This is a really solid book - it tackles a lot of different "big questions" against the backdrop of the start of the French Revolution with surprising ease; what does the face we show the world mean? does nobility matter? do we make our own luck? should we marry for security if we need to? how can we convince others not to judge us for the face we have to show the world?

This is well written - and by that I mean, it isn't patronising in its tone despite being aimed at a YA audience, which I really appreciate. Combine that with the subject matter and I would say this is a good book for anyone interested in French history, magical fantasy and/or YA fiction to pick up. I would, however, say that this felt a little long for me.

That said, this book definitely suffered from me reading it in a week where I struggled to concentrate on anything - it took me a really long time to get into it and I don't think that was the fault of the book, so maybe it only felt long because I was being ridiculous.

This was a disappointing read, I was fully prepared for a fascinating magical story set in historical France, a whimsical location. But I was utterly bored throughout this entire novel, there was nothing to keep my interested.
The concept sounded brilliant, a very cute and at times dangerous story of a young girl weaving magic to enable her & her sister to afford to eat. But it was such a plain story, there was hardly any drama or risks, nothing powerfully gripping. The supposed twists were so predictable and lacked any kind of surprise.
There was also far too many characters, it was hard to keep track of who was who and what was happening with each person. Especially considering most of the characters used their formal titles rather than simple names.
I did like the MC Camille and the biracial side character Lazare as well as the magic but the plot wasn't good enough for me.

I have been wanting to read Enchantée since I first heard of it and it was pretty much everything I had hoped for. It had magic, the glamour of court (or should I say, glamoire), a Parisian setting and a lovely romance. It also had a feature of Marie Antoinette, although she didn’t pop up very often.

The plot of Enchantée is simple to follow. Camille, her sister Sophie and brother Alain are orphans who are trying to survive. Camille is the only one of her family that is able to work la magie and so, in order to make money, she goes to Versailles to help her family out. There, she comes across trouble.

Camille is our main character who is very focussed on doing anything to ensure that neither herself or her sister, Sophie, fall into poverty and face a worse fate. Camille definitely grows in this book as she has to deal with her alcoholic and gambling brother Alain, but also the threat of being found out that she can work magic to her will at Versailles. Camille essentially lives a double life throughout this book, but as her confidence grows thanks to the ‘fake’ life she’s living, this affects her attitude throughout the book on both sides.

During Enchantee, we see the introduction of other characters including Lazare who is working on a hot air balloon with Rosier and Armand. Lazare is a character who is trying to hide his roots but needs to use his connections at the same time to aid him in his work. He is a fairly significant character in this book. Armand is a character who felt a little unnecessary as he didn’t really take to Camille and there was no real reason why. Rosier was a very happy character who was a whirlwind of positivity on the page.

Whilst Camille is living her double life at Versailles, she meets Chandon and Aurelie, two characters who turn out to be great friends to Camille. With the introduction of these two characters, I feel like this changed Camille’s attitude towards the elite class of society as at first, she sort of resents the upper classes but throughout the book, her outlook on the upper classes changes.

This book was set in Paris and Versailles. I enjoyed seeing the contrast between the two, particularly as I felt that they helped to separate between Camille’s real life and her fantasy life. I think that this helped to show the contrast between how the rich and poor lived in France at this time. I also think that this lent to the fact that it felt like there were almost two stories that were running side by side.

I enjoyed the magical element in this book and it was quite important to the plot and to Camille and her character development. As magic is essentially forbidden and Camille is forced to hide her abilities, this reminded me a little of the witch hunts that had taken place in Europe.

I was expecting to see more of the planning of the French Revolution and more of Marie Antoinette, but I don’t think this particularly made me rate the book any differently but I do think that it may have added to the book. I just felt that I went into the book expecting something slightly different but nevertheless, I still enjoyed Enchantee.

I thought the writing in this one was good. It was a good pace and I didn’t feel myself losing interest at all. I will admit that during the first 100-150 pages, I felt the pace was slow but it did pick up and flowed really nicely afterwards. The chapters were also a nice length – I personally find books with longer chapters slower to read but the chapters in this were a good length.

Final thoughts?

I would absolutely recommend this book! If you’re looking for a book full of magic, mystery set in the city of Paris with the glamoire of Versaille, look no further than this! I thought that Enchantee was a wonderful addition to the historical YA genre and I look forward to seeing what Gita writes next.

I so enjoyed this book and even though it's classified as YA, it certainly has huge crossover appeal. The heady mixture of magic and the allure of Versailles is impossible to resist and makes for a story that's very difficult to put down. I'll definitely be looking out for this author in the future.

Seventeen-year-old Camille lives in a Paris that is on the brink of revolution.
After the deaths of her mother and father, Camille tries to care for her little sister the only way she knows how - magic.
But their brother is in debt to a dangerous man, and Camille finds herself struggling to pay the rent and to put food on the table. So Camille turns to a different kind of magic - a dark magic that allows her to change her appearance and become the Baroness de la Fontaine and gamble at the court of Versailles.
Camille vows to only use this magic until she has enough money for her and her sister to live in comfort, but will she be able to stop? Or will Camille become swept up in the finery of court life?

For me, the best part of Enchantée was the setting - 1789 Paris was certainly an interesting time with Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, and the whisper of revolution in the air.
I thought the author did a very good job of capturing the allure of court life and the hardship that the non-royals went through.
Camille was a good protagonist. She was relatable and I felt sorry for her. I could understand why she enjoyed being at court so much.
Sophie, Camille's sister, was another character that I liked, as well as some of the friends Camille made at court.
I quite liked the romance, which I thought was rather sweet.
The plot was interesting and held my attention, but I wasn't gripped and nothing that happened shocked me.
The magic was intriguing. I liked the idea of being able to change items like buttons into coins.
The writing style was easy to follow and was atmospheric at times.
If you enjoy reading about this time period and like magic/magical elements then I would recommend this.

Overall this was an enjoyable read.

Paris in the reign of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette is a place of dreams, a place of new ideas, a place of beauty but also a place of thieves, a place of oppression and a place of death. The court's luxuries have drained the people's money and food and while the high classes have fun, others die of disease and hunger.
Camille Durbonne knows this all too well. After her parents die of smallpox and she is left alone with her money draining gambler brother, Alain, and her frail little sister, Sophie, and little way to make ends meet. She lives in the dark part of Paris, the one where nobles do not venture to dwell. It is in this Paris that she meets Lazare, a balloonist that dreams as high as herself.
Trying to make some money to be able to escape from Alain's grasp, Camille turns to the magic her mum had taught her. With this secret and forbidden magic, Camille turns herself into the 'Baroness de la Fontaine' and tries her luck at Versailles' gambling tables, always aided by la magie.
As time goes on, Camille starts to realise the true costs of using la magie as well as the danger of being a magician in one of Europe's most dangerous courts. Times are changing and each one has to save themselves, at a certain point Camille finds herself entrapped between the nobles and the people and between herself and her persona as the Baroness.
There is a quote that, for me, summarises the feeling of this whole book:

"This was the Paris of the strivers, of those who dwell low, not high. This was not the Paris of balloonists."

If one expects to find a small fairytale about how amazing Paris was and of how many wonderful luxuries all French people enjoyed during this time, that will not happen. The author has taken a very different approach to the subject choosing a storytelling style that showcases both sides of French society during this time. Camille is the spokesperson for both the nobles and the common people, finding herself divided between her life and the one she created through her glamour as the Baroness.
This a story that highlights the spirit of discovery and freedom of speech wished by the Enlightenment and the "boom" new ideas and concerns that took place in that era. The entanglement between the aeronauts' plot with the Versailles and Camille's family plot make this story beautifully complex in all the right ways. Yes, there are a lot of plot lines but they mesh together in a way that culminates in the same plot line and each one having its importance for the whole web of the story.
One thing that is really interesting in this story is that it being a fantasy set in the real world, the author did not whitewash 1789 Paris. Lazare Melais is Indian on his mother's side and that shows the conscience that French people (and other nations) actually "mingled" with the people from their colonies, leading to a more diverse society than one might be led to imagine. Besides this, it is also important to highlight (again), how the hunger and sickness of the underfed French general populace were taken into account. Instead of embellishing this time period the author was faithful to the realities of the time.
The magical and fantastical elements of the story and the way they are intertwined with the glamorous and the dark details of Paris makes this book especially great. You will fall in love on the very first chapter and you will feel the characters in your core. Do pick this book up! It is worth it.

I really dragged the build-up to reading what was probably my most anticipated read for this year out. But boy, was it worth the wait. Right now, I am so here for magic fused with historical fiction, and Enchantée is set during the year that kicks off the French Revolution.

The setting for this story is rendered beautifully. It sets the tone for the story and the context for the characters beautifully and I really enjoyed this setting because it's one I haven't really read from before. I also loved how well it made me envision Paris, both the poorer areas and the glittering life of the Aristocracy. Just like Camille, I was totally swept away by the world-building, court intrigue, and vast difference between her life on the poverty line and life with the French nobles. I also liked the characters a lot: not all of the rich people were heartless, not all of the poor people were innocent. The complexity and crafting were very impressive and I especially loved it when Camille spent time with the Aeronauts as it reminded me of scenes from Studio Ghibli films.

The novel opened beautifully, and while at times the sub-plots did not seem to merge well with the main story arc, I was totally engrossed by the book. I think that the ending could have used some tweaking - it felt rushed and a little anticlimactic after such a build-up. The main villain of the story turned out not to be so terrifying after all and I was a little confused by his motivation. But now that I realise that this is going to be turned into a series, I think there is so much room to delve a little deeper into the big revelation about the Queen that they rushed over a little, and also to add even more complexity to the already very intriguing magic system in this world.

The book is set just at the beginning of the French Revolution. Camille and Sophie's died if smallpox forcing Camille to use magic to survive. Eventually she uses magic to gamble at the court of Versailles.

Though an enjoyable read, it is fairly predictable and the ending is too tidy.

What a beautifully written book! I loved the magic and the mystery of Paris in the past. Even though it is fiction a part of me so wanted it to be true! A must read simply for the magic it brings to your life.

I enjoyed the story although it was fairly slow burning and in some parts repetitive, (there was no need to continually repeat her father was a printer and how her parents died throughout the story). Otherwise I loved the book, it’s well written and takes you back to good old fashioned romance (no bodice ripping moments) and stayed true to the innocence of the era. if you enjoy descriptive writing, about magic and the French Revolution era you will love this book. The story unfolds slowly but I enjoyed the narrative. A lovely easy story to read over a weekend.
Thanks to netgalley for the advance copy to read for an honest review.

Set in Paris in the Eighteenth century, this is a story of magic, intrigue and deception. The story takes place just before the French Revolution and contrasts the extravagance of Versailles with the poverty in the surrounding area.

I received a copy from Netgalley.

I love a bit of French history, after obsessively watching three seasons of Versailles, and the recent BBC adaption of Les Mis, this book was pretty much a must have for me. It did take a long time for me to get through it, but I did really enjoy it.

The unique mix of French history and magic mixed together in a fascinating way I’ve never seen done before. And it was completely gripping. The heroine Camille lives with her frail sister Sophie, and her asshole of a brother Alain. Their parents have died and the family are struggling to make ends meet in 18th Century Paris. The conditions of the area they live in is harsh, Sophie designs luxurious hats at a specialty shop through struggling with her health, while the brother is a gambler and a drunk, also nasty and violent and a thief. He has a nasty habit of stealing what little funds the sisters can scrape together and using for himself, despite the fact they are on the verge of eviction if they can’t pay their overdue rent ASAP.

The form of magic is described as dark and petty, magicians in this book have a bad rep and their type of magic in the day and age now is frowned up on and kept hidden by those who could do it. Camille’s mother could practise and she taught Camille. Though there are consequences to using magic – blood must be spilled and it has serious long term effects on the wielder’s physical body and health.

When Alain steels the money Sophie and Camille have put together for their rent, out of desperation Camille turns to some dark “La Magie ordinaire” using a blood work spell to enchant an old gown and transform herself into a beautiful baroness. She can turn card tricks and use la magie to turn the cards to her advantage, therefore earning enough money for her and Sophie to live comfortably. So heads off to Versailles to charm the court and get into the gambling halls.

Of course it’s not as easy as it sounds. She finds herself drawn into the glamorous and dangerous world of court gossip, gambling and politics. And it’s not long before someone is on to her secret. It’s tough to know who to trust and Camille must keep her wits about her before her charade comes tumbling down.

In her regular life an accident with a carriage leads Camille to a group of scientist boys her age who are trying to build a hot air balloon. She becomes entranced in the group and the balloon itself, one of the charming boys in particular – who also turns up in her new group of friends at Versailles.

I loved Camille as a heroine. She was strong, quick witted and determined. The book was brilliantly written, plenty of intrigue and increasing angst and worry as the plot took more dramatic turns, the revolution is starting to happen, the poor are uprising and the streets are dangerous. The atmosphere was tense and nail biting in some situations and dramatic without being over the top.

And there was a delightful barely there romance where you just want to shout and Camille and the boy involved “JUST KISS ALREADY!!” An interesting mix of characters as well, some strong friendships developed, and some nasty villains. This book had everything I look for in an epic fantasy and I loved all of it.

This was a brilliant book and I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan MacMillan for approving my request to view the title.

2 Stars - I tried to read this book several times and could not get into this novel. I liked the concept but not overly keen of the execution of this novel

I am in charge of our Senior School library and am looking for a diverse array of new books to furnish their shelves with and inspire our young people to read a wider and more diverse range of books as they move through the senior school. It is hard sometimes to find books that will grab the attention of young people as their time is short and we are competing against technology and online entertainments.
This was a thought-provoking and well-written read that will appeal to young readers across the board. It had a really strong voice and a compelling narrative that I think would capture their attention and draw them in. It kept me engrossed and I think that it's so important that the books that we purchase for both our young people and our staff are appealing to as broad a range of readers as possible - as well as providing them with something a little 'different' that they might not have come across in school libraries before.
This was a really enjoyable read and I will definitely be purchasing a copy for school so that our young people can enjoy it for themselves. A satisfying and well-crafted read that I keep thinking about long after closing its final page - and that definitely makes it a must-buy for me!

I was really excited to read this but it fell short for me unfortunately. The plot itself took a long while to get going and I'll admit I found myself getting bored when reading, and it was nearly a DNF for me.

However, I loved the setting and the backdrop of the french revolution so that has put it up a rating for me.

I had heard so much about this book and had high expectations when I got hold of it that it simply did not live up to.

Thank you to NetGalley for sending me this ARC.

This book is about Camille who has magical powers where she can change an object’s, or even herself’s, appearance. Her parents have died and her abusive brother has gambled their last few coins away, and so Camille has to find a way to provide for her younger sister. Using her magic, she dresses up as a courtier and goes to Versailles to gamble using her magic to help her win. But when will it be enough for her to stop? And with the french revolution about to happen at any moment, shat will happen then?


I really wanted to like this story, and at the beginning I was super intrigued! I got through the first quarter fairly quickly.

But from then on, not much happened. It seemed to be the same thing over again. I got halfway to the book and had to put it down for a while.

Finally today I picked it back up and decided that the only way I am going to get through it is if I skim read it. And that is what I did. Honestly all I needed to read was the dialogue, and even then I didn’t need to read every single word because a lot of it was pretty pointless anyway. I have never read a book like that before and I don’t intend to ever again.

On a happier note though, the ending sure picked up. A lot more action happened and it was a bit more enjoyable to read.

However it was never made clear to me what the Vicomte wanted with with Camille, our protagonist. Why was he so obsessed over her? How did he even know about her in the first place?

This book wasn’t bad but nor was it great. However if you like a bit if historical fiction with a fantasy twist, this book is definitely for you! If you also love a slow burner (usually I do, but not with this book unfortunately), then you will love it!

Enchantee should have been the perfect book for me. Not only does it have historical elements, set in Paris 1789 in the year of Marie Antoinette, but it also has just the right amount of beautiful world building and magical realism that a book needs for me to enjoy it. And the world building really is stunning – Gita Trelease perfectly delivers a bustling aesthetic filled with smoke and mirrors, dazzling characters and slight of hand in stunning Versailles. Equally, she somehow manages to contrast this with the rubble and squalor of Paris for those less fortunate; the fear attributed to sickness and ever-declining wealth for Camille and her family was so well delivered that I felt as though I was watching it rather than reading it; readers will easily lose themselves within this world.

Enchantee tells the story of Camille. A young woman living in Paris with her sister Sophie who is quite unwell due to their growing poverty. Camille is a magician of sorts, able to use her magic (albeit, not very effectively or for very long!) to change rubble into coins and rags into beautiful gowns. Their brother is an awful person, squandering their money on alcohol and gambling, and soon Camille is forced to turn her hand to more than petty coin conversions. She knows that Versailles is where the rich play; where gambling and drinking to excess is viewed favourably as a way of exploiting the reckless nature of those with more money than sense. If Camille wants to make money, and quickly, Versailles is the place to do this. Camille learns quickly to refine her magical talents, disguising herself as a widowed Baroness who fancies her chances at a few card games, but finds far more than money as she does so.

One of my most favourite things about this book was the element of invention. This period of history is absolutely brimming with new inventions, one of which was the hot air balloon, and by way of Camille meeting new characters (and love interests) we are walked through the discovery of inventions such as this within some of the narrative. Equally, other more secondary characters are also shown to be thinking often about some of the things they “could” invent, which history buffs will note as true inventions of the era. I really appreciated this addition to the story – the world was richer for having included it. With that said, I should probably acknowledge that including some of these things, particularly the hot air balloon, sometimes felt overdone – the balloon was a large, and quite pointless, feature of the novel which had no interesting part to play aside from being a nod to the era. The characters involved with it therefore also fell flat, despite one such character being quite important, because the main feature was always the unusual sub-plot of the balloon.

The story suffers from a number of flaws from here and sadly these became overwhelmingly apparent as the novel progresses; by 50% almost nothing had happened, I felt disconnected from all of the characters (none of which were particularly well developed) and I became perilously close to DNF’ing, perservering only in the hope that something was just about to happen: it never really does. With that said, neither a plot-driven or character-focued reader is likely to be entirely satisfied by this book. This not only made for quite a laborious and boring read, but also meant that the feeling of being swept up by the beautiful world was very quickly lost.

Whilst the writing style is lyrical without being purple and was engaging, there are a great deal of French phrases which are used (almost on every other page) in passing. This typically appeals to me; I like to feel as though I’m within the world, experiencing the genuine culture of it, but in this case Trelease over-uses French phrases and then proceeds to over-explain what they mean by using the English translation almost immedatiely after them. This would have felt much better placed and more authentic if she had simply stuck to the use of the French terms, relying on the reader to refer to the Glossary of terms she includes at the back.

Ultimately the implausible romance, pacing problems and lacking plot detracted substantially from what should have been a really stunning book of magic, trickery and aristocracy.

ARC provided from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This cracking YA story is set in 1789 in an alternate Paris; conventional from a historical perspective where Paris is dominated by discontent and revolution, but with a magical backdrop. It makes for a blended, intriguing and captivating tale.
Carmille is the 17 year old protagonist, striving to keep a roof over the head of her brother and sister following the death of her parents from Small Pox. Her brother comes home increasingly drunk, whilst ratcheting up betting debts. Desperate Carmille draws upon the magic skills she possesses, so that she can transform herself into Baroness de la Fontaine and presents at the kings’ court in Versailles.
Moving between the harsh Parisian lives to the excess of Versailles makes for a fairy-tale feel. The duplicity and impact of using dark magic threatens to take its toll. The characters involved are bold and memorable. Each have a twist in their tale as nearly everything is not as straight forward as it first seems, so be careful not to assume to readily. There is a mix of good and bad characters, romance, dark behaviours, with many individuals not being quite who they might seem.
Carmille is a likeable character, slightly selfish as is the experience of youth, but broadly kind and generous. She has adventures, and whilst could be in danger, the threat always feels mild. A couple of times through the book the cadence dropped a bit and it felt somewhat repetitive, but recovered relatively quickly as the story moved into the next phase. Marie Antoinette features, but barely. I think there was a missed opportunity to flesh out the magical aspects more, but in all other aspects it is a very well written book, impressive more for being a debut release. So for a bit of escapism into a story that is a touch of Les Mis with a little bit of Cinderella, dive in.

Thank you NetGalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with a copy for review.

This is a really magical book that builds a great atmosphere from the very start to the very end. One of my favourite things about it was definitely how well it built up the magical world around French history and how well written all these aspects were, the words themselves were full of magic. I definitely need to read more historical novels because I forget how much I enjoy reading them.

I loved the emphasis on family too because a lot of books, particularly YA, have characters that are very individual and separate from their families, but this novel does a great job of including them in Camille's storyline and having a lot of aspects in her story revolve around them.

The only issue I had with it was that it was a little slow so it took me longer to read than I would have liked and I often felt like the storyline was dragging. Hopefully this is just a product of it being the first book in a series that had a whole world to set up that can be explored more deeply in the next one.

Overall, it was a great book and I am definitely interested in continuing the series.