all the diversity
This story has so much diversity it makes my heart happy. Our main character and her large (and slightly chaotic) Filipino clan has become one of my favorite fictional families ever. There was a touch of nostalgia that came from reading about occasionally overbearing titas and lolas that can kick some serious butt with their canes and fans. I'm honestly such a fan.

our current struggles in print
With such a diverse cast, comes the topic of displacement and immigration following a major war and that is something incredibly relevant in our time. I appreciated the reality check, but it is kind of scary when the chaos of a fantasy-based novel hits home to our world today. It really makes you take a step back and reflect on how society has compartmentalized every aspect of humanity's differences and how the inability to see past divisions ultimately produce more harm than good.

so many fairytales
This is perhaps one of the few "cons" (to quote Zoe) about this book for me. Don't get me wrong, I loved how Rin Chupeco incorporated so many of our favorite fairytales from Arthur and his Knights to Chinese Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and Wonderland all into one book. It just seemed as if there was a need to tie in with as many pop culture references as possible which made the world-building itself difficult to follow at times. There was just so much happening all at once that my brain underwent major sensory overload.

a journey with unlikely heroes
To end my thoughts, we have such a wide cast of characters throughout the novel, but particularly in the Order of the Bandersnatch, the elite group of warriors charged with protecting the prince of Avalon. I loved that each character had their own unique quirks - Kensington's Japanese heritage, Zoe's love for literature, and Loki and their gender accepting philosophies to name a few. Each character has that little something that makes them special and memorable and while I didn't necessarily click with any particular one character, I did feel surrounded by friends at the end of the story.

Wicked as You Wish is an intricate tapestry weaving together all sort of fairy tales in an alternate version of our world where they are actually history. The main plot follows Tala as she accompanies Alex, the heir to the throne of Avalon, a magical kingdom that succumbed to the spells of the Snow Queen, in his journey to reclaim the throne.

First up: Chupeco's use of all sorts of fairy tales and mythology was just absolute perfection. Maybe I'm biased, because the Snow Queen and associated figures has been my long-time favourite, but I honestly couldn't think of a better example of the merging of our world with fairy tales and other forms of traditional stories. They didn't overshadow the plot itself, rather they complemented it and helped it and the world building run smoothly. The way that the magic structure was built into the world fascinated me as well, and the depth to the backstory of this alternate universe (which I have to admit I really want to live in) pleased the history nerd in me immensely.

This brings us to arguably one of the most important parts of a fantasy novel: world building. This was a massively juicy book in terms of the world building, and I can understand how the massive amount of detail could turn people off. However, it was done in a way that didn't make me feel like I was in a class having information chucked at me; it was more like having someone extraordinarily passionate about the world tell me all about it, which is basically what a book is anyway. The layers and layers really helped me get right in the world, and there were some elements (like ICE's presence, which I thought was excellent) that helped diminish the distance between the reader and the world itself.

This, as well as being a heavy-on-the-world-building book, was also a heavy on the plot and plot twists. Despite the large number of twists (and there were quite a few), I never felt like I was going to get whiplash for several reasons. The main reason was that Chupeco did what the most excellent of storytellers do and left nuggets of information dotted around the framework of the story, leaving me feeling very satisfied when I came to a twist that I saw coming, and delightfully shocked when I pieced everything together post-big reveal. It's not often that I get to do this, and I really, really enjoyed the way Chupeco artfully draped the plot around the multitudinous other elements of this book.

I'm not usually a fan of large casts, however this book features one of the most delightful casts of characters I have read about. They all had their distinct personalities, and they all contributed to the group dynamic; there was a balance in character types, and I never felt overwhelmed by the number of characters that the narrative followed. The characters existed solidly as individuals, notably Tala and Alex, as the main characters. Tala was a wonderful addition to the current offering of YA fantasy main characters, especially with her status as a Makiling. Often, fantasy focuses on the characters having epic powers, or occasionally none at all; Tala finds the perfect middle ground with her magic-negation, the Makiling agimat, as well as still being a massively relatable teenager. Alex, while unlikeable at times, had the motivation and depth that many similar characters lack, and I ended up liking him more than expected. I could go over all the other characters but that would take a while, so I'll finish this review up by mentioning my personal favourite, Cole. He's the classic brooding YA character, but actually not so classic and not so broody. I'm really looking forward to seeing where his arc goes in the sequel.

Overall, I think there was no way I couldn't love this book. It's definitely not for everyone, but it's so flavourful and complex that I couldn't stop thinking about it for days, and I'm looking forward to both the sequels and my eventual reread. Hats off to Rin Chupeco for writing a book that feels like it could fill an entire 'My Favourite Things' song.

I am extremely grateful that I was sent an advanced copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher, and I really tried with this one. The premise sounds so interesting and I was very excited to start it, but I am finding myself doing anything possible to avoid reading it. I am forgetting everything immediately, I feel no connection to the plot or characters so this is a DNF at 40% for me, especially when I have so many other books I am really looking forward to reading. Maybe it is just the time in which I am reading this and if I pick it up later, I would be more interested, but I am putting it down for now.

The things that were really preventing me from getting into the story was the confusing and info-dumpy nature of the world building. The part that I did read was a lot of characters having conversations about the history of the world, but I still don't think I ever grasped exactly what was happening. This book tried to do a lot things and mix a lot of genres (typical fantasy, urban fantasy, fairy tale retelling) but it just left me really confused. The plot also seemed a little all over the place, jumping from plot point to plot point.

I thought the fact that there was a very diverse cast of characters were great, but I did not really connect with them or understand their motivation.

I hope this book finds its audience, but it really just wasn't for me.

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

Wicked As You Wish is a magical, action-packed adventure with a diverse cast of characters and a sassy firebird that will keep you entertained from start to finish. It takes place in an alternate universe where fairy-tale lands and characters exist. In recent history a war between the Kingdom of Avalon and The Snow Queen of Beira resulted in Avalon being frozen and the demise of its monarchy, the disappearance of the Snow Queen and magical repercussions worldwide.

The story follows Tala Warnock, a descendant of the Makiling clan - a Filipino bloodline with a curse that repels magic. Like her mother she is a Spellbreaker. Allies to Avalon, Tala’s family were of a number of refugees that managed to escape the kingdom when it fell, and took residence in the city of Invierno, Arizona. Invierno is a place where magic doesn’t work, and in the Royal States of America where using magic means punishment and being an Avalonian refugee means deportation, it’s the perfect place to hide.

Also hiding in Invierno is Alexei “Alex” Tsarevich, Crown Prince of Avalon, the sole survivor of his family’s massacre. 12 years of living undercover and being moved from location to location for his own safety has now landed him in the custody of the Makilings and the Katipuneros (a group of celebrated Avalonian warriors). However, on his 18th birthday everything changes when the legendary firebird - Avalon’s biggest weapon - returns, setting Tala and Alex off on an adventure to save Avalon.

This was my first Rin Chupeco book and I am now determined to pick up every single one of her works.

To start off I absolutely loved the world-building in Wicked As You Wish. Rin instantly throws us into this captivating universe where fairytale lands coexist with the various nations of our modern world. Where characters from said fairytales have been intricately woven into our world history. To me it instantly felt reminiscent to the TV show Once Upon A Time, though everything has been retold in a refreshing way and the addition of Asian folklore and myths have made it all the more unique and enjoyable. It does take a few chapters to comprehend and feels a bit info dumpy at times but I personally loved all the detail.

The magic system is equally fascinating - outlined by the author to be inspired by Full Metal Alchemist and Bleach. It is pretty multifaceted and again does take some time to fully understand, but the main gist behind it is that in order to claim any form of power/magic you must sacrifice something of equal measure in return. An element of the magic system that particularly interested me was the Spelltech – items imbued with magical spells, including technological items. I mean how useful would an “antigravity hands-free selfie spell” on your phone be!?

Magic plays a key part in the overall plot of the story too, mainly in the form of curses and prophecies. However, it is a resource with many regulations attached in this world due to its involvement in past events. Thus it also has a big role in the global power play and I as a reader LOVE when there’s a dash of politics in fantasy.

Along with worldly political tensions Rin also touches on various other topics and issues which are relevant in today’s society. From racism and homophobia, to American immigration policies and the treatment of refugees, to child abuse - the writing and how thoroughly developed all these elements are makes it evident just how much time and effort has gone into this book.

Also can we take a second to appreciate how unapologetically Filipino this book is! The culture and folklore, the lingo, the family and community dynamics, the FOOD!!! Since reading this book I have had the biggest urge to eat all the Filipino food and that is the magic of #OwnVoices representation.

Tala and Alex have a heart-warming platonic friendship and as the main protagonists were wonderful to l to follow however, I really enjoyed how the third person narrative allows us to really get to know the side characters too. We have Tala’s parents and the Katipuneros who act as extended family to both protagonists. The theme of family is very central to this story and is wonderfully written.

Then we have the Banders, a found family themselves, who on orders from the Cheshire (the Duke of Wonderland) have the task of protecting Alex and Tala on their adventure. I did feel at first that some scenes involving these character were a bit congested with one too many personalities. Though that being said as the story progresses we become more accustomed to each of the members, and their banter and relationships are great. Furthermore it becomes clear that they all have a bigger role to play in the story when aforementioned prophecies and subplots come into play. This has me super excited for the rest of the books in the series. My enemy to lovers obsessed heart is particularly excited to see more of a pair at the centre of a Robin Hood inspired family rivalry.

Last but not least I need to of course mention the firebird – truly a treasure. I’m looking forward to returning to this world, all these characters and the quirky Riordan-esque chapter titles in the future One-Hundred Names for Magic books!
Final Rating – 4.5/5 Stars

It’s no secret that Rin Chupeco is one of my very favorites with her Bone Witch trilogy being among my top 5 series, but had I not already been a fan, this book would have made certain I was.

Wicked as you wish was like a fairytale on steroids. Not only did the story incorporate so many different fairytales and their characters (albeit in *much* different capacities), Chupeco managed to breathe new life into all the old classics all while keeping true to the familiar aspects. What followed was such a unique and super interesting mashup of the fairytale places we know and love — Neverland, Wonderland, Avalon — and a little something called the Royal States of America. Because not only is this spectacular book a fairytale lovers’ dream, but it’s also a tale of alternate history. And as if that wasn’t good enough for you, it’s also a book that takes aspects of our current state of unrest concerning immigration and shines light on the injustice towards anyone with brown skin. Whew. That’s a lot of goodness.

“Just because you’ve never been to the Philippines doesn’t mean their rivers don’t course through your blood. It doesn’t mean you don’t have their mountains in your eyes. It’s not where we are, it’s who we are. You’ll always be both a Makiling and a Warnock, and always a Filipina. Never forget that.”

If you haven’t already guessed, I loved everything about this book. I loved the super interesting world that Chupeco created, I loved how she incorporated current issues into the story, but most of all I loved the characters and the diversity among them, especially Tala and her Filipino family. Tala is one of my new favorite characters and I Ioved the strong bond she shared with not only her parents, but her titas and titos. Wicked as You Wish is definitely one of my top books of 2020 and I can’t wait to see what Chupeco brings in the next book.

*eARC received courtesy of NetGalley.

An imaginative alternate-present fantasy, weaving threads of fairy tales and mythology from around the world into a tangled web of stories and histories.

This is a book that checks all the boxes for me. It manages to be speculative and contemporary, borrowing from layers of literature, history and folklore, and yet setting the story in a present-day world with strong echoes of reality.

The US immigration and refugee crisis is knotted up in the fairy tale world, as the fairy tale Ice Queen joins forces with ICE to target and stigmatize vulnerable populations. This is a book that boasts strong diversity, with characters of many races and nationalities, including a strong #ownvoices thread of Filipina culture. There's also queer and enby rep in the main characters, though romance and identity are not central plots.

The story focused more on history and worldbuilding than character relationships, leaving me struggling to connect as deeply as I wish. This was particularly noticeable with the relationship between Alex and Tala; and I didn't find I had enough onpage time with them to define a status quo before the ground began to shift beneath them.

The book is incredibly ambitious, as it weaves together Neverland, Wonderland, Arthurian Legend, Anderson, Grimm, and more.

I found myself wishing for extra pages to let the world crystalize and the characters rise up out of the page. Since this is the first book in a series, I'm crossing my fingers that the next book can dive into the deep, building on the complex setup of book one.

A truly amazing, diverse read. I can’t get over this book and honestly love it. Rin did such a fantastic job bringing this quirky fantasy to life!!!

This was really fun, and the chapter headings were some of the best I've seen. Chupeco takes fairy tale elements from some of the most beloved stories and uses them as elements in this adventure. She also weaves in her Filipino heritage and traditions into the story and characters in such a big way. I will say as someone not versed in that culture, I often had no idea what the characters were talking about when they were making reference to certain foods or things that would seem very natural to someone part of the culture. A bit of an explanation of what they were doing, eating, or wearing would have been helpful. It did make me go look all that stuff up, so if that was her goal, she succeeded in teaching me something.



Chupeco uses this novel to make a lot of social commentary and political statements. There are quite a few references to racial inequality, political corruption, and moral compass. While this does take place partially in a fairytale setting, there are some parallels with the real world. I think this is important for young readers especially if it gets them talking about big topics.



Because the author chose to utilize familiar fairy tale characters that we already know, there are a lot of characters to keep track of. I often find that when there are so many characters, they end up lacking development. This was the case here. I would have loved to see more development in the Bandersnatchers in particular. I hope to see them develop further in the next book. The plot meanders around quite a bit, causing the pace to lose steam in places. Everytime the group seems to be focused on their current task something derails them and no one seems to quite be in charge to get them back on track.



Overall, I really like the concept of this story and I'm looking forward to where it goes next. There are quite a lot of unanswered questions. The end was pretty unexpected, it was a pretty great twist that I don't think anyone saw coming.

Wicked As You Wish by Rin Chupeco is a very interesting story. I felt like it is a bit of a jumbled mess that deals with very important issues. Chupeco tackles issues like immigration and refugee policies, child abuse, family separations, and so many other government issues. I feel like all of these are super important issues but the rest of the story just didn’t keep up with the important topics.

This story felt very much like a witch’s brew. Add a sprinkle of fairy dust, newt’s eye, some frog legs, and whatever else you put into the brew is what I feel like Wicked As You Wish came out to be. It is a mix of magic, fairy tales, urban, fantasy, magical realism, contemporary, I mean it is all in there. I think this is a book that would be great for the right kind of person and I feel like that wasn’t me. There was just too much thrown into this book for me to truly enjoy it.

I did find the characters to be quite entertaining. I felt like Chupeco did such a great job with the characters. They were diverse and fun. I thought they were really able to drive the story. The world building was pretty great too. The books takes place in the real world except that fairy tales are true in the story. This book definitely had its ups and downs but I think it is also fun at the same time.

This started off so slow for me. I ended up liking it, but it really felt like a trunk book that got dusted off and revised. It’s just a hot mess of too much going on and way too many characters. The beginning just murdered me, but then I forced myself through it and it became fun, but still felt like someone watched way too much OUAT. I love Rin’s books, this just felt like such a first book for me, I wish it had gotten trimmed a little tighter. Still, 4 stars because I love her and it entertained me for the last half.

Thank you Netgalley and sourcefire books for giving me an archive of Wicked as you Wish an exchange of a review.

This book was a DNF for me.
At first, I was very, very interested in the book. From the author, to the title, to the description. Unfortunately, the book did not meet my expectations. The overall book and world-building was hard to wrap my head around and it felt very childish. The concept was very interesting and the book had a lot of potential. The writing needed some work, at some points it felt like information was just being thrown at us instead of being integrated.

Thank you to Rin Chupeco, Sourcebook and Netgalley for gifting me this ebook in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

I picked this one out because I thought some magic would make a nice change from my usual favourites - thrillers and mysteries. Unfortunately I was wrong.
I really struggled with this book and I finished it only because I was stubborn and I vowed to myself I won't have any DNF's this year.

The start of the story was hard for me, meaning it took me quite a while to figure out who's who.
I'll admit I'm not that versed in dystopian or fantasy worlds l, but somehow I couldn't decide one was depicted here. Especially because I thought this world would sound quite interesting.
As for the characters... Oh my! Honestly, everything was over the top - different genders, sexualities, races... I started taking notes trying to remember who's who and that's something I don't really like, because it pulls me away from the story...
The one thing I did like was the naming of the chapters - you get a glimpse of what is about to happen in that chapter and I find it refreshing.

All in all, 2 stars from me. I believe this book will find its fans, sadly I am not one of them.

Earth is a realm without magic, which is why the Inn at Havenfall is a safe place to connect worlds that each has unique magic. For many years, the inn has given protection to everyone who enters for refuge. If someone breaks that peace, then they cannot return. Maddie has spent her summers at the inn with her uncle, the Innkeeper. She loves the chance to escape the burdened life she lives on Earth and looks forward to the day when she will take over the inn. This summer is different, though. Her uncle becomes gravely injured and there is a dangerous creature wreaking havoc. Maddie is now the Innkeeper and is responsible for the safety of everyone in Havenfall. As she tries to figure out the truth, she must also determine who she can trust. Is anyone safe?

Havenfall is the first book in the Havenfall series and Holland has done a wonderful job of world-building and character development without it feeling like a second section. Maddie is rushed into a role she knew was coming but thought it was many years away. As she is dealing with being in charge, she is also dealing with a possible romance and trying to determine what secrets her uncle was keeping from her and everyone else. This story is fast-paced and readers will enjoy the secret revealing and backstabbing that is woven throughout. I recommend Havenfall to all fantasy and urban fantasy fans.

Wicked as you Wish builds up the characters slowly and half way through the book it becomes actions packed. It was a good start to the series. There is a little bit of everything in the book. Magic, a traitor, a curse, and love. What I found strange was trying to tie in fairytales in this story. I enjoyed reading it but and I am waiting to see how the books will evolve. I liked it and hope that I will grow to love this series.

Prince Alexei is the sole survivor of the Avalon royal family. Tala and her family are helping the Prince hideout and when the Firebird appears things will be set in motion as the evil Snow Queen will send her people after the prince to stop him from go back to rule his kingdom. The Prince and a group of kids assigned to help protect him and see him get back to kingdom safely. There will be seers along the path and dangers to conquer.

If you want o check out a new series give this one a try and don't let the cold get to you.

Do you see this rating? Yes, I know, I don't like it either.

I really wanted to love this book. I really really did. I love the ideas Chupeco comes up with.
Fairytale countries as real life places?
Spellbreakers?
Filipino folklore?
A diverse group of misfits growing closer?
Sign me the fuck up!

But alas, I may have signed up too early.
It may have to do something with me getting easily bored by road-tripesque stories, and a at least half of this book was people walking/riding places. I grew bored of it at around 66% (and I only got really into it after about a third, so I only REALLY enjoyed the middle of the book, while the beginning was okay).
As far as I understand, this was Chupeco's first book, even when it was released a lot later. It does feel like a first book. The writing is choppy at times (I wasn't a fan of the fight scenes, especially in the latter half of the book).
Some things seemed to be just crammed into this as a nod towards fairy tale x. And believe me, I hate to say that, because I love stories that have multiple fairytales intervine. It's my jam. But this one just didn't work out for me.

But let's have a list of things I liked in this too, because you can't critisize shit without actually mentioning what was well done too:
- I loved the chapter titles. I don't know when chapter titles went out of fashion, but there are some hilarious ones in this!
- the cast is super diverse! Tala, our main, is filipina (and scottish), there's a whole bunch of filipino characters, one of the supporting characters uses they/them pronouns, there's casually gay people, and I'm pretty sure at least one character has some japanese ancestors, but I'm not too sure now that I write my review.
- (I do have to say I don't remember half the cast's physical description though. I am easily lost when faced with more than like three characters)
- the magic system is dope. The whole thing with the segen was very cool
- while we're talking about segen, which is a German word: You guys know how much wrongly used German words ruffle my feathers. The (very few, it's literally just segen and blitzsegen I believe) German was not as bad as I'm used to in American novels.


This book deserves a better rating, it really does, but at the same time, I personally didn't like it enough to rate it better. Which is sad.


@Sourcebook Fire & Netgalley, thanks for the ARC!

The story of the Snow Queen has been increasingly explored in recent years, though is probably one of the more unique takes that I've read. It certainly includes an impressive number of classic tales into the world. Magic combining with technology along with racial and social issues. All of the magic has rules that must be followed; spells that exact costs with few exceptions (and those exceptions seem t o hint more of secrets to be revealed than of genuine rule breaking). There's a vast cast of characters, each with at least a small degree of complexity. It's almost too much, too big and complex. With curses and prophecies all over the place it's easy to lose track of the details. This is not a series to tackle when you're looking to relax, but rather when you have time to mull and absorb and consider.

I'm DNFing this for now, at 65% through. I will probably come back to it, because I was so excited about it. The rep in this book is fantastic, which is why I feel so conflicted about whether to pause this book, but I'm finding it difficult to make myself read at the moment, so feel I should leave it until I hopefully feel ready to come back to it.
The magic system in this book is so confusing, there was a tonne of info-dumping at the beginning of the book, which I found really overwhelming, and I despite that I still don't really understand what's going on. I like the idea of 'spelltech' in theory but I really don't get the rules of it. There are a lot of things that haven't made sense to me, and overall this has meant I can't connect to the story and characters because I can't figure out how the world works at all.
I really want to continue with the series in the future, so will end up finishing this, as I'm sure the confusing world building is because of trying to set everything up quickly, so the other books will be easier to follow.
I definitely think there is a lot to like about this book, and there are some really interesting characters, and some good writing, and I really want to love it, but at the moment I just don't.
I'm hoping this is just a case of it's not you it's me, and I really hope a lot of people really love this, as, like I said, the rep in this book is phenomenal, in terms of poc and queer characters it tops most books I've read recently.

DNF around 10%

I was so excited about this book. The synopsis sounded like something I would devour: an evil Snow Queen waging war, a Prince exiled and sent into hiding, and a strong female lead with the power to nulify magic. It's an urban fantasy with nods to many fairy tales that readers will recognize.

However, I didn't find myself invested in the story, and I'm not quite sure why. The characters were interesting enough, but lacking something that made me cheer for them. There was a lot of dialogue, which was different, as I'm used to fantasy novels with far more description. I know a lot of readers who would love this writing style, but it wasn't for me.

The worldbuilding was also a little confusing; I couldn't figure out where exactly it was supposed to take place? There are references to the real world (songs, countries, etc.), although it clearly doesn't take place in our version of Earth. I know this isn't uncommon in urban fantasies, but it seemed a little all over the place, which is why it couldn't hold my attention.

If anyone is looking for an #ownvoices story by a Chinese-Filipino author, I would recommend this one. Fans of fairy tales may also enjoy this book.

Thank you to the publisher for an electronic copy of this book via NetGalley. Wicked As You Wish came out on March 3, 2020, and can be purchased wherever books are sold.

Some readers will adore this fantasy novel focusing on an evil snow queen, but it just wasn't for me. I had trouble understanding much of the plot felt rushed and awkward to me and the characters had no depth.

I did enjoy the fairy tale references and learning more about the culture. I think this will be a hit for the right readers.

Thanks to NetGalley for my eARC. All opinions are my own.

This is a tale that takes just about every fairy tale under the sun and mashes them into a fantasy adventure unlike any you ever read. With nods to Filipino culture and political intrigue.

This tale takes place in a town that is so boring magic won’t even function their. Sounds like my hometown lets all watch the tumbleweeds fly by. It took me a bit to get into this tale as one i don’t know a lot about Filipino culture and two i kept seeing fairy tales pop up and like how does that work.

Once you get that this is the whole point that your to be drawn in my fairy tales and i one for one really want to try some Filipino food now as the description make it sound so good.

One main thing i like to point out in this novel shows the talent this author in that you can tell the decathlon that she put into this novel as it was one she tried for a very long time to get published. Some stories just need to have the right time for them to see the light. I for one was enthralled with the story all the vast characters and wide variety of characters and she even did an amazing job with Loki. I was not sure how that type of character would work in a novel but i think she pulled it off very well.

If your a fan of fairy tales, and you like seeing them mixed up and mashed together Wicked as You Wish is the perfect tale for you.