Reviews

I wanted to like it and Kate’s writing is good but good lord…there are anachronisms and then there’s this book where the author seemingly has forgotten that it’s set in the 18th century because she frequently writes like they’re in the middle ages in Italy and THEN talks about how a town is a “short drive up the hill” and how the empress “drives” her and her friend to the town.

It was an interesting premise but the mixture of fantasy and historical fiction felt forced and fell flat. I also had a hard time sympathizing with either of the main characters bc they were literally supposed to be these real life aristocracy who in real life were responsible for famine and death of their nations. Not to mention the fact they were loaded with very modern mindsets despite being two individuals intrinsically tied to the zeitgeist.

It was also way too heavy handed and cliche with the metaphor of magic as female empowerment. As others have also pointed out it never had any real weight to it and could have been left out altogether

apichardo's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

hayleymunro's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

erin_p's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A beautiful historical fantasy. Heartfield created an immersive, intricately researched world populated by fascinating people.

reading_lullaby's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Superb. What a twist at the end. Loved it.

the_fantasy_fan's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Ahhh politics, magic, familial bonds, and angst! Just a handful of my favourite things in a story.

It took me a bit (this book is HUGE), but I’m glad that I’ve completed this bitter downer ending journey. I’m even more glad my intuition spurred me to pick this up in the first place!

What a lovely novel ♥️

tales_of_1001_books's review against another edition

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Slow pace and I’m honestly confused about why you’d include Magic in this book. I feel like the historical fiction part would be interesting enough with some editing

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