Review: The Wicked Bargain

The Wicked Bargain by Gabe Cole Novoa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Gabe Cole Novoa was one of my favorite authors whose works I could sell at the Stanford Bookstore, back when he'd first come out with the Beyond the Red trilogy under his former pseudonym. If I were still there, I'd be happy to keep the tradition alive, selling this book as well. Though I've recently seen it grace a table full of books by trans and nonbinary authors at the newly remodeled Waucoma Bookstore in Hood River, and I know a kid or two in the Gorge who might like this one, especially for its nonbinary protagonist. Picture an even more diverse Pirates of the Caribbean from the perspective of those colonized by the Spaniards, with El Diablo and a demonio named Dami putting our heroes in harm's way with a bunch of bad deals, and Mar, our nonbinary protagonist, having similar fire-and-ice powers to Todoroki in My Hero Academia. Naturally, there's a lot of emphasis on the conflict between the Spanish colonists' traditions and religion and fear of the Other vs. the Indigenous way, freedom to be one's true self (which Mar embodies not only with their powers, but also their Maya side, and the connection they feel to the nonbinary people of their late mother's culture.) For his first novel under his true name, Novoa gives us a fast-paced historical adventure, and while there's hope for further adventures for Mar and their family, both blood and found (I especially loved their romance with Bas, as sweet as Eros and Deimos and just as slow burn as that ship was in its early days), I'll instead be waiting mostly for Novoa's return with his upcoming trans-centric Pride and Prejudice remix, Most Ardently.

View all my reviews