The Laughing Listener
May 2020
Format: Hardback

Story Rating: 4.5 Stars

This book was so good! Exactly what I needed when I needed it. I’ve had this on my tbr for a hot minute and was impatiently waiting for it’s release. I mean, 17th century France AND magic??? Umm, yes please. I was over the moon when I received it in my Once Upon a Book Club box a little while ago. Fast forward a couple months and I’m four weeks into quarantine, neck deep in crazy fantasies and romance books. I desperately needed something more low key and this was the perfect choice!

I absolutely LOVED the way this was written. It was like a really cool hybrid of historical fiction and magical realism. I almost believe this is actually how the Palace of Versailles was created.



There isn’t a lot of action and the plot is very subtle in the way it moves, but I never once lost the urge to keep reading. It was all about political intrigue—mind games and chess moves—and I kept wanting to see what would happen next and who the murderer was. And the magic!! UGH. I’ve never read a magic system that worked this way and I was fascinated by it. Very subtle like everything else in this book, but no less interesting.



By the way, Henriette is low key my hero now. She was such a strong female character, but in a quiet way. Watching her grow into her own and get closer to Philippe was great to watch! And Philippe’s amazing sense of style and flamboyant personality completely won me over. I’m super curious to see how their relationship progresses in the coming novels. I’m also very stressed about what’s going to happen to these characters I’ve grown to love because I know what happened to them in real life and I JUST WANT EVERYONE TO BE HAPPY. *Sobs in a corner*

FINAL WORD

This is getting two thumbs way up from me fam. If you like magic and political intrigue, give this a go.

#1 ↦ [b:In the Shadow of the Sun|41067779|In the Shadow of the Sun (In the Shadow of the Sun, #1)|E.M. Castellan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559632998l/41067779._SY75_.jpg|64145751] ↦ (4.5/5) ✦✦✦✦✦
#2 ↦ [b:Untitled|44222521|Untitled (In the Shadow of the Sun, #2)|E.M. Castellan|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/book/50x75-a91bf249278a81aabab721ef782c4a74.png|68751203] ↦ ????