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Wicked As You Wish

(A Hundred Names for Magic #1)

Rin Chupeco (Goodreads Author)

3.27 · Rating details · 290 ratings · 188 reviews

Tala Warnock has little use for magic – as a descendant of Maria Makiling, the legendary Filipina heroine, she negates spells, often by accident. But her family’s old ties to the country of Avalon (frozen, bespelled, and unreachable for almost 12 years) soon finds them guarding its last prince from those who would use his kingdom’s magic for insidious ends.

And with the ...more

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Hardcover, 432 pages

Expected publication: March 3rd 2020 by Sourcebooks Fire

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Jan 09, 2020 Nilufer Ozmekik rated it it was ok

Oh no! I haven’t pushed the dnf button for any book for a long time! But I cannot go on however I tried sooooo hard!
I gave up. I’m at page 125 and I listen my inner voice kept screaming me; “Put the book down! Nice and slowly!” So I did as I’m told! I raised my hands to the air and surrendered!

I did my best to be patient! I uncounted sheep and drank triple shot espressos at the night time to focus on the story. (I sacrificed a great bottle of wine during my read which gives me more inner ...more

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Jan 04, 2020 Melissa ♥ Dog/Wolf Lover ♥ Martin rated it liked it

Shelves: fairyloot

ARC from December FairyLoot

Mel ...more

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Nov 03, 2019 Lola rated it it was ok

Shelves: did-not-finish, magic, 2020-publications

This is a ‘‘did not finish’’ from me.

The world building is so confusing. I can keep on reading and reading but I don’t understand more. Actually, I understand less. Because if from the beginning you’re not eased into the magic system and the different aspects that constitute the fantasy world, chances are you’re going to be so confused that you’re going to compensate by focusing on the characters more than the world around them.

But if, as is the case here, the characters—main and secondary—are ...more

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May 23, 2019 Rin Chupeco added it · (Review from the author)

Shelves: my-books, no-ratings-because-obviously-biased

EDIT: for everything you might like to know about WICKED AS YOU WISH, a thread: https://twitter.com/RinChupeco/status...

Join the street team: https://t.co/BdYEVFWpwL

---------------------------

This was the first book I'd ever written, shelved way back in 2010 because it wasn't "marketable", according to the feedback that I'd believed then.

Except every book I'd published since wasn't really marketable either. THE GIRL FROM THE WELL wasn't marketable because "horror didn't sell". THE BONE WITCH ...more

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Jan 09, 2020 sarah xoxo added it

Shelves: fantasy, arcs

review to come!

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire for this ARC

Release Date: 3 March 2020

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Jan 09, 2019 Divine marked it as to-read

Shelves: diverse-marginalized-reps, asian-reps-and-authors, 2020-must-have

THANKS TO THIS I NOW HAVE A 2020 MUST HAVE SHELF THIS EARLY. AHHHHHHHH FINALLY THE FILIPINO FANTASY REP I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR.

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Feb 01, 2020 Sahitya rated it liked it

It’s probably more of a 2.5 but I’m rounding it up because of a good ending.

I’d been rejected for this ARC so many times that I thought I would have to wait a long time after the release to get it from the library. But then I got selected for Rin’s street team and got the advance copy and I can’t tell you how ecstatic I was. But after finishing the book, my enthusiasm has dulled a little.

The author has written at length on twitter about what this book means to her and why she wrote it, It’s probably more of a 2.5 but I’m rounding it up because of a good ending.

I’d been rejected for this ARC so many times that I thought I would have to wait a long time after the release to get it from the library. But then I got selected for Rin’s street team and got the advance copy and I can’t tell you how ecstatic I was. But after finishing the book, my enthusiasm has dulled a little.

The author has written at length on twitter about what this book means to her and why she wrote it, particularly considering it’s the first one she ever did, so I was very much moved by it all and wanted to read it as soon as I got it in my hands. But I guess sometimes we put too much expectations on our favorite authors and it doesn’t feel good when their books don’t live up to them. This is the 5th book by the author I’m reading and the first ever where I didn’t like the characters or the writing much.

I won’t deny that the themes the author discusses in this one are very important and her frustration with it all comes through very well. Draconian immigration and refugee policies, child separations and abuse, governments and corporations working hand in hand to deceive the common populace and exploiting resources to make profits, racism, homophobia - all of these issues are discussed and challenged and I felt all the emotions that the characters were feeling. But it’s the rest of the story that didn’t really connect with me.

There was really no direction as to where it was going, the characters just seemed to react to whatever was happening to them and didn’t seem to know much else. There were so many of them that I got quite confused for a while until I got used to them but none of them really felt compelling enough. There is a lot (and I mean a lot) of banter between the characters but it completely felt forced which disappointed me a lot. I really live for great banter and dialogue, and I just can’t get over how stilted and out of place most of it felt in this story. The author also tries to incorporate so many fairytales and myths into the narrative that it stopped making sense after a while and I couldn’t be bothered to know what it was leading towards. The last few chapters were action packed and quite cool and the epilogue ends on a very unexpected cliffhanger, so thankfully it ended on a better note than I thought it would.

To conclude, I don’t wanna diss on the book too much because it’s my favorite author but it wasn’t what I thought it would be. There are a lot of important themes discussed and the story has a lot of fairytales from around the world integrated, so if that fascinates you, maybe you should check it out. If you are fans of the author’s Bone Witch trilogy and are looking for something like that, then this is not it. The last line is a great hook to make me interested in the sequel, but it’s not gonna make any of my anticipated lists like this one did, and I still haven’t made up my mind if I wanna continue. ...more

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Aug 11, 2019 Lance rated it really liked it

Shelves: found-family, koi-no-yokan, fave-protagonists, worldbuilding-goals, my-aesthetic, urban-fantasy, lgbtqia, retellings, mythology, young-adult

"'Just because you've never been to the Philippines doesn't mean that their rivers don't course through your blood. It 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.'"

4.5 Stars. Wicked as You Wish is an entirely different beast than Rin Chupeco’s previous work, but still contains the "'Just because you've never been to the Philippines doesn't mean that their rivers don't course through your blood. It 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.'"

4.5 Stars. Wicked as You Wish is an entirely different beast than Rin Chupeco’s previous work, but still contains the hallmarks of her masterful writing. Prior to this read, I had attempted to start this book so many times that I've lost track. The first time I attempted to read this, I got 100 pages in and put it down because I realized I wasn't in the mood for it. This then led to this intense trepidation in regards to reading this. Turns out, I really didn't need to worry because Chupeco managed to win me over once again. While a departure from the dark fantasy of The Bone Witch, this book manages to highlight the best parts of Chupeco's storytelling: unique, superb worldbuilding, a gorgeous aesthetic, and a lovable cast of diverse characters that will only continue to endear themselves to the readers as the series goes on.

Let's start with the strongest part of this book: the worldbuilding. For those of you who don't know, this book's setting is essentially the current day world but with an alternate-history twist. In this world, fairy-tales are real and are actually part of history. The United States becomes the Royal States of America and other countries such as Beira, Wonderland, and Avalon also exist and have had an impact in history. Right from the very beginning, Chupeco wastes no time in entrancing the reader in this vividly colored world. While there is quite a bit of info-dumping in regards to things like spell-tech, the different categories of each, and the general world politics, I will say that it is fully worth to push past this info dumping for this wondrous story. In addition, the worldbuilding itself is so enchanting. From mentions of fairy tales figures who are actual historical figures in this world like "Ella of the Cinders" and the needle of Sleeping Beauty being an actual weapon, Chupeco effortlessly weaves fairy tales and their stories into this book but also takes care to understand the ramifications, whether magical or socio-economic, of them being real history. It's amazing and I can't gush enough about it.

The aesthetic of this world is also on point. As it goes hand-in-hand with worldbuilding, the aesthetic just... it feeds my soul. This world is somehow all encompassing with so many varying elements yet has a very specific aesthetic: a girl gifted and cursed with the lineage of Maria Makiling and her agimat, a runaway prince with more than a few chips on his shoulder, and a conflict at once fairy tale like and incredibly complicated. Speaking of this book's fairy tale like qualities, the prophecies in this book? So unexpected yet so amazing. Seeing this fairy tale like element of prophecies and choices leading to death or something worse in this book worked so well. Chupeco loves to utilize the future and prophecy in her books, and I absolutely live for it.

Now for the cast. In true Rin Chupeco fashion, there's a large cast with lots of potential for growth introduced in this book: in addition to Tala and Alex as our main protagonists, we have the former's parents, the Katipuneros, the latter's protectors, the Bandersnatches (or "Banders."), and of course, the opposing faction consisting of literal ICE agents (WE LOVE A POLITICAL STATEMENT) and the Snow Queen and her minions. Each and every single one of these characters has dimension already, but are also poised for greater development in this series future books. I also love how Chupeco chose to tackle the found family trope but from within a Filipino context and how being Filipino effects that: she writes about both found and biological family. The Banders (Zoe, Cole, Loki, Ken, and West), in particular, are all such interesting characters and if the prophecies are any indication, poised for all interesting storylines. All of the cast is also incredibly diverse, with characters of varying sexual orientations, gender identities, and most if not all of the characters are POC.

Our two main characters are amazing. Tala Warnock as a protagonist is one of my new faves: she's written as a hesitant heroine, willing to do what needs to be done when harm threatens to befall her loved ones, but she ultimately truly wishes to live a life where her friends and family are safe. When at the end, (view spoiler) As for dear Alex, I'll be honest: he annoyed me through most of the 2/3 of this book. However, I completely understand his behavior and am very excited to see how he develops as the Prince of Avalon. Also the fact that he's gay as fuck makes me almost pre-disposed to love him so.....

Overall, I would definitely say read this when it comes out early next year. Most, if not all of you, absolutely sleep on Rin Chupeco and her work. She truly is a gift to YA fantasy as a writer and all of you need to read her work! As such, highly recommended. ...more

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Jan 20, 2020 Kristi rated it really liked it

Shelves: arc, fantasy, fairytale-retelling, 2020release, sourcebooks-fire

Wicked as you Wish by Rin Chupeco is a bridge apart from her past books that I’ve read; it doesn’t carry the same feeling of darkness that The Girl from the Well or The Bone Witch series does but I found it to be just as compelling. Although it took a little time for me to get in to the story, I’m glad I stuck with it.

Prince Alexei of Avalon is new to Arizona in the Royal States of America and is living undercover since the Snow Queen encased his Kingdom in ice. Tala has the ability negate or to ...more

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Oct 09, 2019 Shealea rated it it was amazing

Shelves: personal-biases, arc-review, authored-by-filipino, has-filipino-rep, has-asian-rep, books-with-diversity, has-lgbtqiap, has-poc, 1-highest-recommendation

I don't know where to begin, but I swear, a positively glowing review will eventually be available on this little space.

For the time being, all I have to say is: With its beautiful cast of courageous (and occasionally whimsical) Filipino characters and clever fairytale references, Wicked As You Wish is a precious book that means so, so much to me. Please, please pick this one up!

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Feb 07, 2019 Ellie (faerieontheshelf) marked it as to-read

Shelves: anticipated-future-releases

RIN CHUPECO REALLY ISNT COMING TO PLAY WITH ALL THESE UPCOMING RELEASES

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Jan 05, 2020 Beatrice in Bookland rated it did not like it

Shelves: dnf

DNF @ page 110

Honestly one of the worst books I've ever tried to read lol.

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Jan 17, 2020 Ayesha (The Fifth Marauder) marked it as to-read

Shelves: arcs

I GOT APPROVED FOR THIS ARC TELL ME I'M NOT DREAMING

flag 6 likes · Like · see review

Jan 18, 2020 Rain rated it really liked it

Shelves: asian-inspired, asian-authors

i don't have enough words as to how happy i am that this book features so much about the filipino culture. MY FAVORITE PINOY FOODS. VIDEOKE. EATING WITH YOUR HANDS. we love to see the representation.

HONORED TO BE PART OF THE PH CHAPTER OF THE ORDER OF THE BANDERSNATCH TOO. (pre-order this book!!!)

i just didn't give this book five stars because i think there were a lot of confusing parts in the story. there were just too many things to grasp like the modern fantasy world, the politics and the ...more

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Jun 02, 2019 turniip added it

Not the book for me and that’s okay!

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Jan 28, 2020 Kayla marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2020-releases

my excitement for this story has been reignited and im considering pre-ordering this now...has anyone read an arc of this? thoughts?

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Jan 28, 2020 Kimberly (novelhaus) rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2020-releases

I'm not sure what was going on with me here, but I just struggled with this one. I loved the concept. The mishmashing of different mythologies and fairytales was unique and done in a very natural and organic way. It didn't feel forced. Everything tied together beautifully. I love the fact that the characters were so diverse in terms of background, ethnicity, sexuality, and all of that, which is always refreshing to see.

My problem was that the story and writing just felt like it was meant for a ...more

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Jan 06, 2020 Mere rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, 2020-five-star-reads, february-books

Thank you to Fairyloot, the author & publisher for providing an arc!

Deliriously wonderful, and delightfully innovative. Fairytales galore and amazing writing combine to make an adventure. Chupeco is gifted at creating a deft story interwoven with an intriguing plot and carefully crafted characters. The concept of this book seems easy to grasp, and at first, it is. But the more you move into this story, the weirder it gets and the harder it is to follow. And yet, the book worked for me. You ...more

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Jul 25, 2019 Ava rated it it was amazing

WICKED AS YOU WISH reminds me of a patchwork quilt; it’s made up of so many pieces, but it smells like your childhood and brings a certain sense of comfort as you’re reading. This book is about a young girl named Tala, whose family “curse” is to negate the effects of magic, and she and her family are in charge of putting an exiled prince back on his throne. The world Tala lives in is familiar and rich with Filippino influences, and it’s clear that our “history” remains the same -- but all of WICKED AS YOU WISH reminds me of a patchwork quilt; it’s made up of so many pieces, but it smells like your childhood and brings a certain sense of comfort as you’re reading. This book is about a young girl named Tala, whose family “curse” is to negate the effects of magic, and she and her family are in charge of putting an exiled prince back on his throne. The world Tala lives in is familiar and rich with Filippino influences, and it’s clear that our “history” remains the same -- but all of your favorite (and even lesser-known) fairy tales also exist. It’s like an alternate reality/fairytale mashup, and once that was made clear, I was obsessed. Characters discuss the battle between Captain Hook and Peter Pan that made Neverland inhospitable and subsequently drove dragons to extinction in the twelfth century as if it is actual history, and damn if I don’t want our world to look like the one Chupeco created.

I also just want to give massive props to this author for the diversity and representation included within this book. Because Chupeco mentions fairytales and mythological figures from every corner of the world, so to do her characters hail from all around. And they are all fabulously memorable - I wanted so badly to jump into this book and join in on the banter and adventures these characters go on! I felt like I had FOMO, because I couldn’t participate in the lives of these people. Tala and her BFF/exiled prince, Alex, had such an honest relationship, and the girl power of Zoe and Nya almost brought me to tears. Chupeco also gets some serious bonus points for Ken and West, who might be the funniest pair I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading about. I was particularly enamored with the villains of WICKED AS YOU WISH, some of whom are original, and others are people/creatures recognizable in folklore and legends. But while fairytale villains sometimes fall a bit flat (because they’re evil and their only personality is evil and all they are is evil for the sake of being evil), Chupeco stepped up her game and made them so dynamic, I almost rooted for one of them.

The twists and turns really kept me flipping through the pages of WICKED AS YOU WISH, and the worldbuilding was completely unparalleled. This book will delight anyone hoping to see a truly fresh spin on all fairytales, with its enchanting characters and fantastical, fast-paced plot.
...more

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Aug 30, 2019 Dany rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adult, arc-reads, 2019-reads, high-epic-fantasy, diverse-fantasy, 5-stars, lgbtq-rep

I received the e- copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Review will be posted closer to the publishing date.

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Jun 14, 2014 Isa Lavinia marked it as wishlist

I NEED THIS BOOK RIGHT NOW!

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Dec 30, 2019 Annette rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookboxarc

As soon as I saw this ARC in the Fairyloot and read the blurb on the back, I knew this was gonna be my next read. It seemed to have and be everything I could wish for in a book and I was really curious how Chupeco would make all the different elements work together. And even though as a non-English native it wasn't always the easiest book to read, I ended up enjoying it immensely.

What made this book so incredibly interesting and brilliant is the mix of this being a high fantasy (with fantasy As soon as I saw this ARC in the Fairyloot and read the blurb on the back, I knew this was gonna be my next read. It seemed to have and be everything I could wish for in a book and I was really curious how Chupeco would make all the different elements work together. And even though as a non-English native it wasn't always the easiest book to read, I ended up enjoying it immensely.

What made this book so incredibly interesting and brilliant is the mix of this being a high fantasy (with fantasy worlds where magic exists), a portal fantasy (and extra love for the traveling by rabbit hole and magic mirror) and an urban fantasy. Chupeco took a lot of well known worlds (ours, Neverland, Wonderland, Avalon) and blended them all into one big giant world WITH all the political complications coming with it.

To explain everything, and I don't even doubt we barely scratched the surface of it, there were a lot of info-dumps in this book, but they felt actually quite natural and were well hidden in casual conversations. It helps that our main character Tala knows nothing either, which means that there is a reason for all the other characters to tell her things, explain her things and share their stories and the stories of all the wars and conflicts.

But, what I admire most in this book is Chupeco's talent to really make all those characters different, to give them their own voice and personality and to make it so easy for me to tell them apart and to remember who they are. There are quite a lot of characters we meet along the way, and some we get to know better than others, but they are all unique and even I could remember who was who, which means a lot.

And on top of this, even though it's the first book in a series and clearly mostly building the world, it never gets boring. There's a lot of action, we get to see a lot of different parts of the world, meet people who've been involved in the stories we hear about and the book even builds to a conclusion. I'm really curious to see where this series will go, because like I said, I think we saw only a little of everything Chupeco has to tell us. ...more

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Jan 13, 2020 USOM rated it it was amazing

I don't know if I can pick my favorite thing about Wicked As You Wish. Whether it be Tala's family, the group dynamics, or the fabulous world building, it's a difficult choice! I had such high standards coming into Wicked As You Wish since The Bone Witch trilogy has to be one of my fave ever. But Wicked As You Wish is something entirely different in an amazing way. Tackling issues of privilege and past mistakes, there are moments of pure humor and the world building is this kind of kaleidoscope ...more

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Apr 07, 2019 Cindy ✩☽ Savage Queen ♔ marked it as to-read

Ooo some promising releases coming it seems

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Jan 31, 2020 Elodia rated it it was ok

I feel underwhelmed by this book, more specifically with the story itself, because I feel overwhelmed with how much the author tried to mix in. It combines fairytales, magical realism, urban fantasy into one big plot, and I think it was too much.

The first 80 pages or so were really slow and info dumpy. We were still getting new information about the world/magic system well into the book, which just made everything more confusing.
Speaking of, the world building in this was so convoluted and ...more

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Jan 15, 2020 Grace added it

Shelves: dnf

*sigh* my first DNF of 2020. Hopefully my last as well, since I truly hate DNF'ing books. I got five chapters and 60 pages in and couldn't take it anymore. The world/magic system made NO SENSE to me, the story felt childish in general, and I couldn't keep track of all the characters, much less care about any of them. The only good thing is the chapter titles. Those are hilarious! Unfortunately I Can't find anything else positive to say about this. Not the book for me.

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Dec 24, 2019 Lauren rated it it was amazing

Shelves: queer, fantasy, re-telling

This was chaotic.... I LOVE IT.

This was a unique fantasy/magical realism/re-telling/contemporary (ah so many slashes). My favourite aspect being in brings in some many different fairytales/fables and Run Chupeco makes it her own - the main ones being Alice in Wonderland and the Snow Queen but there are countless others.

I really liked the the group of friends (well sort of) sent off on this adventure, all with great personalities - especially Tala and Alex's friendship which really progresses in ...more

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Jan 13, 2020 Sage Knightly rated it it was ok

Shelves: netgalley-and-edelweiss, arc

Pretty disappointed in how this turned out. Big twists were predictable, lots of loose ends, characters don't really show growth, it was all over the place plot wise, and world building was meh.

I kept reading because I wanted to know how it ended.

Wicked As You Wish follows Tala as her and her family try to hide their magic (the fact that they can cancel magic, rather) as well as protect the Prince of a kingdom that has been cursed as well as frozen so that no one can enter or leave. The ...more

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Dec 30, 2019 Alex Minton rated it did not like it

Shelves: dnf

Dnf for sure. This actually gave me a headache to read. It’s so info-dumpy yet confusing at the same time. The world building was not good and the story wasn’t compelling. Ya not reading this

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May 27, 2019 Brianna Donato rated it really liked it

This book was incredible! It's filled with funny characters, has a light/fast pace that I appreciated, and I loved how old fairy tales were reworked into this story. I've been a big fan of Rin Chupeco's work since the beginning, and I look forward to the next books in this series.

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About Rin Chupeco

Rin Chupeco

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For updates, events, and new releases, sign up for her newsletter at http://www.rinchupeco.com/newsletter Unfortunately, I cannot accept friend requests at this time - Amazon detects these friends' lists on Goodreads and prevents the people on them from leaving book reviews!

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Despite an unsettling resemblance to Japanese revenants, Rin always maintains her sense of hummus. ...more