A witch who is afraid to fly already has a bit of a problem. When Mitsi Blunderlock leaves home without much of an idea about what she's supposed to do with the rest of her life, she doesn't have a grand adventure planned either. She does, however, have something her inventor father made for her, a strange little town called Marivell ahead, and absolutely no idea how many unusual people are about to become part of her life.
The Cozy Cauldron Cab Company by Nathan C. Ashford
Genres: Cozy Fantasy, Fantasy

Mitsi Blunderlock graduated from Gloombubble Academy with one problem: she's a witch who can't fly. After a disastrous crash left her with a crooked nose and a healthy respect for gravity, Mitsi has resigned herself to keeping her feet firmly on the ground (much to the horror of proper witch and warlock society).

When tea leaves spell out "GO. NOW." Mitsi leaves the comforts of home for the cozy town of Marivell, with nothing but a magical pumpkin carriage (courtesy of her inventor father) and a desperate need to find her purpose. After accidentally retiring the local postal phoenix and causing chaos with her horseless contraption, Mitsi stumbles upon an idea: why not become the town's first cab driver?

With the help of a distinguished elder werewolf, two eccentric harpy neighbors, the local opossum baker, and a myriad of other fantastical friends, Mitsi discovers that serving others might be the strongest magic of all.

Tropes:💞 Found Family 🔮 Magic 🫖 Slice of Life

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I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

The Cozy Cauldron Cab Company was my first book from Nathan C. Ashford, and I wasn’t quite sure about it in the beginning. It took me a little while to settle into the story and Marivell, but once Mitsi started meeting people and building a life there, I became completely attached to this wonderfully strange group of characters.

Mitsi Blunderlock is a young witch trying to figure out what she’s supposed to do with her life. The problem is that she doesn’t feel like a particularly good witch. She’s afraid of flying, which certainly doesn’t help, and she’s reached that point where everyone seems to expect her to know what adulthood is supposed to look like.

So she leaves home and heads to Marivell.

Her inventor father sends her off with a cauldron that eventually powers a pumpkin-seed-shaped cab. I mean, how could I not love that? Mitsi starts her own cab company, and driving people around Marivell gives her a way to meet the residents one ride at a time.

And what residents they are.

There is an opossum baker, an elderly werewolf, harpies, mouse landlords, and a phoenix whose anxiety causes him to spontaneously combust. That last one made me laugh more than once. The different creatures were one of my favorite things about the book because they aren’t simply there to make Marivell seem magical. They have jobs, problems, personalities, friendships, and their own places within the community.

Then there’s Edgar. I feel like everyone needs an Edgar in their life. He became one of those characters I was always happy to see turn up again.

I also loved the dad jokes scattered throughout the story. My dad sends me dad jokes all the time, so I have a soft spot for exactly that kind of cheesy humor. They fit this book perfectly. Nothing elaborate or forced, just the sort of ridiculous joke that makes you groan while you’re also laughing.

This is definitely a low-stakes cozy fantasy. There isn’t an evil force threatening to destroy Marivell or a massive battle waiting around the corner. Somehow that didn’t stop me from becoming ridiculously concerned about everybody. I went from casually meeting these characters to thinking, “Okay, but everyone IS going to be okay, right?”

That’s where the found family really worked for me. Mitsi arrives in Marivell feeling like the things that make her different are evidence that she’s doing life wrong. As she becomes part of this community, she starts discovering that there isn’t one correct way to be a witch or one perfect path into adulthood.

I especially liked that she doesn’t arrive with some elaborate five-year plan and magically figure everything out. Her cab company grows from what she has available to her and what she discovers she’s good at. Her purpose isn’t sitting somewhere waiting for her with a giant sign over it. She builds a life through the people she meets, the choices she makes, and the confidence she slowly develops.

I could easily see this working for YA readers, but I don’t think the uncertainty Mitsi feels belongs only to younger people. Plenty of adults have looked around at some point and wondered whether everyone else received instructions for life that somehow missed their mailbox.

It took me four days to read, and considering I wasn’t completely sold during the beginning, I ended up surprised by how attached I became. By the time Marivell started feeling familiar, I didn’t want to leave the opossum baker, anxious phoenix, elderly werewolf, Edgar, or that ridiculous little pumpkin-seed cab behind.