Welcome to my stop on the "Everything that Burns" Blog Tour!
Everything that Burns by Gita Trelease
Released: February 2, 2021
"Diverse characters, a compelling plot, romantic tension, and Camille’s internal conflict with her own magic powers fuel this intriguing story that will resonate with fantasy and historical fiction fans.”
―School Library Journal
First, let's take a moment to appreciate this gorgeous cover! I love it, and All That Glitters' cover is just as wonderful! They're so telling, even if you don't realize it until after you've finished reading.
Everything that Burns (or Liberté, whichever you want to call it), was a magical sequel and ending to a revolutionary duology!
We follow Camille further into the French Revolution, where magicians are the enemy and fear is at an all time high. Camille wants nothing more than to help the Paris she loves, but it is no longer the one that she grew up in. While she fights the Revolution with her pamphlets, highlighting the true Paris, others rally to turn her city upside down. With magicians hanging in the streets, Camille and her fellow magic users look for ways to escape Paris when the time comes without the fearsome Comité hunting them down first.
If you have an interest in the French Revolution, you'll notice the sprinkles of reality weaved in with the fantastical, and I think it's wonderfully done!
I loved Enchantée (All That Glitters)--it was a magical ride inside Versailles and we learned that all magic comes with a price. Everything That Burns may take us out of Versailles, but the magic is still there. I thought it was really great learning about the history of magic as well as being introduced to more magicians. I think Camille really comes into her own in this book, and we as readers along with her. We were made to fear magic with her in the first book, and were as weary as she was as she works it in this one. Trelease does a great job of shepherding us alongside Camille.
Another aspect I loved was the use of pamphlets--they created a great format within the book, and was an interesting way to put Camille further into the revolutionary cause. Whether her magic or her words fueled the praise she gained from the pamphlets is really left unanswered, but I prefer it that way. Words are a magic of their own and I think that really punctuated the fact.
There were many side plots to follow along throughout the book, which you'll either enjoy or wish there were fewer. But, they serve as a looking glass into the intricacies of a revolutionary Paris and offer their own insight. The Flotsam House girls may seem a bit strange to focus on, but act as a catapult for Camille's interest in the revolution. They serve a much larger purpose, as you'll find out once you read the book!
And, as always, we love a good love story. Sophie and Camille's both shine brightly in their own way, and I really loved how different they were and how they went through relatable issues--none of that insta-love here.
It was a great ending to a lovely duology, and I can't wait to see what Trelease writes next.
o Twitter: @gitatrelease
o Instagram: @gitatrelease
Gita Trelease is the author of All That Glitters (UK Enchantée,) a YA fantasy set on the eve of the French Revolution, and the sequel Everything That Burns. Born in Sweden to Indian and Swedish parents, Gita has lived in New York, Paris, and a tiny town in Italy. She attended Yale College and New York University, where she earned a Ph.D. in British literature. Before writing novels, she taught classes on monsters and fairy tales. With her family, Gita divides her time between a village in Massachusetts and the coast of Maine, where she searches for a secret portal to take her back to Versailles.