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

Published: June 4, 2024

Genre(s): fantasy, romance, enemies to lovers, romantasy, vampires, fae

Read as: ebook, Kindle Unlimited

Rating: 4

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

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. In the land of the unforgiving desert, there isn’t much a girl wouldn’t do for a glass of water. 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 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… (Goodreads)

For months now I have seen this book everywhere. True to form, I can never say no to a hyped book for very long. Throw in the promise of vampires and enemies-to-lovers and it may as well be titled This Was Written to Draw Amanda in. I’m delighted to say that it did.

I have been an absolute sucker for fantasy romance for ages. In fact, when I returned to blogging early this year, I was pleased to learn that the genre now had its own name; romantasy. Admittedly, the first few chapters of this book were tough to get through. Very rarely do I read anything in a desert setting and that is by choice. I grew up in the desert and not even in fantastical stories do I want to return to that sandy hellscape.

However, despite my hatred of even the mere concept of irritating sand blasting my face and the blazing sun roasting me like a turkey, the first portion of this book does a wonderful job of setting up our female lead, the things that make her tick, and why.

Saeris is the kind of heroine I can get behind. She is stubborn, loyal, brave, and intelligent. So often when I read a “strong female character” they are brash to the point of stupidity. I despise when I’m reading a character that goes, “Yeah, I am absolutely outmatched in every way but I like to embarrass myself and pout about it so I am rushing head first into every situation.” Saeris recognizes that among the fae and other non-humans she has found herself surrounded by that she has to use her mind and reasoning and not just rely on swinging a sword willy-nilly and hoping for the best.

The enemies-to-lovers trope is also done well in this story. It is so easy to find yourself hating Kingfisher with the story being told through Saeris’ eyes. But very slowly she begins to trust him and then fall for him while fighting him the entire time. Honestly, there is only one thing keeping this story from being a five star read for me. Since it is a spoiler I won’t get into detail about it here but it is a very common trope in fantasy romance and it irritates me more often than not.

Overall, I loved this story and can’t wait for the next book in the series to come out later this year! I will caution potential readers to check content warnings before deciding to dive in as there are some touchy subjects that could be harmful to some readers.