I have picked this up and put it down a few times because I like the concept and the world building, but the pace is just so slow. I was hoping it would pick up and maybe it does, but it was a DNF for me. I would read another by this author. This just wasn't for me.

Belle Révolte follows Emilie who dreams of becoming a physician, but law dictates that a noble lady cannot wield the powerful magic to heal. Instead she is sent to school to be trained in the arts of illusions and divination. Something Annette is desparate to learn. So Emilie and Annette swap lives. But revolution and war loom just around the corner, and they are soon more involved than they ever thought they would be.

This book was a solid stand-alone fantasy novel. We have complex characters, an intriguing world and magic and good political commentary. The messages of this book were so well done and relevant: That we should be more acceptable of people, and that we are enough in us self and should not be underestimated. I loved Annette's journey; she was really my favourite person.

Some people have said that the first 60% were slow, and I do agree with that. But I wouldn't really have minded because we had so much lore to explore. It is perhaps only due to the fact that the last 40% were so fast-paced that the contrast seemed a bit jarring.

However, I felt so lost sometimes. There were so many characters, and their names were sometimes only named in passing and then 100 pages later they would show up, and I would have to guess who they were. Also they were so many characters with pseudonyms that it didn't help matters. So that kind of spoiled the book a bit for me. (I read the book as an audiobook; I think it would be easier to keep straight if reading a physical copy).

All in all, a solid fantasy novel with some brilliant political intrigue and societal commentary.

Oh, this book! I really enjoyed Linsey Miller's duology, and this book sounded really great, i just never got around to it, until I got a chance to read it via audiobook, and just jumped at it! I loved this world of magic and the politics these girls got drawn into!

For these girls to basically switch places, at least in society, was really interesting. Emilie doesn't want to study the magic and manners meant for a high society lady, she wants to go into medicine. Annette comes from a working class family, with little opportunity for more. So switching lives helps both of them.

The magic of this world was really interesting, with healing and scrying, seeing the past and the future, and is pretty important, given the uses that was made of it, espcailly some pretty heinous stuff. Which draws them into the rebellion against the king.

I loved seeing both of their stories, as they were learning, about their magic, and what they believed in, as they were brought into this fight! That one point, oh, that was pretty disheartening, but it was amazing to see how it all worked out!

Loved reading this book and I'd love to read more by Linsey Miller!

This one was an okay for me. Readable, but not truly my style. Would try the author again, though.

3.5 stars. This book was very interesting! I loved the twists within the book and the overall story.

This may be one of my new favorite books by Linsey Miller. I knew I was going to love it but oh my goodness. The characters, the setting, the writing, all fantastic as always. I'm so in love with everything about Belle Revolte!

I loved this tale of girl power and friendship that saves lives. This is a book that will be re-read many times.

Belle Revolte is an interesting book. I can't quite put it under any specific heading. I enjoyed it very much.

Book 71 for 2022! 4/5 stars for this YA Fantasy read! A great standalone, which is so rare for the genre. It's got a great swapping lives plot! Annnnnnnd a magical school! Say less! We also get an Ace MC. Love the cover so much! Loved the dual POV narration. Highly recommend!

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley. Did not influence my review.

A lot of YA novels are starting to have great LGBTQIAP representation and I think that is fabulous. This was historical fantasy, there is a magic, violence, and social hierarchy life swapping. I thought the world building and magical system was unique. I loved that it was set in France during the revolution period. It does take some time to really get into, yet I pushed through and found the last 1/3 of the book deeply satisfying.

I tried reading this book in 2020. I don't know if it's wasn't working for me because of my mental state in 2020 or if it was something else. I recently tried to pick it up again and I am still not connecting with the plot or characters. Sadly I am going to say that this story may just not be for me.

Thank you so much to the publisher for approving me. This was a DNF for me, I suppose since I never got back into it and I’m just updating this to move this off my shelf.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. Life swapping, crumbling ruling structures and good representation should have made this an easy win. However, I felt that this was more show, rather than tell. There's a lot of info-dumping and not a lot of substance or tension.

Linsey's writing is always gorgeous and her worldbuilding is stunning. In this unique The Prince and the Pauper tale, we can't help but root for these girls who are striving to make their best in a system designed to punch them down. An umissable read!

This is the third book of Miller's I've read and they've become an automatic read for me. I am always enchanted with their use of current events and struggles, discussed through fantasy settings, it's much more interesting to me to read these real world allegories than it is completely fantastic events. The fantasy softens the blow while still forcing me to re examine my place and stance on issues. For this reason I love to recommend their books to my students, so they can see their world and their struggles reflected in literature. Great read and great world! Would recommend!

I really cannot think of much else to say about this book other than it was okay. Overall, it was a quick and somewhat entertaining read. However, not much of anything about seemed very original or memorable. It was a very light and easy read, so it would definitely be good for something to read on vacation.

Thank you so much for allowing me to read and review your titles.
I do appreciate it and continue to review books that I get the chance to read.
Thanks again!

The premise of two girls from different economic statuses switching lives to pursue their dreams had me hooked from the start. Unfortunately, I wasn't as captivated as I wanted to be. It was a good story and I did enjoy it, but I didn't love it. I found myself just wanting to get to the end. I did enjoy the magical element of the story, but I guess my issue was with connecting to the characters. All in all, it is a 3 star read from me. Thank you, NetGalley for the eARC copy.

This was such a fun, fast-paced read. I couldn’t put it down. I very much liked all of the atmosphere and rooting for the heroine!

I received a copy from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review.

DID NOT FINISH! Stopped at 15%

I was really excited about this novel because the concept sounded so interesting! And then we get in the FIRST CHAPTER, like mere pages in and with no artistic tension our two main characters meet. They know nothing about each other, don't know each other's names, all they know is that we look like each other....literally, that's it. But they have a quick conversation of "let's swap places because I don't want to be royalty-ish and you do." Ummm, how did she know that her doppelganger wanted her life? THEY HAD NEVER SPOKEN BEFORE! I can suspend some reality, but this was too much. Then they are both quick about swapping places and hardly know each other's names but let's switch lives and tell each other our deep dark secrets while changing clothes and still WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT EACH OTHER!

Too much suspension of reality and just utterly boring otherwise. I felt like I was thrown into the novel and accidently forgot to read a prequel that sets up the story....except one doesn't exist.