus on bartending and mixology, action and adventure parts