Traps, Tricks, and Beasts [Book 1 Complete][Fantasy, Adventure, Underdog]

Self-Published

Community Rating

Description

Squirt should have known her luck would run out.As the lowest of the low in a world defined by the scale of magic power, she had found solace as a hunter of magical feybeasts in the Outskirts, a lonely but peaceful existence merely tolerated by the villagers she protected daily. Had, being the operative word. When the new lord summons every Guard Trainee in the territory, she’s caught by a technicality. Yanked out of the small village she lives in, Squirt is frustrated to find a budding found family dedicated to getting her out of her very comfortable shell. What should’ve been a quick dismissal turns into the first step towards a new future she never expected, filled with dangerous magical beasts intent on a pint-sized snack, powerful fey who could kill her with a snap of their fingers, and an impending war over the border that could devastate the entire region. Armed with nothing but her intelligence, trapcraft, and biting sarcasm, Squirt is thrust headfirst into a swirling mess of political intrigue as she helps the new lord fix the disrupted ecosystem on the brink of collapse. Failure could spell starvation for the residents who saved her life, and she owed them too much to take the coward's way out. Not that the new lord would let her. Pissants. This is why she hated noble fey. Expect: - Tsundere strong female protagonist with a sarcastic bite - Found family - Action/adventure/battles with magical beasts - Light novel/anime influences - Crafting - Slowburn romantic subplots - Multi-romance/poly (non-explicit) - LGBTQ+ characters Release schedule: MWF

Information

Status: Ongoing
Year: 2026
Author: GraceBMorgan_

Royal Road Stats

Rating: 4.8/ 5.0
Followers: 468
Views: 60,002

What readers say about Traps, Tricks, and Beasts [Book 1 Complete][Fantasy, Adventure, Underdog]

“The story is unique, the protagonist feels real, and the emotions hit hard at exactly the right spots. Tragedy and triumph occur in a setting that has depth and dimension. At the same time, the foibles and humor surrounding the main character keep it light…”
BeninjaxRoyal Road5.0 / 5
“I love this fricken book. It's so good. I am glad to see that the author has more books on Amazon or Patreon or somewhere. I'm gonna figure it out and read more. Thank you so much for writing this awesome book! Did you know reviews need to be fifty word…”
Doctor ZeroRoyal Road5.0 / 5

Reviews

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Community Reviews(10)

BeninjaxRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
The story is unique, the protagonist feels real, and the emotions hit hard at exactly the right spots. Tragedy and triumph occur in a setting that has depth and dimension.
At the same time, the foibles and humor surrounding the main character keep it light when it needs to be. The mechanics of the worldbuilding work to advance the story. Highly recommended.
Doctor ZeroRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I love this fricken book. It's so good. I am glad to see that the author has more books on Amazon or Patreon or somewhere. I'm gonna figure it out and read more. Thank you so much for writing this awesome book!
Did you know reviews need to be fifty words long? Food for thought.
DuncanSpiceRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I wanted to go to bed an hour ago but here I am thinking to myself. Just one more Squirt chapter. I love everything about this story from the strong and beautifully written female MC, to the descriptions of the world and its inhabitants. I’m intrigued and very much want to continue to learn more about this world, the magic and beasts within, and Squirts inventions.
Broken_BulbRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I absolutely devoured the available chapters of this story. It’s rare to find a fantasy protagonist who isn’t blessed with overpowered magic or a chosen-one destiny, but instead relies entirely on grit, preparation, and clever engineering. Squirt is a fantastic lead character—her cynicism and survival instincts feel completely earned given her background as a "greenling," and watching her outsmart powerful fey using nothing but traps, alchemy, and basic physics is incredibly satisfying. The "Capture the Flag" scene in the ruins was a particular highlight for me; it perfectly showcased that brains often beat brawn.
The world-building regarding the fey hierarchy and the color-based magic system is intuitive yet deep enough to keep things interesting. I particularly love the focus on the "support" class skills. Usually, trap-making, skinning, and cooking are glossed over in fantasy, but here they are central to the plot and treated with the respect they deserve. The author does a great job of making the process of hunting feybeasts feel visceral and rewarding without bogging down the pacing.
On the character front, the dynamic between the grumpy, mistrustful Squirt and the relentlessly sunny Tobias (and the patient Lord Everwinter) is pure gold. It hits all the right notes of the "found family" trope. Watching Squirt slowly get adopted by this group of powerful shifters against her will is both hilarious and heartwarming. The dialogue is snappy, and the slow-burn trust building feels rewarding.
Overall, this is a cozy yet exciting progression fantasy that hits a lovely balance between slice-of-life crafting and high-stakes politics. If you like competence porn, underdogs who bite back, and wholesome pack dynamics, this is definitely worth a read. A very strong 5 stars from me!
Eternauta86Royal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Traps, Tricks and Beasts is a rare find amongst stories in a webnovel format. There is an intentionality, a care for and depth of detail in character and world building that is not common in a serial.
From the outset, the author is economical with the lore, bringing us first closer to the characters and making them feel like real people (or fey, pixies, shapeshifters and all sorts of creatures) before expounding on the - frankly impressive - world that they inhabit.
Squirt, the MC, is a delight for me, but I can see her being a potentially divisive character amongst readers that prefer OP, flawless characters.
She is sassy, cynical, definitely hides something in her past, but we can see from her reactions that under that shell she's not fearless or edgy, and, as with all good stories, she's soon yanked from her comfort zone and set on her journey.
This makes the stakes feel real, we can see she's not inflappable (nor she is a pushover) and that made me genuinely interested in how she would handle the trials that come her way.
The secondary cast, from the old mentor, to the caravan, to the people at the academy, are still in phase of assembly, but there are flashes of characterization that promise the same care and depth bestowed on them.
The prose is good and polished, the story moves fast, but as it starts with a call to adventure->training arc it takes a bit of time to put all pieces together, yet it keeps the tension as none of the parts of the initial journey are safe or cliched.
The MC also has a quite unique skillset, she's good at setting traps and illusions, so that makes for original action scenes.
I'm eager to see where the story goes next, and I can recommend this story to anyone who likes a flawed-but-not-edgelord POV, Academy, original action and deep worldbuilding with plenty of fantasy creatures and unique, carefully thought elements.
InsanElderRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
Read up to chapter 37 when writing this.....
It was a very wonderful surprise for me.
The characters a very well developed and the world is alive, all presented with natural interactions between characters...so no huge and boring info dumps.
The main character has very believable reactions, for example, when something too good to be true happens to her, her fist reaction is suspicion. She is a very weak, but competent character and she doesn't suddenly become strong....she continues to be weak, but she begins to show that she is more than her weakness....
Reached chapter 55 now....
still wonderful. I just have to say, read the trigger warnings...the story is very good, and one of the subjects it shows is abuse. It is not done without reason, but it can be hard for some people to read.
JE PayneRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I went into this expecting something solid, but what I found in the first three chapters was genuinely exceptional. The writing feels elegant in a way that is rare on Royal Road. Every line reads as if it was placed with intention, and that level of craftsmanship shows throughout.
Squirt, as the main character, immediately pulled me in. She is sharp, resourceful, and incredibly easy to root for, especially given how the world treats her. Watching her navigate both the dangers of the Wylds and the rigid social hierarchy of the fey was compelling from the very start. Her voice feels authentic, and her perspective grounds the story in a way that makes every moment land.
The polish here is undeniable. The grammar is clean, the pacing is tight, and there is never a moment where the writing distracts from the experience. Instead, it elevates it. The world feels immersive and believable, with vivid descriptions that bring the environment to life. I especially appreciated the detailed touches surrounding the feybeasts and how naturally they were integrated into the setting.
You can tell a tremendous amount of preparation went into this story, and the execution absolutely delivers. This is an absolute treasure of a find, and one I will be following this one for the long haul!
Jinian DicentraRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I was a little dubious about a pixie protagonist at first, but I’m totally drawn in by Squirt’s incredibly badass hunting and tinkering skills. Everyone falls in love with her, but she absolutely deserves it. The worldbuilding and magic system are really enjoyable, and the other characters are a lot of fun.
LantechRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
I'm binge reading it right now, having a blast. Focusing on Fae lore and magic systems is a nice departure from the human world. The writing is very clean, I haven't been pulled out of the story yet with errors. This is one I will definitely be sad when I hit the end of available chapters.
MightyBophadesRoyal Road
★★★★★ 5.0
A tiny little fae learns to be brave! This story is awesome and has a lot going on.
Right out of the gate you get political tension (a queen’s coded letter, a fresh lord installed after a coup, borderlands ready to explode), and then the book immediately drops you into the mud-and-snow reality of the people who have to survive the fallout. The heroine, Squirt, is a pint-sized pixie hunter/guard with a mouth on her, a chip on her shoulder, and exactly the kind of competence fantasy I love: not “chosen one” power, but earned skill. She knows traps, materials, fieldcraft, and the unglamorous math of keeping a village alive when magical surges turn the woods into a meat grinder.
The worldbuilding is doing work every paragraph. Feybeasts aren’t just “monsters,” they’re part of a seasonal magic ecology. Harvesting wings, venom, and stones feels tactile and believable, and the trap-crafting details are so specific they scratch the same itch as great progression fantasy without turning into a spreadsheet. There’s also a great undercurrent of class and power: titled fey, peasants, border provinces treated like disposable buffers, and this constant sense that the new regime could make things better… or much, much worse.
Best of all, it’s fun. The banter with Stalf is prickly and affectionate, the voice is confident, and the pacing keeps nudging you forward—one more trap, one more preparation, one more glimpse of what’s waiting at Lord Everwinter’s house.
I finished Chapter 1 already rooting for her and worrying for her. It’s gritty without being grimdark, clever without being smug, and I’m absolutely continuing. Until my eyes go blurry.