This Wicked Fate
by Kalynn Bayron
Bloomsbury, 2022. 310 pages.
Review written November 13, 2022, from a library book
This Wicked Fate is the second book about Briseis, a descendant of Hecate, one of the Greek gods. In the course of her battle in the first book with descendants of Jason, one of her two mothers was killed. By the same descendant of Jason who years ago killed her birth mother, the descendant of the goddess.
But Hecate can keep her mother safe for one cycle of the moon. So in this book, Bri and her allies and relatives are working to complete an impossible task — collect the last piece of the Heart of Absyrtus.
If that sounds like the plot of a Rick Riordan book, it did to me, too. I think it’s safe to say that if you enjoy the Rick Riordan books, you’ll enjoy this one, too. The main difference being these characters are older teens, most of them are black, and the romances are between women.
Although there are life-or-death stakes, the story reads as light-hearted and fun. I like Briseis powers — she can command plants, make them grow, and is unaffected by any poisonous plant. Two of her allies have become immortal from previous encounters with the Heart.
But they face many obstacles learning where the remaining piece of the Heart is, getting there, and bringing the pieces together. And of course there’s a deadline with the cycle of the moon, and others who want to get there first.
I wasn’t tremendously invested in the characters, which might be simply because I hadn’t read the first book. But I did enjoy reading the story and liked seeing a brainy Black girl triumph in an action-packed adventure tale.
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