Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

So I was very excited to the representation in this book – especially the ace. I was so pleased about that and I was ready to love the book. And yet, somehow, I didn’t. It was okay, but I didn’t love it and I am so upset because I am always wanting more ace, trans and f/f rep.

This book however, didn’t do it for me. The rep was so good, and that was the one thing that I really, really liked about the book. But I liked almost nothing else.

I thought the magic system was so interesting, but unfortunately it felt really underdeveloped. Half the time I wasn’t sure what was going on.

One of the other major problems: the book was boring. Boring to me at least. I was 40% in and wondering if I could DNF the book. And I felt that it didn’t even pick up from there. In fact, I rather felt that I could have read the beginning and the end and would have been fine. That’s how little happened for me.

On top of that, I don’t think the writing style and I meshed very well. I wasn’t a huge fan of it. I also wasn’t a fan of the alternating POV’s. The girls read almost exactly the same, and they didn’t feel very well fleshed out. Sadly, that can often be the downside of a standalone.

Overall, this book wasn’t for me. I was so excited for the rep, but the plot, the content and the writing weren’t my style. I however know this is going to be really popular with other people, especially since it is like the princess and the pauper.

My conclusion is: probably a good book, but not a good book for me!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher I was able to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
***
Belle Revolte is a princess and the pauper style story in a world full of magic with a magic system I’m not entirely sure I understood but was fascinated by none the less.
Emilie wants to study sun magic and become a physician, something denied to her both as a female and by her mother’s wishes for her to focus on moon magic. Just her luck that the day her mother drops her off at the finishing school she’s to attend she finds someone who looks just enough like her and is desperate for the attempt to further her own magic, Annette.
A bit contrived sure, but the story is fun, there is a lot of death (some really really awful deaths), the world is interesting if a bit confusing, there was also a lot of french words and names being thrown at me that I gave up pretending I’ll ever know how to pronounce, and I loved many, many characters. Mostly the side characters more so than the MCs. They helped the MCs shine really. (I would die for Charles and Madeline.) What follows is a lot of flip flopping as we go back and forth in POV between Annette and Emilie adjusting to their new lives when they uncover a huge conspiracy. They may be far from each other but they find they’re working for the same thing and they have to work fast if they want to prevent war.
The back and forth between the characters is fun and witty (Coline is queen of witty and deadpan.) There is an asexual (Ace) MC who not only comes out, but has a safe, healthy conversation about what her boundaries are with the person she’s getting together with. I’m boggled, I cried over this. It was beautiful.

*eARC provided by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire in exchange for an honest review*

My feelings for this book are mixed. On the surface, it seems like a great idea. A princess and the pauper style retelling in an alternate version of France just before the revolution (kinda) but also, magic. This and the gorgeous cover had me thinking it would be perfect. It was just okay.

The story is told in two POVs: Emilia, the noble lady who wants to studying healing magic and Annette, who is a poor girl Emilia finds on the street and convinces to trade places with because they look similar. The POVs alternate every chapter, in first person, so it is sometimes hard to keep track of at the beginning.

Before I go much further, I should describe the magic system. There are two types of magic: one derived from Lord Sun (noonday magic), a healing/fighting magic that is more acceptable for men to learn (which Emilia excels at) and one derived from Mistress Moon (midnight magic), an illusion/divination/scrying magic that women are taught (which Annette excels at). Note, while there are a few women studying noonday magic, there are no men studying or using midnight magic, though that is a whole other can of worms I probably shouldn't open.

While Emilia and Annette are trying to live their best lives as each other (somewhat, Emilia keeps her name), there is a revolution going on! A group called the Laurels wants to overthrow the king because he is bad. Specifically, French Revolution-esque bad. Taxing the poor beyond what they can afford and just being an all around jerk. Both Emilia and Annette get involved in this rebellion and the story involves them learning magic and trying to overthrow a king, fun!

Also! This book has tons of LGBTQIA+ representation! Annette is asexual and a lesbian. Emilia's love interest is a trans man. The princess is a lesbian. It also makes some really interesting statements about being trans and how the world sees you and how you see yourself.

So where does this book go wrong? I don't know that there is one part that made me dislike. I mean, I don't dislike, I just didn't love it. It's got all the right parts: rebellion, magic, gay people. But it just didn't click with me. Annette and Emilia aren't very compelling heroines. Though they both challenged their new worlds to see from their perspectives, they themselves never changed. The side characters were lacking and hard to remember. Even Emilia's magical training and friends, which to me were the most promising, fell flat. It was a good book, it just wasn't a great one. I gave it 3.5 stars.

To start off I will send a big thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with an eARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. I also have to thank Avhlee from Tea Cups and Torn Pages for talking about this author so often, because I likely wouldn’t have requested this book otherwise.
I really enjoyed this story. It was fantastical and magical, exciting and dramatic. Many reviews complained about the beginning, where Emilie and Annette switch lives happens too quickly, which I can understand, but it didn’t really bother me. It was made clear that both characters desperately wanted to find a way out of the situations they were in, so they made it happen. I also think that we get to know both girls well enough that it makes sense the further you get into the story.
I liked Annette. She’s ace and I really thought her explanations of this identity were thoughtful and well done. I loved her blossoming relationship with Yvonne. I enjoyed the relationship between Annette and her new roommates. There was a large cast of characters though, so I did find myself a bit confused here and there about who was who.
Emilie was interesting in the sense that she’s nobility, trying to pretend that she isn’t. There are many trained behaviors that sort of give her away, but I liked her anyway. She was passionate and stubborn. I really enjoyed her friendship with Madeline and her relationship with Charles. Their competition and banter were so entertaining.
I thought the magic was fascinating. There are midnight and noonday arts. One based on the moon and the other the sun. I thought the limitations were well explained, too much magic literally destroys the user’s body. Some reviews I read complained that the magic was unclear, but I didn’t think so. The differences between the different things that can be done with magic were maybe not clearly explained, but were easily inferred. An example I saw brought up was the difference between divining and scrying in the midnight arts. While it wasn’t explained specifically, it was obvious that Annette could only scry things happening in the present and divining was seeing things of the future.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It was slow at a few points, but I still liked those slower parts. I liked the characters. They were diverse and interesting. The politics of the world were dark and horribly captivating. I will definitely be recommending this one to the fantasy lovers in my life.

At first glance, this book intrigued me - I will happily try any YA fantasy with LGBTQ+ representation, especially if it involves magic. I had high expectations going into Belle Revolte, and I’m disappointed that I had to DNF it. I found the narrative to be disorganized and rambling, the descriptions awkward and choppy, the dialogue unnatural and indistinct between characters. The characters themselves didn’t engage me, and the most interesting characters were only side characters. The magic system was fascinating, but it wasn’t enough to keep me absorbed in the story itself. If the characters had been stronger, I could have stayed with it, but overall this book just didn’t capture me.

Im more disappointed in myself for not liking Belle Rèvolte then I am at anything else. I loved Linsey’s previous trilogy so I figured I was going to love this book too. I truly believe that this was more of a “It’s not you, it’s me” situation then anything else. The writing is beautiful and descriptive and the magic system was well done from what I read.

But I started this book 5 separate times and after each time I wouldn’t make it past 20% before I just wasn’t feeling it anymore. I was bored and finding every excuse to do anything but read.

I’ve seen so many positive reviews for Belle Rèvolte so I really wanted to love it but sadly I didn’t. I have no doubt that this book isn’t going to be well loved by others though and I can’t wait to see what Linsey is going to come up with next for her readers!

A Prince and the Pauper type story set in magcal France.

This sounded like it would be excellent, but I just couldn't get into it, and I can't figure out why. It should be everything I like in a novel; magic, intrigue, girls being awesome. I made it to 26%, with much difficulty, and just put it down. This isn't the novel for me, but I'm sure other readers will enjoy it.

This book is so wonderful.

Using a Prince and the Pauper premise, Emilie, a comtesse, and Annette, a commoner, switch places in order to achieve their goals in learning magic. What they didn’t plan for was war to come to the country and to be caught up in the secrets and lies of the nobility while working with the resistance to reveal the hard truths.

This started slow in some ways as I familiarized myself with the world, but as it got darker and more dangerous I found it harder to put down. The magic is fascinating and while it has gendered connotations, those beliefs are challenged and there’s theorizing from mentors about how both Noonday and Midnight arts are two sides of one coin rather than opposite powers. I really enjoyed the detail of the magic and the different ways it was used.

This book is also deeply heartbreaking. Friendships are forged and sometimes they don’t survive the challenges war brings. There is so much grief, especially around sibling deaths. The death and violence shown doesn’t feel gratuitous but rather shows the horror of the events going on while still keeping hope alive with the friendships and romances that grow and strengthen.

I really enjoyed this book and I think it’s one that’s going to stick with me for a while. I loved the asexual representation and the romance between Annette and Yvonne felt so good, especially with Yvonne immediately accepting that there will be no sex in their relationship. I also really loved the development between Charles and Emilie; I will always be weak for antagonistic passion shifting to more romantic passions. Another great thing to see was the way pronouns were always respected and used correctly, no characters being misnamed or misgendered. It felt good to read this book, as rough as some of the content could be.

Belle Révolte was an evocative and thought provoking tale of rebellion, magic, and love. The story follows two young women divided by class but are determined to change their futures. I don’t read many YA fantasies with complex magic systems and although this was sometimes slow, I found I appreciated Linsey Miller’s take on it. Drawing a connection from magic to healing was ingenious and I found her execution original. Many times we see characters with abilities that help them be stronger warriors and in here, that’s not the focus. I liked how Miller’s concept showcased the efforts people take to preserve life through healing rather than the fighting. But be warned, there are many scenes that are gory and quite vivid as well as a few deaths throughout. This is not a light and fluffy piece and it does seem to perhaps border between YA and adult fiction. This is the first book that I’ve read by Miller and I have fallen in love with her strong and effective writing so this will not be my last.

“My mother did not shackle me despite my last escape attempt. It didn’t matter—the corset, layers of satin and silk, and summer heat were chains enough. I was certain I would be the first young noble lady of Demeine to arrive at finishing school under the watchful eyes of two armed guards.”

I loved this opener! I could feel Emilie’s hatred for her noble life right from the beginning. It felt real and powerful. She is a girl that knows she can do better and doesn’t need to be stuck in her mother’s world. Relatable and very effective! From then on, I was engrossed in the plot. I wanted to know how Emilie was going to pursue the life she wanted and the stirring rebellion was the perfect, dark backdrop for her to figure it out. This set the mood and gave a very strong voice to this novel’s first main character.

“Illusions were, as far as I could tell, nothing but lies. My mother was a wonderful liar.”

I devoured Miller’s poetic and emotionally charged writing and I couldn’t wait to continue this story. The composition above reminded me of Tahereh Mafi’s Shatter Me series, and the reason I loved that series so much was the beautiful poetic prose mixed with a dark, war torn world and we see that again in here. The contrast between the beauty of the words mixed with the darkness of the actual story creates this undeniable pull that keeps you hooked. I envy this writing style immensely and this combination is very effective.

“I ate dirt as a child.”

This was a striking, bold, and harsh statement that rivalled Emilie’s introduction which made it the perfect intro to Belle Révolte’s second main character, Annette. The drastic differences between these two only worked to increase the idea of class divide and having two characters representing each world equally made this a balanced story.

I loved many things in Belle Révolte but I didn’t like the constant flow of names from both perspectives because it was too hard to follow. Many characters had specific strengths in either the noonday arts or the midnight arts and it was slightly confusing to remember who could do what and who knew who. I think this happened because of the sheer amount of female characters on Annette’s side as well as the male characters on Emilie’s side that all seemed to have two and three titles each. It was an information overload. That being said, I also found a slight issue with the idea that’s very common with rebellion and that’s the idea of one name for all those associated. In here Miller used the name “Laurel” for the resistance but there were too many scenes where members were referred to by that same name, which made it difficult to know all the members of the group and what each of them were told and when. I couldn’t keep it all straight. I feel like this choice made Miller’s writing suffer because there’s only so much you can use to try and describe a scene when the same name is given to many, especially given a large operation.

Despite these minor setbacks, I really enjoyed Linsey Miller’s newest novel, Belle Révolte and I give it an 8 out of 10! I look forward to reading more from her and I will definitely check out her other series called Mask of Shadows.

- Review to be published January 17th 2020

definitely got Audrey rose vibes from one of the main characters but I mean that in a good way!

I enjoyed a couple things about this book, the asexual and trans REP. Yes. I don’t think we see enough of that and Sourcebooks is so good at picking books with good rep and strong females. I think they did their job with this pick. Yay! especially with fantasy. We don’t get enough diversity and representation, so to have those things in a fantasy book at all was amazing! I do think there were some issues being that this book was a stand alone. Usually with stand alone’s, the ending is rushed. The ending definitely felt a bit rushed for me. Secondly, the characters. One thing about a series is that we get lots and lots of character development which I prefer. With stand alone’s, it doesn’t really allow for a lot of character development, and so I found that lacking in this story. Needless to stay it was still enjoyable.

Belle Révolte pulled me in several different directions. The things it did well it did VERY well, but the things it lacked went down hard, and I'm torn between loving it and being indifferent with no in-between to compromise on.

Let’s start with the things it did well!

1. The stakes. Linsey Miller really went out there and made “sacrifice” real. I was genuinely worried for the lives of both of the POV characters, and I felt the deaths in this book harder and more emotionally than any book characters’ deaths in other books for a really long time. They were real. They were brutal. There was no getting out of them. There were no happy endings for the people who deserved them. Annette and Emilie both had to sacrifice their magic and some of their health and well-being at the end, and I was impressed.

2. The representation. As I mentioned, there’s ace rep, but also lesbian, bi, trans, and non-binary representation as well, all done smoothly and casually despite some characters still keeping parts of their sexual and gender identities secret. It was never a big deal, which I appreciated.

3. The character relationships. I loved Laurence and Estrel both by themselves (especially Laurence) and their relationship, as well as Charles and Emilie’s relationship (once Emilie started working with Charles and I could manage to pick out Charles from the other characters). I like how Emilie and Annette wrote letters to each other and became close (as we see in the end, especially) even though they barely knew each other in person. I appreciated the storyline with Emilie’s mother and how she, Emilie’s perception of her, and her perception of Emilie changed and evolved throughout. More generally, I loved the consent between any of the romantically involved characters, who kept asking before kissing.

4. The themes. Sacrifice and privilege, especially, but also self-confidence and self-image. Friendship. The cost of revolution. There were some lines and sections that had me nodding my head, brow furrowed in respect, because the themes I don’t often see touched on were elaborated upon very well.

Things I thought it didn’t do as well:

1. The magic system. By the end, I understood that the midnight and noonday arts were a spectrum and each had different strengths, and that they wear the user out. That’s about it. Throughout, I was highly confused with how each of the girls and everyone else were using the arts, and how powerful they were and how they affected others. I was also especially confused with the midnight arts. I’m not sure if this was just because it’s an ARC, but scrying and divining both sometimes seemed to be used as a blanket term for divination AND scrying, and Annette kept claiming to not be able to divine but then… willfully and knowledgeably divining? I was also unclear if Emilie ended up knowing how to scry or not, and at what point it happened if so. Reading became a much more enjoyable experience once I stopped trying to understand the magic and just understood that "magic was happening and here’s the stuff it’s able to do in this particular instance they are using it".

2. The plot. The book took a different look at revolution, which I appreciated, but the pacing seemed incredibly off, and many of the things that happened seemed either highly unlikely, out of the blue, out of place, or just plain confusing. While the tandem ending scenes were certainly dramatic, they seemed… convenient, almost, or weird that these events were the deciding factors when so much else was happening. It was also less (or at least differently) political than other political fantasies. As with the magic system, things got better once I just stopped trying to sort out the inconsistencies and just let it happen, suspending my disbelief on a high shelf. However, there were several twists, betrayals, and reveals that surprised me that I enjoyed! And once I hit perhaps the 75% mark, I couldn't put it down, despite it seeming to drag endlessly before that.

3. The characters. I know I put character relationships in the "things done well" section above, and I stand by that. I also stand by the fact that some of the characters were well-developed! However, I wasn’t able to tell most of them apart for a good 75% of the book. I finally saw the main differences between Annette and Emilie perhaps a little before 50% of the way through (their voices were very similar). Most of Annette’s friends were indistinguishable from one another, and I confused the names of all the physician people besides Emilie herself, Rainer, and Madeline until I sorted out a few more around 75% and was still confused about the rest. There were… a lot of characters.

In summary: Glad I read it, but probably would not read again, or recommend, unless I get word that the finished copy has somehow fixed the plot and magic inconsistencies. Good representation, and good portrayal of themes, especially of sacrifice and privilege! I was just so confused the entire time.

When I heard about this book, I was excited. Magic, ace+trans+queer rep, and overthrowing a corrupt government...what’s not to love about all of that?

The side characters were by far the most interesting parts of this book, and I wish we'd gotten to see more of them, to understand who they were on a deeper level. I liked the concept of the magic, and how the characters used it, and I liked that so many of them had different connections with either the noonday or midnight arts. Above all, I just really liked Laurence, and I wanted to see so much more of him.

I so wish I could say I loved this book because the whole way through, I could see how it might have been great if everything got a little deeper or were more organized. As it was, the whole thing felt contrived and unnatural.

Most of what happened just wasn’t something I could see as plausible, even from the beginning when Emilie looks out a carriage window and is like “wow, that girl looks vaguely like me, let me just jump out and switch lives with her!” There was no buildup, either to events or to character relationships, no consistency between what the characters said vs. what actually happened. It made for a confusing and inconsistent narrative.

The plot felt like it dragged and moved too fast at the same time, like all of the emphasis was in the wrong places. There was very little development from one event to the next, people seemed to die just to kill them off and not out of plot relevance, and you don’t really see the two narrators taking very active roles in where they are. A huge part of the plot is supposed to be that they’ve switched places, but you end up almost forgetting that they’re connected at all, and we don’t see them learning much about what they’re supposed to be learning at their respective schools.

The characters were even more frustrating than the plot. The relationships were poorly developed, the dialogue unnatural, and so many reactions and events felt cliché. Most of the time, the narrators reacted to difficult situations by sobbing, and no one seemed to actively do much to move the story along. The most interesting characters died before we got to delve into who they were, and the ones who should have been interesting weren’t.

The magic system felt disorganized, and there wasn’t much sense as to why it affected people the way it did, nor was it presented in a way that I could suspend disbelief and just go with it. But as far as I could tell, this was a running theme in this book. I like stories where the author doesn’t spoon feed every detail and allows the reader to infer things, but this felt like the author assumed the reader would be able to infer too much, so the details were incomplete.

I love the concept of this book. I love the idea. I love the potential. But I wanted more. I wanted to connect and love the characters and their journeys, and unfortunately, the execution of the story fell flat for me. Still, there was something that kept me reading to the end, and while I'm not sure whether it was hope that the story would improve or some attachment to the characters, it was sort of like a background read—something I didn't give my full attention, but that I didn't feel right stopping midway.

I’m starting to really appreciate a good standalone but sometimes you need just a bit more.

“Belle Révolte” sees two young women desperate to make a name for themselves as they meet by chance and manage to switch places so one can go to school and by a physician and the other can train in the arts to strengthen her magic but when whispers of a rebellion enters both of their lives they are forced to make hard choices to protect those they have come to love.

I really love the representation in this book and how it never seemed like it was there for points and I couldn’t have loved the characters more as they played off each other both romantically and platonically and how they took the time to have those conversations that really helped flesh out their characters and let the audience know that this is who they are and it wasn’t going to be forgotten after a few pages.

Looking to the larger themes I think the ideas were great and the magic system interesting but there was a lot was crammed in here that I think could have been handled better if this was a duology especially once we started getting into the climax it would have been nice for things to slow down a bit before crashing into the epilogue, there was even a point where I stopped to check if this was a spin off where the world was part of a different series just because it seemed like it would give us a good amount of info in some sections only to rush through others like most spin offs do as they assume diehard fans know everything and the author doesn’t want to bore them but it’s not too much exposition to scare off a new reader.

Overall I think this was a good book and definitely one I’d recommend, there were great moments of compassion, humor, betrayal and bloodshed to make it memorable though it might be one you find more appreciation for after a couple rereads.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

Belle Revolte is a re imagining of prince and the pauper In an elemental magical world. It's french inspired and set a time not yet in the French revolution of a country called Demeine. Emilie and Anette are the nobility and pauper stand ins.
Emilie desperately wants to be a good force to the world and be trained and use the noon arts but she's forbidden to. She's girl of nobility, lower ranking but still of nobility and is not allowed. Ladies should be proper and not harm their bodies with strong labour. The switch happens on the ride to the school her mother attended in her youth . The another narrator, Annette is introduced at this point.

I love how the magic is split equally between the Lord Sun and Mistress Moon. Illusionary arts are moon based and the noon day arts sun based. Power drawn from Lord Sun is stronger and more fickle. Immense amounts of power is required to change the world through the fighting and healing Arts. Magic always comes with a price and extreme use can lead to an early died of all the ravages to the body

While illusions, scrying and divinations belong to Mistress Moon. It a safer and slower burn couldn't change the world.

I have to address my complaints with this title . The beginning 60 pages were a bore to read . It picks up the after page 70. I do have to say Emilie and Annette got me through it. Although their voices sounds similar I grew attacked to the girls and the bond they shared. I did love the lore and magic system but I think Fantasy of manners or similar fantasy fiction isn't for me. I liked parts but sadly I have to say this book wasn't for me and thus gave it a 3/5.

I enjoyed the alternating points of view and the story line. Overall, this was a good story that will be appreciated by some of my students due to the inclusive nature of the story. Thank you netgalley!

Belle Révolte is a book about girls changing the world, following their dreams, and fighting a system of exploitation. It's a book full of hope, sacrifice, and power. Belle Révolte is a book about ambition. The ways society wants to limit what we can do because of our gender or economic status. It features Annette, a biromantic ace spectrum magical MC, a talented girl who yearns to be seen. It's a dual POV book which also features Emilie a girl rebelling against the conventions of what her class and family expect of her. She's driven and wants to use her magic to be a physician. In a world that doesn't expect much from either Emilie or Annette, their ambitions and heart will end up changing more than just their world.

I have a soft spot for girls who live in a society that doesn't expect anything of them. They are the ones who shine despite blankets of darkness and disbelief. The limitations of being a woman, what we are worth to the world, family, to our future. Escaping gilded cages of society and decorum. I loved Annette and Emilie. Annette for the ways she is driven by what is right, even when she's in a precarious position in a castles of her dreams. Emilie for her commitment to science combined with her compassion for people.

This book had wonderful fantasy elements along with relatable content between the two main characters. I love how they swap lives. Its a fantastical Parent Swap like story that kept me reading until the end.

Review will be live on Book Confessions of an ExBallerina Blog on 1-3-20

Belle Révolte got off to very rock start for me. There was so much going on from the first pag, but I felt that none of it was explained properly. Most of the explanations came much further into the story, which left me grasping for straws in the beginning. I almost DNF’ed because I felt so lost. Because of this I also felt the story was very non-memorable. I had difficulties commiting any names and occurences to memory and didn’t feel pulled into the story at all.

After a while, thankfully, it got bette rand also easier to understand. Things start becoming clearer and the pace of the story picked up as well. There was mor eaction as opposed tot he beginning, which was mostly world and character building. At this point the story gripped me and I no longer felt the need to DNF, so I’m glad I stuck it out.

The plot mainly focuses on two girls: Annette and Emilie. Emilie is a lady and she is forced to go to school by her mother to study the Midnight Arts, even though she much prefers to learn about the Noonday Arts. These, however, are not fit for a lady. While walking up to her new school Emilie encounters Annette, who resembles her slightly. She then decides to offer up her place at the Midnights Arts school to Annette, who is to pretend to be Emilie, and she goes off to another university herself. While the two girls keep up this charade, the country enters a war and a group of rebel forces arise, which makes everything a million times more complicated.

The idea of the story is great in my opinion, however I do feel that it had to be written out more carefully and with more detail to actually make an impact. I have to say, though, that I might be a little biased since I just finished The Priory of the Orange Tree, which has one of the most detailed worlds and characters I’ve ever read about. My expectations might have been a little too high after that.

This book is a standalone fantasy that has magic, societal expectations and a revolution.

The writing in the book was easy to read and I found that the world-building was good for a standalone. However that pacing was off a little and the ending felt rushed when compared to the pacing of the rest of the book. The multiple POV also took m some getting use to but eventually I got into it.

There are two types of magic in the book, the midnight arts and the noonday arts.
Midnight Arts - illusions, scrying and divination. It is classed as female magic and is supposedly the weaker magic.
Noonday Arts - healing and fighting. It is classed as male magic and is stronger.
The magic in the book is great and I really liked the magic system. I also liked how magic had consequences and could ware the body out if it was used too much. We get to see different magic schools and I always enjoy a fantasy with a magic school.

I also enjoyed the revolution part of the book and the fighting that happened. The revolution is run by the mysterious Laurel and I loved the mystery surrounding them and who they really are. It seems the majority of characters are associated with Laurel or are fully against Laurel.

The characters are numerous and some of them weren't fleshed out which I can accept from a standalone. The main character is Emilie who wants to be a physician which means she has to learn the noonday arts but as she is from the upper class, she is expected to learn the midnight arts. She hates corsets and dresses too which I related to a little. The other main character is Annette who is poor and wishes to learn the midnight arts. She agrees to swap places with Emilie and Annette is also asexual. The two main characters have numerous side characters as friends.

One of the greatest things about this book is that it has diverse characters and relationships. We have asexual representation, a trans character and also a couple of f/f relationships. I really enjoyed the relationships in the book.

Overall I enjoyed this book and I would recommend reading it if you like magic, revolution and YA fantasy.

I wanted to love it, but it also tried cramming way too much into it and that really took away some of the enjoyment for me.

Also, I should mention that I had read nothing by the author prior to this and found the description to be intriguing and was not expecting LGBTQ representation; ,which was cool, but maybe should have been mentioned before?