Review & Blog Tour. The Antidote

Welcome to The Antidote Blog Tour hosted by The Fantastic Flying Book Club. Witches are once again taking the bookish world by storm. In The Antidote magic is forbidden and Fee must keep it hidden. However, what happens when her magic is the only thing that might save her kingdom? Scroll down to read my review (and one of my favourite quotes) and don't forget to join the Giveaway (sorry, it's US only). Also, to read more reviews, interviews  and guest posts follow the tour.

Title: The Antidote

Author: Shelley Sackier

Published: February 5th 2019
Publisher: HaperTeen
Genre: YA Fantasy

Magic is not allowed, under any circumstances — even if it could save someone’s life. Instead, there are herbal remedies and traditional techniques that have been painstakingly recorded in lieu of using the mystical arts. Fee knows this, so she keeps her magic a secret.

Except her best friend, Xavi, is deathly ill. He’s also the crown prince. Saving him is important, not only for her, but for the entire kingdom.

Fee’s desperation to save her friend means she can barely contain the magic inside her. And after the tiniest of slips, Fee is thrust into a dark and secretive world that is as alluring as it is dangerous.

If she gives in, it could mean she can save Xavi. But it also means that those who wish to snuff out magic might just snuff her out in the process.

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After a deadly plague almost killed every person in Fireli, the kingdom is slowly coming back to life after a ten-year seclusion. However, opening the doors to the world brings a new threat and Ophelia, also known as Fee, must discover who’s behind the treachery before it’s too late to save the future king’s life, her best friend Xavi. 

WHAT I LOVED

The journey. The story is focused on Ophelia’s quest to save her kingdom and her best friend’s life and finding who she’s in a place where magic is forbidden. Fee’s journey reminded me so much of Yelena’s from the Study series, especially with all the twists and turns – this novel does a lot of unexpected and expected twists – and forbidden magic. 

"Keep your secrets close, for your enemies are all around you..."

Fee’s and Xavi’s friendship. I loved how unshakable their friendship was and that Fee would go to hell and back to save the life of her closest friend. I would have loved their friendship to have been a little bit more developed since a girl-boy friendship is rarely featured without romance elements being throw into the mix.

The atmosphere. There’s just something magical and mysterious in the atmosphere of this novel. The forbidden magic, the castle’s solitude, the darkness of the dungeons, the scent of the herbs collected by Fee, who was studying to become a healer… All these elements created such an enthralling atmosphere.

WHAT I THINK THAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

The beginning. The first chapters were confusing. I had to go back and forth to be sure I didn’t miss anything major to the story (these chapters are important to understand how the kingdom was before the ten-year quarantine was instituted after a plague that almost killed everyone and forced Fireli to send its children away).

The romance felt forced.  Or maybe the way Rye treated Fee the first time they met after ten years apart left a sour taste in my mouth. Ps. Arranged marriages is a trope that deserves more love.

Read an excerpt here. 

Shelley Sackier grew up in a small farming community in Northern Wisconsin continually searching for ways to grow warm. Realizing she would never be able to enjoy ice cream like real people should, she left the state and lived the blissful life of a traveling musician. Discovering her stories needed more space than two verses a bridge and a chorus could provide, she began storytelling in earnest. And then in Virginia. Which is where she lives now and continues to write. Her first novel, DEAR OPL (Sourcebooks 2015), is a tale about a snarky, overweight thirteen-year old, who suffers from loss everywhere in her life except on her body. Her next novel, The Freemason's Daughter (HarperCollins, 2017) is a story about a 16 yr old Scottish girl living in 1715 who's raised entirely by six burly Scotsman--and they're all smugglers. The Antidote (HarperCollins February 2019) is a YA novel about magic and medicine, and the witches who wield them both. To learn more about Shelley, visit shelleysackier.com where she blogs weekly about living on a small farm atop a mountain in the Blue Ridge and how it’s easiest to handle most of it with home grown food, a breathless adoration for tractors, and a large dose of single malt scotch. You can also find her on Twitter @ShelleySackier, Instagram, and Facebook.

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