Spoiler-Free Review: Quicksilver (Book 1 Of The Fae and Alchemy Series) By Callie Hart
Image Source: CultureSlate
Quicksilver is the latest Romantasy novel that TikTok will try and convince you to buy, and it’s easy to see why. It’s got all of the elements they love. Angry shadow daddy – check. Tropes – check. Instagramable original cover art – check. But is this another case of Booktok buyer regrets, or does the novel have some merit?
If you’ve bought Quicksilver for the enemies-to-lovers storyline, you’ll go away happy. The leads have plenty of chemistry. This is most definitely not Young Adult, it falls firmly in the New Adult/Romantasy genre. The novel has several scenes of a sexual nature. They are not ‘fade to black’ so will not be suitable for younger readers. Although Quicksilver isn’t the most smutty novel in the industry, some of the spicier pages could be thematically more at home in the Dark Romance genre, so it’s worth checking the trigger warnings.
RELATED:
Realistically, readers are only going to be invested in three people, Saeris, Kingfisher, and Carrion Swift. The other side characters don’t really hold much interest. But Hart’s leads will force you to root for them so hard, it doesn’t matter that for vast sections of the novel nothing happens, or that the storyline goes a little off the rails in the last 100 pages.
Hart can write growly fae dialogue better than most of the big names in the business. Sarah Jane Maas, Jennifer L Armentrout, and Rebecca Yarros are going to look at Kingfisher and wish they’d gone that hard with their MMC. Fans of ACOTAR are going to lap it up. Carrion Swift is an excellent backup quirky male character (We stan a man that loves pot plants) for the readers that don’t gel with the lead, his random antics lighten many potentially ordinary scenes (It’s not a surprise why-chose though). Hart writes great male characters, but the book does lack female presence and as a result, the FMC, Saeris feels a little bit like Smurfette at times. There are really only three other women of note in the entire novel. One is a barely on-screen villain; Kingfisher’s sister has all the strength of a wet tissue. Danya has potential for future books but, currently, her only purpose is to annoy the others.
The magic system is unique but isn’t entirely clarified. That’s forgivable as it’s the first book in the Fae & Alchemy series. It’s very usual to not know all the lore yet, and the book side steps dreaded info dumpings nicely. Callie Hart builds a credible world with an array of creatures, climates, and locales. Quicksilver doesn’t have the descriptive veracity of Holly Black’s A Cruel Prince, which is the landmark by which all should be judged, but Hart gives it a good go. As a result, it feels like a genuine fantasy love story, not a drugstore romance novel with some fae ears stuck on the main characters.
Rating: 7/10
All in all, Quicksilver is a very enjoyable read. It’s far from perfect, but Callie Hart’s strong characterizations redeem some of the structural problems. In the Romantasy genre, it does what it says on tin, it delivers a cohesive world and a steamy love story. Booktok is absolutely certain to add Kingfisher to its list of favorite Shadow Daddies.
READ NEXT:
Disclosure: We hope you like the items we recommend! CultureSlate has affiliate partnerships, so we receive a share of the revenue from your purchase. This won’t affect the price you pay and helps us out
Latest News
Featured
