Book Review: Quicksilver (Fae & Alchemy Book #1) by Callie Hart

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Sep 11

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This book has NO BUSINESS being as good as it is with so many damn typos and formatting errors in the Kindle version. But I'm not here to play hall monitor. I'm here to recommend you books that are fun and entertaining. And despite the serious Self-Publishing-Core feel of this book, it’s a fun read. The dialog is witty, the plot is fun, and the main romance has good layers to it.

Quicksilver follows Saeris, a thief in a desert world where water is rationed and stolen. But it quickly ramps up into something more as we’re introduced to a sentient substance called Quicksilver that drives those who seek to control it crazy if they’re not careful, and Saeris’ role in an upcoming war with her ability to manipulate the Quicksilver.

I picked up this book because all of the ACOTAR readers were hyping it up, and it definitely feels like it falls into a similar step. You’ve got fae and vampires and a great enemies-to-lovers romance that feels interesting, and takes place in a world with some good worldbuilding. I also love the “sword-in-the-stone” loose retelling. I’m a sucker for a fantasy book that pulls from fairtytales and old myths and legends.

Overall, Quicksilver felt like an electrifying rush of a book after so many duds I’ve been reading lately, and it has an energy that’s hard to describe — but for the sake of this blog, I’ll try and break it down for you.

What I Loved About Quicksilver by Callie Hart*

“Don’t call her sunshine,” he commanded.
“Why not?”
“Because she is moonlight. The mist that shrouds the mountains. The bite of electricity in the air before a storm. The smoke that rolls across a battlefield before the killing starts. You have no idea what she is. What she could be. You should call her Majesty.”
—Excerpt from Quicksilver by Callie Hart

A great enemies-to-lovers romantasy book has to pull off a number of different challenges. First, you have to buy that these two people are enemies, but still feel intrigued by the male love interest. Second, the transition to lovers has to have enough of a slow burn to it so that you’re really rooting for the main characters to get together by the end of the book. While I feel like there were some rocky moments in getting us to really care about the male lead (Kingfisher) at the beginning of the book, Quicksilver quickly recovers and delivers an epic romance with a great backdrop of an insurmountable battle that rests on whether or not our female lead can step into her power.

Overall, I thought Quicksilver had some great plot twists and a fun ending. It could have perhaps had a more action-packed set piece or two to ramp up to the ending, but even as-is I still felt the book was propulsive and moved fast.

Despite the rampant typos and formatting errors, I was floored by some of the casually artful lines in this book. I would be reading and then just struck by an emotional moment or a line that just sparkled — right next to a typo or a missing quotation mark. Even with the mistakes, I still ended up devouring this book in two days. It’s a pageturner, and you really do end up loving the world you’re in. That's the thing about a good, fun story: it transcends errors and an author's shortcomings.

This should be a freeing lesson for authors: readers will forgive a lot if you craft a great story.

What I Didn’t Love About Quicksilver by Callie Hart*

Honestly, the typos and bad book formatting (extra spaces, some paragraphs that started new scenes were indented, others weren’t, missing letters and quotation marks) ended up being my biggest gripe with Quicksilver. Had this book been formatted with a bit more love and care, I know I would have had a better experience as a reader.

I would also recommend that Hart hire a good line editor to help refine some of the prose and make it feel a little more smooth and cohesive. There were some dialog moments at the beginning with Kingfisher that felt a bit out-of-character and not in tone.

If I was Hart, I’d also pick a different cover. I feel like the current cover feels a little cheesy, and book covers matter big time when it comes to converting readers that are one or two steps removed from your fanbase or readers who have already been recommending the book. When I help authors with their book covers, we take a look at what the genre expectation is as well as what will stand out — but not alienate potential readers. The book cover vibe is also part of your author brand, which is why it’s so important.

Other than those minor complaints, I can’t really point to anything else the book should have changed, and I can’t wait to read the next book in the Fae & Alchemy series this October!