About

By Winged Chair is the first book in the Mark of the Least series written by Kendra Merritt. Here's the series description:

The Mark of the Least is a series of familiar stories told from unfamiliar points of view, highlighting main characters with disabilities. Each book stands alone and the series is designed to be read in any order.

By Winged Chair book cover

Blurb

Rolling around in the worst fashion accessory ever...

Seventeen-year-old Merry has mucked up another chance to get into the University of Magecraft, so she doesn't have time to deal with shape-changing creatures bent on stealing memories from the people of Woodshire. That's her father's job. But when an outlaw mage mistakes her for a damsel in distress on a drenched train platform, she's dragged into a fight with the monsters and a sheriff mad enough to use them.

Review

Having read "Catching Cinders" before, I wanted to check out other books in this setting. Overall, I enjoyed this book as well, but I'd say the writing didn't feel as polished (which is understandable given this was an earlier work).

The very first chapter sets the tone for the book - giving enough context for the POV character and action scenes introducing other major characters and the main plot. It certainly hooked me, and since the thrilling atmosphere continued for few more chapters, I was expecting this to last the entire book. However, like "Catching Cinders", this turned out to be more character focused in the middle. I'm okay with that, it's just that the change of pace put me off.

The retelling part of this book was based on Robin Hood, which I don't remember much (was part of school curriculum). I've now added reading the original and more such retellings to my ever expanding TBR.

My rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟☆

What others are saying

From Melissa's review on goodreads:

I loved this book! Merritt's style reminded me of my childhood favorite author Robin McKinley, a similarly breathtaking blend of wry humor and exquisite worldbuilding.

From Mary's review on goodreads:

Wow. Not only has the author breathed fresh life into a centuries-old legend, but she has done so while engaging in a perspective shift that is as beautiful as it is unexpected.