My favorite cosy fantasy of the year.
It is a beautifully crafted tale of destiny and found family. Tao, a young fortune-teller burdened by her gift, discovers that fate isn’t just about predicting the future—it’s about shaping it.

As she journeys through a continent that she calls home, Tao encounters a cast of characters who become more than companions; they become her chosen family, teaching her the power of connection and love. The novel delicately weaves themes of self-discovery and the balance between destiny and free will, all while immersing readers in a cosy and at times whimsical, atmospheric setting.

Leung’s prose is heartfelt and poignant, making this a touching exploration of how the bonds we forge can redefine our paths. A must-read for those who cherish stories of hope, growth, and belonging.

Ugh, such a cute and wholesome story, I absolutely love a cozy fantasy. This was such a delight to read and I can't wait for more books from this author.

*The Teller of Small Fortunes* by Julie Leong is pure comfort in book form. Tao, a wandering fortune teller who specializes in life’s small, sweet predictions, feels like the kind of friend who’d wrap you in a warm hug and tell you everything will be okay. Her journey, surrounded by a found family of lovable misfits—a reformed thief, a poetic ex-mercenary, a charming baker, and a magical cat—is as heartwarming as it is quietly magical.

Julie Leong’s writing feels like sipping tea on a rainy afternoon, full of gentle humor and moments that remind you of the beauty in everyday life. It’s a story about connection, kindness, and how even the smallest fortunes can change everything. If you’re looking for a book that feels like home, this is the one.❤️

Thank you Hodderscape for the earc!

This is such a cosy, feel good, light hearted book.

It maintains a light tone while discussing some important subjects like racial discrimination, stereotypes, finding one's identity and purpose in life.

I loved all the characters in our travelling bandwagon. Loved the found family! I even loved all the animals!

I really appreciated that the author focused on each individual's struggles and development as our group embarked on their adventures.

The ending was a little too neat for me, but overall it was a great read.

Such a cosy read, with found family and a fabulous FMC, Tao. Tao is a fortune teller of small fortunes who travels alone and lives alone until she ends up with a proposition to help search for a missing girl.
I thought this was a really funny book, with some cute creature friends and lots of magic. It wasn't too deep but definitely left its mark. A fun, cosy, fantasy read which was perfectly needed.

A delightful cosy fantasy about family and friendship, baking and fortune-telling, and life as an outsider. While the stakes are low, the emotional beats hit hard.

Tao travels the country telling small fortunes to villagers, but she is different to most fortune tellers as her predictions come true. A lovely tale of friendship and truth.

I like the idea and the premise, the world is interesting and the group banding together going on an adventure while getting to know each other. But it was like a melting pot of mixed ideas that didn't work for me.

I did appreciate the representation and the heroine's duality of identities and her struggles. It did have many sweet moments

Thanks to Hodder & Stoughton and Netgalley for the review copy.

Tao's solitary life traveling from town to town in a wagon with her mule was over the moment a pair of guy--Mash & Silt--joined her company in search of Mash's daughter. at the next town they visited, they met a baker who soon joined the travel group too. soon they gained popularity until a magefinder tracked Tao and asked something she's been dreaded.

it's about self discovery, found family, making peace with the past and bracing the future. the plot was a bit all over the place but overall it was really heartwarming.

I enjoy cozy fantasy, but I fear this one might have been a little too cozy for me.
I genuinely liked the idea of a fortune teller focusing only on small fortunes until one of those small fortunes turns out to be bigger than she expected. I also liked the idea of a loner fortuneteller fleeing from an unhappy family situation to find a new family with fellow travellers she meets along the way.

It just all felt too... superficial, I'd call it? I don't really know these characters and I don't really care about them, and I never felt like they're actually a found family despite the book really really telling me that they are. I never got to find things out about these characters organically because they simply toldme everything about them plainly in conversations between them. The stakes are low to begin with and every revelation lowers them even more. Every situation that might spell danger or emotional conflict is easily solved within a few sentences, and conflicts that actually seem to have a big impact on the characters often turn out to be nothing at all later on. The big Problem that initially draws the group together - Tao reading the fortune of a guy that's looking for his kidnapped daughter, which leads to them banding together to find said daughter - is so banally told and sidelined constantly that I honestly forgot about that child's existence at times, and in the end it didn't even mean much. The writing never managed to engage me and at no time did I feel actual emotions from these characters. I was astonished by how little I felt during the supposed Big Emotional Beats of the story.

So in the end, this is a cozy little read that won't hurt anyone and is perfectly pleasant, but also nothing beyond it. No stakes, no emotional attachment, no interesting character, no conflict beyond surface level. Pleasant but forgettable. Beautiful cover though!

I really enjoyed this book!

The protagonist was likable and relatable and the touch of whimsy was refreshing. A very heartwarming read and I would reccommend this book to anyone who enjoys Cozy fiction.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own and I am posting them voluntarily.

Thank you netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for the ARC!

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️ ⭐️.5

This book has been a true delight to read. So, so, so cozy, atmospheric, vivid in its description and writing style. Such an awesome debut, I am really impressed with how the author pulled out a simple but meaningful story that flows seamlessly without any major turn of event but makes you feel loved and wrapped in a warm blanket in a cold winter afternoon.
What makes it be so? the characters: this is the found family trope at its finest; their dialogues, their backstories, their development arcs are so thought out and well-rounded I couldn't help but smile while reading the last 20% of the book.

This book is absolutely for you if you loved Legends and Lattes but beware, the pace is even slower than that. Keep it in mind and enjoy the journey!

Truly the most beautiful book I've read this year. The Teller of Small Fortunes is a heartwarming, heartfelt, eminently readable delight. I fell for every single character and their realistic development and relationships. Just absolutely a treat. I've already purchased the hardback to keep ready on my shelf for rainy day rereads.

This book will have you wanting to run away from home, for a life full of adventures on the road. I loved how cosy and warming it was. Just a fortune teller, a mercenary, a baker, and a (former) thief on the road with their cat and their mule. It was the perfect cosy read.

It has a really good balance of plot to feel-good cosy vibes. It wasn’t as low stakes as some of the books out there; there was a rumbling of war and a missing daughter to contend with, but it still left you feeling that everything would be all right in the end. I enjoyed the plot a lot and it wasn’t left feeling aimless at all.

I loved the way the fortunes worked as well. How Tao could trace the lines on the palm and look for something small, ignoring all the big stuff. How small fortunes could be changed if you needed to. How the fortunes that she told managed to affect the plot in big ways, even though they were just little things.

If you’re looking for cosy, found family on the road, this is your next read!

This was a book that the whole of Booktok seems to have been describing as the perfect cozy, found family fantasy. Maybe that meant that I got my hopes up too much, but this book felt like it was missing something. I can't pinpoint exactly what it was missing, as it was a perfectly fine book, but for me it just didn't have that spark.

found family, cool magic, a band of misfits, cosy vibes, medium stakes: what more can a person ask for?

Tao has spent her adult life alone on the road after running away from home rather than join the Guild. She tells small fortunes for pennies, because big fortunes have consequences she’s not willing to face. On the road she meets a retired mercenary searching for his daughter, a semi reformed thief, and a trainee baker - together they set out to prove her visions true and find the lost little girl.

Along the way they encounter mythical creatures, prejudiced villagers, and a bit of magic.

The story was fast paced and the plot moved quickly. I found the characters extremely loveable - I adored them from the very beginning - and the way their bonds formed had that real cosy energy. The world building and magic weren’t overly detailed, but they provided interest and all the information needed for the story.

I would highly recommend The Teller of Small Fortunes for fans of cosy fantasy.

The describes this as a love letter to the fantasy stories they enjoyed as a child and it felt just like that! I loved the cosy fantasy vibes - it's definitely a trend I am enjoying.
It is ultimately a story about finding joy in the smaller things in life and that resonated with me so deeply. I had a wonderful time reading this and I hope it gets all of the recognition and hype that it deserves.

You know, I am pretty certain that Julie Leong wrote The Teller of Small Fortunes after getting a vision of the future and realising that we were all going to desperately need this warm hug of a book. It’s got the most wholesome found family vibes, exciting travel adventures, all the delectable baked goods, and a whole lot of heart; this is cozy fantasy done right!

I seriously can’t put my finger on what it was about The Teller of Small Fortunes, but from the very first page I just found myself inexplicably enchanted. The quiet and reserved Tao immediately captured my heart with her unrelenting warmth and kindness, and I loved how her chill personality made this entire story feel so comforting and stress-free even when danger arose and the stakes got a bit higher than you might initially expect from a cozy novel.

See, this lovely teller of small fortunes sort of accidentally stumbles into a rescue mission for the young daughter of an ex-mercenary, and so they embark on an unexpectedly life-changing adventure together with a (semi) reformed thief, a chaotic baker, and a very curious cat. In other words, hello found family vibes! The unconventional dynamic between all these loveable misfits was just so amusing and adorable, and I loved how we got to know each of their respective biggest dreams and deepest fears as they started to bond during their travels.

For me, the themes of belonging, purpose, forgiveness, following your passion, and embracing yourself in all your beautiful messiness really hit home, making me reflect on my own life and mental health journey in a way I was not anticipating. Kina’s journey resonated the most with me personally, but I think there is no denying that Tao’s struggles with her cultural identity and her journey of healing and self-acceptance are the true highlight of The Teller of Small Fortunes. I feel like you could just tell that these themes were written straight from Julie Leong’s own heart, which is exactly what makes this story so powerful and authentic.

And so what if some conflicts were resolved in an almost unbelievably peaceful way and the ending tied everything up in a deceptively beautiful little bow; I came for cozy comfort, and Julie Leong more than delivered. Though as satisfying and heartwarming as this ending was, I can’t deny that I am quite desperate to return to this world and go on more adventures with this unconventional family of endearing oddballs.

So, if you enjoyed the vibes of Sangu Mandanna’s The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches or K.E. Andrews’ Hills of Heather and Bone and want another fun and delectable cozy adventure that is equal parts exciting, introspective, moving, and heartwarming, then I can’t recommend The Teller of Small Fortunes highly enough. Just be sure to have some snacks ready when you start reading, because this book will make you hungry!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hodderscape for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

In ‘The Teller of Small Fortunes’, we follow Toa, who is accustomed to travelling alone and telling ‘small’ fortunes. As Toa embarks on her latest adventure, she is surprised by the found family she encounters along the way. Together, we follow this unlikely group through a wholesome, if sometimes slightly stressful, journey.

This book felt like a cosy one-shot TTRPG to me, which is the highest compliment, as it allowed me to become more immersed in the story and feel more invested in the outcome.

However, some aspects of the book fell flat for me. While I loved each of the characters, I found myself yearning for deeper character exploration.

This is very much a cosy, warm novel, so don't expect any high stakes or surprising plot twists. Personally, I would have loved to spend more time with this group to get to know them better and gain a broader sense of their lives outside what often felt like a snapshot of their story.

It would have been perfect as a cosy TTRPG with friends, but for that very reason, I felt the book lacked some of the personality and depth of camaraderie that could have been built upon in a collaborative storytelling setting.

Overall, ‘The Teller of Small Fortunes’ delivers as a cosy, low-stakes fantasy with a lot to love in its characters. I would recommend it if you're looking for a quick, comforting read to enjoy between denser books.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.

The Teller of Small fortunes is a low stakes, cosy adventure tale with a found family trope.

Our main character travels in her trusty wagon telling small fortunes to fill her purse and keep her faithful mule fed. On her travels she meets other travellers on their own quests or simply trying to find their way in the world. Along with the companions she picks up, she helps fulfil these quests and forms some true friendships.

I personally adore a found family trope so this was right up my street. The characters were all very sweet and likeable, from the animals to the humans, and were the best part of the story, filling me with a big ol' sense of comraderie and contentment. The towns they visit on their travels and the people they meet were all very twee and cosy, though I would have loved a little more world building.

My only criticism would be that it wasn't definitively a cosy tale, nor was it fully an adventure novel, which led to it feeling a little too low stakes. Everything wrapped up just a little too conveniently with less strife than I would have liked. That being said, I did enjoy this book and would definitely recommend it for anyone who just wants to wrap up in a big blanket with a hot drink and a purring kitten.