Bonsoir mes amis! Tonight it's my turn on the blog tour for Enchantee, a gorgeous new historical fiction fantasy novel by Gita Trelease! Huge thanks to Pan Macmillan Australia for having me on the tour (and for sending me a copy of Enchantee to read and review!)

First, let me tell you a bit about the book - this is the description from the Macmillan website:
I honestly had very little idea of what to expect when I started reading Enchantee! I do enjoy historical fiction - especially when it centres around the role of women in society - and this definitely ticked that box for me. I really enjoyed the fantasy aspect to it, and given that the story has just a little magical twist I think non-fantasy fans should not be put off! One of my favourite things about this as an historical fiction novel was the section at the end which gives some backround to the actual events that have been woven through the story.

I thought the writing was really good - it is very descriptive and I felt like I was a part of the story. It reminded me a little bit of Anne Rice's writing in Interview with a Vampire - not because it was quite the same, but something about it gave me the same vibe as when Louis is talking about their life in France (which was maybe around the same era?). In any case, Anne Rice is a favourite of mine, so this is a good thing! Whilst I enjoyed the style of the writing there were a few bits where it felt just a little bit too long - the book is right on 450 pages.

Trelease draws out a number of different social issues across the story - as well as looking at the roles of women there are bits about classism, racism, domestic violence, and "othering" in general (with magicians looked down on/feared). Protagonist Camille experiences some of these in a negative way, but is privileged in other ways, especially when she is at Versaille.  I thought her relationship with her younger sister was interesting - despite being angry about being held back by her situation she also holds her sister back, thinking she is protecting her (kind of like Kat and Bianca in 10 Things I Hate about You - or maybe also The Taming of the Shrew but I'm not sure because I haven't read that one!)

The proof cover was also so pretty!

Overall I thought this was a fun read about love and adventure, with a twist of magic and a coming of age journey (I would classify this one as Young Adult). I gave it 3/5 stars.

If this one interests you, you might also like to pop around and visit some of the other bloggers who have participated in the tour - see below for all the names of participants!

Thanks again to Macmillan for having me!

xo Bron