Release Date: February 4th 2020
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Pages: 384
Find it on: Goodreads. BookDepository. Waterstones.
Source: The publisher kindly sent me a copy of this book to review
Rating: 4.25/5 stars

Synopsis

Emilie des Marais is more at home holding scalpels than embroidery needles and is desperate to escape her noble roots to serve her country as a physician. But society dictates a noble lady cannot perform such gruesome work.

Annette Boucher, overlooked and overworked by her family, wants more from life than her humble beginnings and is desperate to be trained in magic. So when a strange noble girl offers Annette the chance of a lifetime, she accepts.

Emilie and Annette swap lives—Annette attends finishing school as a noble lady to be trained in the ways of divination, while Emilie enrolls to be a physician’s assistant, using her natural magical talent to save lives.

But when their nation instigates a frivolous war, Emilie and Annette must work together to help the rebellion end a war that is based on lies.

Review

This is my first time picking up a book by Linsey Miller. I’ve always wanted to pick up a copy of Mask of Shadows but never got around to it so when I heard she was releasing a new French inspired fantasy standalone, I was absolutely intrigued.

Belle Révolte is the story of two girls – Emilie des Marais, a young upper class girl who dreams of being a physician. But due to her status as a woman and a member of the elite, she is forced to study the midnight arts which are much more sensible for a young woman. Annette Boucher dreams of studying the midnight arts, but with no money she can’t afford the school fees and does not wish to a physicians hack. When Emilie and Annette meet, they swap lives allowing each one to live the life they’ve always dreamed. However things aren’t as clear cut as they seem, with the nation heading to war a secret underground group calling for a revolution, – will Annette and Emilie survive?

This story was just such a fun read. I loved the beautiful French inspired setting and I completely fell in love with this world of magic and war. I found the magic system really unique and fascinating – the idea of there being two types of magic – noonday arts which focused on healing and fighting and midnight arts which focused on scrying and divining the future.

Belle Révolte was a really fast paced read with lots of action and adventure going on. It was so easy to get caught up in the story. The alternating chapters between the two main characters gives you a chance to get to know both protagonists as they learn new skills and fight to save Demiene.

I really love the swap identities trope and I thought it was done so well in this story. Annette and Emilie were both really interesting characters and I enjoyed seeing how they adapted to the new world they had ended up in. They’re both quite strong-willed characters but Annette is the softer kinder of the two, with Emilie being the more stubborn and outspoken of the pair. The story features a number of diverse characters and also some really sweet romances which I really liked. They were a nice addition to the story without taking over the main plot.

Linsey Miller makes a lot of interesting comments about class and gender and weaves it into a beautiful story filled to the brim with magic, politics and adventure. If you’re looking for a fast paced and fun read this February, Belle Révolte should definitely be on your wishlist.