The Kiss of the Nightingale
by Adi Denner
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Pub Date 1 Oct 2024 | Archive Date 8 Oct 2024
Penguin Random House Canada | Tundra Books
Description
1890, Lutèce: In this city, Talents are everything: precious gems that gift unrivalled skills to their owners. The most coveted, Elite Talents, are claimed by the aristocracy, passed through generations by blood magic.
Cleodora dreamed of inheriting her father's Tailoring Talent, but when he died, the magic died with him. Now she’s left with empty promises, a dress shop she can’t keep afloat, and her bed-ridden younger sister.
But everything changes when she meets the dark-eyed Lady Dahlia Sibille. Dahlia offers Cleodora a Singing Talent — a chance to save her beloved sister and rewrite her own fate. From the first instant, Cleodora is bewitched. . . there's just one catch: she needs to steal an Elite Talent from the prestigious Lenoir family.
As Lutèce's nightingale, Cleodora is the star of the opera's galas and balls, worlds away from the darkness and dust of home. But the handsome yet infuriating Vicomte Lenoir is nothing like she expected.
Soon, the Vicomte's teasing smiles win her over, even as Dahlia's seductive whispers linger in her ears. Torn between Dahlia, who gave her everything, and the Vicomte, who holds the price of her freedom, is Cleodora in danger of losing it all? Or can she prove that magic isn’t the only gift that counts?
Available Editions
EDITION | Other Format |
ISBN | 9781774885253 |
PRICE | CA$24.99 (CAD) |
PAGES | 384 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
The Kiss of the Nightingale is an excellent read that manages to balance its themes beautifully, merging magic and the mundane in an expert dance, all while keeping the pacing moving.
Cleodora’s humanity is on full display when she adopts a double life between the glamor of the Opera world and the shadows of the Illicit market. She is multidimensional throughout and her feelings of obligation toward her ill sister stand in stark contrast with the mob dame Dahlia’s allure and the life that she offers. I find myself wanting her to choose either side at different points in the book.
The worldbuilding here is masterful. You can tell much thought was put into the magic system and how it would have affected France in an alternate historical setting. It allowed me to become fully absorbed in the world and focus on the wonderful characters. The idea of Talents as a form of magic worked well for me, and created a subtle type of magic that I liked.
The music and fashion aspects were very strong and you can tell the author has either researched or has much experience with the subjects covered. It reads like a work of passion.
I immensely enjoyed this book and would love to read anything else by this Author!