Showing posts with label Alchemists. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Alchemists. Show all posts

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!









Friday, June 12, 2015

The Golden Lily by Richelle Mead

Title: The Golden Lily 
Author: Richelle Mead
Genre: Young Adult, Urban Fantasy
Series: Bloodlines #2

Paperback, 418 pages
Publication: January 8, 2013 by Razorbill

Source: Personal Library

Buy|Amazon|B&N|


Sydney Sage is an Alchemist, one of a group of humans who dabble in magic and serve to bridge the worlds of humans and vampires. Alchemists protect vampire secrets - and human lives.

But the closer she grows to Jill, Eddie, and especially Adrian, the more she finds herself questioning her age-old Alchemist beliefs, her idea of family, and her sense of what it means to truly belong. Her world becomes even more complicated when magical experiments show Sydney may hold the key to prevent becoming Strigoi - the fiercest vampires, the ones who don't die.

But it's her fear of being just that - special, magical, powerful - that scares her more than anything. Equally daunting is her new romance with Braydon, a cute, brainy guy who seems to be her match in every way. Yet, as perfect as he seems, Sydney finds herself being drawn to someone else - someone forbidden to her.

When a shocking secret threatens to tear the vampire world apart, Sydney's loyalties are suddenly tested more than ever before. She wonders how she's supposed to strike a balance between the principles and dogmas she's been taught, and what her instincts are now telling her.
Should she trust the Alchemists - or her heart?

Sydney would love to go to college, but instead, she's been sent into hiding at a posh boarding school in Palm Springs, California - tasked with protecting Moroi princess Jill Dragomir from assassins who want to throw the Moroi court into civil war. Formerly in disgrace, Sydney is now praised for her loyalty and obedience, and held up as the model of an exemplary Alchemist.

I’m starting to really dig Adrian and Sydney as leads and possible couple. I’ve read many books where the secondary characters go off and become leads of their own novel but Adrian and Sydney are the only characters that I’ve seen that made it worked…they’re actually more interesting and likeable enough to carry a novel all on their own. In the first book, Bloodlines, we finds out hiding out in Palm Spring isn’t as boring or uneventful as everyone believed it to be. The Alchemists thought hiding Princess Jill in a desert oasis would ensure her safety but instead there were sightings of strigois and vampire hunters. Readers encountered strigois in the Bloodlines, and now in The Golden Lily, we delve deeper into the world of vampire hunters.

In my review of Bloodlines, I wrote that Rose is my all-time favorite YA heroine and no one can compare to her. While that is still true, the more I read about Sydney the more I like her. Rose is one of the most kick-ass heroines in the YA genre but Sydney can totally kick-ass in her own ways through hard work and smarts. And, in my opinion Sydney is way more relatable than Rose. Then there’s Adrian, the Moroi everyone loves. Underneath Adrian’s devil-may-care attitude is someone who’s sweet, caring, and intelligent...and surprisingly cares about what people think of him (to an extent). I really love Adrian, ever since he turned up in Frostbite…and now that I see another side to him…it’s like Dimitri who? LOL.

All in all, The Golden Lily is a solid addition to the Bloodline series. I love that I get to see more of Sydney, Adrian, Jill and Eddie who all played secondary or tertiary characters in the Vampire Academy series and meeting new characters like Trey and Angeline. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series, and can’t wait to see what Mead has in store for Sydney and Co.