Wicked As You Wish (A Hundred Names for Magic, #1)

by Rin Chupeco

What if every story you'd ever heard was true? Jack killed the giants. Red slayed the wolf. Rapunzel fled the tower. But the greatest one of all, had yet to be told.
Once upon a time, the magical Kingdom of Avalon was left to wither and die after the Snow Queen encased it in ice. Its former citizens are now refugees. Which is why crown prince Alex and his protectors are stuck in… Arizona.
Tala Makiling has lived her life as an outsider. Her family curse, the one that's doomed her to be a spellbreaker, someone who destroys magic, hasn't won her too many friends. Except Alex, who trusts her and her family to keep his royal identity a secret.
And then one night, a famous creature of legend, the Firebird, appears in their tiny town, reigniting hope for their abandoned homeland. Alex and Tala team up with a ragtag group of new friends to journey back to Avalon. Their path is filled with danger—from deadly prophecies, to terrifying ice wolves, a traitor among them, and the Snow Queen herself. But if they succeed… their story would be legendary.
"A great read for fans of fairy tales, myths and legends… Come for the adventure, stay for the sassy jerkwad firebird."—Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Three Dark Crowns series
Gripping, fantastical, and delightfully funny, Wicked As You Wish is perfect for readers looking for:young adult magic, mythology, and folkloreLGBTQ representationdiverse characterscreative new takes on classic storiesfresh and dazzling world buildingPraise for Wicked As You Wish:
"Glorious."—Shelf Awareness
"Combining legends, myths, fairy tales, and classic children's literature from Oz to Neverland, Chupeco (The Bone Witch) creates an enchanting story that is both a feast for the senses and a unique spin on the hero's journey…A nail-biting quest that introduces a gripping new series."—STARRED review, Publishers Weekly
"…A truly original novel. A deftly executed melding of folklore and reality grounded in contemporary issues."—STARRED review, Kirkus

• ISBN10: 1492672661
• ISBN13: 9781492672661
• Publish Date: 3 April 2020 (first published 3 March 2020)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Sourcebooks Fire
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 432
• Language: English

Reviews

[Quirky Cat]

Rin Chupeco's latest novel, Wicked As You Wish, is the first in a new series – A Hundred Names for Magic. First, can I just say that I adore the name of the series? I would absolutely dive in to a series with that name, even knowing nothing about it.

What happens when you combine a girl with secrets (including powers), a prince in hiding, a group of secret soldiers, and a firebird? Well, you get Wicked As You Wish, actually. Prince Alexei is the only surviving member of the Royal family of Avalon, which fell years ago.

Now those loyal to the kingdom help keep him safe and hidden away. That includes Tala and her family. Even though they also have secrets that people would hunt them for, should that information get out.

"People who don't look and act like you is what you hate. Every other excuse is only a pretense."

Let me tell you; I was so excited to dive into Wicked As You Wish (see all my reasons above). This raises the question – did it hold up to my expectations? Honestly? It mostly did, yeah! So I can't really complain.

What I loved the most about Wicked As You Wish because it opened the door for having a frank conversation. Many of the subjects discussed in this novel are heavy: police brutality, colonialism, genocide, and so much more. Yet these subjects need to be talked about, especially as they are an active part of so many people's lives.

Using fantasy as a lens for these subjects is brilliant, and I will always appreciate it when I see it. I also appreciate the way Rin Chupeco handled the discussions, so thank you so much for that! Moving onto what I didn't love as much, we have character development. Many of the characters just came off as flat for me. I struggled to care about them, even while feeling so hard for the situations they were in. It was an odd experience, to say the least.

One that I did find jarring enough to keep me from utterly falling in love with the story if we're being honest. Still, I will likely read the rest of the A Hundred Names for Magic series, given a chance!

Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

Read more reviews over at Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks

[Veronica 🦦]

A+ | WHERE IS THE SEQUEL???

Ok, I will be writing a more in-depth review later, but can I just say that this book DOES NOT deserve such a low rating. People are saying that it's hard to follow but it's not? The worldbuilding was so easy to follow.

Y'all just don't like the fact that it's filled with Filipino characters, worldbuilding, and is unapologetically Filipino.

(Review to come)

[Nessa Luna]

I was very interested in the concept of this story - but I just wasn't a huge fan of the way it was executed. I didn't really like Tala much at the beginning, though she grew on me towards the end. Same with Alexei. I liked the Bandersnatchers a lot better and I kind of wished the story had been more from their POV. That being said, I thought the POVs were a bit messy - it was mostly from Tala's POV, but then sometimes it would switch to another person's POV to progress the story I guess.

I may have liked it a bit more had I not chosen the audiobook, because I wasn't a huge fan of the narrator and I Did actually read the last 25% of the book physically. I will definitely continue this series, though, because it got very interesting towards the end.

Also wondering - is there a map in the finished copy? I really hope there is, my ARC didn't have one.

[littleread1]

I just couldn't. I wanted to, it sounded great, I just couldn't. The mix of real history and magical history and all the fairy tales and 4457 characters ... maybe it was the narrator doing a poor job distinguishing between them, and if I had read the book I would have been able to keep track of everyone ... who knows. All I know is several hours into the audio and I am still so lost.

[tweetybugshouse]

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.

[layawaydragon]

I received this book for free from in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Wicked As You Wish, if you don't already know, is Rin Chupeco's (yes, THAT Rin Chupeco) alternative history middle grade/young adult story about magical group of teens saving the world from a literal Ice Queen and I.C.E.

About Wicked As You Wish:

IMHO: Wicked As You Wish

Wicked As You Wish grabbed me right from the beginning with Tala's voice. Kids have such distinct voices that getting this correct is often the key to enjoyment for middle grade kids. And they will let you know if it comes off false!

My 7th grade daughter doesn't like reading anymore because it's boring. There's such a dearth of books for those that are beyond kiddie fairy/baby animal books but not wanting to read about partying and hooking up. This is perfect for 7th and 8th graders (and up of course) like my daughter and her friends, where they sing from Frozen 2 and Hamilton.

The Rundown:

» Yesssss

» Such a huge fan of Rin, had to jump on it.

» Fast paced with plenty of action

» Decent sized cast of characters that banter so no one gets forgotten and they've got their own mysteries to unravel

» Like this world! Universe where fairy tales are real & there's a clear effort to include most peoples. Modern & retelling. Honestly can say nothing like it.

» Clear voice & humor.

» Good mix of seeing it coming and being surprised

» Queerrrrrrrr

» Enby Loki!

» FUCK I.C.E,

» SAVE THE KIDS

»Filipino culture & pinoy foods that will make your mouth water

» I needs the dragons to come back

» The friendships! The romance drama! The passionate fighting opposites that belong together.

» Ends with SUCH a surprise that I have to know what happens next right right right now.

Very unique and compelling with a totally different vibe from her previous works that I appreciate and leave me awestruck.  If you didn't like Chupeco's other books, you should give this one a shot anyways, it's like THAT.

Favorite Quotes:

Magic barely worked in Invierno, this dry forgotten armpit of a town in Arizona, so nobody ever knew Tala was responsible. 

 

Sure, he was an idiot. But it was also partly her fault for being best friend with an idiot. 

 

“Well,” he finally said, “we’ve accidentally lured Deathless in and ruined their festival. May as well kidnap the priestess’s granddaughter while we’re at it.”        

 

Talking to West sometimes, Tala learned, was like trying to walk up a down escalator. 

 

“You’re like Marlon Brando playing Julia Childs in a movie.”

 

But this, the forgotten meal, a celebration cut short by tragedy, this wasn’t something most people thought of writing when they thought about war. 

 

               

About the Author:

Giveaway:

 

Tour Schedule:

This review was originally posted on The Layaway Dragon

[dragononabook]

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.

Thank you to Sourcebooks for providing a review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog!

Uuuh this was good.
I can already tell you that this is not the kind of book I'd recommend to anybody. The worldbuilding and the magical topics are a little weird at times but it was right down my alley!
A large part of the world is built from more or less familiar bits of other literary works. Fairytales, Alice in Wonderland and the likes clearly served as an inspiration and I'm here for it.
The way familiar elements were incorporated into the story was amazing. It all gets a fresh coat of paint and thus feels new instead of like a bland copy.
I am still a little confused about the magic system in the story, but apparently, this is the first part of a series, so I'll guess we get a deeper insight on that in later books.
Nevertheless, it did annoy me at times because of the lack of explanation on that front sometimes made it difficult to understand everything that was going on.
This could already be a dealbreaker for many people, so be warned.
Apart from that I quite enjoyed the entire book. There's humor, there are prophecies there are some badass teenagers, there's complicated history. Curses to break, kingdoms to liberate - what else could you want?
The only thing that irritated me somewhat was the pacing. The characters are on a quest and whether or not things work out will only be addressed in the very final pages. Although I knew that this is the first part of a series, I had hoped for more on that front. The resolution felt a bit weak after such a big build-up.