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story_singer_101's review against another edition
4.0
Foxheart was a really enjoyable story. The characters were fun and compelling, I loved Quicksilver's relationship with Fox, and the book had wonderful themes of friendship, co-operation, and self-sacrifice. Quicksilver also experienced real character development, going from a self-focused girl to a caring friend. While Quicksilver is a witch, the magic in the story conforms to C.S. Lewis' definition of white magic: the characters who do have magic are born with it, and anyone who tries to obtain magic beyond what he/she was born with faces severe consequences. That being said, the book does promote thieving as a good, honorable profession for Quicksilver to follow. Other than the promotion of thievery, the book was a great read, and I highly recommend the story to anyone interested in a fun, engaging summer fantasy.
bibliotekat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
bethebluebook's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
sciencewithkrystal's review against another edition
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
4.0
I enjoyed this story. I like the characters and the adventure and I will definitely read more of this author. I don't like sad endings though and this one was definitely sad.
mariahistryingtoread's review against another edition
2.0
It seems like I’ve fallen down a rabbit hole of books that have all the pieces to be great to me only to totally miss the mark. As is the case with a lot of the books I have been reading lately, Foxheart falters when it comes to the characters.
Quicksilver is insufferable a majority of the time. Raised at an orphanage where she was hated by everyone she has developed an unnecessarily hostile attitude as a defense mechanism. She wants to be a master thief because she’s good at it? It’s never really clear why she decides exactly to be a thief. She’s sometimes deprived of basic essentials at the orphanage necessitating the stealing, but her revelry in it is unexplained. I think most people would agree thieving is a harmful, selfish act excluding extenuating circumstances. Quicksilver never thinks about this at all. It’s not a good first impression nor does it endear me to her; she doesn’t even have limitations on who she’ll steal from, it’s a free for all as long as the target seems to have ‘a lot’ - an arbitrary metric if I’ve ever heard one.
While I understand why she is the way she is, it doesn’t make her likable. In her defense, as the novel progresses she does grow which I am exceedingly thankful for. She doesn’t change enough for me to warm up to her though. By the end I was more neutral than anything which is technically a win, depending on how you look at it.
The core of her arc is learning to rely on other people. She’s been largely ignored her whole life and abandoned as a toddler by her parents so her abrasiveness makes sense especially given her young age. That being said, Quicksilver’s causticity undermines her arc as it intersects with her treatment of Sly Boots.
Sly Boots is the son of a pair of master thieves. At the start of the book Quicksilver encounters him while attempting to rob his home. Too bad for her, they have almost nothing as Sly Boots’ parents have fallen gravely ill with some magic witch sickness/coma. Sly Boots is a terrible thief who is barely managing to steal enough to feed all three of them let alone much needed medicine. In contrast to Quicksilver Sly Boots is sweet, nervous and shy.
As you might have anticipated, the rough and tumble, Quicksilver treats him like dirt because she views all these traits as weaknesses.
Going back to what I said about the arc; Quicksilver is learning to accept help from other people. Her acting as if Sly Boots is gum on the bottom of her shoe, as frustrating as it is, is fine as a foundation to start from. The fact that she barely ever treats him better is my main gripe. She is nasty to him to the bitter end. What changes, however, is her perception of him. Claire Legrand doesn’t create meaningful moments for the two to bond. She instead has Quicksilver come to care for Sly Boots somewhere in the middle and then acts as if it’s now fun banter between friends without informing Sly Boots of this change. Functionally, there was no difference since Sly Boots was unaware Quicksilver kind of liked him.
The level of vitriol that Quicksilver threw at Sly Boots initially cannot be glossed over like it was. In order to overcome how rude Quicksilver was there needed to be moments of vulnerability between her and Sly Boots so that the two could understand one another better. Sly Boots is actually pretty emotionally open already. Quicksilver ridicules him for this so it would be a major sign of growth if she expressed her feelings to him. Instead Quicksilver does all of this in her head and treats Sly Boots the same exact way, except it’s okay because at least we, as the reader, know that she’s doing it with fondness now.
Also there’s some trickery involving Sly Boots later that hurts the pacing of their relationship too. I don’t want to spoil it, but when this happens it kind of mangles their trajectory. It’s like Quicksilver rapidly warms up to Sly Boots, thing happens, now she’s sort of justified treating Sly Boots like garbage so I guess she didn’t need to learn to be nice to him, after all? It’s messy.
Sly Boots is kind of possessed by the Wolf King. Despite knowing the Wolf King has this kind of magic Quicksilver spends several chapters thinking that Sly Boots just is being a jerk. When the Wolf King finally puts her out of her misery, the reveal is presented as if Sly Boots made the decision to make a bargain with the Wolf King so he wasn’t possessed. Except, he literally acted possessed before? It heavily implied he couldn’t control his actions, was confused about what was going on and his eyes even seemed to change. Then the reasoning for the bargain makes absolutely no sense either. Sly Boots makes the deal because he feels that Quicksilver has put his parents’ health on the backburner. That already is silly because right before his ‘possession’ she went out of her way to procure the medicine for him as an act of good faith. But the biggest problem is that absolutely none of this matters anyways because it’s in the past. If they defeat the Wolf King then, they won’t need medicine in the future because the timeline of events will change. This is explained to Sly Boots at the beginning of the journey. So WHY would he make this deal knowing that if he throws himself into finding the witch bones that he won’t even need the medicine?
And to be fair to him if he thought they were taking too long, okay, I can buy that since it had been a few days, except he NEVER brought it up? So I’m supposed to accept he was quietly stewing over this in the background without any evidence. And it refuses to take a solid stance on how culpable Sly Boots even is in this situation. He was possessed but it’s his fault because he wasn’t strong-willed enough to resist? That feels dangerously like blaming the victim. Especially since Quicksilver acknowledges how tempting such a deal would be yet still can’t forgive him for it as if he had any control in the first place.
Sly Boots is definitely a foil to Quicksilver. He’s just never allowed any agency. Most of his purpose is stolen by Anastasia and Fox. He’s set up to be an unexpected friend teaching Quicksilver how to (platonically) love another person. But, the narrative’s refusal to drop Anastasia when she’s worn out her welcome severely undercuts Sly Boots’ effectiveness. He might as well have not even been a character for all the use he has. The worst part is that I’m more upset about this than Sly Boots is.
He has no arc of his own. He never stands up to Quicksilver. He never speaks out of turn. He always takes the easy way out. I’ve been defending him primarily on principle to be honest because he is such a snivelling, cowardly wet blanket of a character I couldn’t stand him either by the time the book was done. For example, at one point Quicksilver wants to help a coven. Anastasia says no because witches don’t help other witches. You’d expect Sly Boots to rally to her cause as he’s got a bit of a witches vs humans thing going on so this is a perfect way to flex on them. His character should be one pushing Quicksilver to be better regardless of his own misgivings as the ‘humane’ thing to do. It should be his moral fiber counterbalancing Quicksilver’s indifference and/or hesitance. Instead, Sly Boots says who cares, let’s run. It’s so selfish and completely runs opposed to what this characters’ narrative function should be. Why does Quicksilver need him at all if she’s already got more compassion than he does? He certainly isn’t being a good friend nor a useful ally.
Anastasia is intended to fill the wise, mentor archetype. She slaps Sly Boots once for doing something she doesn’t like. Enough said.
Fox is a sarcastic magical sidekick. Enough said about that too.
Here are some things that I felt would have made the story flow better:
- Anastasia shouldn’t be exposed so early, then Quicksilver will lie to Sly Boots because she wants to know more about witch business and she doesn't care about him yet. Later on as she comes to like him her guilt over lying to him would be a major conflict that adds depth to her character. And the reveal would shake up Quicksilver as it would be a turning point for her to realize she doesn’t want to be like Anastasia. Anastasia not being revealed yet also creates a nice divide between the two sides to up some stakes. Anastasia seems so magical and cool. Quicksilver naturally is drawn to her and disparages Sly Boots for his shortcomings. Then as the book progresses Quicksilver starts to see Anastasia's faults mirrored through her own actions and thus, grows as a person/is kinder to Sly Boots.
- Alternatively, Anastasia could have died very early after meeting Quicksilver. She’s in the midst of dying anyways and after a major incident she's dead weight Quicksilver is dragging along. She can’t even give advice at this point any more so why keep her around? She’s fulfilled her reason for existing in the book. This would emphasize the bond between Sly Boots and Quicksilver as the two need to rely on one another in an unfamiliar environment knowing nothing. Anastasia’s death is also a quick way of indebting Quicksilver to the cause.
- There are seven sets of witch bones the characters are looking for. Way too many. Anastasia should only be trying to find the final bones. The Wolf King should have all of them except one set and she spent decades looking to find them. This better focuses the story and heightens tensions because the Wolf King is so close.
So yeah, as you can see I spent way too much time thinking about how this book could be improved. The concept is intriguing. It genuinely caught me off guard when the plot initially got underway. I was not expecting the direction this was choosing to take. It’s just the characters really bog it down coupled with an underwhelming quest.
I don’t talk a lot about the actual plot in this review but finding the bones is super easy compared to how difficult it’s made out to be. Quicksilver finds them rapid fire right on top of another in several successive chapters. It’s supposed to be challenging because the bones are a little sentient and can disappear at will if not happy, making you search for them all over again. That never happens nor does it feel close to happening so I don’t see why that was even introduced as a potential option. It makes you wonder why Anastasia took so long to get it done before she met Quicksilver. The villain is a cop-out. How could Anastasia after all this time never figure out his secret/weakness and use that to her advantage? I get that working alone hindered her, but considering how little the other witches contributed to the final battle I don’t think she did need the help after all.
This is a mostly negative review. Yet, I almost want to recommend this book anyways? It’s strange. I had so many problems reading this book. Somehow I still think it’s got some strong enough points to weather the storm. The magic system is cool if not a little ill-defined. The action scenes are middling, but I liked the immediate build up to these scenes. There is a great sacrifice that made me tear up. it’s a conflicting situation for me. I suppose, I’ll settle on read at your own risk.
Quicksilver is insufferable a majority of the time. Raised at an orphanage where she was hated by everyone she has developed an unnecessarily hostile attitude as a defense mechanism. She wants to be a master thief because she’s good at it? It’s never really clear why she decides exactly to be a thief. She’s sometimes deprived of basic essentials at the orphanage necessitating the stealing, but her revelry in it is unexplained. I think most people would agree thieving is a harmful, selfish act excluding extenuating circumstances. Quicksilver never thinks about this at all. It’s not a good first impression nor does it endear me to her; she doesn’t even have limitations on who she’ll steal from, it’s a free for all as long as the target seems to have ‘a lot’ - an arbitrary metric if I’ve ever heard one.
While I understand why she is the way she is, it doesn’t make her likable. In her defense, as the novel progresses she does grow which I am exceedingly thankful for. She doesn’t change enough for me to warm up to her though. By the end I was more neutral than anything which is technically a win, depending on how you look at it.
The core of her arc is learning to rely on other people. She’s been largely ignored her whole life and abandoned as a toddler by her parents so her abrasiveness makes sense especially given her young age. That being said, Quicksilver’s causticity undermines her arc as it intersects with her treatment of Sly Boots.
Sly Boots is the son of a pair of master thieves. At the start of the book Quicksilver encounters him while attempting to rob his home. Too bad for her, they have almost nothing as Sly Boots’ parents have fallen gravely ill with some magic witch sickness/coma. Sly Boots is a terrible thief who is barely managing to steal enough to feed all three of them let alone much needed medicine. In contrast to Quicksilver Sly Boots is sweet, nervous and shy.
As you might have anticipated, the rough and tumble, Quicksilver treats him like dirt because she views all these traits as weaknesses.
Going back to what I said about the arc; Quicksilver is learning to accept help from other people. Her acting as if Sly Boots is gum on the bottom of her shoe, as frustrating as it is, is fine as a foundation to start from. The fact that she barely ever treats him better is my main gripe. She is nasty to him to the bitter end. What changes, however, is her perception of him. Claire Legrand doesn’t create meaningful moments for the two to bond. She instead has Quicksilver come to care for Sly Boots somewhere in the middle and then acts as if it’s now fun banter between friends without informing Sly Boots of this change. Functionally, there was no difference since Sly Boots was unaware Quicksilver kind of liked him.
The level of vitriol that Quicksilver threw at Sly Boots initially cannot be glossed over like it was. In order to overcome how rude Quicksilver was there needed to be moments of vulnerability between her and Sly Boots so that the two could understand one another better. Sly Boots is actually pretty emotionally open already. Quicksilver ridicules him for this so it would be a major sign of growth if she expressed her feelings to him. Instead Quicksilver does all of this in her head and treats Sly Boots the same exact way, except it’s okay because at least we, as the reader, know that she’s doing it with fondness now.
Also there’s some trickery involving Sly Boots later that hurts the pacing of their relationship too. I don’t want to spoil it, but when this happens it kind of mangles their trajectory. It’s like Quicksilver rapidly warms up to Sly Boots, thing happens, now she’s sort of justified treating Sly Boots like garbage so I guess she didn’t need to learn to be nice to him, after all? It’s messy.
Spoiler
This book actually involves time travel. Quicksilver, Sly Boots, Fox, and Anastasia have gone back in time to stop the Wolf King before he starts slaughtering witches. Sly Boots is distressed because he made a pact with Quicksilver to get medicine for his parents that obviously can’t be done if they’re in the past. Quicksilver promises to still help him after she learns more witch business. This is where things go topsy turvy.Sly Boots is kind of possessed by the Wolf King. Despite knowing the Wolf King has this kind of magic Quicksilver spends several chapters thinking that Sly Boots just is being a jerk. When the Wolf King finally puts her out of her misery, the reveal is presented as if Sly Boots made the decision to make a bargain with the Wolf King so he wasn’t possessed. Except, he literally acted possessed before? It heavily implied he couldn’t control his actions, was confused about what was going on and his eyes even seemed to change. Then the reasoning for the bargain makes absolutely no sense either. Sly Boots makes the deal because he feels that Quicksilver has put his parents’ health on the backburner. That already is silly because right before his ‘possession’ she went out of her way to procure the medicine for him as an act of good faith. But the biggest problem is that absolutely none of this matters anyways because it’s in the past. If they defeat the Wolf King then, they won’t need medicine in the future because the timeline of events will change. This is explained to Sly Boots at the beginning of the journey. So WHY would he make this deal knowing that if he throws himself into finding the witch bones that he won’t even need the medicine?
And to be fair to him if he thought they were taking too long, okay, I can buy that since it had been a few days, except he NEVER brought it up? So I’m supposed to accept he was quietly stewing over this in the background without any evidence. And it refuses to take a solid stance on how culpable Sly Boots even is in this situation. He was possessed but it’s his fault because he wasn’t strong-willed enough to resist? That feels dangerously like blaming the victim. Especially since Quicksilver acknowledges how tempting such a deal would be yet still can’t forgive him for it as if he had any control in the first place.
Sly Boots is definitely a foil to Quicksilver. He’s just never allowed any agency. Most of his purpose is stolen by Anastasia and Fox. He’s set up to be an unexpected friend teaching Quicksilver how to (platonically) love another person. But, the narrative’s refusal to drop Anastasia when she’s worn out her welcome severely undercuts Sly Boots’ effectiveness. He might as well have not even been a character for all the use he has. The worst part is that I’m more upset about this than Sly Boots is.
He has no arc of his own. He never stands up to Quicksilver. He never speaks out of turn. He always takes the easy way out. I’ve been defending him primarily on principle to be honest because he is such a snivelling, cowardly wet blanket of a character I couldn’t stand him either by the time the book was done. For example, at one point Quicksilver wants to help a coven. Anastasia says no because witches don’t help other witches. You’d expect Sly Boots to rally to her cause as he’s got a bit of a witches vs humans thing going on so this is a perfect way to flex on them. His character should be one pushing Quicksilver to be better regardless of his own misgivings as the ‘humane’ thing to do. It should be his moral fiber counterbalancing Quicksilver’s indifference and/or hesitance. Instead, Sly Boots says who cares, let’s run. It’s so selfish and completely runs opposed to what this characters’ narrative function should be. Why does Quicksilver need him at all if she’s already got more compassion than he does? He certainly isn’t being a good friend nor a useful ally.
Anastasia is intended to fill the wise, mentor archetype. She slaps Sly Boots once for doing something she doesn’t like. Enough said.
Fox is a sarcastic magical sidekick. Enough said about that too.
Here are some things that I felt would have made the story flow better:
- Anastasia shouldn’t be exposed so early, then Quicksilver will lie to Sly Boots because she wants to know more about witch business and she doesn't care about him yet. Later on as she comes to like him her guilt over lying to him would be a major conflict that adds depth to her character. And the reveal would shake up Quicksilver as it would be a turning point for her to realize she doesn’t want to be like Anastasia. Anastasia not being revealed yet also creates a nice divide between the two sides to up some stakes. Anastasia seems so magical and cool. Quicksilver naturally is drawn to her and disparages Sly Boots for his shortcomings. Then as the book progresses Quicksilver starts to see Anastasia's faults mirrored through her own actions and thus, grows as a person/is kinder to Sly Boots.
Spoiler
Which explains why in this timeline the venture is finally successful.- Alternatively, Anastasia could have died very early after meeting Quicksilver. She’s in the midst of dying anyways and after a major incident she's dead weight Quicksilver is dragging along. She can’t even give advice at this point any more so why keep her around? She’s fulfilled her reason for existing in the book. This would emphasize the bond between Sly Boots and Quicksilver as the two need to rely on one another in an unfamiliar environment knowing nothing. Anastasia’s death is also a quick way of indebting Quicksilver to the cause.
Spoiler
Anastasia does not need to have fought this battle for thousands of years. Literally one generation is enough especially since it functionally is only one generation anyways. It also better highlights how significant this battle is - giving up your monster is a last resort kind of thing and Anastasia was willing to do that for the cause.- There are seven sets of witch bones the characters are looking for. Way too many. Anastasia should only be trying to find the final bones. The Wolf King should have all of them except one set and she spent decades looking to find them. This better focuses the story and heightens tensions because the Wolf King is so close.
Spoiler
This doesn't need to be in the past. The story can work just as well in present time which fits the story better anyways because it would be about moving forward anew and letting go of who has hurt you in the past, a parallel to Quicksilver’s arc. Witches historically have not trusted one another but we are fighting to change that now. Plus it sets up a bigger moment seeing as there are so few witches in present time.So yeah, as you can see I spent way too much time thinking about how this book could be improved. The concept is intriguing. It genuinely caught me off guard when the plot initially got underway. I was not expecting the direction this was choosing to take. It’s just the characters really bog it down coupled with an underwhelming quest.
I don’t talk a lot about the actual plot in this review but finding the bones is super easy compared to how difficult it’s made out to be. Quicksilver finds them rapid fire right on top of another in several successive chapters. It’s supposed to be challenging because the bones are a little sentient and can disappear at will if not happy, making you search for them all over again. That never happens nor does it feel close to happening so I don’t see why that was even introduced as a potential option. It makes you wonder why Anastasia took so long to get it done before she met Quicksilver. The villain is a cop-out. How could Anastasia after all this time never figure out his secret/weakness and use that to her advantage? I get that working alone hindered her, but considering how little the other witches contributed to the final battle I don’t think she did need the help after all.
This is a mostly negative review. Yet, I almost want to recommend this book anyways? It’s strange. I had so many problems reading this book. Somehow I still think it’s got some strong enough points to weather the storm. The magic system is cool if not a little ill-defined. The action scenes are middling, but I liked the immediate build up to these scenes. There is a great sacrifice that made me tear up. it’s a conflicting situation for me. I suppose, I’ll settle on read at your own risk.
brandypainter's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 stars
I like that there have been so many prickly heroines in MG this year that are chock full of flaws. Quicksilver is an excellent addition to these. Sassy, opinionated, and mostly out for her own benefit, she does a lot of growing over the course of the story and learns to be a little less self involved but also retains all of her bounce and verve. I like that. The rest of the characters didn't work for me quite as well. It's a good story that doesn't break a lot of new ground but is satisfying in what it does. It has quite a different feel from Legrand's other books and isn't my favorite, but its an excellent addition to MG fantasy shelves particularly in places where there are many fans of magic and animals together.
I like that there have been so many prickly heroines in MG this year that are chock full of flaws. Quicksilver is an excellent addition to these. Sassy, opinionated, and mostly out for her own benefit, she does a lot of growing over the course of the story and learns to be a little less self involved but also retains all of her bounce and verve. I like that. The rest of the characters didn't work for me quite as well. It's a good story that doesn't break a lot of new ground but is satisfying in what it does. It has quite a different feel from Legrand's other books and isn't my favorite, but its an excellent addition to MG fantasy shelves particularly in places where there are many fans of magic and animals together.
bibliobrittish's review against another edition
5.0
My heart is full and my eyes have run over. What a magical world, what a magical story - one that I wanted to hold close even when I wasn't reading it just because its proximity made me feel better, feel hopeful. Because that is what I feel right now, in my bones - hope.
Quicksilver is every bit the 'unlikeable' character I love - stubborn, precocious, and independent. But what young girl who was ever mistreated or ignored wouldn't understand her actions and sentiments? And I adored Fox - the sass, the unconditional love, every bit of his fluffy self.
Twisty and turny in all the best ways, Foxheart is a battle cry that shows readers how to take on demons, even the ones that live inside their own minds, and triumph. Sometimes, that means trusting yourself. Sometimes, it means trusting the people around you. "Many will be mighty."
Quicksilver is every bit the 'unlikeable' character I love - stubborn, precocious, and independent. But what young girl who was ever mistreated or ignored wouldn't understand her actions and sentiments? And I adored Fox - the sass, the unconditional love, every bit of his fluffy self.
Twisty and turny in all the best ways, Foxheart is a battle cry that shows readers how to take on demons, even the ones that live inside their own minds, and triumph. Sometimes, that means trusting yourself. Sometimes, it means trusting the people around you. "Many will be mighty."
lmn9812's review against another edition
4.0
Witchy + magical + strange. Beautiful book. Claire’s prose throughout this book is, as it is in every book she writes, gorgeous. The concept and world-building is fantastically done, and I absolutely loved the time-travelling aspect. Quicksilver was such a great heroine–spikey and courageous and sassy. This is a great MG fantasy read–I thoroughly recommend it!
rainmisoa's review against another edition
1.0
hilaryjsc's review against another edition
4.0
Diana-Wynne-Jones-esque, complete with the sharp edges.