e-Audio, 12:56:40
Narrated by: Justine EyreRelease Date: February 5, 2019Published by: Flatiron
Read from: March 23-28, 2019Enchantée, #1Source: Originally–Netgalley (I received a copy of this book from the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)TW: N/AFor fans of: Historical Fiction, Romance, Magic, Fantasy, YAParis in 1789 is a labyrinth of twisted streets, filled with beggars, thieves, revolutionaries—and magicians…
When smallpox kills her parents, Camille Durbonne must find a way to provide for her frail, naive sister while managing her volatile brother. Relying on petty magic—la magie ordinaire—Camille painstakingly transforms scraps of metal into money to buy the food and medicine they need. But when the coins won’t hold their shape and her brother disappears with the family’s savings, Camille must pursue a richer, more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
With dark magic forbidden by her mother, Camille transforms herself into the ‘Baroness de la Fontaine’ and is swept up into life at the Palace of Versailles, where aristocrats both fear and hunger for la magie. There, she gambles at cards, desperate to have enough to keep herself and her sister safe. Yet the longer she stays at court, the more difficult it becomes to reconcile her resentment of the nobles with the enchantments of Versailles. And when she returns to Paris, Camille meets a handsome young balloonist—who dares her to hope that love and liberty may both be possible.
But la magie has its costs. And when Camille loses control of her secrets, the game she’s playing turns deadly. Then revolution erupts, and she must choose—love or loyalty, democracy or aristocracy, freedom or magic—before Paris burns…
*MY THOUGHTS*
Before I get started, I want to say, take this review with a grain of salt. There’s only a couple “me” things that intrigued me about this book, so I probably wasn’t the right one for it. I was intrigued with the promise of magic, Paris, and the BEAUTIFUL cover. Enough to ignore the historical fiction aspect of it since I’m not a fan. I should have thought twice about it though.
Camille lives in Paris in the year 1789. She and her sister have been struggling to get by and have had to rely on her magic to get by. But things with her brother go awry and she knows she has to do more, and decides to try her luck at using her magic in the French Court. But things go south and Camille gets more than she bargained for.
Starting with what I did like. I knew I wasn’t going to make it through the actual book/e-book because once I finished chapter 2 I was bored. I put myself on the waiting list for my library to get the audio book and decided to see if i could finish it then. And it worked! The audio is great and it does all the right pronunciations. And the narrator was really good as well. She kept me intrigued enough to want to keep listening when honestly, I wasn’t sure I would have.
I also liked the magic and the way it was conducted in this one. The three ways magic is conducted is: Magie Bibelot which is making objects sentient, Glamoire which is changing oneself, and Magie Ordinaire which is changing things. I also really enjoyed the article of clothing that changed and helped changed her. It was an interesting idea and I liked what Trelease did with it.
Unfortunately, that was the end of what I liked. The world-building could have used so much more depth. I never really felt like I knew the world like I should have. I wish there had been more. Also, I was bored for the majority of it. If I had been actually reading this and not listening to it, I probably would have DNF’ed or at least skimmed most of it. I didn’t care for the balloon parts or the romance. It seemed like the author was trying to cram way too much into this book.
This book intrigued me with its sparkly cover and some of the words that get me excited about books: magic and Paris. But unfortunately, even still, this wasn’t the book for me. But like I said, take this review with a grain of salt. I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t like this because I’m not a historical fiction fan, but I gave it a shot. So if I can, you can too! Give it a shot and see if this is more a fit for you instead!
This book intrigued me with its sparkly cover and some of the words that get me excited about books: magic and Paris. But unfortunately, even still, this wasn’t the book for me. But like I said, take this review with a grain of salt. I knew there was a chance I wouldn’t like this because I’m not a historical fiction fan, but I gave it a shot. So if I can, you can too! Give it a shot and see if this is more a fit for you instead!
Overall, I give this
(There will be no quotes since it was read via audio)