This week we are discussing The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner, Ch. 16-20 (end).
Spoiler Warning!!! This post is full of spoilers for The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner.
Trigger/Content Warning!!! This book has scenes and discussion of such themes as: drug addiction, drug use, alcoholism, blood, vomit, violence, gore elements, suicide, and death.
Discussion:
Michaela: Hello friends and welcome to our final discussion of The Ruthless Lady’s Guide to Wizardry by C.M. Waggoner. This book was one hell of a whirlwind for me. I have a lot of mixed emotions and thoughts about this book but we’ll get to that later.
This last section of the book is a whole lot of action; fire, explosions, drugs, the return of the creepy metal things, a play, the list goes on. We start off just after Delly and Winn’s engagement, which really was an adorable proposal on Winn’s part. I can understand Delly’s guilt though. I think Delly really struggles to see that her feelings for Winn now are real and not solely based on her original idea of Winn being a ‘prospect’. Just because that was Delly’s original intention doesn’t mean that’s still her intention. I really think if she had just communicated with Winn in the first place about this feeling, it would have been one serious conversation and then it would have been fine. Rather than the yelling she did later on because of it. I swear communication is good for you!
Jacilyn: I feel like we spend so much time just yelling into the void that people should just open their damn mouths and talk. I was really scared that Delly and Winn would completely fall apart, but Winn is probably the most lovely and kind and understanding characters I’ve ever read. Of course she understood how Delly approached the whole thing, and she really was correct to point out that clanners go after prospects for money as well. There’s nothing wrong with wanting stability, and I think Winn really helped Delly see herself in a new light; she’s always considered herself a miserable, unscrupulous wench, unable to rise above the lot she had been born into.
You know who is the opposite of lovely and kind and understanding? Miss Cat aka Clairelle Tredworth. The absolute disregard for anyone but herself is disgusting, and I really hated the way that people of Delly’s “position” simpered and placated their “betters.” It was disgusting and so demeaning. I’m honestly surprised that she didn’t manage to kill more of the group before she was finished (although I’m fairrrrrly certain that both the elder Wells and Winn were, indeed, dead). Which makes me think…. I do not know how I’d feel about being brought back from the dead, honestly.
Michaela: Winn is a universal treasure honestly. She is just pure loveliness and I need her to give me a hug! Clairelle Tredworth is the epitome of rich privilege. She does not care about anyone, all that matters is she is the one in power and she is the one making the most money. I was not surprised she made that fire happen with no regard for who was in there. She didn’t even truly care for Ainette who was presumably a friend of hers at one point or another. Ainette was literally wasting away attached to those creepy metal spiders just to pay off a debt to Clairelle, that is insanity. Either Clairelle was legitimately that desperate to make money for her family or she was drunk on power; maybe both. I will say that Clairelle was pretty smart in how she ran things, she wasn’t just a dumb rich girl making others run things like I think we usually see. Nothing could really be traced back to her without the paperwork Delly found and the blue ribbon blinder magic was a prime ‘bad guy’ practice.
I don’t know that Delly’s mom was quite dead yet, with how the magic has worked throughout the rest of the book Mrs. Totham would have needed a lot more than just some of her own health to bring a person back to life. But Winn was totally dead for sure. Buttons was the true savior of this book by saving the purest character. Speaking of pure, you know who isn’t pure and lovely along with Clairelle? Mrs. Totham. I started off trusting and enjoying that woman and she totally betrayed me. The hard promise she put on Delly was totally underhanded and mean. Dok had part in it but the thought behind it was Mrs. Totham, she chose Dok to do the promise because she knew Dok would come up with the worst thing. I understand where Mrs. Totham was coming from but she crossed way too many lines.
Jacilyn: I’m convinced that in the long run, Mrs. Totham only had revenge on her mind. I don’t even know if there were pockets of sincerity in there as I originally thought, or if that was all just her way of manipulating everyone. It makes me sad, honestly, because Delly became rather fond of her at one point, and gave her the kind of motherly attention she had wanted and, quite honestly, deserved. Does Mrs. Totham even have a soft spot for Delly’s mom, or was that all a manipulation tactic as well? I hate it. At least she brought back Delly’s mom, at risk to herself, since it took a bit of her to heal her.
I’ve been wondering what made Buttons go seek out Delly and Winn instead of staying with Mrs. Totham. Was there an actual reason, or was it just a convenient plot point? I’m not really sure, honestly. I have to say I was starting to enjoy the way he was communicating with everyone, and they all got to the point where they basically understood his bings and bongs. I thought it was very sweet (for an undead necromancer mouse skeleton, anyways) how he would talk to Mrs. Totham with bird sounds, when birds were her favorite things in the world. I got a bit teary eyed when he saved Winn and left them with the sound of babbling brooks and birds chirping as he waved goodbye. He was definitely warning them of the “slow death” in the fire thing, but I’m not sure if he was predicting Ainette’s demise, or Delly’s. His latent magical abilities sure did come in handy at the new laboratory location, that creepy old (mostly) empty house.
Michaela: I don’t think Mrs. Totham was ever really genuine. She may have had small moments where she was real but I think all of her actions were for her end goal. She may have felt guilty by the end, maybe, because she saved Delly’s mom. But then even after that she willingly put Delly in more danger by doing the hard promise. I was wondering if Buttons decided to leave Mrs. Totham because of her actions and ungenuine attitude. Or he just wanted a role in the action. Buttons was truly a fascinating character, he was definitely my favorite part of this book. I was disappointed with how little information we got about Buttons and just magic in general. They really built up this whole interesting background and mystery around his creation and powers to then just have him sacrifice himself with no more explanation. It was a beautiful moment and it made me teary, but I wished for more for that character. I think his “slow death” warning could have been for many characters; Delly, Ainette, Delly’s mom, or even Mrs. Totham with how her body reacted to saving Delly’s mom. I felt like his warnings were meant to mean more than they came across, I always felt like I was missing a ‘read between the lines’ kind of thing with Buttons. His noises and bongings weren’t always clear to me, not sure if that’s a me thing or one of those things where the author assumes everyone will get it. Still the best character though.
Along with Buttons story feeling cut short, it felt like the story itself was cut short for me. There was so much build up in the plot to then just kind of end. Of course, there was a real ending where everything was kind of tied up in this neat little bow. But it felt a little mediocre and rushed to me. It was an explosive and deadly ending to the drug plot and a nice ending for the love story but all together…a little meh for me. Clairelle got her comeuppance and Ainette’s death was really sad, but it was also really simple. There could have been more to it I think. Then the ending with Winn and Delly was adorable, but we also don’t really know what happened to the Tothams, their story just kind of ended too. I did really enjoy how Delly sold the story to the Leiscourt Crier, if the police won’t investigate the rich people then fuck em, take it to the press and let everyone know what these people have done. Love it, sweet justice!
Jacilyn: Buttons creeped me out at first, not going to lie. Although I will say, when Mrs. Totham boiled the flesh off of the mouse, I much preferred him. But it was honestly the noises he made that creeped me out the most. It was just one of the most unsettling things I’ve ever had the horror of imagining. I also wondered if I was supposed to be reading between the lines more, but I honestly don’t know what else we could have figured out with the information we were given. I mostly followed the cues of the characters when it came to dissecting the intent behind the noises. Now that the story is over, I do think Winn and Buttons were my favorite characters and I actually kind of want to find some fanart of Buttons.
I agree with the end of the story feeling like it was cut short. We spent so long preparing for the confrontation with Ainette, and it felt so rushed. There was this dramatic fire and shooting once they found Ainette, but then she just accepts her fate after waking up from basically a drip coma and shoots herself in the head. I lived with many people in my lifetime who have been addicts, and I can tell you that when waking up from something like that, mostly sober, they are not exactly likely to be agreeable and clear-headed; I really didn’t find Ainette’s end to make much sense and honestly it made me sad that her character just served the purpose of a drug addict desperate enough to do anything to get her hands on drip and take care of her debts. In spite of it all, I think she deserved more than that.
I was really scared we were going to lose Winn. When Delly told her to stay with those who love her, my heart cracked wide open. I will say that I enjoyed that Delly and Winn were keeping their engagement and planning on going to find some adventure together on holiday before resting in the sunshine with the orange trees. And, of course, Delly selling the story was amazing, even more so that she sold it to someone who grew up like she did. Clanners absolutely shouldn’t get away with doing awful things just because they have money. I believe that whole heartedly in our own world as well.
Speaking of clanners, I found the little introduction to Winn’s parents to be lovely. They certainly don’t seem like they fit under the same umbrella of clanners as the Westins and Tredworths did, which doesn’t surprise me. I mean, look at the positively lovely gull they raised. I was disappointed a bit by the ending, but I do find myself wishing to read about Delly and Winn again. I think there were some strong and weak characters in the book, but the strong ones definitely stand out.
Michaela: I really enjoyed Button’s creepiness even in the beginning but he was way more likable after being boiled. What a weird sentence! I agree, Ainette deserved a better ending than what she got. I felt like this book gave a mostly negative view of people who are addicts. Besides a few good moments Delly had with her mother, it was all negative and no real insight into either addict characters. Even Delly’s alcoholism was barely addressed and was still mostly described as a bad personality quality. There could have been a better representation for these things, in my opinion. Winn and Delly’s ending was lovely and Winn’s parents were just as adorable and kind as Winn is. I’d love to read something like a short novella of one of their new adventures together.
Well friends, I think that’s it for this book. It was a weird mixture of likes and dislikes for both of us but we still enjoyed it. It was fun, adventures, and magical! Maybe a bit disappointing at the end for us but it wasn’t a bad ending. What did you think? Are you a Buttons fan? Did you like the ending? Do we think Sir Mittens of Monsatelle is living his best life now? Let us know your thoughts! Until next time friends!
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