Brimstone by Callie Hart – Review

Published: November 18, 2025

Publisher: Forever

Series: Fae & Alchemy #2

Genre: Fantasy, Romance

Pages: 672 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Synopsis:
Duty. Blood. Honour. Power.

Saeris Fane doesn’t want power. The very last thing she needs is her name whispered on an entire court’s lips, but now that she’s been crowned queen of the Blood Court, she’s discovering that a queen’s life is not her own. A heavy weight rests upon her shoulders.

Her ward – and her brother – need her back in her homeland . . . but the changes that have strengthened Saeris have also made her weak. Born under blazing suns, Saeris will surely die if she makes her way home through the Quicksilver. Which means that, once again, she must send someone else in her stead . . .

‘Keep your mouth shut. Stick to the shadows. And for the love of all seven Gods, do NOT crack any jokes.’

Kingfisher of the Ajun Gate has defeated armies and survived all manner of horrors, but traveling back to Zilvaren with Carrion Swift might just be the death of him. The male just will not shut up. Hidden dangers await them down the narrow alleyways of the Silver City. Unfolding secrets pose impossible threats. Fisher must wrangle the smuggler and accomplish his goals quickly if he wants to see his mate again.

A darkness falls across Yvelia. The realm and their friends are in danger. Together, Saeris and Fisher will pass through fire and brimstone to save them.

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This sequel absolutely does not mess around. Brimstone throws you directly back into the action, then piles even more world-shaking events on top of what’s already going down. Is it perfect? No, but it is one hell of a fun book and the ending left me just as annoyed as that of Quicksilver. Annoyed because it left me with this fun, new tidbit of information that I now have to wait a year to learn more about!

Brimstone picks up directly after the events of Quicksilver and Saeris is dealing with her new reality as the only half vampire/half fae and also the rather hated new queen of the vampires. They loathe her because she killed their previous king, Malcolm, and destroyed any hope they had of invading the fae lands. The vampire court is a nasty place rife with treachery but it also has a pretty sweet library that might have some desperately needed information about the alchemists of yore. It also has magical paper birds that have a whole ecosystem in the rafters, which was a fun little touch. One assumes paper birds can’t poop on the books. 

Unfortunately for Saeris and Kingfisher, the vampire court is taking up a good deal of time which is needed for other things. Not just sexy things, but very unsexy things like saving Kingfisher’s sister, stopping the spread of a mysterious rot that makes its victims unimaginably difficult to stop, and saving the world. That’s not to say they don’t find time for a bit of… fun… because they certainly do, and with great detail that, truthfully, I would have been happy without because the plot is pretty solid. 

Brimstone was a very entertaining book that kept me hooked from page one. I read the pretty physical copy I had pre-ordered, which is a rare thing these days as I’m mostly reading on my kindle. I quickly coerced two friends into reading this book, just so I could have someone to talk about it with. Aside from some annoyances with the dialogue at the beginning, I don’t have much in the way of complaints about this book. Given suitable distance and probably a re-read, I’m sure I could find something but reviews are all about first impressions and my first impression was that Brimstone was a really good sequel that I liked nearly as much as the first book.

*I’d also like to note that I find it interesting what the synopsis focuses on, because that is such a small part of the book!*