Look, I wanted to love this book. As someone who devours dark romance, lives for "morally grey" characters, and has an entire shelf dedicated to enemies to lovers, "Quicksilver" by Callie Hart seemed like it was written specifically for me. A gritty Fae world? A brooding, dangerous male lead? A magic system based on alchemy? I was ready to curl up, maybe light a candle, and get lost in the story. Instead, I found myself checking the page count every ten minutes, praying for it to end. Here is the honest truth about why this one was a DNF (or a "wish I had DNF'd") for me. Caution: spoilers

This book is a behemoth! Over 600 pages, and I am still trying to figure out why. I love a long book if the story justifies it (give me a sprawling fantasy epic any day), but this felt bloated. There were endless chapters of internal monologues and repetitive conversations that didn't move the plot forward. It felt like walking through actual quicksilver: slow, dragging, and exhausting. I love a slow burn. I love tension, but the dynamic between Saeris and Kingfisher didn't feel like chemistry; it felt like a checklist of tropes being aggressively ticked off. If I have to read the phrase "Little Osha" one more time, I might scream. It wasn't endearing; it was grating. As for the the "enemies to lovers" aspect, It felt forced. True enemies-to-lovers requires genuine stakes and conflict, not just bickering that goes in circles for 400 pages. 

My verdict: 2/5. I don’t have time for bad books. I wanted the dark, gothic atmosphere. I wanted biting wit and the high stakes. What I got was a story that needed a ruthless editor and a male lead who felt more like a caricature than a character. Recommendation: Skip it. Go re-read "A Court of Thorns and Roses" or dive into a darker indie thriller instead. It feels like any "alchemy" themed books have been cursed for me lately.