for a country who escaped monarchy we sure are fascinated with the possibility of being a monarchy ourselves

What kinda white feminist nonsense is this?To write an alternative history, you have to have some grasp of history. There is no context in which this bizarre white patriarchy makes sense. George Washington dissolved the U.S. to form a monarchical society that functions like nine-year-olds might conceive them. Black people don’t exist. Maybe never have. France and Germany exist. All of the intellectual history that our pre-1776 universe should share with this alternative world is irrelevant and n...

MUSE, by Brittany Cavallaro is an alternative "historical fiction" novel based in the USA. The premise was interesting, and I had no problems with the writing. The main character, however, was too... unassertive ... in my opinion. Because of this, I really wasn't able to connect to her in any way. While I did want to see what happened next in the story, I just was underwhelmed when her character came into play (a couple of the secondary characters were easier to follow for me).A decent book, but...

I don't reads tons of YA literature because so often it goes beyond the formulaic to consist of nothing but strung-together signifiers of edginess, of love, of against-all-odds-ness. But here's a book so unique that it clears new grounds of possibility for a genre, taking what we know we love about the Chicago World's Fair, the figure of Tesla, and fin de siecle awfulness and promise and jolting it with traces of magical realism and steampunk to create new ways of seeing the past, the future, an...

This one just didn't work for me which is a big bummer as it was one of my most anticipated books of 2021. I felt like this premise had so much potential and sounded super intriguing, but it just didn't deliver on this. It ended up being a feminist "stick it to the man" sort of book, in which every woman thinks that every man is stomping on their rights and they need to fight back. I just don't get along well with that mentality. There is of course a history of women's rights being stepped on th...

I live for these What if...? stories that give voice to what could have been... but this story wasn't one I would be writing home about. There were parts that drug on, the ending was far too quick, and not everything felt fully developed. Will I continue the series? You bet your sweet tush I will.

*Spoiler free*Historical fiction and I have a rocky relationship. I've found a few that I've absolutely adored, but I tend to be really picky about which ones I liked. So, going into this one, I wasn't sure where my opinion would land. But, it had such an interesting concept. A girl, perhaps with magical abilities, torn between helping her father or helping the Governor who's taken her captive. Or finally helping herself. Plus, there was the intrigue of the World's Fair and all the inventions it...

C/W:(view spoiler)[abusive parent, death of a parent, fire, animal abuse, scene where an eye injury is discussed, violence, kidnapping, drugging, threat of rape (hide spoiler)]I can honestly say that Muse was unlike anything else I've read. It's set in an alternate 1893 where the United States is actually the First American Kingdom and the provinces are poised for war. Claire's father is an inventor working on a new weapon that's going to be unveiled at the World's Fair. He believes that he can

Meh.There were some interesting ideas here, but they all felt kind of jumbled up for me, and frankly I think the story would have been stronger with fewer concepts. The idea that felt most powerful - Claire's supposed ability to 'bless' people or grant wishes, interwoven with the idea of (upper-class, white) women as the "angel in the house" - didn't really get fully explored because there was a LOT of other stuff going on. I didn't really buy into the alternate history angle, and honestly I thi...

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight I quite enjoyed Muse, once I got into it. I do love a historical book, even better when it's alternate history and I can see all the Easter eggs from the real history. I definitely liked more than I didn't in this one, so let's break it down!The Yays: ►Very cool setting!  I mean, 1893 World's Fair but like, Alt-World's Fair, in Alt-Chicago? Yes please! That is pretty great, frankly. E...

Set in an alternate history World's Fair Chicago, where America is a monarchy, science is king, and magic shouldn't exist - and one girl's touch has the power to grant wishes.hhehelhellhell yhell yehell yeshell yehell yhellhelheh| Goodreads | Blog | Pinterest | LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram

A long time ago, I read the very beginning of this book, then had to wait years for the rest. Well, I finally got to read the rest, and it's everything I hoped for. Both smart and strange, and at turns romantic as it is furious, with writing that crackles and characters sharply drawn in varying shades of gray. Claire&Beatrix&Nikola&Perpetua&Remy forever. Will review in greater detail when we're closer to release, but for now, historical fantasy and alternate history fans get this one on your rad...

3 stars but... Underwhelming. A story taking place around the 1898 Chicago World's Fair in an alternate history America where George Washington became king, with a main character who longs to escape her father (he keeps her like Mother Gothel because he believes she has magic that helps him) and gets embroiled in the middle of duelling Governorships on the brink of a civil war of sorts... the plot was intriguing. The sentence crafting was beautiful and I have a decent amount of highlights. But h...

I had so much hope for this because it sounded so awesome of a plot. But i was so disappointed.the alternative history wasn't well done, the characters was not interesting or intriguing to follow and overall had nothing to give it more than 1 star. I feel very harsh giving such negative review as I could see potential, but it did not deliver for me

DNF at about 50%What? I actually don't really get what I just read (or at least the 50% I read). First of all, this book is set in a world of If George Washington became a king instead of a president. Which was the absolute worse choice Cavallaro could possibly make. It basically ERASES the entirety of the Revolutionary War! She tries to justify this whole...problem in the 4 pages of the prologue, but no, no I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS. We worked almost 10 years to officially gain our f...

THIS COVER COULD SLAP ME AND I WOULD SMILE BECAUSE I WAS HIT BY SUCH BEAUTY. Seriously, that cover is so amazing, I just want to marry it. instagram | goodreads

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/ Muse started out promising: a rare YA where the heroine is understated and has to use her brains in order to navigate a world determined to keep her helpless. But a very slow first half morphed into a second half that built so much momentum that the ending felt both rushed and unsatisfying. There is an arc here but it felt manufactured.Story: It's 1893 and Claire Emerson's province is celebrating - and posturing - thr

First book of 2021 that I had to quit. I read about 60% of this and I finally asked myself why I was forcing myself to suffer? For how little time I get to read I shouldn’t be taking the facial bruising of sleeping with phone on face from this book. Seriously don’t read it. I genuinely have no idea what was going on or why anything was important. I don’t really think it was. Disappointing too because it seemed like such a cool concept. The historical allusions and historical figures seemed so fu...

***This review was originally posted on Ideally Inspired Reviews*** Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review The premise of this story is unique. Imagine a world where George Washington decided to become a king and re-establish the monarchy in America. It’s 1893, war is on the horizon for those in the First American Kingdom. War, however, is the least of Claire Emerson’s worries. Her top priority is finding a way to escape her father, an inventor who has

I will go ahead and say that I was not very fond of this book. I was hesitant about the concept of rewriting American history at first when i read the summary, but ultimately decided that it could be really cool and interesting. However, that being said I was rather underwhelmed and a bit disappointed with Muse. The first 95 ish pages were extremely slow, and not much happened at all. When there finally was some action around page 1/3 of the way in (which was acting as the main catalyst for the