#spellhacker

[slaughter-books]

Day 11: JOMPBPC: Non-Binary Character

[solreefs]

have you read spellhacker. if not guess what it's about

Um. There is a nonbinary wizard who discovers they have the power to hijack other people’s magic. They go to magic school and must hide this power from everyone. Chaos and dragons ensue.

[barbielezbian]

Last minute read Spellhacker by M.K. England (you may recognize them from The Disasters!) And wow!!!!! Obsessed with this magic system; having the different strains and having to weave them in different combinations was a really cool idea. Plus I love that these were "criminals" at the beginning. There were some twists I saw and some I didn't- the end was an insane epic proportion. Some thing fell short - the end handled the romance weirdly, some stuff didn't make sense (scientifically and otherwise), etc. But! Very great diversity and struggle and realistic anger, still a very neat read!!

[pickledfingers]

So I just finished a book called Spellhacker and it was a very good queer fantasy YA book. I've been on a ya kick while I'm working because it's easier to keep up if I need to zone out for a bit.

That said, when I started reading the book. I noticed a not insignificant number of the reviews said that the book's villain was cartoonishly evil with poorly defined motives. I went into the book a little weary, because I don't like when villains are just evil cackling people. Give me motive, you know?

Spoiler below:

The book's villain is a corporation who has been irresponsibly mining a powerful resource leading to pollution, sickness, and earthquakes. All for the sake of money.

Like, are you kidding? That's not cartoonishly evil, that's literally exactly how fracking works.

[justalittlelitnerd]

Spellhacker by M.K. England

Everyone loves a little spot of brightness in the middle of the bleak. 

I’ve been looking forward to this book since I read The Disasters all those months ago and I gotta say it did not disappoint. 

If push came to shove I would say that I liked The Disasters better, but I think that’s a matter of personal preference. Also M.K. England set a really high bar with their debut novel and it was always going to be hard to top in my opinion so I didn’t expect Spellhacker to be better, but it was good in a very different way. 

Much like The Disasters, the characters are what really drove this book. I am a sucker for found family and friends to lovers and complicated relationships and this book satisfied on all counts. The diversity didn’t feel forced or pandering, but natural within the relationships and the world and the story. Their identities were not a point of contention and the story didn’t revolve around the trauma of being themselves, but rather the trauma of the plague that killed their families. 

Which let me tell you I was nervous about reading this book in the midst of a pandemic, but it was a fairly different scenario which made it easier to consume.

It was so heartwarming to see a nonbinary character as the love interest because it’s not something I’ve seen often or maybe ever (I’m wracking my brain and honestly struggling so if you have any NB recommendations that would be cool!)

My only ~complaint~ which is minor because I really enjoyed this book, is that the ending felt a little rushed, especially because Diz was unconscious for their escape. But the ending was so fluffy and cute that I’m kind of okay with it? 

Anyway, keep reading for some fun and sarcastic quotes!

Dedication: To everyone whose struggle is invisible. Hey. I see you. We got this.

Maz is not my thing, though. You want your ex’s social media profiles hacked so they look like an ass? I’m on it. With maz, I’m useless.

When I draw back just enough to see Remi’s eyes, they look almost determined. Like there’s something right on the tip of their tongue that they just can’t quite say, but they’re daring me to guess. We’ve been here before, lived in this exact moment, stood right on the cusp and challenged each other. Back away, move closer, what’ll it be? Are you feeling brave tonight?

“What I think is that you want to have one last amazing job where you get to hit things and take home a big paycheck, but you want me to be the one to say yes so you can act all noble and resigned to your fate.”

Asshole. But the world doesn’t give him many chances to show off the things he’s good at, so I let it go. The whining is just for effect.

There were always lots of teachers from outside cities, here on some kind of grant program. Go work with the sad orphan children and have your student loans forgiven! There were always obnoxiously sincere and patronizing.

Much of it glows with neon, with maz, with money and desperate forward-looking optimism. The parts that don’t aren’t parts you want to visit anyway.

Sleep and I aren’t on speaking terms.

My gaze slides from their hair to their eyes. And there we pause, suspended in time, under the stars and the neon of our city, locked in connection. The air becomes heavy.

They open their eyes again, and the world falls out from under me. I’m pinned, my lungs and vocal cords frozen, my mind perfectly blank. Just say it, my brain screams as it comes back online. Stay, please stay, I can’t come with you, but I don’t want to be without you. Please stay.

This whole thing is manageable. I’ve pulled myself together before. I’ve let the seams get loose, though, let too much spill out into the open. Left myself vulnerable.

Gratitude surges in my heart for this cousin of mine, the one person on this planet who just gets me, doesn’t try to change me, who always gives me exactly what I need. No more, no less. Space when my thorns are out, love when I’m falling apart, independence and support in perfect balance.

I try to pull it all back inside, but it’s out there now, spilling over and raw and plain to see.

And that sends a shot of pure panic through me. Everything’s exposed, naked and bleeding, and people always say they’ll stay...but it’s not true, it’s not. No one can really say, not for certain, so what’s the point of anything, of--

“I know,” I manage. And those two words cost more than I have to give.

Two swears from Ania in less than a week. This is just a day full of unicorns. And then I trip over a maz mine, which summons a literal charging unicorn, and I deeply and instantly regret every thought I’ve ever had in my life.

Less than a day until we change the world, or die at the bottom of a very deep hole in the ground, never to be seen again. I always thought I’d die in a suitably dramatic way.

[books-to-add-to-your-tbr]

Title: Spellhacker

Author: M.K. England

Series or standalone: standalone

Publication year: 2020

Genres: fiction, fantasy, LGBT+, science fiction, romance

Blurb: In Kyrkarta, magic - known as maz - was once a freely available natural resource. That was before an earthquake released a magical plague, killing thousands and opening the door for a greedy corporation to make maz a commodity that's tightly controlled...and, of course, outrageously expensive, which is why Diz and her three best friends run a highly-lucrative and highly-illegal maz siphoning gig on the side. Their next job is supposed to be their last heist ever...but when their plan turns up a powerful new strain of maz that literally blows up in their faces, they're driven to unravel a conspiracy at the very centre of the spell plague, and possibly save the world.

[aroaessidhe]

2020 reads // twitter

Spellhacker

 sci-fi city where magic is rationed by a corporation

a hacker and her friends who siphon it off the underground pipes to sell 

interesting worldbuilding/magic system 

f/nb, heists, found family

[mydarlinginej]

today’s my stop on the blog tour for SPELLHACKER! check it out for my review and a playlist I made for the book, as well as a giveaway⚡️

[bookbaran]

I find it funny when a character is supposed to be a super talented thief or assassin or whatever and they bungle the first job they take.

It happens a lot.

[slaughter-books]

Day 11: JOMPBPC: Traitor

[tometalk]

Read 1/25-1/26

Three Stars

I'm very sad I didn't love this as much as I loved The Disasters. It had a similar fun tone set against a big scary heist but unfortunately the main character Diz just really dragged down this story for me. Diz is a tech wiz orphan who lives with two of her best friends and is the ringleader of a heist squad that steals maz from a corporation that controls it. My problem with Diz is that she is a very woe-is-me character. She refuses to get too close to her friends and then gets upset when they feel like she doesn't really care about them and are more friendly with each other. They've made plans for their futures and are intent are pursuing them while all Diz has done is ride on her cousin's coattails to get a job offer at the company he works for. I just really didn't like her as a character.

The others were so much more interesting to me. Remi is by far the best character. They were infected with the spellplague that killed thousands of people in the city and somehow were lucky enough to survive. Though the plague will eventually kill them, Remi maintains a positive attitude. Remi is also incredible with maz. They are a spellweaver, someone who is able to use and manipulate maz without any tech or hardware. Remi is basically a prodigy, extremely gifted at using maz and creating spells. One of my favorite things about Remi is that even though maz is thought to be the cause of the spellplague outbreak they still love maz and are constantly working with it. Jaesin was another good character. He's the dad friend, he takes care of the group and is the muscle on their heists. I loved this bit in the story where we learn he was super interested in maz as a child and wanted to learn how to weave it but when he got tested it showed he had no aptitude. So he turned his focus onto himself and became a skilled fighter instead. Ania was interesting as well. Unlike the other three main characters she is not an orphan and is actually the only daughter of very wealthy parents. She is a techwitch, someone who uses hardware to tap into maz to create spells. She doesn't have the natural connection with maz that Remi does but she's still plenty talented. I would have loved to get a little more into her character and see why someone with her upbringing would become involved in illegal maz heists. The book glosses over this and I feel neglects her character.

Maz in itself is extremely interesting. There are 14 different types of maz and they range from the elemental like fire and water to the perceptual that can affect auditory or olfactory senses. There are even strains of maz for healing or increasing speed. My problem with it is that after 400 pages I still don't have a clear idea how exactly it all works. It seems there are three classes of people. Spellweavers that can use maz on their own without any tech or hardware, techwitches that need to use hardware to be able to manipulate the maz strains, and regular people who aren't able to manipulate maz. My struggle with understanding maz comes in with how it's used. There are lots of finger and hand movements to create various spells but it's never really described well enough for me to get a clear picture. Are certain movements for different types of maz? Or does the gesture change how you're using each particular maz? There's an instance where Remi creates a small rabbit and another instance where they create a small dog. Is it the same hand gestures and only Remi's intention made it the shape the creature was? Or was there a specific hand movement for rabbit and dog? I just imagine random hand waving and colors and then voilá magic, I mean maz. It didn't feel like the rules involved were explained well enough because our main character Diz has no interest in maz and so glossed over those parts when they could have been the most interesting parts of the book.

[plantdad-dante]

Book #113 - Spellhacker by M. K. England

(oh why did you need to disappoint me. why are you bad.)

I wrote out a rant about this one. Not gonna post it, because it's mainly just about how the main character is an awful person engaging in zero self-reflection and like... hey, I got that fit into a single sentence. What a marvel the English language can be.

I don't want to rant again. I'm tired.

Instead, this is going to be about all the things I liked about this book, because there were... some. Mostly small ones, but that's okay, too. Overall, just keep in mind that this book is told in first person present by a very annoying, self-absorbed character who exhibits serious trauma and mental health problems that are never acknowledged as such and in the end just get "resolved" when Miss Protagonist vows to "try".

Anyway.

When I picked this book up, I expected from the blurb that it was going to mainly be about crime and heists, and while it had that, I was surprised to also find a plot all around corporate-caused, man-made environmental disaster. It might be quite a simplified and slightly childish take on it, but the problems caused by the antagonists here do map quite well onto real-world problems caused, for instance, by fracking. And I liked watching a diverse group of friends take on a company in this way and winning. It felt good.

The magic system is a nice and interesting take that maps very well onto the sci-fi setting. I especially like the ways the magic integrates with technology, for example with the concept of "techwitches". Technifying magic would be very in character for humanity, I think.

I liked the friends, as incoherent as their characterization could sometimes be. Have I learned much about Ania or Jaesin or Remi? No. Do I still like the idea of them? Yes, yes I do. Remi especially just seems like a very chill, yet headstrong person that would have made a great main character. And yet...

It makes me sad that they ended up with Dizzy (main girl). Their relationship is going to descend into toxicity within a month and Remi doesn't deserve that. The healthy decision would have been to encourage Diz to go to therapy and then keep their distance while she gets better on her own for a while. And then a few years down the line, they could have met up again and checked if the spark was still there. But the way it went... yeah, no, this will end a trash fire.

I loved the professor and his husband, though. How do I still get emotional reading words like "his husband"? Old married people who are still so tender and loving with each other... they have been married for forever and you can just see that every day of that forever was spent thoroughly besotted with each other... It just melts my heart.

That's it. Hated the rest. Bye.

[justalittlelitnerd]

Spellhacker by M.K. England

I liked the idea of doing neon for this post since that’s how Maz is used/described in the book  and I liked the quote because it sounded like the kind of motto this little band of thieves would have.

[thereaderandthechef]

✨INTL GIVEAWAY!✨ If you could steal hi-tech elemental magic, which one would you pick?! 🔥😱📚 . We are kicking off the bookstagram & creative tour for Spellhacker by @m.k.england! ✨ Packed with high-stakes action, humor, and hijinks, this genre-bending YA fantasy from the author of The Disasters is about a heist gone wrong in a futuristic world with hi-tech magic. Out now from @epicreads! 😍✨🙌 . *cue fangirling* Spellhacker is my first M.K. England book and now I cannot wait to read more from them! I flew through the pages of this fantastic genre-bending fantasy in one go because it was just SO GOOD. If you love heist stories full of magic but with epic twists, an epic diverse squad and a bit of romance, you will LOVE Spellhacker. In Kyrkarta, magic is known as MAZ and it’s like a natural resource and it’s so awesome! There are elemental maz (known as core strains) but there are others for concealment, protection, etc. Super awesome, definitely check it out! 😍🙌 . You can also read my full review on our blog! Link in bio. 😉 . . 📚INTL Tour-Wide Giveaway!📚 . During this tour, you can win a copy of Spellhacker from Book Depository + all of the preorder goodies: bookmark, postcard, sticker & signed bookplate! 😍 . . 📚How to enter📚 - Like this photo 😉 - Follow us (@thereaderandthechef) @m.k.england and @epicreads! - Leave a comment (so we can track your entry!) 🙌 . Extra entries: - Tag friends who might want to enter in a DIFFERENT comment! (Up to 3 comments) - Follow @mtmctours (and say if you do 😉) - Visit the next tour stop to get more entries! Tomorrow’s host is @timeladyjess! 🙌 . Rules: Ends February 8th at 11:59pm EST. Not affiliated nor endorsed by Instagram. . . . . #bookphoto #spellhacker #bookstagramer #mkengland #totalbooknerd #spellhackermtmc #bookaesthetic #booksbooksbooks #booklife #bookworms https://www.instagram.com/p/B71jFq-h8Ab/?igshid=iqgo2xk43em4

[agingerlyreview]

I am finding there aren't enough books about space hijinks... Good thing @m.k.england is here to help fill the void! I have a review up of this gem on my blog (along with a giveaway link!) so don't miss it! The synopsis is below and trust me, you want this book. . . 🌟 . . Synopsis: From the author of The Disasters, this genre-bending YA fantasy heist story is perfect for fans of Marie Lu and Amie Kaufman. In Kyrkarta, magic—known as maz—was once a freely available natural resource. Then an earthquake released a magical plague, killing thousands and opening the door for a greedy corporation to make maz a commodity that’s tightly controlled—and, of course, outrageously expensive. Which is why Diz and her three best friends run a highly lucrative, highly illegal maz siphoning gig on the side. Their next job is supposed to be their last heist ever. But when their plan turns up a powerful new strain of maz that (literally) blows up in their faces, they’re driven to unravel a conspiracy at the very center of the spellplague—and possibly save the world. No pressure. . . #spellhacker #epicreads #harper360ya #tffbc #ireadya #yalit #yalovin #bookstafeatures #booknerdigans #booknerd #bookdragon #bookworm #igbooks #igreads #instabooks #instaread #instareads #bookstagrammer #bookishallure #bookishmerch #bookishmerchandise #fiercefeatures #loverofbooks #bookstagramfeature #bookstagram #bookish #booksofinstagram #bookaholic #mybookfeatures #creativebookstagram https://www.instagram.com/p/B7dwAXPg6zP/?igshid=1o5zt38z8rxq3

[beckysbook5]

FFBC Blog Tour - SpellHacker by M.K. England

Thanks so much to @The_FFBC for giving me the chance to read this amazing fantasy and lgbtq read. #SpellHacker by M.K. England. this is one to watch out for guys! #BlogTour #BookReview

M.K. England is an author and YA librarian who grew up on the Space Coast of Florida and now calls rural Virginia home. When they’re not writing or librarianing, MK can be found drowning in fandom, rolling dice at the gaming table, digging in the garden, or feeding their video game addiction. They love Star Wars with a  desperate, heedless passion. It’s best if you never speak of Sherlock Holmes…