Let’s do your favorite book over the summer. What was that?
Oh, favorite book over the summer was definitely Quicksilver [by Callie Hart]. I didn’t think I was gonna like it, because it was so long. It was probably 800 pages, but it’s like a high fantasy, and it’s one of those enemies to lovers trope, you know. But you don’t think it’s gonna happen for a long time. It’s really good action, so I like that…I believe there is a sequel coming out like in October.
So how did you like stumble upon the book?
So I went to Florida and went to Books a Million. I love Books a Million. And they had a great display of like all the new and like what’s hot, not just TikTok-books. So it was on there and I had been seeing it on a lot of different social media platforms and lots of interviews with the author. So that’s why I was like, okay, let me give it a shot.
Can you give me one sentence wrapping up the entire book?
Love happens when you least expect it.
What about describing like the general characters and the plot?
Well, I mean, they’re pretty dark. It’s a dark fantasy world where she’s going to kill him. He’s going to kill her just to survive because it’s like this fantasy world. No dragons, but definitely beasts, powerful beasts, and lots of magic. And the Quicksilver, which can get into your body, can allow you to travel to different realms. And so again, it’s about Quicksilver [which] is very volatile…you can do all these things with it. It’s almost like a mercury.
So do you drink it? How do you get it?
You can absorb it. I think you can accidentally swallow it or get it in your eyes…it can kill you or it can help you.
The human world, how is that set up? Is it like similar to modern society or very old?
Old time-y, definitely castle that kind of, you know, you’ve got servants, you’ve got the royalty, that kind of thing. You’ve got soldiers that serve the king.
How does she discover it?
She winds up in a pool of Quicksilver. She gets into a pool, because she’s curious about it and it’s calling to her. It’s calling to her a different realm…He gets called through the Quicksilver into the realm, and she has just been stabbed by a soldier from the queen or from a witch or whatever she is. And our protagonist is stabbed and is dying and our antagonist, originally, he comes through and grabs her because she’s holding a sword that no one’s supposed to be able to hold.
And then which book would you say, if you like this book, you’re definitely going to like Quicksilver?
Even though there’s no dragons in it, I feel like, because…there’s the storyline of enemies to lovers, fantasy, and it’s action packed, [it’s] kind of like Fourth Wing. I don’t know if it’s as sad as Fourth Wing. Fourth Wing is sad. I mean, there’s people that die in Quicksilver, but you’re not as involved with them.
What about second book of the summer?
Second book is “His Face is the Sun” [by Michelle Jabes Corpora]. It was a very slow read. It is set in ancient Egypt, and so there’s a lot of talk about—and I always like that—the Greek and the Egyptian and the Roman gods and everything. [The main character,] the girl is one of triplets that were born to the Pharaoh, but the Pharaoh has become very evil and very twisted and dark and is allowing his lands to fall apart. And so one brother—I don’t want to give you too much—is trying to get rid of the father and she’s finds out about it, but she’s so afraid of her brother [and] allows really bad things to happen. So there’s a lot of really sad parts to it.
The other brother is a scribe for the priests. He’s kind of considered priest-like, because he’s a scribe and he’s very smart and he studies all the scrolls and everything. Our main character winds up going to the other brother, even though he’s not very powerful…she winds up meeting a grave robber. That was like a big thing. Even back then, people were trying to break into the tombs and steal all the jewels and everything that was buried in the tombs with the Pharaohs. So she winds up with this grave robber and they wind up finding a way to get people together to go against the Pharaoh. So, yeah, there’s lots of twists and turns in it.
Is that the love interest?
I didn’t really get that feeling. Maybe a little bit. There’s probably a sequel coming. So maybe then…but it’s very sad because, the author did a good job [describing] ancient Egypt. It was hard to live back then, you know, people, illnesses, warfare, enemy tribes. And there was a lot of tribal warfare there in Egypt. She’s trying to prevent her brother from killing the Pharaoh because he wants to become the Pharaoh. And he’s pretty evil. It reminded me of Cleopatra and like the Asps and all that, which they say may or may not be true now…I got curious when I was reading, cause you know, a good book makes you reflect on what questions you have. And so I was thinking about [how] Cleopatra was in Egypt with Julius Caesar’s children when he was murdered and she had to find a way out of Rome without getting killed.
What are your favorite parts about both of the books?
I definitely liked the history of the ancient Egypt stuff. Then my favorite part of Quicksilver is, I like [that] our main character is, she’s human, but she’s a thief [whose] trying to do the right thing by doing all the wrong things. Reminds me a little bit of “Throne of Glass”, but she kind of finds a way, realizes that she has to change some of the things that she does to help her people survive. So I kind of like that.
[In “His Face is the Sun”] She’s kind of spoiled because she’s a princess, but she realizes that there’s some bad things going on in the country and that her father is really not being the best Pharaoh. So she is trying to figure out what can she do to help her people. Can you imagine being a princess of a [country] in ancient Egypt? I don’t think it was very easy. It probably was an easier life, and in some ways you were protected, you had food and water and delicacies and jewels and all that stuff. But I think being a servant or being part of the poor in ancient Egypt would be real, real hard.
Can you sum everything up in one sentence?
You’re stronger than you think you are.
What else did I read? Oh, “The Last Bookstore on Earth” [by Lily Braun-Arnold] where it’s two girls, there’s an apocalypse and the world [and] life as we knew it [is no longer]. There’s acid rain and everything happens because of this apocalypse. And she winds up in this bookstore cause it was her favorite place to be. So I really liked that, that she goes to the bookstore in the town to save herself.
