A Ruinous Fate / Kaylie Smith / Book Review

Calliope Rosewood is a witch hounded by bad luck. Which is how she finds herself in the basement of a seedy tavern, her Fate on the line in a high-stakes game of cards. When she gets caught cheating (and who can blame her, with the Witch's dice staring up at her?), she has to run for her life. Three unlucky Rolls away from becoming the last Blood Warrior and jumpstarting a major Witch war, Calla knows nothing good can come of sticking around town when she's been caught.

But a girl can't run forever. When a betrayal by her ex leaves her one step closer to her Fate, Calla decides she'll do anything to wipe her slate clean... even if that means entering a cursed forest to find someone powerful enough to reset her destiny. Even if that means traveling with her traitorous ex and his equally handsome brother. Even if that means growing closer to the very Fate she's trying to dodge. 

Thoughts

This book starts quick, sharp, and fun... and then nothing comes together. The pieces are there. The picture isn't. I wanted to like this book, but it ended up just being "meh" to me. 

Pros

• Enchanting Creatures: Any book that opens up with a high-stakes card game in the basement of a seedy tavern is bound to be fun, and all the more so when those cards are held by two witches and a troll. A siren roommate, an enchanted forest filled with all manner of darkly magical beings--this world is wholly fantasy. I love a book that really embraces its fantasy element. 

• High Risk, High Reward: Nothing sets the scene like, again, some truly high-stakes gambling. Fate and fortune leads the way through this book. There is destiny at play--grand quests, big curses, and dark secrets underlying every choice that is made. The characters can never be sure how much agency they have in this world of gods and monsters, and that's fun--watching them push back, rebel, and (ultimately) play right into their Fate. 

• Multiple POV: This book is told primarily through two points-of-view, but there are other times where Kaylie Smith skillfully breaks into other perspectives. When the cast of this epic quest all go down simultaneously under the sway of a (poisonous-tree-induced) malaise, we get to jump into the dreams these characters have. These dreams give us important glimpses into these characters, their hopes and their fears, and so this perspective jumping was expertly employed. 

Cons

• Too Many Rules: As much as I enjoyed the cold-open here in the basement of a tavern, stakes already established and on the table to gamble away, I feel like I needed something more than that in the following chapters, at least. I needed some grounding, some footing in the world to help me establish myself. I wasn't really given that footing. There is so, so much going on here that the "rules" of the world aren't ever quite clear. Sirens, trolls, witches, and Fate can all work together, but I needed to start somewhere--to get my footing in something--before I had to content with all of it. As it was, I didn't quite grasp the world I was in. There are too many "rules" at play with no rulebook to follow , and that made me sad. I wanted to sink into this world, but I couldn't.

• Easy Forgiveness: If he lies to you, tricks you, cheats you (in a game of life-and-magic-war-induced-death) and abandons you in your time of need, he probably isn't a good  partner. Maybe circumstances will mean you have to continue to see him--perhaps even work with him--but you really shouldn't forgive and forget in this situation. Absolutely not. And I didn't buy that Calla would forgive so easily. And yet she does. 

• Stilted: I wanted to like these characters. These characters have good bones (figuratively; I cannot speak to the literal bones of the characters). But they ultimately feel like archetypes, not real characters. They fall so, so easily into prescribes roles without any real reason behind their choices. These characters don't make decisions based on who they are intrinsically but based on the roles they're filling in the story. And that also made me sad. 

Rating

⭐⭐⭐⭐

4/10

Fans of a fun ensemble cast like that found in Emily Lloyd-Jones's The Drowned Woods will enjoy this quest crew. Those who appreciated the quirks of Morgan Rhodes's Echoes and Empires will love this enchanted new fantasy world. 

Details

Publisher: Disney Hyperion
Date: January 3, 2023
Series: N/A

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Note: I was provided with an ARC by the publisher through Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review. All opinions here are my own.