Series: Enchantée #1
Author: Gita Trelease
Published February 21st 2019 by Macmillan Children's Books
Goodreads Synopsis
Paris in 1789 is a city filled with beggars, thieves, revolutionaries - and magicians...
Seventeen-year-old orphan Camille has to provide for her frail sister and her volatile brother. They survive by using the pretty magic she learnt from their mother - transforming scrap material into coins. But when things take a turn for the worse, Camille must pursue a more dangerous mark: the glittering court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette's Versailles.
Using magic, Camille transforms herself into a glamorous Baroness. But as she is swept up into a dizzying world of riches and finery, suitors and revolutionaries, Camille soon discovers that she's not the only one leading a double life.
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
For Camille Durbonne, living in 1789 Paris is not all parties and elegance. At 17, she is an orphan, and having to look after her younger sister, Sophie, after their brother, Alain, drink and gambles their money away. Using the petit magie that she has control over, she can transform scraps of metal into coins, but only temporarily. As the price of grain continues to rise, and the rich become even more extravagant in Versailles, Camille needs to do everything she can to escape Alain's clutches, and protect herself and Sophie from the revolution that is about to occur. When Alain goes too far, and they are at risk of becoming homeless, Camille uses the burnt box full of magical objects to transform herself into a beautiful widowed Baroness de la Fontaine, able to be received at court, and finds herself swept into the glory of Versailles. What started out as a plan to gamble - and use her magic to ensure she won - to have just enough money for the rent, soon takes over Camille's life, and she finds herself at risk of even more powerful magicians, and losing her heart to the handsome balloonist, Lazare. Will she manage to control herself, or will her double lives destroy her?
I've had this book on my TBR since November 2018, when I was sent an ARC of it, but somehow it fell further and further down my list until I just realised back in January about it. I found Enchantée to be a book that drew you in, and was lyrical and magical, and you could almost picture Versailles in all of it's finery, contrasted with the backstreets of Paris. Camille had always known she had magic, but it was only really recently, since the deaths of her parents that she had started to use it, but only in small amounts. Now that she's even more desperate, she uses stronger magic, but the price is almost too much - some of her blood to keep the spell alive. I really felt for Camille, and the difficult situation she found herself in. Alain was a cruel bully, who was more interested in finding a wealthy husband for 15 year old Sophie, and spending what little they had on drink and gambling than actually doing his job, and caring for his family. Camille was much better when she managed to get herself and Sophie away, but still, it was a hard price to pay. Sophie has always been told she was beautiful, and would at some point marry a wealthy man. Because of her illness and subsequent recovery, she is still weak, but does become increasingly jealous of Camille, and the stories her sister tells her of Versailles, and the court life. I didn't really like Sophie, if I'm honest, and because of her, there were a lot of hurdles that Camille had to overcome. However, with her young age, and illness, you could somewhat forgive her for it all, as she had been tricked by those wanting to get to Camille's magic.
The romance between Camille and Lazare was sweet, but some times I felt it was a little cliched. Lazare is a balloonist, trying to perfect the perfect airship, and meets Camille when she saves him from crashing. He's living a double life too, as a member of a wealthy family, the Marquis de Sablebois, welcome at Versailles, and hiding this from the world. When they meet up while Camille is in disguise, he's flirtatious, and seems to enjoy the company from the Baroness more than from plain old Camille. The conclusion, and all of the twists and turns there are with the mysterious Victomte de Seguin, did make me want to read on to the sequel, Liberté, and I'm glad I finally got around to this one.
Dates Read:
January 11-14, 2021
Rating
4 Stars
