I love alternate histories and the potential for the world that happens because of one change. To me, I think that part was lacking the most--I didn't really understand the structure of the country, let alone the world, with America as a monarchy.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for giving me a free copy of this advanced copy of the book to read and review.

Interesting alternative history novel, I think there’s room for improvement. I had a tough time relating to the main character, and didn’t feel like I fully understood the storyline because it was a bit convoluted.

I really like Ma. Cavallaro’s Charlotte Holmes series. So, I was excited to learn that she had written a historical fiction novel. However, I could not get into the characters and the story. Still, I thought this novel had an excellent world-building. I recommend this for novel for fans of Dread Nation!

Alternate history is both compelling and really hard to pull off in a convincing way so anyone who makes an attempt is pretty admirable. The concept here is solid but there may be too many side plot elements. None of the major ideas are explored to the proper depth.

This is an alternate history book set in the late 19th century in an American monarchy. The heroine, Claire, is the muse of the title, as various men (her father and then her ruler) believe her to have supernatural powers that can better their lives. Tonally this is very different than Cavallaro's Charlotte Holmes series but it does maintain some of the tongue-in-cheek and angsty qualities that make that series work. I think it will appeal to fans of Bardugo's Shadow and Bone universe.

I am disappointed with this book. I was expecting one thing and received another. It had potential but it was not well written.

“But it’s your father’s work,” he said. “For which, I’ll remind you, this province has paid dearly.”

I’m not sure what I was expecting going into this book. American is re-imagined. Instead of the developing colonies we have one Kingdom on the brink of war. An inventor ready to showcase his brilliance with his latest weapon all thank to his good luck charm, his daughter. All while she is creating her escape plan. But nothing goes in Claire’s favor on this front as she is taken captive by the governor who believes her touch holds something special as well. But she is a lot more than a girl with a power.

For the majority of this book I found it really hard to connect with Claire’s character. She just seemed all over the place. It wasn’t until we got deeper and she had to really make a decision despite the circumstances she found herself in early on that she finally really shines through. And once the romance started heating up this became a real page turner. I mean I finished this book in just about two days so if definitely picked up when I got to a certain point.

I don’t know about you but I love those moments in books when you finally see the characters grow and take charge of this situation. And when Claire finally did that and became the author of her own life, cutting some dead ties along the way it made her so much more enticing. I’m intrigued to see what happens next as I believe it is going to be a series.

Pros: We get some major character transformation.

Cons: A really slow start.

Recommended for: those who love when characters finally take control.

I received an arc from the publisher and NetGalley. All thoughts and options are my own.

At first, Muse confused me for a bit because I wasn't sure exactly what it wanted to be setting and genre wise until I started getting into the story and started feeling with the main character Claire. Along with her I wanted to know what's going on, I felt angry and frustrated at what she, as a woman in this society and with a horrible father, had to endure. I started to care for the side characters too and that's one of the reasons I can't wait for the second book. That and just an unfinished story and so many open questions! Won't go into spoilers but there is a lot of things I need to be discussed or things to happen in Book 2.
Full review to come on my YouTube channel.

I love alternative history but this one sadly just did't work out. I wished that this massive prologue would have been done differently to give us the history. The entire start of this book felt like major info-dumping. The history itself just didn't work out for me either. I didn't feel like it was a good fit for a story at least for me. I wished that something else would have been done. I guess for me it just wasn't what I was looking for. I didn't care about the story or the characters at all.

This author is well read at the school library but this book is so different from her others that I think her regular readers will not try it. I have noticed that mystery readers do not often switch to fantasy or scifi so I will just wait to see how this book stands in a few months.

Very interesting and extremely well written. It dragged a little in the middle, but overall it was an incredibly engaging read, with a building romance, great characters, and super interesting politcal drama!

I think this book put me in a reading slump.

The ending was convinient and the romance felt like it came from out of nowhere and was unexpected. The plot and pacing was also off for me. I wanted to like this, but it fell flat for me. I was very disappointed as I wanted to like this more.

Unfortunately I didn't find myself very engaged with this book. The cover gives off a whole different vibe than what the story is actually about. I'm particular about my historical fiction, especially when it comes to revisionism. I wasn't offended in any way by this book, just not very into it.

An alternate history of America?! Yes, please! It was so fantastic to see the world that was built, and I especially liked reading about the struggle that Claire had. I cannot wait to see where this story goes, either! Highly recommend, especially for those that really love history or alternate history tellings.

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!

Set in 1893, in an "alternate" America. The U.S. is called the First American Kingdom and comprised of small countries instead of states, and ruled by kings. The story is set in a small, innovative country called St. Cloud where they are building and planning an upcoming World Fair. The main character, Claire, is helping her father construct a new weapon, which will be unveiled at the World Fair.

To me, the main character seemed very passive and lacked depth or drive so I had a hard time engaging in the plot. I did like the action in the last part of the book, but it took way too long to get there. This book would be good for fans of historical fiction, especially "alternate what-if" endings of historical fiction.

Thanks to NetGalley, Brittany Cavallaro, HarperCollins Children's Books for the advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

This was such an interesting read. I ended up buying the audiobook and the narrator did a fantastic job. The pacing is well written and the characters kept my attention.

I had been excited to read another book by Cavallaro, but I just could not get into this one. I did my best and read up to the halfway point and then had to admit defeat and DNF. The world building was both too complicated and underwhelming, and the characters felt flat. Definitely missed the mark.

BOOK REPORT for MUSE by Brittany Cavallaro

Cover Story: Art Deco Delight
BFF Charm: Eventually
Swoonworthy Scale: 5
Talky Talk: Form Over Function
Bonus Factor: American Monarchy
Relationship Status: Reluctant Romance

Cover Story: Art Deco Delight

I made the switch to mostly ebooks years ago, but when Harper Collins sent me the final hardback version of MUSE, I gasped out loud. This cover is gorgeous enough to display on my bookshelves, something that rarely happens these days. I could nitpick that this book is set in 1893 and Art Deco didn't really begin until the 1920s but a) that would make me a drag and b) this book is alternate history so maybe Art Deco started earlier?

The Deal:

It’s 1893 and in the First American Kingdom, two provinces are close to war. In the province of St. Cloud, young governor Remy Duchamp plans to host the World's Fair, where he will showcase the might of his province: a huge, scary weapon (gun? cannon? details are unclear) that an inventor named Emerson has been working on for him. What Duchamp and the rest of the fair-goers don't know is that Emerson has been on the verge of insanity and for SOME reason, seems to think that he is only a genius inventor because of the touch of his teenage daughter, Claire. For years, Emerson has kept Claire under his watchful eye, making sure that she's always around to "bless" his latest invention. But Claire is fed up with her father's controling ways, and has made a plan to escape and go live with her brother.

When the time comes for Emerson to unveil his weapon at the World's Fair, it doesn't fire...until Claire touches it. In the ensuing chaos, Governor Duchamp takes Claire hostage, believing that her touch grants men anything they wish. He hopes that Claire can help him save his last vestiges of power as St. Cloud is overtaken by neighboring province Livingston-Monroe, but all Claire wants is to stop being a muse for powerful men and take control of her own life.

BFF Charm: Eventually



My biggest problem with most of this book WAS Claire. She is not an active protagonist. Everything is happening to her and she’s merely reacting, if even that. For the first two-thirds of the story, Claire is an extremely passive main character. I was far more interested in Beatrix, Claire's best friend who builds/invents gliders and secretly passes information along to her feminist rebel group, Daughters of the American Monarchy. Imagine having a best friend that cool and just being like "whatever I may or may not have magic, wish-granting powers but instead I'm just going to run away to marry a random outfielder from my brother's baseball team."

About two-thirds of the way through the book, something happens that FINALLY kicks Claire's ass into gear, and once she's actually doing something, the book became fun to read.

Swoonworthy Scale: 5

"Failing governor takes girl hostage believing she has super powers and keeps her locked up in his mansion" is, admittedly, not a great start to a romance. But that's exactly how this one starts. The more time Claire and Remy spend together, the more they rely on each other (and not just for vague possible wish-granting reasons), but that's also part of the problem. Do they only like each other because they're all the other has? Remy is an interesting character, but never felt fully fleshed out to me, nor did his romance with Claire. It's possible that Cavallaro is saving some for the second book in this series, because I do think there's a lot of room for swoon in these kiddos' futures.

Talky Talk: Form Over Function

If you've ever read any of Brittany Cavallaro's work, you know she's an immensely talented writer (and poet!) and her prose never fails to disappoint. That's still the case in MUSE - it's clear from the first page that the writing will be beautiuful. Where this book seemed to fall apart was plot and pacing. If my description of the book up in The Deal sounded confusing, it's because it was. There were a lot of balls up in the air here: a girl who may or may not have powers - not even she knows, alternate history American Monarchy, World's Fair, crazy dad, feminist rebel groups, best friend betrayals, lots of political backstabbing, Stockholm Syndrome, burgeoning romance. Yet at the same time, the pacing lagged for most of the story. Everything and nothing happened simultaneously, and the fact that it wasn't written in first person made it that much more difficult to connect with the main character, Claire, when she was already sort of a difficult nugget to crack. As previously mentioned, the last third of the book turned things around and became exciting and fun to read, but I would understand if a lot of people don't make it that far.

That said, this is the first installment of a duology, and I do plan to read the second book.

Bonus Factor: American Monarchy



MUSE begins with a prologue from OG president (and my birthday buddy!) George Washington. Except...he's not the first president. He's one of the Founding Fathers, sure, but those guys had another idea: create the First American Monarchy, name George the king, and split it into a half dozen provinces led by wealthy governors, some of which are on the brink of war with one another. This book is the first in a duology and I'm hoping for details on this part of it in the next installment.

Relationship Status: Reluctant Romance

My relationship with you, Book, has been a rollercoaster. I went from being pumped about a new Brittany Cavallaro book to SUPER pumped when I saw the cover and read the description to confused when I read the first third of the book to disappointed when I got to the second third of the book. But then things turned around, and the last third of the book had me hooked. It was like meeting a hot guy but the dinner and movie portion of the date are awkward and boring. Just when you think you’re about to give up on him, he surprises you with a round of drinks at the bar and things finally start to click. Here’s hoping our second date will be stronger.

Literary Matchmaking:



● For more American monarchy, check out American Royals by Katharine McGee.

● This book was actually billed as "American Royals meets The Winner’s Curse" and, like, I can see that! So check out The Winner's Curse by Marie Rutkoski.

● Enchantee by Gita Trelease is another historical fiction with madcap inventors and political strife, but set in Paris!

FTC Full Disclosure: I did not receive money or Girl Scout cookies of any kind (not even the lame cranberry ones) for writing this review. Muse is available now.