Do Not Touch The Sword. Do Not Turn The Key. Do Not Open The Gate.

I recently finished reading Quicksilver by Callie Hart. This is book #1 in the Fae and Alchemy series.

POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT

  Rating: 4.25/5 stars

"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."

I am still debating on how I want to rate this and I might even come back and change it later. The beginning started off strong and had me completely intrigued. It had so much potential, but the middle 200 or so pages I struggled with. The pace was a little off and nothing was really happening.

I don’t know how to explain it other than I was intrigued by the plot and I wanted to keep reading, but at times I felt like it was very unoriginal. However, at around the 60% mark, I felt a shift in the pacing and the plot developed more and I was very much locked in. I think the last half of the book was amazing, so many things happened in the second half, and I was having so much fun reading it.

Then the ending came and boom. You know those moments where you just look at your book/kindle like What just happened? That ending completely made up for it. I can not wait for the second one to come out in October!

Saeris Fane is a human girl living in a desert land who is good at two things: keeping secrets and stealing. She steals to survive and to take care of her younger brother who constantly finds himself in the middle of trouble. One day, Saeris finds that her stealing catches up to her and the guards have come to take her to the Queen. After her and her family are sentenced to death, a mysterious man in a pool of quicksilver rescues her and takes her to another realm. When she wakes up, she realizes she has been thrown into a world of fae and war, and the only way she can get back home is to help the King.

I really enjoyed Saeris, from the very beginning, she was a survivor. Sassy, smart, and quick-witted, she was not afraid to accept a challenge or defend those she loved. With no living parents, it was up to her to take care of herself and her younger brother. Saeris is different and she knows it but doesn't quite understand these unusual abilities.

Kingfisher moved with the shadows, dark, mysterious and half-insane. He was a brooding MMC, labeled as a traitor, and disliked by many. Deep down though, its a facade to block others out. He is extremely loyal and would battle the world for those he cared about.

I absolutely adored Kingfisher. If the author writes a lot of her male main characters this way I definitely want to read more of her books because he was this tortured soul, and very much emo, and the "I will die for my woman vibe" and I absolutely loved it.

The found family trope was my favorite in this book. Carrion was hilarious and helped bring humor to the story. Everlayne is the sweetest and was a friend to Saeris with no questions asked. Ren and Lorreth, I loved their undying loyalty to Kingfisher and their backstories that made them all so close.

Enemies to lovers, tension, and banter. This romance was a little of everywhere. One minute they hated each other and then the next minute it was insta-lust that lacked emotional depth. However, towards the end of the story it did develop much better.

The magic system and the entire Quicksilver was a really cool addition to the story.

Will, I keep reading this series? I absolutely will. Am I annoyed that it was picked up by TRAD publishing so now I have to wait an entire year? Also absolutely yes.

Check out Quicksilver, and discover what happens when you open the gate.

Happy Reading :)