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adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Chronic illness, Infertility, Slavery, Terminal illness, Sexual harassment, Classism
Minor: Addiction, Confinement, Sexual violence, Vomit, Murder
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Entertaining romantasy, with a bit of a darker edge. Mild enemies to Lovers.
I liked this different take on vampires- cursed, curse removed, and some remaining who wanted to keep the power of the curse.
Also... what happened to Onyx??
Also... what happened to Onyx??
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Infertility, Mental illness, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, War
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Vomit
adventurous
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Gore, Violence, Blood, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Minor: Confinement, Genocide, Rape, Slavery, Torture, Vomit, Kidnapping, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol
adventurous
challenging
funny
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
📚 Synopsis (Spoiler-Free):
The first in the Fae & Alchemy series, Quicksilver introduces a world of shadows, secrets, and simmering slow-burn tension. Kingfisher, a brooding alchemist with a fractured past, crosses paths with Saeris Fane, a fae with a sharp tongue and secrets of her own. With danger closing in and old powers awakening, what starts as reluctant alliance quickly turns into something much deeper. Think magical academia meets high-stakes fantasy, wrapped in chaos, chemistry, and razor-sharp banter.
The first in the Fae & Alchemy series, Quicksilver introduces a world of shadows, secrets, and simmering slow-burn tension. Kingfisher, a brooding alchemist with a fractured past, crosses paths with Saeris Fane, a fae with a sharp tongue and secrets of her own. With danger closing in and old powers awakening, what starts as reluctant alliance quickly turns into something much deeper. Think magical academia meets high-stakes fantasy, wrapped in chaos, chemistry, and razor-sharp banter.
🧠 My Thoughts:
I loved this book. Kingfisher has my heart — grumpy, brilliant, and emotionally repressed in exactly the right proportions. It gripped me early on and kept me guessing throughout. I thought I had a handle on where things were going, but the plot continually pulled the rug out from under me — in the best way.
I loved this book. Kingfisher has my heart — grumpy, brilliant, and emotionally repressed in exactly the right proportions. It gripped me early on and kept me guessing throughout. I thought I had a handle on where things were going, but the plot continually pulled the rug out from under me — in the best way.
The dynamic between Saeris and Kingfisher is electric. Carrion, meanwhile, is the ultimate comic relief: sharp, hilarious, and still written with genuine depth. The tone is dark without being heavy, romantic without losing the grit, and manages to balance worldbuilding with character development impressively well for a first-in-series.
This is exactly the kind of romantasy I want more of — high tension, actual stakes, and characters that stick with you.
🗣️ Favourite Quotes:
“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.”
“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.”
“I’ll be grateful for every second that I can say that I belong to you, Saeris Fane. Eighty years or eighteen hours. It doesn’t matter to me. It’ll still be the highest honour of my life.”
“Sure, why not. I’m too pretty to die old, anyway.”
“You’re incorrigible!” “I don’t know what that means.” “Yes, you fucking do!” “All right. I do. What’s your point?”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence
Moderate: Confinement
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨ (5.75/5) | Spicy, Smart, and So Well Done
I just finished listening to the audiobook of ClickSilver and wow—what a ride! This book was everything I hoped it would be and more. It’s definitely on the spicier side (and I mean very spicy and delightfully naughty in some scenes 😏), but it never felt over the top or unnecessary. The steam served the story, and that’s what made it even better.
What really stood out to me was the quality of the writing—the pacing was perfect, the world-building made sense, and the characters were rich and well-developed. It was a dark fantasy romance with just the right amount of edge and depth. The plot kept me engaged from start to finish, and the descriptive style was vivid without dragging on.
I chose the audiobook version because I didn’t have the time to sit down and read, and I’m so glad I did. The dual narration—featuring both a male and female narrator—made the listening experience seamless and immersive. It added so much to the storytelling and character dynamics.
This book is 100% a recommendation for adult readers (21+ especially) who enjoy fantasy with a seductive twist. It’s bold, it’s beautifully written, and it absolutely earns its place on my favorites shelf.
Can’t wait to see what comes next from this author!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Cursing, Death, Sexual content
Moderate: Slavery, Blood
Minor: Infertility
Spoiler alert 🚨: Book ends with a cliffhanger
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Drug use, Infertility, Vomit, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, War
Minor: Addiction, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Police brutality, Abandonment, Pandemic/Epidemic
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Quicksilver is an explicit open-door romantasy that takes a lot of popular tropes and jumbles it into a mostly coherent story that occasionally feels like it has too many elements thrown in. There's the sassy, scrappy female lead - Saeris Fane - who starts the book by stealing from the police force of her city's despotic immortal tyrant. She's from the roughest part of town, orphaned, with a reckless younger brother and a broken-down foster father figure to look after. Luckily, she grew up with rebels who taught her how to fight and steal to survive in this dystopic desert city.
She's also got a magical affinity for metals, which comes in handy when her luck runs out. Finally captured by the Queen's guardians, she escapes almost certain death thanks to a mysterious sword and a man that looks like Death itself, but is actually just the male lead - the book cover's shadow daddy and (for many) the star attraction - Kingfisher. He's tall, brooding, muscled, and intensely abrasive, because of his dark past. But since we know this book is a romance and often called an enemies-to-lovers story, we know he'll eventually show his soft spot to the female lead, and there will be several spicy scenes along the way from make-out sessions to hours-long sex marathons.
Plot-wise, this book is a series of escalations. At first, it seems like it's about rebelling against the tyrant Queen of Saeris's home city. Then it's about Saeris trying to get home to fight said tyrant after she's roped into another war in a Fae kingdom. Eventually the plot spans multiple worlds and multiple wars, and it's all really one big battle to save the universe if you think about it. But the book is a romance, so it's really about Saeris and Kingfisher. Everything else starts to feel like loosely connected random challenges the author thought to throw at the couple.
To the couple's credit, they only do the "I'm doing X that you disagree with to save you" and "I'm going to be mean for a good reason that will be explained later" a few times before they learn to stop acting in ways that just infuriate each other. But I'd stay away from this book if you want couples that clearly communicate and don't snark at each other every other sentence.
Both leads are abrasive, and while it makes sense for how their characters developed, it becomes exhausting how most of their dialogue with each other and everyone else is combative, snarky, and/or rude. Several side characters are also equally or more abrasive, and if it weren't for a handful of side characters who tended on the gentler side, I would think that snark and attitude are the default for this setting. It doesn't help that this book is narrated in first person by Saeris, who is generally cranky and impulsive.
Regarding the setting and worldbuilding, it's a hodgepodge. We start with a desert city under strict water rations and quarantine, which seemed like it could be an interesting place to set a story in, but we are quickly brought to a wintery Fae kingdom. Saeris, whose life was dictated by water rationing, constantly describes the wintery Fae kingdom in terms of how much water she can't believe it has. Somehow, taverns are common to both settings, so Saeris can get a stiff drink regardless.
The Fae live hundreds of years and have pointy ears, which made me wonder why they weren't just called elves. The Fae can't lie if they swear not to, and seem to function just like humans but prettier and older, which just sounds like elves by another name to me. The Fae also have fangs, but they don't drink blood - that's what the vampires are for. I'm not sure why this is thrown into the mix. The fangs are used for sexy scenes with biting, but it's an odd trait to give to Fae, especially when the story then has to make it clear that Fae fangs are for sex, while vampire fangs are for feeding. This is where I started to feel like the author had a grab-bag of popular tropes that they shoehorned into the story - sexy biting, fated mates, Fae courts, enemies-to-lovers, broody male with shadow powers - but doesn't really do anything particularly new or interesting with them.
Overall, I'm not sure how I finished reading this book. I thought about dropping it several times, but I would give it another couple pages because one of the side characters would say something funny. The lead couple was not compelling to me, but I found Saeris's preoccupation with Kingfisher's attractiveness funny. It's funny how thirsty she is despite her circumstances.
I don't plan on reading the sequel.
She's also got a magical affinity for metals, which comes in handy when her luck runs out. Finally captured by the Queen's guardians, she escapes almost certain death thanks to a mysterious sword and a man that looks like Death itself, but is actually just the male lead - the book cover's shadow daddy and (for many) the star attraction - Kingfisher. He's tall, brooding, muscled, and intensely abrasive, because of his dark past. But since we know this book is a romance and often called an enemies-to-lovers story, we know he'll eventually show his soft spot to the female lead, and there will be several spicy scenes along the way from make-out sessions to hours-long sex marathons.
Plot-wise, this book is a series of escalations. At first, it seems like it's about rebelling against the tyrant Queen of Saeris's home city. Then it's about Saeris trying to get home to fight said tyrant after she's roped into another war in a Fae kingdom. Eventually the plot spans multiple worlds and multiple wars, and it's all really one big battle to save the universe if you think about it. But the book is a romance, so it's really about Saeris and Kingfisher. Everything else starts to feel like loosely connected random challenges the author thought to throw at the couple.
To the couple's credit, they only do the "I'm doing X that you disagree with to save you" and "I'm going to be mean for a good reason that will be explained later" a few times before they learn to stop acting in ways that just infuriate each other. But I'd stay away from this book if you want couples that clearly communicate and don't snark at each other every other sentence.
Both leads are abrasive, and while it makes sense for how their characters developed, it becomes exhausting how most of their dialogue with each other and everyone else is combative, snarky, and/or rude. Several side characters are also equally or more abrasive, and if it weren't for a handful of side characters who tended on the gentler side, I would think that snark and attitude are the default for this setting. It doesn't help that this book is narrated in first person by Saeris, who is generally cranky and impulsive.
Regarding the setting and worldbuilding, it's a hodgepodge. We start with a desert city under strict water rations and quarantine, which seemed like it could be an interesting place to set a story in, but we are quickly brought to a wintery Fae kingdom. Saeris, whose life was dictated by water rationing, constantly describes the wintery Fae kingdom in terms of how much water she can't believe it has. Somehow, taverns are common to both settings, so Saeris can get a stiff drink regardless.
The Fae live hundreds of years and have pointy ears, which made me wonder why they weren't just called elves. The Fae can't lie if they swear not to, and seem to function just like humans but prettier and older, which just sounds like elves by another name to me. The Fae also have fangs, but they don't drink blood - that's what the vampires are for. I'm not sure why this is thrown into the mix. The fangs are used for sexy scenes with biting, but it's an odd trait to give to Fae, especially when the story then has to make it clear that Fae fangs are for sex, while vampire fangs are for feeding. This is where I started to feel like the author had a grab-bag of popular tropes that they shoehorned into the story - sexy biting, fated mates, Fae courts, enemies-to-lovers, broody male with shadow powers - but doesn't really do anything particularly new or interesting with them.
Overall, I'm not sure how I finished reading this book. I thought about dropping it several times, but I would give it another couple pages because one of the side characters would say something funny. The lead couple was not compelling to me, but I found Saeris's preoccupation with Kingfisher's attractiveness funny. It's funny how thirsty she is despite her circumstances.
I don't plan on reading the sequel.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Fire/Fire injury, War
Minor: Confinement, Cursing, Infertility, Torture, Violence, Vomit, Death of parent
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
There are a ton of romantasy books on the market right now, but this one is my favorite! There is a lot of storyline and action, yes the romance and spice is there but it isn’t the biggest thing happening. And the way that it ends!! I can’t wait to read the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, War
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Gore, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Genocide, Rape, Suicide attempt
The main characters were absolutely insufferable. I made it halfway and just the thought of another 10 hours listening to them just filled me with dread. The opening was very reminscent of Dune so I was very confused how the fairies fit in. When she's kidnapped and brought to the fey world, she has a magic power that hasn't been seen for hundreds of years. But she winds up locked in a blood oath to a half-mad fey lord to help the fairies win a war on their world. They spend all their time talking about how much they hate each other and how badly they want to fuck. Forced proximity is not a favorite genre of mine and this one was just too much "f*ck you!" "Gladly" over and over again. I'm exhausted by it
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Sexual content, Blood, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
Moderate: Confinement, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, War
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Infertility, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, War, Injury/Injury detail