Heather Rose
Jones
Completed 7/20/2020,
Reviewed 7/20/2020
3 stars
Another
delightful book about lesbians in a mythical 19th century European
country called Alpennia. In the first
book, Daughter of Mystery, the focus was on Barbara and Margerit and a mystical
magic system. This time, the focus is on
two minor characters from the first book, Jeanne and Antuniet, and the magic
explored is alchemy. There are more
subplots in this book, as Margerit and Barbara are still very much present and
the court intrigue is a little more intense.
However, I felt this book suffered from the sophomore slump, with the
primary plot getting lost in the middle to the subplots, as well as the introduction
of too many characters. But it is
still quite a good book, a pleasure to read.
It just didn’t have the same excitement that the first book had.
Antuniet
Chazillen is the sister of the antagonist from the first book. Her mother committed suicide, her brother was
executed, and her family lost their status as nobility. Now she is working in Heidelberg, trying to
develop her skill as an alchemist. Her
plan is to create a gift for the Princess that will be so profound and so
beneficial to Alpennia that the Princess will return the status to the
family. She has an ancient book of
alchemy from which she draws her knowledge.
However, it’s coveted by the Emperor of Austria and his men are pursuing
her through Europe. With nowhere else to
go, she returns to Alpennia where she looks for a benefactor to support her
work. She asks Jeanne, a widowed heiress,
well-connected socialite, and notorious flirter with young married women, to
help her find someone to support her. Because
of the shame of the Chazillen family, Jeanne can’t. But what they do find surprises them
both.
In the
meantime, one of the possible heirs to the throne seems to be threatened. His mother the Dowager Princess believes it
to be the Ruling Princess and her son causing the threats. Barbara is called in to help protect him. In addition, Barbara is Antuniet’s cousin on
her mother’s side, and wants no part of Antuniet’s problem. Margerit is more patient and understanding,
and draws Antuniet in. In fact, Margerit
is slowly building a little community of women, straight and lesbian, who want
to learn and grow beyond the patronizing allowances of the male-dominated university.
As you can
see, there’s a lot going on in this book.
Maybe it’s a little too much. The
first book kept the story line pretty straightforward and the tension even and
linear. This book was all over the
place, losing the tension of the main plot while cultivating the subplots. It all does come together in the end in a big
dramatic scene, so there is payoff. I
just felt like we lost Antuniet in the middle of the book for too long.
I thought
the prose of the book was lovely. I didn’t
think the author really grew from the first to the second book, but kept her
writing style pretty even. The
characterization was quite good, with Jeanne and Margerit developing from the
one dimensional characters of the first book to three dimensional people in
this one. I particularly liked Jeanne’s
development from playgirl to serious relationship material.
I give this
book three stars out of five. It’s a
good book, but not quite as good as the first.
I really do like this universe that Jones created, finding it well
developed and the magic systems fascinating. I like all her main characters so far, though
I like Margerit and Jeanne the best. I’m
still looking forward to the third book, which is the award winner. There’s a fourth book out as well, which I
guess I’m also going to have to read.
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