I absolutely love Rin Chupeco's THE BONE WITCH trilogy, so I was excited to dig into WICKED AS YOU WISH.
It totally did not disappoint.

WICKED AS YOU WISH has the feel of epic fantasy with a contemporary twist, thanks to the world-building that she does in this story. (I'm REALLY hoping there are maps in the print version because I had a hard time placing where some of the countries are located in this alternate history of the world.) The setting for the story is modern-day, but thanks to this alternate timeline, the US is the Royal States of America, California has been annexed, and fairy tale lands are real places (think Neverland, Avalon, Wonderland) along with a contingent of fairy tale princesses (Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Red Hood, etc) who have real backstories.

In this story, Alex, the last prince of Avalon, has been in hiding while they await the arrival of a firebird before his 18th birthday - its arrival will hopefully signal that he will, at last, be able to free his country of the icy grave it's been buried under.

Magic is real, and made accessible through technology. Tala is half Filipino, half Scottish, and her "magic" (from her mother's side) is that she can repel magic. She lives in Arizona next door to a houseful of other Filipino aunties and uncles, all who are fierce warriors/guards of their own right (fighting with fans edged with sharp blades, among other things.)

Chupeco has woven in a lot of modern-day issues - ICE and borders, prejudice against minorities and LGBTQ, the fight for technology and resources in order to maintain power. She also has a diverse cast of characters that are well developed and interesting - fierce, quirky, and strong-willed.

In fact, of all the characters, Tala is the LEAST informed about what's going on, both with the task they must undertake, her family history - even her own control of her own powers is still a work in progress.

Oh, and the battles! There are a wide variety of enemies to battle, from ogres to ice wolves and ice maidens to a Swamp king and the Ice Queen's army of ...undead? Posessed? (I was never really clear what their status was once she possessed them other than "gone".)

And to that end...there is a LOT going on in the story.

The feeling of epic fantasy comes, I think, from the sheer amount of information related to the world-building going on in the story. There is a lot of it - magic, cultures, history, and it's all thrown at you in some pretty big info dumps. (this is where maps and character lists would be helpful, to show where everyone comes from.) This isn't a story to race through - while this was a marathon read for me, it did involve a bit of backtracking from time to time to re-read a section to sort out history, in particular.

I admit, there were a few spots where the pace picked up and I lost the thread a little bit. There are still a few elements in play that I'm confused about at the end - this was a tale with a LOT going on. There is also a lot of magical terms to keep straight (as the book says - there are as many words in Tagalog for "magic" as the Inuit have for "snow") as there are locations of these nether lands and a lot of side characters.


Did I mention that I read this in a day - I simply couldn't put it down - and I can't wait to see what comes next for Tala, Alex, and the rest of the crew. (Although wait, I must...)


Thanks to Goodreads for providing me with an advanced reader copy.

Unfortunately, this was a "did not finish" for me.
From the start of the book, it reads like a weird information dump. There is no buildup for the characters or the world in which they live. The readers are just thrown into messy worldbuilding with characters that feel bland and one dimensional. I loved the idea behind the magical realism of this story, but it was really all over the place. It felt impossible to retain any kind of information.
If there's anything I took away from the short moment with this book is the Filipino representation that is so often not present in young adult books.

I loved this book!! Rin Chupeco has done a wonderful job of interlacing many different fairy tales and stories that I grew up with into a new world based on their magics. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and already cannot wait for anither!

I had heard a lot from this author and decided to give him a chance and I was not disappointed at all, this book was fantastic.
There are many characters that are bad and I love, I love that there is a lot of darkness and evil.
It's very difficult to pick a favorite character, because they're all great and special.
Enjoy this book from start to finish, especially the end.
Thank you very much for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.

I have mixed feelings. This is such an interesting precise. However, sometimes the execution falls a bit flat. Just using the term, "frog" put me off a little bit. It didn't feel ominous or fear inducing.

This was such an interesting blend of modern/contemporary life with fantasy! Tala was a fascinating main character, and though I did struggle to keep the fantastical side straight in my head in the beginning, the joy of following her story was more than enough to keep me engaged.

Rin has a way of writing poetically in my opinion. The way she brings on cultures in this was beautifully done. I also admire the diversity of the characters. This book was a 5 star rating, heck most of Rins books ive read have been 5 star ratings. It’s something about the way she writes these scenes that have me picturering everything vividly.

There were times I really wanted to see a scene pulled out of the book and drawn! I literally can go on, but I won’t let’s talk about the characters.

This book has a bunch of bad ass warriors that you can’t help but become attached to. We have Zoe, Ken, Loki, Cole, West, Alex and best yet Tala! They all have to get the prince to safety the prince being Alex, without the Ice Queen getting to him. Thoughout the book, I was laughing at the interactions of these characters. They felt like friends and comrades, while there was points in the story where I wanted to throttle Alex (the prince) because he acted like a FROG! He was so mean to them and acted entitled and ungrateful! At first I really thought he was this humble prince who would be a hero in the end but nope. He redeemed himself slightly in my eyes in the end.

Tala for sure was one of my favorite characters, though I felt mixed feeling because she didn’t own her badassness! She felt very insecure to me and I’ll tell you why! BECAUSE NO ONE WOULD TELL HER WHAT THE HECK WAS GOING ON! She was literally set to be a key player and yet no one told her anything. She had to piece it all together on her own and i felt her frustration like girl get yourself some new friend! There was a bit of a love interest and it didn’t really focus on that which I didn’t mind. I think Tala had bigger things to worry about. Her dad though, he’s a different story!

Ken, Loki, and West really kept me reading on! They seem like the end game, friend goals, friends I wish I had! Zoe and Cole, the tension the pure wanting that was there!! They can deny all they want but I think they are perfect!

Over all, I really enjoyed this book. That last part, Rin had me chocked!! Like what do you mean!! I’m excited to see more of these characters and see if Tala excepts her destiny or will she run from it!!

Thank you to fairyloot and NetGally for the copies of these beautiful ARC’s!

**Review will be posted on my blog on 2/29/20 , closer to publication date**

Thank you to Sourcebook Fire and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

Let me just say, I have a love for Rin Chupeco books. I remember not being able to read The Bone Witch because it was too slow and yet it ended up being one of my favorite series. 😱

So here we have Wicked As You Wish. Think magic, technology, an alternate Earth where the land of fairy tales exists in our modern day world. It reminded me of the show Once Upon A Time!

Tala is half filipino, half scottish and her power? She negates magic, she can break spells, which is super useful when you are around evil magic users. The last heir of the magical kingdom of Avalon, Alex, is in hiding and his protectors are her parents who used to be warriors when Avalon was a thriving place. But with the Snow Queen after him, now Tala, her family, the new Bandersnatch warriors are on the run to get to Avalon and free it from it’s frozen prison. Will they succeed?

What I Liked:

*There is an intricate world being described in this book. It will confuse a lot of people because it did confuse me. Just know that it is our modern day world, but the fairy tale kingdoms of Neverland, Wonderland and Avalon exist as well. It’s real. As for the magic system, non-magic users covet spelltech, basically using magic and technology together, ex. a cell phone which can create spells! But there is older magic or powers that are passed down through bloodline as well. Tala’s power is to break up spells and hers is passed down through her mother.

*Speaking of fairy tales, I like how portals are the rabbit hole, or magic mirrors. There are the magical items like the sword in the stone and a firebird. But I love when fairy tales and the modern world collide, I’m a sucker for it. 😍 And this book is like…chaos with a light-hearted feel to it?

*Modern day issues arise in this book – the author talks about ICE and people being detained at the border, like our current problems in the USA today.

*Diversity is everywhere in this book. I love that the elite guards from Avalon were these old filipino women – YES, I felt like my grandmother could have been a Katiputan guard. She could wield a machete like no other. And besides racial diversity, we have LGBTIA+ representation as well.

*There is action and battles with ogres, ice wolves, toads, ice maidens and possessed cold zombies (is the Night King from GoT the Snow Queen’s man or what? 😅😂). It’s a wild journey to Avalon, folks!

*Tala as a character seems as neutral as her curse/power/agimat. She’s still learning to control her power, she’s the newbie when it comes to portals, ice maidens and Avalon itself. So basically she’s us, the reader who doesn’t know much. Haha. I hope we see her power grow. She’s the main character but I think she faded when the Bandersnatch crew came along. I love the Bandersnatch crew, they are all so different and have their own strengths and weaknesses. I also see some potential love matches brewing…(I hope!).

Things That Made Me Go Hmm:

*This story at times is all over the place. I had to put it down to finish an arc that I had a closer publication date and I’m glad I put it down because my brain had some time to simmer with the information about I gathered in the first few chapters. There was a lot of info dump at times. For me, I didn’t mind that because I needed to understand all the workings of this magical world. There is a lot to learn. But once I picked up the book again, I finished it in a day because I was entertained.

*Like I said it’s a wild journey from Arizona to Avalon because there are SO many characters, places and magic terms to remember. I enjoyed it, but I think a lot of people will be put off with all of it thrown at them at one time. I think the world building will confuse many readers.

*Please give me some romance between Zoe and Cole? And what’s going to happen with Tala and Ryker? Can anything come from that? 🙁

Final Thoughts:

This book was chaotic but for me in a good way. I felt like it woke me up, which was what I needed because there are a few books on my night stand I’m trying to get through and they have been putting me to sleep. 🤣 This one slapped me in the face and was like come on, pay attention and let’s take a ride! It’s not perfect by any means, it can be confusing.

It’s not a story for everyone, but seriously, I enjoyed this story a lot and the ending made me go… 😱. I think this book would make a great tv show because it is so visual! Anyway, I’m definitely looking forward to the sequel because I need answers.

Unfortunately I just had a really hard time connecting to this book. I couldn't get a hang of the world and found that all the world building just felt like a giant info dump. I had a really hard time connecting with the plot and the characters as most of the time I was just trying to figure out what was going on.

The plot sounded really interesting - a contemporary fantasy about a deposed teen monarch, and the magic-negating Filipina heroine and diverse group of teens who help him reclaim his throne and country. The concept was a new take on a familiar plot, good groundwork was laid for the second book, and all the characters are interesting.

But to get to the action, the reader has to battle through a LOT of worldbuilding. There's a confusing mix of alt-history America, fictional/fairytale countries and characters, and historical-based countries and characters. As a Filipino-American, I love the use of Filipino culture, but it gets lost when trying to keep track of the histories and characters. I do want to acknowledge that this was Chupeco's first book (and it got shelved for being "unmarketable"), so it's not as polished as her published work, but editing should have took a stronger hand in corralling the worldbuilding when the manuscript was brought back out. Rather than use so much Euro-centric fantasy, I would have loved to see more Filipino, or even more broad Asian-based mythology. I would have also cut at least one of the countries, or encourage the US to be framed as a fictional modern country to get around revising so much real history to make the story work.

We need diverse books, and it hurts to not be able to say more positive things about what could be a phenomenal book, but there were just too many concepts a reader has to absorb before they can get to the story.

2.5/5 stars

This is a book for the hardcore fantasy readers, which is not me. It will have its readers but I found the characters and world too big a hurdle to understand to enjoy the story itself.

This had so much potential. It also had underdeveloped ancillary characters and a convoluted story line that read as more muddled than interesting.

I had a hard time with the beginning of this book, the work building was very confusing and at times I felt like information was just being thrown at me and then left there. But as the book continued I really became invested in the characters and their history. Run Chupeco definitely brings her characters to life with her writing. There are so many great action moments that are broken up with a lot of humour. But also I love the strong family bond in the story as well. Can’t wait to see what comes next!!

I'm of two minds on this book, both related to the world-building. On the one hand, it's a cool and innovative way to construct a magic system by bringing in all sorts of different stories and mythologies and cultures, artifact magic layered with inborn ability with spell-creation with multiple universes with curses/prophecies. Plus, I love the idea of wondering how the existence of magic would impact an otherwise modern world. However, all of that did not make me feel brought into another world, it just made me feel overwhelmed. I spent nearly the entire book (around 75% of the way through I just gave in and tried not to care about it as much) feeling as if I just did not get it all. I checked about four times to make sure that this was really the first book, and there wasn't a whole prequel I'd missed with the backstory about the relationship between Avalon and...what's our dimension called? Earth? and which explained the magic system more naturally and thoroughly so that the periodic info-dumps were meant to be only reminders rather than the complete explanation.

I thought the writing was good, and I liked a lot of the characters, but I did end up feeling as if there were too many of them who were meant to be in focus. This, along with some of my world-building questions ended up making it difficult to fully connect. For example, West was cute and his confusion about words and culture are vaguely amusing, but why do the others seem to understand these things while he doesn't?

I'd read the second book for cliffhanger reasons, and to see if the world might come into more focus, but I definitely came through this one feeling pretty overwhelmed.

DNF @ 27%

I’ve told myself I have to get 25% through a book before a DNF, and this one was hard. The writing was clunky and the world building non existent. They live in Arizona and Tala’s family is afraid of ICE but there a place called Wonderland and Sleeping Beauty existed? I honestly can’t even explain the plot, so that’s a no from me

I would like to say thank you to Netgalley for giving me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I was so excited for this book, this is the first Rin Chupeco book I have read but I have heard so many good things about her.  

Let's start with what I did enjoy, I enjoyed the writing in this book, I also enjoyed the chapter headers. I feel like they were very unique and really added to my enjoyment of the book. I liked her writing style, I found that despite my feelings the book was easy to read and could have been devoured in very few sittings.

The world  building in Wicked As You Wish is so confusing. I kept reading in the hope that at some point I would understand what is going on, but even after finishing I'm not sure that I still know what happened. There is no easing into the magic system or the plot, you are thrown straight in with very little explanation. It is almost as if the author assumed that the reader knew what was going on. I feel like the characters were the main focus, which is fine, I enjoy a good character. 

The characters were an issue for me, there was no character that I liked, they all irritated me in several different ways. I wasn't invested in the characters, I had not built up a connection in any way which made my enjoyment levels very low. 

This book just wasn't for me. I wouldn't say don't pick it up because everybody is different and you may enjoy it. I will be giving The Bone Witch series a go as I have heard very good things about this and I am looking forward to diving in.

4/5 stars

Wicked As You Wish as as the title suspected, wicked as i wished. I became attached to the characters and immediately got invested in every single one of them. My favorites were....well i can't really pick cause i really liked every single one of them! What this didn't execute very well wasn't plenty. The world building didn't feal as clear and some things still were left unsolved. I'd still be very much excited about upcoming books in the same unierse!


READING PROGRESS

As hard as I tried with WICKED AS YOU WISH, I had the hardest time getting into it. I found the story to be really hard to follow at times and a lot of information would be tossed out but not explained.

I really liked the mashup of fairytales that this book had. The writing style is a bit different from the author's other books but I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the sequel!

It might have been the wrong time, but sadly, this book wasn't for me.
The synopsis gave me a complete different idea of the book, and I couldn't connect with the story, nor with the characters.
However, I will give it another try once the book is out, because I badly wanted to love it.