Inspired by Moulin Rouge! say no more.
Revelle is the debut novel of YA author Lyssa Mia Smith, and it is quite possibly one of my favorite books of the year.
With two point of views, we follow the lovely Luxe Revelle, who is the star of her families circus show. As she uses her gem-powered magic to woe the local bootlegger into helping her family as they run short on alcohol and funds.
Then we meet Jamison Port, who has traveled to the island of Charmant with one of Luxe's many cousins, to experience magic and find any clue to what happened to his parents. Located just across the water from New York, Charmant has many magical families, who talents each have different powers and costs.
After confusing Jamison for the bootlegger, Dewey Chronos, Luxe finds herself having to ignore her feelings to do what is right for her family. Dewey is far from perfect, or even good, but he promises Luxe booze and a new performance center to act as his partner while he tries to win the campaign for mayor over his brother. Luxe is determined to put on her best show to keep her family supported, even if it seemingly puts her own life in danger. She starts to fill the ill effects of using her 'second' magic, a secret between her and her uncle, and keeping her secrets and emotions straight becomes an issue.
Throughout the story with meet the different members of Luxe's very extended family. We also learn the way Jamison and Luxe's pasts seem to intertwine, for better or for worse. As the story goes on, there are a few major twists and moments where I gasped. I can also say I finished this book quickly, because I could not put it down. (Did that have something to do with my currently Moulin Rouge! the Musical obsession? Maybe)
You can see the parts of the story that were inspired by the movie, as well as the creative bits that were added in by the author. I found the story to be as captivating as the cover and the characters to have a lot of depth to who they were and their desires.
There is love, pain, the wish for freedom, and the found family vibes I have come to love into a lot of fantasy novels. (Truth, Beauty, Freedom and Love, some might say). I enjoyed that the magic had limits but also pretty extensive costs. You can travel in time, but you will age a significant amount, you can show people their desires, but for the cost of gems, etc.
This book was my second 5 star read of this year, which is something. I'm honestly excited for another chance to pick it up and read it, just to relive some of the story again. I'm really excited to see if more books like this come out in the future.
As always, the Goodreads link with more information is below:
And, as an added bonus to aid in my, and what should be everyone else's obsession with Moulin Rouge! the Musical, here is one of my favorite songs from the production to convince you to 1) listen and 2) read this book.
And because I know comments are finally a thing, have you seen Moulin Rouge! Do you love it? Have a favorite song? Let's chat about it!
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