Camille Durbonne is an orphan, trying her best to keep her frail, younger sister and drunk, older brother alive by using petty magic to turn scraps of metal into coin. But her magic isn't strong enough to keep the illusion alive, and soon she's exhausted of people to trick and options to turn to. Forced to drastic measures, Camille tries a new type of magic, always forbidden by her mother, in order to try to make a living for her and her siblings in the dangerous court of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette. However, all magic has its cost, and she may not be the only one playing its dangerous game.

Normally, I'm not the biggest fan of historical fiction/fantasy, but something about Enchantee made me enjoy it anyways. I think it was a combination of the characters, writing, and magic itself that added an interesting layer to stories that often end up boring me.

I loved that Camille felt multi-dimensional in terms of identity and thoughts, she was constantly stuck between her poor background and the glittering court of the aristocrats, without either side of her ever truly winning out or making her hate the other. She is both utterly entranced by the court's games as well as a revolutionary at heart, wanting to be a famous printer and help the public spread their truth. Her story is also multi-faceted, it's an exploration of herself, her family and her emotions towards her parents, brother, and younger sister, as well as of romance. This is all twisted by the games of court and the traps she falls into, and I was honestly intrigued every step of the way.

The plot, thinking back on it, was also quite interesting in how it evolved and became something more without me ever actually noticing that's what the author was trying to do. It made it feel authentic and in line with Camille's story, as she starts by entering into something small and one-sided, an attempt to simply make enough money for her and her sister to get by, and it turns into a bigger and bigger game as she interacts with larger players of the court and learns more about her magic.

However, even with all the things I liked, I still feel like the story ended well where it was. Yes,

Spoiler

they're in the middle of a revolution and things are going down hard now

, but that was never fully Camille's story. Her feels fairly wrapped up, and while more could definitely happen to her, I worry it'd crack open too much of the ending of this book. So I'm not quite sure if I'll continue the series, even though I did really enjoy this.

I did really enjoy this overall though, and I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this author's other works in the future!