Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Quicksilver by Callie Hart

Title:
 Quicksilver
Author: Callie Hart
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Fae & Alchemy # 1
Paperback, 622 pages 
Publication: June 4, 2024
Source: Personal Library
Buy|AMAZON
|
In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses, or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen’s reservoirs for as long as she can remember.

But a secret is like a knot.

Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone.

When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares…but it turns out they’re real, and Saeris has landed herself right in the middle of a centuries-long conflict that might just get her killed.

The first of her kind to tread the frozen mountains of Yvelia in over a thousand years, Saeris mistakenly binds herself to Kingfisher, a handsome Fae warrior, who has secrets and nefarious agendas of his own. He will use her Alchemist’s magic to protect his people, no matter what it costs him… or her.

Death has a name.

It is Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate.

His past is murky.

His attitude stinks.

And he’s the only way Saeris is going to make it home.

Be careful of the deals you make, dear child.

The devil is in the details...

MY THOUGHTS

After seeing Quicksilver on my FYP for weeks, I finally took the plunge and read the book. I'm so glad I did! Like many Romance Fantasy/Fantasy series nowadays, Quicksilver features the usual fae, vampires, and gods, but it stands out with its unique and fresh take on these subjects.

I was effortlessly immersed in the world and writing within a couple of pages. The world-building is fascinating, vivid, and well-developed. While reading Quicksilver, I could easily imagine Saeris and Carrion running the third ward, and Kingfisher and Ren at the battlefronts. The magic system in Quicksilver is straightforward but complex enough without being convoluted or resorting to info-dumping. I absolutely loved all the characters. Saeris is probably one of my new favorite heroines. Imagine a petite, independent, kick-ass woman who can take down men three times her size, yet still has a big heart and a great sense of humor. Kingfisher was perfection—the kind of male lead/hero I enjoy reading about. I can't think of a single negative quality when it comes to Kingfisher. I loved their chemistry, interactions, and especially their banter. The banter was everything!

Quicksilver is very character-driven and centered. I love when an author writes fully developed, fleshed-out characters with flaws and attributes we can relate to and connect with. Whether it's a villain like Malcolm or a minor but adorable character like Archer, each character feels real.

Quicksilver is one of the best books I've read so far this year and easily in my top five reads. I loved it so much. If I could rate it more than five stars, I would. It was just that amazing. I highly, highly recommend Quicksilver if you haven't read it yet. You will not regret it! And you know what's crazy? The author mentioned that this was her first foray into the Romantasy/Fantasy genre and that she didn't have an audience for it. I was shocked to learn that because, as I mentioned earlier, the world-building is done really well. I can't wait for book 2, which comes out later this year in the fall!









Tuesday, June 18, 2024

Of Jade and Dragons by Amber Chen

Title: Of Jade and Dragons
Author: Amber Chen
Genre: Fantasy
Series: Fall of the Dragons # 1
Hardcover, 480 pages 
Publication: June 18, 2024 by Viking Books for Young Readers
Source: I received a review copy in exchange for a honest review.
Buy|AMAZON
|B&N
Eighteen-year-old Aihui Ying dreams of becoming a world-class engineer like her father, but after his sudden murder, her life falls apart. Left with only a journal of her father’s engineering secrets and a jade pendant snatched from the assassin, a heartbroken Ying follows the trail to the capital and the prestigious Engineers Guild—a place that harbors her father’s hidden past—determined to discover why anyone would threaten a man who ultimately chose a quiet life over fame and fortune.

Disguised as her brother, Ying manages to infiltrate the guild’s male-only apprenticeship trial with the help of an unlikely ally—Aogiya Ye-yang, the taciturn eighth prince of the High Command. With her father’s renown placing a target firmly on her back, Ying must stay one step ahead of her fellow competitors, the jealous guild masters, and the killer still hunting for her father’s journal. Complicating everything is her increasingly tangled relationship with the prince, who may have mysterious plans of his own.

The secrets concealed within the guild can be as deadly as the weapons they build—and with her life and the future of her homeland at stake, Ying doesn’t know who to trust. Can she avenge her father even if it means going against everything he stood for, or will she be next in the mastermind’s line of fire?

MY THOUGHTS


Of Jade and Dragons was promoted as a Mulan retelling with a dash of Dystopian Steampunk. However, the only similarity to Mulan was when our heroine, Ying disguises herself as her older brother to be admitted to the Engineering Guild Trials; one to fulfill her father's legacy and secondly to find his murderer.

The world building was a little hard to understand. Of course, there's a hierarchy within the Kingdoms as well as the Engineering Guild. But there were too many characters with similar names, that left me confused most of the time.

Readers were told that only heirs of the aristocratic were allowed admittance into the prestigious guild. But thanks to happenstance Ying crosses path with a young prince who was able to nominate anyone and bypass registrations, earning her a one-way ticket into the trials. Now Ying's job is to find out why the assassin wanted Ying father's journal, stay alive, and pass the trials. 

Sadly, I didn't find myself connecting with Ying or the love interest, Prince Yang. Ying was supposed to be a prodigy, daughter of the most famous engineer the guild has ever seen, and yet she caused problems wherever she went. Also, the Mulan similarity and the aspect I loved the most was the hidden identiy and disguise trope but unfortunately, that fell to the way side and must've been pretty terrible to be discovered early on in barely chapter 4. 

Ying's relationship with the prince felt very two-dimensional and unbelievable. The two barely knew each other and perhaps spent less than a handful of times together. It was such a short amount of time that it was impossible that they felt as they did. At least, in my opinion. There was no chemistry, no spark, nada. The only saving grace were Ying's friends. One of the most memorable scenes and the best, actually, was during the second trial of hearts. Ying abandoned logic and risked everything to save her friends' lives. 

I thought the overall writing was just okay but most importantly it was easy to read. Nothing fancy or complicated. The pacing of the book was quite slow, which made getting into the book hard. It wasn't until I was 60% into the book that I felt more invested in the story. But the action and payoff didn't truly come until we were near the end, the last three chapters of the book. To be honest, if this wasn't a review book that I asked to read, I probably would've DNF it earlier on. 

In the end, Of Jade and Dragons didn't live up to my expectations or synopsis. I feel like within the last couple of years, there's been a ton of Asian-inspired Fantasy and Of Jade and Dragons just doesn't stand out in all that. The market has become so saturated and I'm here still trying to find that one book that stands out from all the rest. The one that has the spark. With that said, would I recommend Of Jade and Dragons? Sadly, no. And I will not be continuing with this series.









Monday, June 10, 2024

The Ever King by LJ Andrews

Title:
 The Ever King
Author: LJ Andrews
Genre: Fantasy
Series: The Ever Seas # 1
Paperback, 408 pages 
Publication: July 19, 2023
Source: Personal Library
Buy|AMAZON
|
They stole his crown, so he stole their daughter…

For years Erik, the scarred king of the Ever Kingdom, has thought of nothing but vengeance against the man who killed his father and trapped him beneath the waves, making him a prisoner in his own realm.

Until his enemy’s daughter unintentionally breaks the chains on the Ever, and Erik makes her the unwitting pawn in his vicious game of revenge.

She’s innocent. He’s vicious. But he will take back what he lost, no matter the price.

Unless she steals his heart first.

MY THOUGHTS

I don't think I've ever read a pirate novel. And to be honest, if The Ever King didn't have fantasy elements, I probably would have never picked it up. With that being said, it was a hard book to get into. I almost gave up a few times because every time I picked up the book, I put it down after a few paragraphs. It wasn't until I hit the 30% mark that the story started rolling and had my attention.  

I found the world building fascinating. The world is split between the earth and sea faes. Our heroine, Livia is an earth fae Princess and our hero is the sea fae King. The plot, not sure if it was intentional or not had Beauty and the Beast vibes. Livia was captured but stayed in exchange to spare her father's life, and in a twist of fate was also the key to help King Erik rid his kingdom of the darkening/ curse that was plaguing the lands. I do love Beauty and the Beast references. I liked Livia and Erik's chemistry and although readers were told time and time again that the two were connected as children and how neither of them forgot one or the other in the last 10 years...the jump from captor and captive to lovers was a fast one. It felt extremely rushed, especially with what Erik did in the end. There was little time for the characters to truly get to know one another and made their relationship unbelievable. Yes, I'm aware it's a pirate fantasy. 

For a pirate novel, there was little...pirating going on. Erik captured Livia, there was a brief battle, more like scuffle while they were at sea and then they ended up back in the palace. And the scuffle took all but a few pages. Pretty anticlimactic if you asked me. 

Despite that, I did enjoy the novel and its characters. Was this the best Fantasy Romance I've read? No, not at all. But it was fun and, in the end, engaging. The ending took a surprise turn that I can't to find out what happens next. The next book concludes Livia and Erik's story, but I was happy to discover the author was writing spin-off of stories of the characters in the same world! The side characters have started to already grow on me. So, this is exciting!