Published By: Renegade Books
Pages: 400
Released On: 10/10/2024
1890, Lutèce: In this city, Talents are everything: precious gems that gift unrivalled skills to their owners. The most coveted, Elite Talents, are claimed by the aristocracy, passed through generations by blood magic.
Cleodora dreamed of inheriting her father’s Tailoring Talent, but when he died, the magic died with him. Now she’s left with empty promises, a dress shop she can’t keep afloat, and her bed-ridden younger sister.
But everything changes when she meets the dark-eyed Lady Dahlia Sibille. Dahlia offers Cleodora a Singing Talent – a chance to save her beloved sister and rewrite her own fate. From the first instant, Cleodora is bewitched… There’s just one catch: she needs to steal an Elite Talent from the prestigious Lenoir family.
As Lutèce’s nightingale, Cleodora is the star of the opera’s galas and balls, worlds away from the darkness and dust of home. But the handsome yet infuriating Vicomte Lenoir is nothing like she expected.
Soon, the Vicomte’s teasing smiles win her over, even as Dahlia’s seductive whispers linger in her ears. Torn between Dahlia, who gave her everything, and the Vicomte, who holds the price of her freedom, is Cleodora in danger of losing it all? Or can she prove that magic isn’t the only gift that counts?
*****
Thanks to NetGalley and Renegade Books for the advanced copy of this title in return for an honest review.
I do believe this is Adi’s debut novel (I have found some anthology/short story work).
I have been so looking forward to this one, and I love the beautiful cover.
This was a book of two parts really; there were good bits and some not-so-good bits. But first, the positive.
She has created such a vivid setting that you can practically feel yourself walking streets. You get such a sense of space. I can’t say I got a huge sense of time, but in terms of setting, it was perfect.
It reminded me slightly of Anne Corlett’s The Theatre of Glass and Shadows, which I read earlier this year and was utterly fabulous. This had that same type of beginning, it drew me in and I struggled to tear myself away.
It’s historical, fantasy, romance, and adventure, and there’s most definitely a sense of Phantom of the Opera about it.
Now for the slightly more critical parts.
I must say I enjoyed the characters more than the plot. That’s not to say that the plot is all bad, but at times the characters well and truly took over. The plot at times seemed lacking. It was an interesting premise, but it didn’t go into much depth and so sometimes – I know it’s a fantasy book and so doesn’t necessarily need to be realistic but it still needs to be realistic in its own context – it felt a bit too farfetched.
I would say on the whole the pacing is right. Some bits are faster and some are slower than others, but I think it balances out eventually.
Cleo is our main protagonist. The breadwinner, “head” of the household, trying to keep a roof over their heads, help her sick sister, run her family shop, and she’ll do anything to manage that. But soon “anything” becomes dangerous. Sure its a life of riches, bespoke gowns, diamonds, servants, carriages; but when it’s at the expense of your family, freedom, and independence, it can be a burden. There’s many other characters, her sister, her equals, her servants, strangers, love interests, and curious souls. They’re all interesting and work well off of her.
The romance parts of it probably felt the weakest for me. Instead of being inspired by Phantom of the Opera, at times it felt more like a fanfiction, because there wasn’t much depth. I wasn’t rooting for the romance much, and I felt that these supposedly grown-up, mature characters had reverted back to being a bit naïve and childish and so I wasn’t taken in by their love stories.
Overall, I would say I enjoyed it but I wasn’t wowed. A beautiful cover and an interesting premise. A conflicted protagonist who I really got absorbed in, and well written settings. But it needed a bit more finesse and depth and a bit of tidying up. Having said that, I’d say for me it’s a solid 3 stars (I’ve seen reviews from 2-5 stars so it’s definitely personal taste), and I would recommend it particularly to those new to the romantasy genre.
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