How much would you risk to save the ones you love? Would you tempt even the most dangerous fate?
Briseis has one chance to save her mother, but she’ll need to do the impossible: find the last fragment of the deadly Absyrtus Heart. If she is to locate the missing piece, she must turn to the blood relatives she’s never known, learn about their secret powers, and take her place in their ancient lineage. Briseis is not the only one who wants the Heart, and her enemies will stop at nothing to fulfill their own ruthless plans. The fates tell of a truly dangerous journey, one that could end in more heartache, more death. Bolstered by the sisterhood of ancient magic, can Briseis harness her power to save the people she loves most?
- Title: This Wicked Fate
- Author: Kalynn Bayron
- Publisher: Bloomsbury YA
- Publication Date: June 21st 2022
- Genre: Fantasy
- Source: Digital ARC via Netgalley
- Targeted Age Range: Young Adult
- Content Warnings: Death of a parent, grief, murder, injury, poisoning
- Rating: ★★★★
After reading This Poison Heart last summer, I was immediately anticipating This Wicked Fate, so you can only imagine my excitement when I got the Netgalley approval email! This Wicked Fate picks up immediately after the events of This Poison Heart, and follows Bri and her loved ones as they embark on a quest to find the last fragment of the deadly Absyrtus Heart and save Bri’s mom in return.
It took me a while to remember the events of This Poison Heart and its characters, so I highly recommend rereading This Poison Heart prior to picking up This Wicked Fate. Or at the very least, reading a synopsis of This Poison Heart, because it took me a hot minute to get back into the mindset of This Poison Heart after leaving it and its characters behind a year ago.
Still, I found This Wicked Fate to be a compelling sequel, and once I started it, I couldn’t put it down! I know This Poison Heart felt slow to some, but I don’t think that’ll be much of an issue for This Wicked Fate. I felt that This Wicked Fate was quite fast, maybe even too fast at times!
Without giving too much away, This Wicked Fate delves deeper into grief and generational trauma than its predecessor. Throughout This Wicked Fate, Kalynn Bayron poses a couple questions, namely: “How far are you willing to go for the people you love?” and “How is it that some of us have no time left and others have more than anyone could ever truly need?”. If anything, This Wicked Fate is a testament to family; who we define as family, and how much we’re willing to give up for the ones we love. Bri’s grief is a tangible thing; a third party in every room and every conversation, influencing her choices as well as those around her. One of my favorite elements of This Wicked Fate is Bri’s support system. I loved reading more about her family history and how that was intertwined with her magic, as well as how supportive Mo was. I wish that we’d gotten to see more of Bri’s mom in this book, but I did love reading about Mo, as well as Circe, Persephone, and the other people in Bri’s life.
Despite dealing with heavier themes such as grief, betrayal and (im)mortality, Bayron still manages to sprinkle in some lighter moments, and nods to popular culture. As a huge Hadestown fan, I chuckled when Bri mentioned most of her knowledge came from Hadestown and the Disney film, Hercules.
While the character of Marie really did grow on me, I still struggled with the Marie/Bri storyline. Something that I didn’t love about This Poison Heart was how their dynamic felt really insta-love-y, and I had hoped for a little more substance in This Wicked Fate. This Wicked Fate also ties up a lot of loose strings from This Poison Heart, and there were connections that I didn’t even know would happen! I was pleasantly surprised by the mystery aspect of it. It felt a little bit rushed towards the end, but I didn’t mind too much. Overall, I found myself really enjoying This Wicked Fate, although not as much as This Poison Heart, and would still highly recommend it!
Links for This Wicked Fate: Goodreads | TheStoryGraph | Bookshop | IndieBound
Kalynn Bayron is the award-winning author of the YA fantasy novels CINDERELLA IS DEAD and THIS POISON HEART. Her latest works include the YA fantasy THIS WICKED FATE and the middle grade paranormal adventure THE VANQUISHERS. She is a CILIP Carnegie Medal Nominee, a two-time CYBILS Award nominee, and her work has been featured on Booklist’s Editor’s Choice list. She is a classically trained vocalist and musical theater enthusiast. When she’s not writing you can find her watching scary movies and spending time with her kids. She currently lives in Ithaca, NY with her family.
