I really enjoyed the beginning of this book. The premise is charming and both Edna and Benjamin are delightful, I also like Clem, even though she runs off to do something stupid again and again and the others have to get her back. I saw the twist in the middle of the book coming, and I really liked that I was right about it.
The book touches on several important topics like physical abuse, trauma, homophobia and racism, but it doesn't go as much into depth as it could have done.
The book alternates sometimes really quickly between different POVs to show each of the characters thoughts in an emotional scene but unfortunately that made me feel disconnected. I was also bothered by how often Edna got injured, that was too much for me to believe she would still be walking. The climax and ending was also a bit of a let down. It was not unexpected, but Edna employed essentially the same tactic over and over again until it worked, which was not very interesting.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, but it is a Chosen One-story (with an 83 year-old protagonist), not something that has 'never been seen before'. ( )

A quirky story of an 83 year old woman who is the "chosen one" who will be sent to find a magic sword and defeat an evil wizard who is leading dragon attacks against major cities.

--She could have been the poster child for elderly white women: pasty, wrinkly, with an old-lady perm, and old-lady glasses on a chain, and a blue housedress that hadn't been in fashion since the 1960s, and a faded floral handbag that had never been in fashion at all.
Besides, old people weren't Chosen Ones. Old people were mentors.
Never mind that all she could teach someone was knitting.

Of course, Edna is the perfect choice but nobody believes it, especially not Clem, the previous, teen-aged, favored candidate who is determined to find the sword and find revenge for her sister's death.
Fun.
read 3/9/2024 ( )

This just didn't work for me personally. I was lured in by the promise of it being about an old woman selected as the Chosen One, and that's not *wrong*, but then the teenager who wanted to be Chosen One gloms onto the plot too, and the points of view keep multiplying, and I felt Our Elderly Heroine was just getting lost in the cast. Plus I'm always lukewarm about this kind of fantasy set in the modern-day world (especially when that's the USA), and on top of that the humour... again just didn't feel like it was taking the premise-I-thought-I'd been-promised seriously.

It may be exactly what someone else is looking for but sadly I abandoned it so long my library checkout expired. ( )

11. [The Remarkable Retirement of Edna Fisher] – [[E. M. Anderson]] - 2023
– library

This is a story for all those who are still waiting for their letter from Hogwarts to arrive!

Eighty three year old Edna Fisher is living in a retirement home. She’s active and alert but not particularly happy there as her friends slip slowly away, and the activities (other than her pranking newly hired aids) are not stimulating. But since the death of her beloved son, she has no family, so her living options are limited.

And then one day in the middle of a particularly irritating Bingo game, a member of the Council of Wizards arrives and tells her she is the new Chosen One and will be leading the fight against the evil Redway who has been using his dragons and dragon riders to kill Knights and annihilate the cities where they live.

It’s much more usual that a teenager is the Chosen One. In fact, everyone was expecting a sixteen year girl named Clem to be chosen.

Clem muddles things up by telling everyone she is actually the Chosen One.

Eventually Clem joins the unlikely band of questers which include Edna’s favorite aide from the retirement home and a mysterious guide who says he is familiar with the land around Redway’s home. Add in a slightly sentient flying carpet that helps Edna overcome obstacles like stairs create by her sore hip.

I enjoyed this light-hearted fantasy. Hooray for Edna who needs work-arounds for her aging body and mind and her complete lack of knowledge of all things magical and questing.

This is not just a satire playfully poking fun the Chosen One trope, but Romance abounds (romantasy?) including two separate LGBTQ crushes.

Fun popcorn read to offset some of the more serious things I’ve been reading lately. ( )

DNF at 35%.
I'm annoyed by the idiotic teenager. I'm annoyed by the temper tantrum of the bad guy. I want to see the octogenarian save the day, but so far its all been pretty mundane. Running after the teenager mostly. According to the reviews, it's not getting any better, but what a pity. This could have been wonderful. ( )