Thank you to Tor (via NetGalley) for the ARC!

4.5 stars

I first want to note that I LOVE the cover of this book. I am trying to find out who illustrated and designed it, but I have had no luck so far. Will report back if I do! EDIT: I found her! The cover art is by Emma Leonard. You can find her at @emmaleonardillustration on Instagram

If you are coming into this book as a fan of Moreno-Garcia's super popular MEXICAN GOTHIC, be warned, this is very different. The author has said herself, she doesn't tend to stick to the same genre across her novels, and that is definitely exemplified in this novel. This is a re-release of a book that was originally published in 2017 and is being reprinted because of the popularity of MEXICAN GOTHIC. I'm glad her older novels are getting more attention because of that book, but I'm also slightly worried people will be disappointed because they are so different.

Personally, I really really enjoyed this book. It is very much character-driven and doesn't have much in the way of plot except that Nina (arguably the main character) has come to Losail from the country to find a husband during the Grand Season. The story is set in a fictional world that is probably-maybe based on early 1900's France that happens to have a little bit of magic thrown in: both Nina and Hector, the love interest, are telekinetic. And while that's not considered unusual in this world, it's definitely not socially acceptable to flaunt one's abilities. Nina's ability becomes a point of contention between herself and the more "respectable" people in society. She even grew up being teased for it and called a witch by her family. She finds a friend and confidant in Hector who has made a career of his ability, performing across the world for audiences as a sort of magician. The main conflict comes from Valérie, the wife of Nina's cousin Gaetan. Valérie is obsessed with image and appearance and has been tasked with finding Nina a suitable husband from the Beautiful Ones of Losail's high society. But she disapproves of almost everything about Nina: she is too plain, too careless about how she acts and definitely not refined enough to be considered a proper lady. Tensions increase when Nina is drawn to Hector because, although Valérie is married, she has not let go of a summer romance she had with Hector ten years prior and cannot bear anyone else claiming him, especially not this unrefined girl who came flitting in from the country. The fact that Nina is unaware of this past relationship just adds to the drama.

The book is written from 3 POVs: Nina, Hector, and Valérie. This is done exceptionally well, in my opinion. I've read books with multiple POVs where I was confused as to whose chapter I was reading and the narrative voices were so similar that they would run together in my head. That is not the case here. Each character has a very distinct voice, and even without an explicit label at the beginning of each chapter as to whose POV it is, it is almost immediately clear whose perspective we seeing.

Because the book is so character driven, it does move somewhat slowly. It took me longer to read this book than I would usually take for a novel of this length, but I'm not sure that was a bad thing. It gave me time to delve deep into the characterizations and spend time with the perspectives of each person. It was really fascinating to see how each main character viewed the side characters as well, given that they all had different relationships with them. For example, Gaetan. To Nina, he is a beloved cousin, almost a father figure. But to Valérie he is a loathsome figure, someone to be tolerated (barely) because marrying him was her only hope of a "successful" life (which for Valérie means a life of wealth and access to the best people in Losail's society).

Now on to the characters: One thing that was really interesting to me was that I didn't particularly like any of the three main characters, but I still really enjoyed the book. Nina is naïve, but still the most likable of the three. Hector is stuck in the past and obsessed with his one-summer fling with Valérie ten years ago. And Valérie is just outright awful to both of them (although in a very underhanded and secretly manipulative way) while seeing herself as the victim of everything that happens in her life. But Moreno-Garcia does such an excellent job of writing each of their perspectives that I found myself sympathizing with all of them at certain points (much less so with Valérie because she is just plain cruel, but there were a few moments!).

Like I said before, this was very different from MEXICAN GOTHIC, as well as her fantasy-adventure GODS OF JADE AND SHADOW. I have two more ARCs of hers to read, which are both supposed to be very different again, so I'm excited to see what's in store for those. I love when authors don't restrict themselves to a single genre because it lets readers really see the the range of their talents, and I'm glad that readers will get to discover some of Moreno-Garcia's older writings because of her recent popularity. This will be re-released on April 27th, so definitely check it out!