The Bookish Mindset

Overview:

Title: That Self-Same Metal
Author: Brittany N. Williams
Published: January 2024
Genre: YA Fantasy
Themes: Orishas, Shakespearean England, Fae.

One sentence summary: Evil fae from A Midsummers Night Dream are taking over Shakespearean London but only a select few can see them.

One sentence review: One of my favourite YA fantasy series right now, I can’t wait for the next instalment.

Review:

Joan is gifted at metal work, the skills come from her Orisha and she uses them to manage the blades used in Shakespeare’s plays that her brother and friends star in. Her parents and twin brother are also gifted but from other Orisha’s. It’s hidden to the rest of the world as they know they’d be tried for witchcraft.

But when Joan’s Uncle is mysteriously arrested, the fae that would normally be behaving themselves in the human world start to cause chaos. Bad turns to worse as Joan is caught up in fae politics and plots to overturn royalty.

Honestly, I couldn’t put this down. I devoured it in a couple of sittings and instantly needed more.

Williams’ has created a brilliant narrative around the play and A Midsummers Nights Dream amongst others. As I delved deeper into the plot my jaw swung open multiple times in awe of the clever storytelling; the way the human and Fae world are sewn together is seamless.

Joan and James are brilliant characters with real depth. They are teenagers trying to find their way with perhaps not the best guidance in their acting crew but their second family certainly steers them right.

In case that didn’t convince you, we also have great queer and poly representation. It’s fast pace and action packed, with such brilliant attention to detail. Read it and thank me later.

If reading more is something that you’re looking at doing this year then should check my reading challenge out here! Read nine books from nine prompts over the first six months of the year and be entered into a draw to win a bundle of bookish goodies.

If you’d like to get yourself a copy, you can support local bookshops while doing so on Bookshop.org with this link here.

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And don’t forget to check out my other blogs and reviews – you can find books with similar themes in the same folder link below, or click back onto blogs to see the whole offering.

Last updated 10/03/2025