Cover Image: Wicked As You Wish

Wicked As You Wish

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Member Reviews

❝ “What I mean is, you’ve got magic in your blood, love. You can’t take it out of you any more than you can will yourself to stop breathing.“ ❞

I was first introduced to Rin Chupeco’s work when I read The Bone Witch. I really loved this book and was super excited to read more from her, so I jumped on the chance to request Wicked As You Wish. Despite my high expectations, I ultimately felt a bit let down by this book although there were definitely parts I enjoyed. It was because of my mixed feelings that I ended up DNF’ing this book at 38%.

One of the strongest aspects of this book–and what appealed the most to me initially–was the close family relationship. I liked the cultural aspects woven into not only the characters but the overall story. Filipino culture was so integrated into the story that it was practically seamless.

We also saw diversity in the cast of characters as well. One of the main characters, Alex, was gay and there was another character introduced a little later in the series that was non-binary (I think that’s the right term, but correct me if I’m wrong!) and identified as they/them. Between the two LGBTQ characters and the cultural representation, I think this book did a great job of creating a diverse story.

However, the world building and plot of the story felt weak to me and were the reasons I decided not to continue on. Right off the bat I think there was just so much info-dumping about the wars and past rulers. It was a lot to take in, but even then the worst part of it was the magic system. It just felt like the way magic and technology was made to blend didn’t end up working that well together. It was confusing and it felt like so much time was spent on making the magical aspects seem interesting that the focus on the actual plot was dragging behind and suffered.

Overall, I think Wicked As You Wish just wasn’t well put together. It needed more work on the actual part and less detail/complexity in the magic area, but it still had some positive elements in terms of diversity and cultural representation that I think people could enjoy.

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This was a typical fantasy novel. I wasn’t overly impressed by it but not disappointed either. As a person who doesn’t read fantasy a majority of the time I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this one. There are others with more intrigue and action.

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I enjoyed reading several aspects of this book! The pacing was wonderful, characters were well drawn, and the reading experience on the whole was delightful.

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I had a difficult time wrapping my head around the world-building and it took me out of the story. I was interested in the magic system, but the first few chapters just felt like a huge info dump.

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There was a lot I loved about this book. Mainly, how the various mythologies were interwoven into the story and especially the highlighting of non-Euro centric cultures. The characters are fun and have clever interactions with each other. It did feel like a lot was happening and a lot was being glossed over, but many things are answered by the end, leaving enough of an opening for the next book.

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Ugh. Guys. You know me. You know I really don’t like writing negative reviews. But that’s kind of the deal of being a book blogger, right? We’re in for the good, for the bad and for the ugly. This … is ugly. Especially coming from a writer whose other book I rated with 5 stars. What happened, you ask? Well, I have a theory, hear me out.

Rin Chupeco said that Wicked As You Wish was the first book she ever completed, BUT it’s also the seventh book she published. Meaning, this manuscript has sat probably unchanged for years, while Chupeco progressed as a writer. Then after all this time she came back to it, and I am guessing – she didn’t want to harm her baby project? It somehow stayed at the creative/writing level she was at at the time? I don’t know, but the difference between it and her more recent work is deafening.

I barely finished it. For me, it sucked. First of all, it’s YA, and not just any kind, but the cliched one. We have our usual love problems, teen tantrums, and also (W H Y) Carly Rae Jepsen??? I think the second chapter is named after her, and that’s when this novel lost me. I endured eternal agony to finish it, only because it was an ARC, but hell if I’m going to do that again.

You can read what’s it about above, I cannot repeat that, instead I’ll expand on it. This book is a meaningless info dump. Every possible fairy tale, Disney cartoon, legendary character, you name it – it’s a central character in this novel. The Firebird, Wonderland, The Snow Queen, Neverland, Jabberwocky, Avalon, Robin Hood, Baba Yaga, shall I continue? No need, you name it – it’s in the book. I LOVE retellings, and I love subtle nods to all these fairy tales and legends we love, but this? Too much, woman, know when to stop.

What else is too much, you ask? Representation. Chupeco tried to represent every possible minority, sexual orientation and my grandma’s pickle salad. The main character, Tala, is half Filipino half Scottish, but they’re (Her family) all apparently Latinx and speak Spanish because they live in Arizona?! I struggled hard to understand what they were talking about until I just couldn’t. Oh yeah, and then the gay Russian tsarevitch comes to live with them, and he turns boys into frogs when he kisses them. And the villain is Frozen’s Elsa with her ICE agents (GETIT).

There is a magical system, which is based on technology, and very weird to understand. Tala is a descendant of yet another faction – makilings – they can cancel out any magic and spells, but then Tala actually can do magic??? She and the prince Alexei are too hollow for two main characters, but then they get backup in the form of Bandersnatches (some annoying kids) who are even more one dimensional, so much that they are basically paper cut-outs?!

And what’s the plot, you ask? I don’t know! The Snow Queen is evil, and she wants to destroy the world I guess? And some lousy kids are the world’s best chance? FFS. For the last couple of chapters I was seriously debating in favor of DNFing this but alas I persevered. Even though the writing is so horrible I wanted to poke out my eyes with toothpicks.

I will still read Chupeco’s other books, because I did like The Girl from the Well, and I heard The Bone Witch trilogy is really good, but with this series I am DONE.

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I really enjoyed this book! I read it while I was on vacation and finished it in one day! The story starts with a girl named Tala who’s a magic user, something you really shouldn’t be flaunting around. Her best friend, Alexei, is the heir to the Kingdom of Avalon, which was frozen in ice by the Snow Queen, sealing off much of the world’s magic along with it. When the firebird, a creature that hasn’t been seen in decades reappears, Tala and Alexei (along with a few other friends) have to travel back to Avalon and save the world. I really enjoyed the banter and action scenes, as well as the magic system and characters! It was a fun experience and would recommend!

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boring and predictable
dnf because i don't wanna get into a reading slump
will try some of rin chupeco's other stuff but I have no intention of finishing this

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This book is a very mixed bag for me. In terms of the plot, I felt like the beginning was weak. It was slow and I struggled to get into the book. It took until I was about 100+ pages before I felt invested in the book. The start was slow paced as we were starting to get to know the characters and the world, and it was the set up to the journey to Avalon. Also the summary of the book makes it seems like you are following Alex's story when you're really following Tala's. I didn't mind that however, as I preferred Tala as a character. She was my favourite character whilst I really disliked Alex. Alex was annoying and irritating. He considers Tala to be his best friend but he does not tell Tala his secrets or really communicate with her. You don't really see them act as best friends, you are just told that they are but reading this book doesn't make it feel like they actually are best friends. Alex doesn't talk to Tala multiple times in this book. There was a scene where there was a battle and Alex and Tala gets separated and not for one second was he worried about her health. He told others not to worry about her because she can hold her own, but just because she can hold her own doesn't mean that she is uninjured. Also when it suits Alex, he treats Tala like she is his subject (which to be fair she is), and then other times his best friend. It's not a consistent treatment or a balanced friendship. The middle did pick up and I did end up reading the last like 200 pages in one sitting, and I am intrigued to see what will happen in the next book but I don't think I would recommend this book to people.

My favourite characters outside of Tala were definitely the ensemble of secondary characters that we met. They all felt well developed and I am more excited to see what will happen to them in the upcoming book than Alex.

In regards to romance, there isn't much in this book, and the little that was in here I didn't particularly like, enjoy, felt invested, or believed in the romance. That sounds more condemning then it actually is. It's a star-crossed, forbidden romance that will most like play a part in other books, but I couldn't see the romance actually being important to the characters as they didn't actually spend that much time together in the book. It felt more like a crush that went wrong. I will be disappointed if in the future books more attentions will be placed on the main romance. In terms of the side plots, I really hope that there is romance on the cards for the side characters. I would be so on board for that and I think some romance will happen in book 2 for some of the characters.

In terms of the word building, it was unique but I didn't particularly like it. This was the first time that I read a book that was set up in our real world but there are fictional countries and a different timeline of historical events and leaders. I wished the world was either completely in our world, or our world with an alternate dimension, or a fictional fantasy world because then it would have been easier to picture the world. This is because the mixture of real past people and fictional myths/legends/people made it hard to understand the world and it's history because you don't know what has changed until it is mentioned in the book. However, I did like the significance of ICE in the story. I liked how they were the bad guys as it is significant today.

One of the things that I really loved about this book is the representation. It's completely full of it. It was also my second ever book that I read which featured a conversation where characters talk about pronouns and what to call each other. The other book I also read for Asianreadathon and I loved it. I loved seeing these Asian authors putting these conversations in their work and normalising these conversations.

Overall, I did enjoy this book. I will read the next ones in the series. I wouldn't recommend this book though. However, I would recommend Rin's other works The Bone Witch series, and Rin as an author to follow.

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With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for my ARC to review.

I loved The Bone Witch series, so the fact that I’ve tried to complete this title a few times is difficult to admit.

Things to celebrate: a strong female protagonist from a Filipina background (yay to not following type); and a fantastic depiction of family, with strong bonds, full of both strengths and foibles; the Phoenix, which is just such a gorgeous creature (I love Fawkes in Harry Potter and the Firebird from Russian mythology).

Detractors: a mish mash of so many fairytales that it becomes hard to follow the politics.

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I gave this book another try and was glad to do so. There were a lot of name dropping and historical figures which didn’t quite become important by the end of the book. It is magical with quite a lot of political issues and folklore thrown in. It started out slow and picked up my interest only about past halfway through. It was a great ending promising and hinting on a more adventurous book2. I wish the next book would not be much of an info dump anymore since we had that here on the first book.

I gave it 3.5 stars because of the fact that the magic system was a bit confusing, some characters fell flat for me. It’s that or there were just too many characters in this book. Of course I thoroughly enjoyed all the Filipino references, it’s a representation that we’ve longed to read for a while now! I liked Tala, the way i also like adobo. I think she is a very believable character with the conflict that could pass as acceptable. I still want to know which path she takes ahead.

While i didnt like some characters, some stood out as well. The Order of the Bandersnatch is a cool group of young folks to be deemed as worthy to succeed in a risky mission. The Katipuneros in this book were titas (women) instead of men which is a very good representation of feminism and women empowerment. This book also embraces gender equality. The other points i enjoyed were the family dynamics, bravery and friendship. It seriously gave me Frozen vibes. My rating was primarily from the relatable characters and the satisfying ending. I’ve read other works by Chupeco before and i can say i liked it better than this book.

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I am a big fan of fairy tale mashups and seeing it in the context of an (alternate) modern world was really fun but confusing. That was my main problem with the book and could very well be a "me" thing- I was so confused a good portion of the time! I think the mixture of regular stuff (Indiana Jones and Carly Rae Jephson mentions) mixed with alternate history (Royal States of America, spelltech, Wonderland, etc) threw me for a bigger loop than I expected. BUT! I really liked Tala and the crew. The adventures were well-paced and exciting and there is a lot of Filipino culture present in the first half of the story in particular. I also really enjoyed the last quarter of the book especially so I'm interested in the sequel for sure. Maybe it'll be easier for me to wrap my head around this time!

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Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco is an urban YA fantasy set in a rich, imaginative world with diverse and interesting characters. This is my first Rin Chupeco's book and I had a pleasure to buddy read this with some bookstagram friends.

The story follows Tala Warnock, a descendant of the legendary Maria Makiling, whose agimat was to block or break any spells. Alex, the prince of Avalon, arrived in Invierno to hide from the evil Snow Queen of Beira. He and Tala soon became best friends. Avalon was under a curse, and Alex couldn't do anything yet unless he found the treasures of Avalon that would help him defeat the Snow Queen. When the Ice Maidens found him, they barely escaped and transported back to Avalon. Together with other bandersnatchers, guided only with prophecies, the Kingdom of Avalon's future fell into the hands of Alex and Tala. Would they be able to lift the curse before it was too late?

Wow. Reading this novel was such a long ride. There were lots of things I really liked and not really a fan of this book. The world building was really intricate and well-thought off. Different fairytales I heard and listened to when I was a kid were woven into the story. This quite overwhelmed me. My friend Donna advised not to overthink things and just go with the flow since those elements were more like just the background of the current situations. The pacing was slow for me, maybe because of the world building. Don't get me wrong, I do love a book with great world building. However, it felt a little info dumping. I was informed that Rin's writing style tend to give information in the beginning of the story so the flow would go smoothly afterwards. This kind of style is a hit or miss for me and I personally struggled to it. Thankfully, the plot became interesting so I was able to push through the ending.

I liked the characters. Tala is a strong and determined character. I enjoyed reading the interactions between the Makilings, especially the Katipuneros. It still impressed me how Rin was able to instill facts and history. Although I was confused at first who was who, I grew fond of them. I also liked how everyone seemed to have secrets that might play a major role to the story. I'm looking forward to how the characters will be fleshed out more in the following books.

Overall, Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco is a solid first book of a series. After reading the epilogue, I know that this series will shock and offer more to the readers.

3.5/5 stars!

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I did not make it through this book. I ended up picking the audio up through the library and after three hours chose to return it. I found it to be problematic by displaying reverse racism and verbal bullying. I did not appreciate the words used to name call.

I did like the magic set in a contemporary setting so I am disappointed. I do not feel comfortable knowing young readers will be subjected to such language.

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I wanted to love this book since I love Rin's other books, but I didn't connect with the main character. Entirely personal and subjective, so I'll give it a three star,

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First of all, I would like to thank Sourcebooks Fire and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in advance. This book was pending for me to review for a long time now. By the time I got it, my personal life was complicated, and I was forced to be away from any platform.

The first word that comes to my mind when I think about this book is, WOW. From the very beginning, I was captivated by the story. We have magic, technology, a new version of the US, and a vanished kingdom that was frozen by the one and only Snow Queen.

You may be asking yourselves how can all of these different components can work together in harmony. Well, we have to thank the incredible author for doing an amazing work then. All of the particular characteristics of this universe merge together beautifully, and flow smoothly throughout the story.

Family and friendship are the main keywords of this beautiful novel. The characters are so well developed, each of them featuring outstanding and different personalities. I have to highlight here the attitude of our protagonist, a powerful girl who has to keep part of her identity hidden in order to live.

But who can remain being in the hiding when you befriend Alexei, prince of the (frozen) kingdom of Avalon? Well, if you want to find the answer, go and grab this book as soon as you can.

Refugees, love and partnership. That's the words I would use to describe this awesome story.

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This was such an ambitious fairytale and mythology mashup! Like welcome to a whole NEW WORLD (literally) as we enter the Royal States, where magic is normal and Ice Queens freeze whole countries, a kiss can turn you into a frog, princes go missing, and girls can cancel out magic to save their best friends. It's packed with plot and details too, and layers of history and world building. If you're into books that focus on the action, the journey, and the world, THIS is for you.

Also I'm so here for books where diversity is celebrated, not tucked into a forgotten corner. Tala is Filipino, Prince Alex is queer, and we have so many side characters who are POC and queer (and an enby Loki!). Also I appreciated that it wasn't just fairy tales, but we had Robin Hood, Norse mythology, and Firebirds and Baba Yaga in there too.

The overall story could have done with a little tightening though, as sometimes there was so much going on, I felt lost. Tala also seemed like a sidekick in her own story, though I did love her!

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This has been sitting way too long so I'm calling it. I'm a big fan of the author's other books so I was really looking forward to this book but (and this absolutely kills me) this is going to be a DNF for me at 40%.

I could not get into this book. For me, the biggest downfall was the characters. There was zero connection and, honestly, I wasn't interested in getting there. Everyone just felt so....flat and trying to add in that snarky, sarcastic attitude that usually draws me in actually made me feel awkward and weird. Like they were trying WAY too hard.

There wasn't much in the way of world building but in a more urban setting I don't feel that it's as necessary as it would be in a high fantasy type setting so that wasn't a deal breaker for me at all. What really got me, and this set the tone for the entire experience, was how we were just thrown right into the story. No foreplay....just both feet right in. I was so confused right from the beginning and never bounced back. I needed a nudge....not a push.

Was it all bad? No, it wasn't. I LOVED the way the author integrated an urban setting with fairytale characterization and locations. It was such a unique way to add an extra bit of fantasy to the story and to ruin your childhood just a tiny bit. I learned more about Filipino culture and family life, not to mention some serious eye opening of immigration and ICE.

My favourite part? Chapter headings. I live for catchy and unique chapter headings and Wicked As You Wish had that in spades. The foreshadowing was a bit of icing on the cake.

I know this will be someone's new favourite book and I'm so annoyed that it won't be mine but life's too short for books that I just don't want to pick back up.

I will continue to read new books this author puts out. One disappointment for me isn't a deal breaker. I'll look forward to the next one!

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I liked this book, though I don't really think that it was right up my alley. I liked the character and the diversity. I also think it was a great story. There were times when I felt like I didn't know much about their world, and this is the only place it really fell short for me. With that aside, I enjoyed it.

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This is an enjoyable new YA book with great representation and a beautiful cast of characters ! The world building could've been a bit more flashed out with less info dumping for my taste but I appreciate the originality of this book !

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