THE BLURB: Sixteen-year-old Anna
Arden is barred from society by a defect of blood. Though her family is
part of the Luminate, powerful users of magic, she is Barren, unable to
perform the simplest spells. Anna would do anything to belong. But her
fate takes another course when, after inadvertently breaking her
sister’s debutante spell—an important chance for a highborn young woman
to show her prowess with magic—Anna finds herself exiled to her family’s
once powerful but now crumbling native Hungary.
Her life might well be over.
In Hungary, Anna discovers that nothing is quite as it seems. Not the people around her, from her aloof cousin Noémi to the fierce and handsome Romani Gábor. Not the society she’s known all her life, for discontent with the Luminate is sweeping the land. And not her lack of magic. Isolated from the only world she cares about, Anna still can’t seem to stop herself from breaking spells.
As rebellion spreads across the region, Anna’s unique ability becomes the catalyst everyone is seeking. In the company of nobles, revolutionaries, and Romanies, Anna must choose: deny her unique power and cling to the life she’s always wanted, or embrace her ability and change that world forever.
Her life might well be over.
In Hungary, Anna discovers that nothing is quite as it seems. Not the people around her, from her aloof cousin Noémi to the fierce and handsome Romani Gábor. Not the society she’s known all her life, for discontent with the Luminate is sweeping the land. And not her lack of magic. Isolated from the only world she cares about, Anna still can’t seem to stop herself from breaking spells.
As rebellion spreads across the region, Anna’s unique ability becomes the catalyst everyone is seeking. In the company of nobles, revolutionaries, and Romanies, Anna must choose: deny her unique power and cling to the life she’s always wanted, or embrace her ability and change that world forever.
THE SCOOP: I adored two things about this book. One was how the author created a magic system and wove it into Victorian British life--so creative and interesting, with a great voice that reminded me of Georgette Heyer's tone (I have NO HIGHER PRAISE). I also adored the Hungarian setting. It gave dimension to the plot and helped the story take unexpected turns that felt in keeping with the place.
THE VERDICT: Read it fast, fast, fast, before the sequel comes out! Look at all that gold.
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