Book Review: The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois by Ryan Graudin
The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois by Ryan Graudin
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
I received an advance copy of this novel from the publisher, Orbit/Redhook, in exchange for an honest review.
When I first saw the title of this book, I couldn’t help but be excited. For obvious reasons. My name is an uncommon one, and I’ve never read a book featuring a protagonist who shares it. And then, earlier in the year, I read a delightful middle-grade novel, The Girl Who Kept the Castle, by the same author. Knowing how much I loved her writing for young readers, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on her adult debut. I might have set my expectations just a bit too high. While this book was expertly crafted, with gorgeous prose and lush settings and characters I grew to love, the pace and the scope didn’t quite work for me. But overall, this is a charming story that ushers readers into a magical world they won’t want to leave.
“People so often think their futures are set in stone, that their stories are written in the stars before they’re even born, but stone can be worn away, and stars will turn to dust if you wait long enough.”
Let’s start with the things I absolutely loved. First of all, I was immediately enchanted by the writing. Graudin’s way with words is stunning. The epigraph that kicked off the book captivated me instantly, and did a brilliant job setting the tone for the story to follow. It’s absolutely magical, and paints such a vibrant picture of the world into which we’re being invited. All of Graudin’s descriptions are so easy to visualize; you can almost walk into the paintings described, can almost feel the feathers, taste the cocoa, smell the enchanted bakery around the corner. Her writing reminded me of Alix E. Harrow, which is one of the highest compliments I can pay.
“Magic is not all wonder. Sometimes the shadows in an alley have settled for a reason—there are certain corners that should stay hidden. There are some secrets that should remain entombed…”
This story is whimsy with teeth. There was a wonderful balance between the powers of light and darkness. The victory of darkness might have seemed certain in some passages, but the spark of hope was never quite snuffed out, no matter how the darkness tried to overcome it. The messages of the book rang true to me. Love and joy and hope are more powerful than hate and rage and fear, no matter how things might appear. Dreams dreamt in the hardest of times are the heartiest, and the hardest to shake. There is so much magic to be found in creating, and art will always matter.
“All the best artists do that, you know…lose slivers of their soul to whatever they’re working on.”
I fell in love with our cast of characters pretty quickly. Céleste Artois, our titular protagonist, in one of three Enchantresses, a tiny found family of con-artists and thieves who live in a Parisian cemetery. She is the eldest of the Enchantresses, an exceptional forger of famous paintings and an even more exceptional liar. Honoré Côte, the middle Enchantress, is their warrior. She is a beast with a blade and is far more comfortable masquerading as a man than she ever was in the dresses of her former life. Sylvie of a Single Name is the youngest of the Enchantresses. She is an eleven year-old orphan and a brilliant thief, one with a sweet tooth that can never be satisfied. I loved all three of these characters so much. A found family of thieves is always a lovely thing; it’s a trope that I never tire of. The family drifted apart over the course of the novel, but in ways that felt believable. And they came back together in the end, which is what families are supposed to do.
“Once upon a time, there was a girl who wanted, more than anything, to be a part of a story. Not just any story, but a proper Tale, filled with magic and adventure and endings that made everything sad untrue.”
The world Graudin built was just so lovely. I have a weakness for magical city stories when told well, and this one was. The sense of place was incredibly palpable. Paris herself was a character in the story, and she was beautifully represented. The magical underground of the city delighted me to no end. The descriptions of this magic were where Graudin’s prose really shone. There were periodic subchapters about the different Sancts, those who had harnessed magic in some way, and I found those chapters so imaginative and immersive. Also, I highly recommend this book for cat lovers, as cats play an important role in this magical side of Paris.
“There’s a pattern to people, you see, to the flow of our fears and hopes. We are, all of us, terrible. We are, all of us, beautiful.”
So, what were the things that kept this book from becoming a new favorite book of mine? One was the pacing. While there was always tension to the story, the pace was slow and meandering, which kept me from getting as invested as I would have liked. The book is also insanely ambitious. While it was mostly successful, I think this would have been a 5 star book for me had it stayed focussed on the central story being told. But then Rasputin and the Romanovs were thrown into the mix. Past the 80% mark, this suddenly became a WWI story, which was wholly unexpected and threw me out of the story for a bit. I did enjoy the references to The Phantom of the Opera and the legend of Joan of Arc, though.
“That’s the trick, you see: Focus on the light. The joie de vivre. The things that make life worth living.”
The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois is the most magical book I’ve read in ages. It paints a Paris that I would love to visit, one that some part of my heart wants to believe is real. It introduced me to a beautiful world and some wonderful characters. It reinforced my belief in the power of goodness and love and art. While the story’s pace was a bit too slow and its scope a bit too broad, it’s a tale that captivated my imagination. Céleste and Honoré and Sylvie, along with the rest of this magical cast, will live on in my mind and heart though my time with them is done.
Expected Publication: August 27, 2024
You can pre-order this book from: Blackwell’s | Bookshop.org (Support independent bookstores!) | Libro.fm (Another way to support independent bookstores!)