Book Review: Quicksilver by Callie Hart

Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy #1)
Publisher: Hodderscape
Pub Date: 10 September 2024
Genre: Adult Fantasy Romance

Panda Rating:

(3.5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

From global phenomenon Callie Hart comes a highly addictive enemies-to-lovers Romantasy with razor-sharp banter, heart-stopping action, and blistering hot romance that you won’t be able to put down!

Do not touch the sword. Do not turn the key. Do not open the gate.


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 re-opens 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 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 . . .

⚠️ CONTENT/TRIGGER WARNINGS

Rape of the protagonist’s mother, sex work, suicidal ideation, forced sterilization (recounted), blood, injury & gore depiction including decapitation & emesis, murder & torture, war themes, extreme childhood poverty (recounted)

Shoutout to Leslie for buddy reading this with me because it is a super fun book to have someone to exchange thoughts and theories with! 💜

TL;DR: Oops, I’m coming in with a slightly unpopular opinion here even though I ultimately ended up enjoying the story. I’ve seen everyone and their mum reading and talking about this book for months. While my reading experience was fairly average and I can’t say that I fully get the hype, I can understand why it is hyped because it ticks off all of the fantasy romance boxes. From hate-to-love romance and high sexual tension (and steam!) to faeries and vampires, and enough action to keep you invested—this has all of the elements that make this genre so popular and well-loved. Although I didn’t love it as much as everyone else did, I liked it enough to want to continue the series and I look forward to seeing where the author takes our characters next!

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Sundays in Bed With… #MyWeeklyWrapUp [274]

We’re back with another Sundays in Bed With… meme! This meme dares to ask you what book has been in your bed this morning and is hosted by Midnight Book Girl. Come share what book you’ve spent your time reading in bed or wish you had time to read today.

I’ll spend the rest of my Sunday in bed with Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson. This is the next Owlcrate book I’m reading with Leslie, Julie, and Ali. I remember how excited I was to read it when it was released and now four years later, I’m finally reading it! 😂 I’ve completely forgotten what it’s about and I’m only five chapters in but I am enjoying it so far!

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Let’s Talk Bookish: Writing & Posting Book Reviews

✨ Welcome back to another week of LTB! ✨

Let’s Talk Bookish is a weekly meme created by Rukky @Eternity Books and co-hosted by Aria @Book Nook Bits and myself! In this discussion meme, participants get to talk about certain topics, share opinions, and spread the love by visiting each other’s posts! Learn more about LTB, past topics and future topics HERE.

This week’s topic is:

Suggested by: Laurie @ Laurie is Reading
Prompts: Writing book reviews is a huge part of running a book blog. Do book reviews make up a big part of your blog content? Do you prefer to write long or short reviews? How does reviewing advance copies (ARCs) and working directly with authors and publishers change your approach to writing the reviews? Do you post on platforms other than your blog (i.e. Goodreads, The Storygraph, social media) and do those reviews differ from what you share on your blog?

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ARC Mini-Review: The Knight and the Butcherbird by Alix E. Harrow

Special thanks to Amazon Original Stories for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!

The Knight and the Butcherbird
Publisher: Amazon Original Stories
Pub Date: 11 March 2025
Genre: Adult Dystopian Fantasy

Panda Rating:

(5 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

New York Times bestselling author Alix E. Harrow weaves a dystopian fairy tale that follows the town storyteller as she struggles to protect a local demon from the knight hired to kill it.

In this gritty, haunting tale about doing whatever it takes for love, a small-town storyteller resolves to keep the local monster—and her own secrets—safe from a legendary knight.

Nestled deep in the steep hills, valleys, and surrounding woodlands lies Iron Hollow, a rural community beset by demons. Such horrors are common in the outlands, where most folks die young, if they don’t turn into monsters first. But what’s causing these transformations?

No one has the answer, not even the town’s oral historian, seventeen-year-old Shrike. And when a legendary knight is summoned to hunt down the latest beast to haunt their woods, Shrike has more reason than most to be concerned. Because that demon was her wife. And while Shrike is certain that May still recognizes her—that May is still human, somewhere beneath it all—she can’t prove it.

Determined to keep May safe, Shrike stalks the knight and his demon-hunting hawk through the recesses of the forest. But as they creep through toxic creeks and overgrown kudzu, Shrike realizes the knight has a secret of his own. And he’ll do anything to protect it.

I am not at all surprised that I ended up loving The Knight and the Butcherbird. Being more familiar with Harrow’s work by now, I knew that she would throw in some twisty elements that, when they click, they click hard and she managed to do it again with this short story. This is an unconventional love story set in a dystopian future where the results of climate change, environmental degradation, illness, corruption, and war have warped the world as we know it and turned it into a bleak and disease-ridden reality. Even in this future reality, the ugly side of human nature prevails against the weak majority. It was almost terrifying how easy it was to picture this future because of the state of our world and I think that made this an even more impactful read for me.

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#TopTenTuesday: Excellent & Engaging “E”

We’re back with another Top Ten Tuesday, a weekly meme hosted by Jana @ That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic is: Books that Include/Feature [insert your favorite theme or plot device here] (for example: unreliable narrators, coming of age, darkness vs. light, time travel, metafiction, a specific romantic trope, good vs. evil. cliffhangers, flashbacks, plot twists, red herrings, loose ends, stories within stories, meet cutes, symbolism, etc.) (submitted by Alice @ The Wallflower Digest) but—surprise, surprise—I’m going rogue… Again! 🫣

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Blog Tour Review + Book Look: A Song for You and I by K. O’Neill

Hi friends, I’m back for another blog tour today! I’m excited to share my thoughts and a ‘book look’ as part of the blog tour hosted by TBR & Beyond Tours for A Song for You and I by K. O’Neill.

Thanks to Random House Graphic for providing a digital ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Song for You and I
Publisher
: Random House Graphic
Publication Date: 4 March 2025
Genre: MG/YA Fantasy Graphic Novel
Rep: Non-Binary, Trans, LGBT+

Rating:

(4 pandas)

📖 SYNOPSIS

Being a ranger means adventure, action, and protecting the weak. But who protects the ranger when they lose their way? From the bestselling author of The Moth Keeper and the Tea Dragon Society comes a must read MG graphic novel for fans of soft sweeping fantasy romances. Rowan knows exactly what they to be a ranger, protecting their village alongside their trusted flying horse Kes. But when Rowan’s eagerness to show off their worth gets Kes injured, Rowan is suddenly unsure if they’re capable of being the protector they’ve always dreamed of becoming. With Kes needing to heal, Rowan is assigned a slow and winding expedition across the outlying lands. Paired with a lackadasical sheep hearder Leone, Rowan only finds frustration as they seem to fail even the simplest tasks. But Leone’s own struggles, and endless support brings a new possibility to Rowan. Could their unlikely friendship be something more? And if it is, will Rowan be able to leave Leone behind to pursue being a ranger once Kes is healed?

📚 BUY A COPY

At this point, I will read any story that O’Neill puts down in whatever medium or format they choose. Without fail, their stories are always full of heart, warmth, and kindness. Their stories always include big life lessons told in such a gentle and nurturing way, and their latest graphic novel is no different.

My Book Look for A Song for You and I

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