Blog Tour, Review & Giveaway: Spellhacker by M.K. England

Spellhacker by M.K. England is coming next week and I am thrilled to not only be a part of the blog tour, but also the street team. I devoured M.K.’s debut, The Disasters, and they are back with another stand alone sci-fi/fantasy novel that has the most unique magic system I’ve read! Check out my spoiler-free review below and be sure to enter the tour-wide giveaway!

I am also here to tell you there is still time to pre-order Spellhacker and receive the cool incentives M.K. has created! Even library requests are valid! Click here to see the Pre-Order Incentives!

Spellhacker

by M.K. England
Published by: HarperTeen
on January 21, 2020
Genres: Young Adult, Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Bookshop, IndieBound, Audiobook through LibroFM, iTunes, Book Depository, Amazon
Goodreads

From the author of The Disasters, this genre-bending YA fantasy heist story is perfect for fans of Marie Lu and Amie Kaufman.
In Kyrkarta, magic—known as maz—was once a freely available natural resource. Then an earthquake released a magical plague, killing thousands and opening the door for a greedy corporation to make maz a commodity that’s tightly controlled—and, of course, outrageously expensive.
Which is why Diz and her three best friends run a highly lucrative, highly illegal maz siphoning gig on the side. Their next job is supposed to be their last heist ever.
But when their plan turns up a powerful new strain of maz that (literally) blows up in their faces, they’re driven to unravel a conspiracy at the very center of the spellplague—and possibly save the world.
No pressure.

Click to check out an excerpt of Spellhacker!

Review

Spellhacker is the queer sci-fi fantasy book you’ve been waiting for! There is a wild magic system, inventive tech, high stakes, heists, and at the very heart of it, found family and love. I absolutely speed through this book and I think it’s a damn good time.

The story starts out with Diz freaking out, as her friends and let’s be honest her only family, are leaving her, and she has decided to stay behind and take a cybersecurity job at the MMC (the conglomerate that is now controlling the maz, the magical substance, that was once a natural resource until the ‘spellplague’ that killed many including Diz’s family, and now sells the maz at controlled prices). Her whole crew is flummoxed by Diz’s decision to stay behind and work at the corporation they’ve all been against for so long.

Diz has a lot of angst, and as a reader you just want to tell her to be honest. Tell her friends she wants them to stay together. Talk about your feelings, don’t just be snarky, do what you think you should be doing. But of course once the danger of their last maz heist starts to play out and they all start to unravel the bigger mystery, Diz grows leaps and bounds once she realizes what is really important to her.

I loved this group of characters, I just want them to be my friends. Diz is a tech genius with relatable anxiety, Jaesin is constantly being the dad of the group, Ania struggles with how everyone else perceives her, and Remi is totally put together and knows just how to get Diz to start speaking her truths. These four work so well together, and are all perfect foils for the others.

My favorite part of the book is how queer the characters are without making their queerness the focus of the plot. Diz’s love interest, Remi is non-binary, and the f/nb romance was so great to see on the page, and of course it is no surprise that the use of they/them pronouns is so well integrated into the story. The pronouns made me so happy every single time at the start of the book, then I stopped even noticing as it went on, which in my opinion is the real winner. Because they/them pronouns need more usage and space in our world. Clearly, they are no big deal in the world M.K. has created!

Spellhacker is full of strong diverse characters, a unique magic system, great stakes, and an excellent adventure! I recommend this fast-paced read to anyone who enjoys diverse YA and thrilling sci-fi fantasy reads!

Giveaway

Win a signed hardcover of SPELLHACKER (US only), and one swag pack including a sticker, postcard, signed bookplate, and bookmark (INT). Open 1/15/2020 till 1/19/2020.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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