4 Stars - I recommend if you enjoy books that focus on relationships with twisty motivations, and subtle hints of magic in your fiction.

This book follows Hector, a magician/telekinetic, who moves to a new city to perform. He meets a young woman, named Nina, who is taken with his talents, and wants to be a performer herself. He decides to court her, and teach her what he knows, as she enters her first "grand season" in society. Nina is under the supervision of her elegant aunt Valerie, in hopes that she may find a husband soon. However, her gifts are frowned upon and often cause her to be seen as an outcast. Hector seems to be her only suitor and friend, but is he really after Valerie?

This book is pretty hard to describe, but I just thought it was lovely and atmospheric. It has a slow pace, but the world is lovely. I enjoyed the societal aspect of the book (the grand balls, the courting, etc.), but I also enjoyed the bits of magic/telekinesis. I loved most that Nina and Valerie had really interesting personalities and interests. Nina as into etymology and collecting butterflies specifically. Valerie is all about presentation, perfect from head to toe, every room in her home, even her rose garden. I felt like most of the characters had questionable or changing motivations. You didn't know when people were telling the truth or not, which had me feeling like I didn't know what would happen in the end. The twisty relationship dynamics reminded me a bit of My Cousin Rachel or Cruel Intentions, though a little less stark overall. I recommend this if you enjoy books like this or are looking for something a little bit out of the ordinary. I thought it was really lovely to read.*

Publication Date: October 24th 2017.

* Asterisks denote titles that I was given advance access to by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. These reviews are my own opinion, and based on the edition of the book I was given at the time. Thank you Netgalley!