My rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
For two years Lou has been living in hiding, stealing to survive and avoiding the use of her magic at all costs. Should the Huntsmen, the Chasseurs, catch her, she would be burned at the stake without trial, but they are not the only ones she needs to hide from.
Reid Diggory, Captain of the Chasseurs, has lived his whole life believing witches are evil, and it is his sworn duty to protect the Kingdom from their foul magic. When a witch escapes him, with the help of a thief, he is determined to catch the one who thwarted him. But when Lou tricks him into a public scandal, they are forced into an impossible situation - marriage.
Hiding in plain sight among the Huntsmen could be just the protection Lou needs, as long as she can keep her identity a secret. As her feelings for her husband grow, and enemies close in around them, Lou must make a terrible choice. Can she trust Reid to protect her, or will he tie her to the stake himself?
I really loved reading this! It’s just such a beautiful debut novel with rich characters, a wonderfully constructed historical world and a perfectly written enemies to lovers romance. This story explores the nature of evil and belief, and shows us the world is never just black and white.
The descriptions in this book are so beautifully crafted that I felt like I was there in this world of obsessive religion and dangerous magic. The characters are really brought to life and the split POV between Lou and Reid was brilliantly done.
When Reid meets Lou, she is dressed as a man, because any single woman may be accused of the crime of witchcraft in this misogynistic world. He finds her offensive, rude and shockingly inappropriate. She thinks he is stiff and boring, “the most pompous ass in an entire tower of pompous asses”. Not to mention he would kill her if he found out who she really was. Over time they come to care for each other, and through each one’s perspective we see the little misunderstandings and mistakes they make as their affections grow. I absolutely love these two as a couple.
“Every aspect of Reid was precise, certain, every color in its proper place. Undiluted by indecision, he saw the world in black and white, suffering none of the messy, charcoal colors in between. The colors of ash and smoke. Of fear and doubt. The colors of me.”
The word-building is fantastic. A patriarchal society where men own their wives, and women are wicked. The magic system is both creative and cruel, where almost anything is possible, for a price. In order for Lou to pick a lock, she must break a finger, to knock a guard unconscious she gives up a memory. Nature demands a balance, and no two witches will see the same patterns.
“Feats such as drowning or burning a person alive required enormous offerings to maintain balance: perhaps a specific emotion, perhaps a year’s worth of memories. The color of their eyes. The ability to feel another’s touch. For every possibility I considered, another witch would consider a hundred different ones. Just as no two minds worked the same, no two witches’ magic worked the same. We all saw the world differently.”
The church and the witches have been enemies for centuries, each killing the other whenever possible, neither winning the fight. Both believing the other to be evil yet equally inflicting pain on innocent people. Lou sees things differently after suffering at the hands of her own coven, and as her feelings for Reid grow, she begins to believe there is another way, one where they don’t have to be enemies.
“Have you ever met a witch?” “Of course not.” “Yes, you have. They’re everywhere, all over the city. The woman who patched your coat last week might’ve been one, or the maid downstairs who blushes every time you look at her. Your own mother could’ve been one, and you never would’ve known.”
The side characters are excellent as well. Lou’s best friend Coco, another witch, is strong-minded and bold. Ansell, an apprentice Chasseur, is sweet and open-minded. The Archbishop is super creepy and clearly has ulterior motives for wanting them to get married.
“As father of the Chasseurs, the Archbishop guided their spiritual warfare against Belterra’s evil, proclaiming he’d been given a mandate from God to eradicate the occult. He’d burned dozens of witches—more than any other—yet still he didn’t rest. I’d seen him only once, from afar, but I’d recognized the cruel light in his eye for what it was: obsession.”
There is nothing about this story I didn’t love. The author builds tension really well throughout the book, leading to a couple of big reveals and an absolutely epic ending. I absolutely can’t wait for book two. I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys historical fantasy, or any kind of fantasy. Everybody just read it, it's really good!
P.S. Get your French dictionary ready, I needed it a few times.
Happy reading!
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