Trickery by Jaymin Eve, Jane Washington
Series: Curse of the Gods #1
Published by Indie on 28 February 2017
Genres: Fantasy Romance
Pages: 388
Format: eBook
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Willa Knight: Dweller. Slave. Non-magical being.
In Minatsol, being a dweller means that you are literally no better than dirt. In fact, dirt might actually be more useful than Willa. Her life will be one of servitude to the sols, the magic-blessed beings who could one day be chosen to become gods.
At least her outer village is far removed from the cities of the sols, and she won’t ever be forced to present herself to them... Until one small mistake changes everything, and Willa is awarded a position to serve at Blesswood, the top sol academy in the world—a position that she definitely did not earn.
Under the sudden, watchful eye of the gods, she will be tasked to serve the Abcurse brothers, five sols built of arrogance, perfection and power. They are almost gods themselves, and under their service she is either going to end up sentenced to death, or else they are going to ruin her so badly that she will wish for it.
Either way, she is in trouble.
Punching a sol in the nose was probably frowned upon in Blesswood. I reminded myself to check the rule book on that one later, right after I learned how to punch. I should probably just stick with tripping and kneeing them in the groin, since it was one of my specialties.
Trickery by Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington
Trickery by Jaymin Eve and Jane Washington is the first book in the Curse of the Gods series. Willa finds herself in a precarious situation, at the mercy of five powerful sols, beings destined to become gods, if they survive Blesswood Academy. Willa, an ordinary dweller, is bestowed the honour of serving the sols during their studies by cleaning their rooms, serving their food and scrubbing their toilets – standard slave duties. Not one to follow the rules and toe the line, Willa refuses to temper her personality to fit the Blesswood mould and bow to the five alpha Abcurse brothers, a capital offence.
Pace
It took me a little while to get through the first few chapters of Trickery only because I was highlighting almost every passage!
While there is a bit of world building along the way, the authors have introduced the these elements without big info dumps or unnecessary blocks of exposition. Their world is easy to understand and the magic system is not too complex and the major conflicts and revelations are spaces well throughout the plot that there are many, if any, lulls in the story.
Not to mention, the light-heartedness and comedy that the authors have infused into the entire book really makes for an enjoyable and very entertaining read.
Characters
The female main character (FMC), Willa, had me cackling like a mad woman! I loved her internal dialogue and commentary and her relationship with her best friend Emmy. Even in the completely insane circumstances she gets herself into, she so relatable and I instantly connected with her – I, too, need snacks and fall over more than an adult should.
And the Abcurses; five brothers, each powerful, gorgeous, and deadly in their own way, and who are all drawn to Willa. I had trouble keeping all these brothers straight at first, but Willa’s nicknames for them was actually really helpful (lol). These brothers are everything you would want in a male main character (MMC); possessive, alpha-males with ‘hurt her and you die’ vibes.
Did all sols have such stunning eyes?
He almost had you killed! Right.
His eyes sucked. He had sucky eyes, and so did his brother.Trickery by Jaymin Eve & Jane Washington
The Tropes
- Prisoner/Slave
- Hidden/Secret Identity
- Magic
- Gods/Godesses
- Fish out of Water
- A hint of Grumpy/Sunshine
- Academia
- Humans vs. Others
- Rivals
- Curse
Is Trickery spicy?
Even though there are five hunky MMCs, there is little spice in Trickery. BUT, it’s clear that Eve and Washington are setting this up to be a reverse-harem type romance. There is no one front-runner for the love interest and Willa has solid chemistry with all five guys so there is a bit of tension and competition. It is a five book series and I don’t think that the authors would be able to pull off four more books without turning up with heat.
My Thoughts
Big, big fan. I read Trickery in a day and then immediately one-click purchased the rest of the series. I loved all the main characters and really enjoyed the straightforward writing style. The action was well balanced with tender, heartwarming moments, with everything rounded off with a heaping dose of comedy (mainly from Willa). I am keen to see how the romantic relationships turn out and what trouble Willa can get herself into again in book two, Persuasion.
I would recommend Trickery to:
- fantasy romance newbies
- readers looking to break up a dark romance streak
- YA readers wanting to dip their toe into NA
- anyone who wants an easy, lighthearted read
