Enchantée by Gita Trelease

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 480 

Publisher: Macmillan Children's Books 

Released: 21st of February 2019 

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…

Trigger Warnings: Domestic abuse, gambling, references to drugs 

What I Have to Say 

My latest book love! This is a world that's easy to sink into, a world that will enchant you, every world pulling you deeper and deeper in to the story, the character's lives, Paris. Paris around the revolution was a perfect choice for this book. Trelease shows a world of two sides, the starvation and hunger on the streets, people who can't afford bread to feed their families, who can't afford the medicine to treat their sicknesses, who can't afford to pay their rent but on the other side, it's a world of excess. It's a world where people leave picnics unfinished on the steps, who wear a different outfit to every occasion, who spend their time playing games and throwing ridiculous amounts of money away at the gambling tables. Living in these two worlds is fascinating, especially for someone like Camille who crosses between them. Add in magic and it becomes even better. 

Like Camille, it's easy for the reader to get caught up in the world of Versailles, to think she's safe and can live in peace with her sister, but Versailles is filled with predators and game playing. The secrets of magic, of the history of the court and its magicians. It's a dark world, which is the best kind when it comes to fiction, in my opinion at least. I loved the danger. I loved how Camille was so addicted to this world and the security it has to offer. I loved the way that it made me simultaneously want her to settle down with Lazare and enjoy a life of safety and hot air balloons. But like Versaille, Lazare is not everything he seems. 

I loved the language in this book. The snippets of French made it so easy to feel absorbed in the world. It made the character's voices come alive in my head and reminded me at every turn that this was France. It's sometimes the case that a book can be set somewhere, but you can completely forget it's there because the story could literally be taken and placed somewhere else, but Enchantée was French to it's core. The story was so entwined with France during that time period: in the court of Marie Antoinette and the upcoming revolution. For me, the language used reflected that beautifully. 

I could gush and gush about this book, but any more and it would be spoiling plot twists! So instead you'll just have to go and read it for yourself and discover this beautiful, enchanting book. 

My thanks go to Netgalley and Macmillan for providing me with this free copy for review. 

Paris Adrift by E.J. Swift

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 320 

Publisher: Solaris 

Released: 6th of February 2018 

Determined to escape her old life, misfit and student geologist Hallie packs up her life in England and heads to Paris. She falls in with the eclectic expat community as a bartender at the notorious Millie’s, located next to the Moulin Rouge.

Here she meets Gabriela, a bartender who guides her through this strange nocturnal world, and begins to find a new family. But Millie’s is not all that it seems: a bird warns Hallie to get her feathers in order, a mysterious woman shows up claiming to be a chronometrist, and Gabriela is inexplicably unable to leave Paris.

Then Hallie discovers a time portal located in the keg room. Over the next nine months, irate customers will be the least of her concerns, as she navigates time-faring through the city’s turbulent past and future, falling in love, and coming to terms with her own precarious sense of self. 

What I Have to Say 

This was beautiful, moving and steeped in French history. It was definitely a world that I could fall in love with, with a system of time travel that was interesting and an order of people who I'd definitely like to find more about. 

This was a book steeped in politics, past, present and future and so it was really interesting to read about. It was also really cool to see Hallie find a new life for herself, both in present day Paris just after the revolution. I really liked seeing the past through her eyes and watching her meet people and work to find a way to live in such dangerous part of history. 

Hallie shows a bravery during her adventures that goes beyond the weapon wielding badassery of most YA girls. This is a bravery that has a different fight. This is a girl who's dropped into history at random and just makes a life for herself until she can return to her own time. 

The strength showed by all the characters was truly something inspiring. 

My thanks go to Solaris and Netgalley for providing me with this copy for review. 

Where the Wild Cherries Go by Laura Madeleine

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 368

Publisher:  Transworld 

Released: 23nd of March 2017 

I closed my eyes as I tried to pick apart every flavour, because nothing had ever tasted so good before.It was love and it could not be hidden.

It is 1919 and the end of the war has not brought peace for Emeline Vane. Lost in grief, she is suddenly alone at the heart of a depleted family. She can no longer cope. And just as everything seems to be slipping beyond her control, in a moment of desperation, she boards a train and runs away.

Fifty years later, a young solicitor on his first case finds Emeline’s diary. Bill Perch is eager to prove himself but what he finds in the tattered pages of neat script goes against everything he has been told. He begins to trace a story of love and betrayal that will send him on a journey to discover the truth. What really happened to Emeline all those years ago?

What I Have to Say 

This book is many things. At it's heart is a mystery. It's about what happened to Emeline and how Bill will go about tracking her down. It's about whether Bill will choose to do what is right and search for a long missing woman, or file the correct paperwork and move on with his life. But at it's heart, it's about identity. It's about Bill and Emeline finding who they are meant to be. 

Emeline's life has been completely shattered by the war and by the influenza that came after it. She has nothing left to hold on to. This story more than anything is about whether she'll ever be able to get away from the past and that was the mystery that kept me reading until the very last page. It wasn't about anything other than will Emeline ever find peace. 

The description is the best part of the book. The passages of wreckage and abandonment of the house where Emeline once lived and the ones of beauty and culture that form her new life. The food and people that she finds at the edge of France are so vividly described. 

This book is not for the hungry as there are many very detailed descriptions of food and cooking. I found it amazing that I was able to identify spices such as paprika from just a description of the tastes. 

A beautiful book that evokes every sense and falling deep into the narrative. 

My thanks go to Penguin Random House for providing me with this copy for review. 

Rivers of Ink: Genesis by Helen Dennis

Synopsis (from Netgalley) 

Pages: 359 

Publisher: Hodder Children's Books 

Released: 14th of January 2016 

What if a teenage boy washed up on the banks of the River Thames, soaked to the skin and unable to explain who he is?

What if the only clue to the boy's identity is a sketch he made of a strange symbol?

Who would help him? Who would hunt him? 

Who is River Boy?

When a mystery teenage boy emerges from the River Thames drenched, distressed and unable to remember anything about himself, he becomes the focus of worldwide media speculation. Unable to communicate, the River Boy is given paper and a pencil and begins to scribble. Soon a symbol emerges, but the boy has no idea why he has drawn it even thought it's the only clue to the mystery of his identity...

As the boy begins to build a new life under a new name, the hunt for his real identity begins.

What I Have to Say 

This was a good opening book of the series. It set things up nicely, starting off the mysteries and setting up the characters. It had enough danger and mysteries to keep the reader occupied, while leaving plenty of things unsolved too keep you interested in the series. 

I liked all the alchemy in the book. The use of the symbols that they didn't understand. I only with there could have been more of it. Other than the Ouroboros, it felt a bit like they were handed the answers on a plate (or through google searching) and then just guessed how they fitted together. It would have been nicer to have some evidence to show they were right other than the people chasing them. 

Other than that, I enjoyed it. It's a series that I'm sure I'll continue reading, though perhaps not one I'll eagerly await the next book of. 

The Secret Fire by C.J. Daugherty and Carina Rozenfeld

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 424

Publisher: Atom

Released: 3rd of September 2015

French teen Sacha Winters can't die. He can throw himself off a roof, be stabbed, even shot, and he will always survive. Until the day when history and ancient enmities dictate that he must die. Worse still, his death will trigger something awful. Something deadly. And that day is closing in.

Taylor Montclair is a normal English girl, hanging out with her friends and studying for exams, until she starts shorting out the lights with her brain. She’s also the only person on earth who can save Sacha.

There’s only one problem: the two of them have never met. They live hundreds of miles apart and powerful forces will stop at nothing to keep them apart.

They have eight weeks to find each other.

Will they survive long enough to save the world?

What I Have to Say 

I've been looking forward to this book since I first heard about it and it was so good! I loved it from the first page until the last. The characters were both perfect. I loved Taylor a lot. She was intelligent, driven and had a distinct personality that is sometimes lost in that type of character. Sacha was tough, dangerous, off the rails and wonderfully French. You could see the chemistry between the two from really early on. 

The writing styles of the two authors complimented each other really well. I adored the mysteries surrounding the two characters. Taylor, starting to find out that there's something unusual going on with her and Sacha having known for a while that he's going to die and given up on his life because of it. 

I'm looking forward to seeing how this series develops. I have a feeling it's going to become one of my favourites. 

Liberty's Fire by Lydia Syson

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 348 

Publisher: Hot Key Books

Released: 7th of May 2015

Paris, 1871. Four young people will rewrite their destinies. Paris is in revolt. After months of siege at the hands of the Prussians, a wind of change is blowing through the city, bringing with it murmurs of a new revolution. Alone and poverty-stricken, sixteen-year-old Zephyrine is quickly lured in by the ideals of the city's radical new government, and she finds herself swept away by its promises of freedom, hope, equality and rights for women. But she is about to fall in love for a second time, following a fateful encounter with a young violinist. Anatole's passion for his music is soon swiftly matched only by his passion for this fierce and magnificent girl. He comes to believe in Zephyrine's new politics - but his friends are not so sure. Opera-singer Marie and photographer Jules have desires of their own, and the harsh reality of life under the Commune is not quite as enticing for them as it seems to be for Anatole and Zephyrine. And when the violent reality of revolution comes crashing down at all their feet, can they face the danger together - or will they be forced to choose where their hearts really lie? 

What I Have To Say 

This book made me want to re-watch Les Mis so badly. It was a similar kind of story, not just because of the barricades but because of the love and rebellion and the fact that they believe so strong in their cause. 

The characters were so strong and different. I don't think there was a character I didn't like! The historical backdrop was really vividly written and it was very easy to get a feel for the camaraderie  and enthusiasm from the people of France at this time. This came especially from Zephyrine and her friends. 

I loved the fact that one of the characters was a photographer as well. It was really cool to get an insight into what the cameras were like at that time and how much of an effort went into every shot. 

This is a beautiful tale of French Rebellion.