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allisonwonderlandreads's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This fantasy is chock-full of fairy tale and legendary references in terms of history, locales, and powers, but it's also a dystopia, so naturally, the worst parts of our society remain, villainous ICE agents included. In the truly garbage Royal States of America, Tala has inherited her family's curse, making her a Spellbreaker who disrupts magic. Her best friend is the heir-in-hiding for the defeated and iced-over kingdom of Avalon. As his 18th birthday nears, it's time for Alex to take his homeland back.
There's a lot to love in this book, including funny chapter titles a la Rick Riordan. Of many favorites, "in which bad bureaucratic policies have consequences" is a true knockout, and another gem is "in which objects in mirrors are closer than they appear," and "in which the castle wants Tala to be its guest" earns a gold star. I could have literally picked any three random chapter titles, people. They're that entertaining. The pop-culture references are also sublime, from Star Wars to the TARDIS to the power of Grayskull. This provided extra tasty seasoning over a healthy diet of Wonderland, Camelot, and Neverland plot elements.
I also loved the ethnically diverse main cast with a Filipina protagonist at the helm. We are also graced with a gay King Arthur descendant and a non-binary Chinese-Canadian Loki among the main characters. The teenage leads form a promising group with hilarious quirks and a good mix of individual strengths and weaknesses that complement one another as a team.
There were some downsides for me. I felt buried in world-building at the start of this book, and other info dumps still arose later in the story. The front-loaded world-building made for a slow start to the plot and sporadic characterization. While I liked the cast, I don't feel I saw their full range. There was definitely that anticipatory "first book in a series" feeling to suggest that the real action is yet to come. The last part is a matter of personal taste. There's a lot of prophecy in the story from seers to visions to a personal "doom" spoken at birth, and these strands of fate were not always tricky to decipher. It rendered certain events predictable and paused the flow of the story.
For fans of fairy tale retellings, especially the epically chaotic variety that smooshes them all together for maximum effort, this book is for you. Definitely check it out if it sounds like your cup of ya fantasy tea.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Genocide, Grief, Homophobia, Police brutality, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, and War
Minor: Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Lesbophobia, Outing, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, and Vomit
readutation's review
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
After a month of reading this book (I would've finished this sooner if it weren't for some things happening in my life that put me in a mild reading slump), I finally finished it. And honestly, the first feeling I have is that of betrayal. But not because this book disappointed me — rather, it's because every negative review of this book LIED TO ME.
Now, I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, and people who thought this book was bad are valid. But I admit, those negative reviews have affected me so much that when I picked this book up, I was so wary of it. I was prepared to dislike it too, thinking that the highest I could ever give it is a 3-star rating.
But IT'S NOT A 3-STAR RATING!!! THIS BOOK WAS SO MUCH FUN THAT I JUST HAVE TO GIVE IT FOUR STARS.
I think where this book truly shone is the plot itself. The plot was very engaging, and I love seeing them travel and fight and use magic — the witty banter in between helped a great deal too. In particular, I enjoy getting to the "prophecy" scenes because I do love to try cracking riddles in fantasy books. I'm not particularly great at deciphering riddles, but it's fun trying to do so all the same.
Now, of course, this novel isn't perfect by any means. It does have some weak spots, which is kind of understandable since this book tried to take on so many things, some aspects are bound to fall flat. Two of the aspects this book didn't do much of a good job on are the characters and worldbuilding.
Let's start with the worldbuilding. Wicked As You Wish may be a contemporary fantasy — specifically, alternate history fantasy — but it reads like a full-fledged high fantasy simply because there are so many new elements in this alternate world. As a result, it's kind of a headache-inducing read during the first few chapters because you're trying to get a grasp on the world and struggling to do that successfully. That's why I COULD understand people who rate this book low because of the worldbuilding — it can get confusing the first time around. However, things get a lot more bearable the more you read on, so the worldbuilding issue stopped being bothersome for me later on.
As for the characters, I think they suffered a bit in terms of fleshing out because the narrative favored the plot over them. It also doesn't help that this features an ensemble cast of characters, so there are a lot of them to follow, and sometimes you lose track of who's who. Now, this is not to say that I wish there were fewer characters or that the characters are not interesting — because they are. The Bandersnatch characters are so fun to follow (Ken is probably my fave; he is just so talkative and carefree), and of course, the Katipuneros are amazing.
However, a lot of the characters are left to mystery. I guess this sets up for the next books, but I would've loved more insight from them than what I got from the story. We rarely get any insight into their motivations and secrets, and this flaw affects Tala and Alex most of all, which is a problem since they're supposed to be the main protagonists. For the most part of the story, Tala and Alex felt like they're being pushed to the sidelines because they don't know much about what's happening and they're only following Zoe and the others who know more. As a result, they're kind of passive characters until the last act pushed them to make active decisions. I feel like the characterization issue is something that the author can definitely improve in future books, and I'm looking forward to that.
Another problem I had — though it stopped being a problem later on — is the pacing. Since this book tried to do so much — build a new history, infuse some strong political themes, etc. — the pacing suffered a bit, especially in the first act. There was a lot to set up, so it was kind of jarring when there's a literal time jump between the first two chapters, trying to establish Tala's life in Invierno. The pacing fixed itself when the second act began, so this issue didn't really bother me that much.
Long story short, this was definitely a fun read, and I enjoyed every second. I liked the Tala twist, that epilogue twist, and SOME possible ships (Ken and Nya are a thing, right? I'm iffy about Tala and Ryker, but there's potential there. And, of course, COLE AND ZOE!!! COLE LIKES HER, RIGHT??? PLEASE SAY YES). I'm eager to pick up the next book and see where the story will go.
Now, I know everyone is entitled to their opinion, and people who thought this book was bad are valid. But I admit, those negative reviews have affected me so much that when I picked this book up, I was so wary of it. I was prepared to dislike it too, thinking that the highest I could ever give it is a 3-star rating.
But IT'S NOT A 3-STAR RATING!!! THIS BOOK WAS SO MUCH FUN THAT I JUST HAVE TO GIVE IT FOUR STARS.
I think where this book truly shone is the plot itself. The plot was very engaging, and I love seeing them travel and fight and use magic — the witty banter in between helped a great deal too. In particular, I enjoy getting to the "prophecy" scenes because I do love to try cracking riddles in fantasy books. I'm not particularly great at deciphering riddles, but it's fun trying to do so all the same.
Now, of course, this novel isn't perfect by any means. It does have some weak spots, which is kind of understandable since this book tried to take on so many things, some aspects are bound to fall flat. Two of the aspects this book didn't do much of a good job on are the characters and worldbuilding.
Let's start with the worldbuilding. Wicked As You Wish may be a contemporary fantasy — specifically, alternate history fantasy — but it reads like a full-fledged high fantasy simply because there are so many new elements in this alternate world. As a result, it's kind of a headache-inducing read during the first few chapters because you're trying to get a grasp on the world and struggling to do that successfully. That's why I COULD understand people who rate this book low because of the worldbuilding — it can get confusing the first time around. However, things get a lot more bearable the more you read on, so the worldbuilding issue stopped being bothersome for me later on.
As for the characters, I think they suffered a bit in terms of fleshing out because the narrative favored the plot over them. It also doesn't help that this features an ensemble cast of characters, so there are a lot of them to follow, and sometimes you lose track of who's who. Now, this is not to say that I wish there were fewer characters or that the characters are not interesting — because they are. The Bandersnatch characters are so fun to follow (Ken is probably my fave; he is just so talkative and carefree), and of course, the Katipuneros are amazing.
However, a lot of the characters are left to mystery. I guess this sets up for the next books, but I would've loved more insight from them than what I got from the story. We rarely get any insight into their motivations and secrets, and this flaw affects Tala and Alex most of all, which is a problem since they're supposed to be the main protagonists. For the most part of the story, Tala and Alex felt like they're being pushed to the sidelines because they don't know much about what's happening and they're only following Zoe and the others who know more. As a result, they're kind of passive characters until the last act pushed them to make active decisions. I feel like the characterization issue is something that the author can definitely improve in future books, and I'm looking forward to that.
Another problem I had — though it stopped being a problem later on — is the pacing. Since this book tried to do so much — build a new history, infuse some strong political themes, etc. — the pacing suffered a bit, especially in the first act. There was a lot to set up, so it was kind of jarring when there's a literal time jump between the first two chapters, trying to establish Tala's life in Invierno. The pacing fixed itself when the second act began, so this issue didn't really bother me that much.
Long story short, this was definitely a fun read, and I enjoyed every second. I liked the Tala twist, that epilogue twist, and SOME possible ships (Ken and Nya are a thing, right? I'm iffy about Tala and Ryker, but there's potential there. And, of course, COLE AND ZOE!!! COLE LIKES HER, RIGHT??? PLEASE SAY YES). I'm eager to pick up the next book and see where the story will go.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Xenophobia, and Police brutality
Minor: Racism, Genocide, and War
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