Spoiler-Free Book Review: 'Brimstone' (The Fae & Alchemy Series) By Callie Hart
Brimstone Cover
Image Source: Big Little Reads
Brimstone by Callie Hart is the highly anticipated sequel to Quicksilver. The first instalment of the Fae & Alchemy series was self-published, and TikTok went crazy for it. Not only was it picked up by Hodder & Stoughton (under their Hodderscape imprint) but Hart also signed a lucrative Netflix deal.
Has Callie Hart delivered another viral romantasy? Unfortunately, no
A Comedy of Errors
Brimstone is extremely poorly edited, to the point where it feels more like a draft than the finished article. There’s missing punctuation (quotation marks), timeline issues, wrong locations are stated on frequent occasions. The list of bloopers is extensive, Carrion is even mentioned being in the building with Saeris, when he’s actually off with Kingfisher somewhere else. One key piece of lore from the first book, Saeris being sat on Fisher’s right at the dinner table, has changed to the left. Fans are posting even more on social media as they discover them.
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A self-published author could probably be forgiven for this many errors, but Callie Hart is the headliner of an imprint, with a whole team behind her. Brimstone isn’t a budget book, retailing at between $30-$46 dollars depending on the format. At that price, fans deserved a polished piece. Just days after the release, there’s already talk of updating the e-book, but this wont help those who bought it in print.
Quicksilver & Brimstone book covers
Image Source: Big Little Reads
The Characters
Unlike Quicksilver, Brimstone is in dual POV. It was refreshing to have another perspective and both narrative voices were unique. Hart could have deleted the chapter headings, and readers still will know who was speaking. The audiobook is appropriately done as a duo with excellent performances from Stella Bloom and Anthony Palmini.
Carrion remains the best side character and he’s carrying this book on his back. Whenever he’s in a scene he improves everybody in it. Kingfisher and the smuggler get some one-on-one time, and it was the grumpy sunshine dynamic didn’t know we needed.
The romance that was so central to Quicksilver, fell flat. There was no obstacle for Saeris and Kingfisher’s relationship to overcome, so we saw no development in their love story. Kingfisher seemly could only talk to Saeris in overblown attestations of devotion, which left him no ability to raise the bar in the intimate moments. The word ‘mate’ was used 180 times and even the smut (fyi this series does have explicit scenes) was a copy and paste from Quicksilver.
There’s a lack of female energy in this book outside of the FMC. Any in the same age bracket as Saeris end up fridged, e.g. unconscious, mutilated, dead or hated by all. There are very few conversations in the book that pass the Bechtel test.
The Plot
Callie Hart crammed a lot into this book, but at times it’s almost feels like each scene is an independent cell and is not affected by anything that has gone before. Key figures, like Hayden Fane (Saeris’ brother), Taladaius (Saeris’ sire), and Everlayne (Kingfisher’s sister) are very much out of sight out of mind. A lot of the cast from Quicksilver are ignored, which is a shame as the fans have a lot of affection for the found warrior family.
Brimstone’s worldbuilding is also severely lacking in comparison to the first book. The vampires and their court feel superfluous despite the amount of time Saeris spent there. Hart’s inventive alchemy magic system in Quicksilver has started to get a little muddy. If the author is not careful, she’s going to move away from her original concept for the ease of a plot device.
In Conclusion
The book picks up in the last hundred pages, when the endless ‘side quests’ stop (although not all are concluded) and the plot returns to its main objective. There are some big reveals and dramatic fight scenes, which Hart always writes well. But by that point, many readers may have already checked out.
Rating: 5/10. Too many errors and a confused plot. A disappointing follow-up. Carrion and Fisher were the couple we were rooting for.
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Source(s): Audible Amazon Kindle
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