QuickSilver by Callie Hart was the 40th book I read this year. This book is the first in a series that took booktok by storm when it came out. I’m a bit late to the game because me and longer books weren’t playing until recently!
An attempt at summarising
Our main character Saeris is a thief, like everyone else has to be in the third quarter, she’s also technically apprenticing to a blacksmith but she uses that to get involved with illicit affairs too. One day she steals a guards’ golden gauntlet, a prize not worth the cost. She is hauled off to the palace where she is to be tortured until dead. Except, in the underground room she is bought too there is a strange pool of silver and sword stuck in it, as she fights back against her torturer Saeris feels the silver calling to her, so she uses her last moments to grab the sword and kill her jailer. As she fades she sees death emerge from the silver pool, he places his necklace around her and brings her into the pool with him as darkness reaches her.
Saeris wakes up in the fae realm, in the castle of their King, to discover she is an alchemist, something that hasn’t been seen for hundreds of years. This means she is able to work the QuickSilver, ethereal pools of molten metal that have a mind of their own and can contain portals to other realms. The realms used to all be connected and the king tasks he with connecting them again… or else and he gives death, who turns out to be a shadow-wielding brooding fae called Kingfisher who had been banished up until recent history, the task of helping her… or else.
Except, Kingfisher has his own agenda and his own people and army to think of. So at the first chance he whisks Saeris away to his lands, but once again her only task is to figure out how to work the Quicksilver but this time it’s to help protect and arm his people.
Despite their semi-hatred for one another, they can’t help be drawn to each other and Saeris begins to find that if only she could bring her loved ones here with her, she would gladly stay and fight for Kingfisher’s cause.
What did I think?
I really enjoyed Quicksilver, I thought the world-building was interesting, I thought the magic system was refreshingly different but I liked that they had Gods reminiscent of Viking and Greek Gods for a little bit of a mythic twist. I liked the characters but I didn’t feel like they went on any kind of in-depth character arc, and I did feel like they switched from ‘I hate your guts’ to your my soul mate a biiiit quick.
All in all, my expectations were low because booktok has burned me before but I devoured this book and will definitely be reading the second. It’s perfect for romanatasy fans and people who liked books like Serpent and the Wings of Night.
Antonia Bernardin 