Book Synopsis: Paris 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 Review: 5/5 stars. I loved this so much and I can't wait to read the sequel! I’ve never read a book that combines historical fiction with fantasy before but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved the characters and the setting, but especially the story itself. There were times when so many things were all happening at once, making me want to keep turning and turning the pages.
I love how none of the main characters are perfect. They all have flaws but are perfectly imperfect. There were times when even the best of characters did things that infuriated me, but they usually had good reasons for what they were doing. That's what makes a good story. If the characters are boring and unrelatable, I likely won't enjoy the book at all.
As for my age recommendation, this book doesn't have anything that would be bad for an elementary student to read. There's is a love interest (who I love by the way) and there is a kiss scene but it's very wholesome and clean. There's a bit of violence, but I think this book would be appropriate for slightly younger readers. The reading level, however, I would say is fairly high. There is a lot of big vocabulary and many French phrases interspersed that I found myself using Google Translate to understand.
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