An unlikely duo tackles power plays both political and magical.Alchemist Blue hides her magic (illegal since Balavata suffered a blood wraith) and devotes herself to discovering how to turn lead into gold to help her city's impoverished orphan population. Although good friends with the princess, Nessa (who cannot speak and communicates with sign language), Blue can't stand Nessa's rakish brother, Kellan; the feeling's mutual, as Kellan regards her as a killjoy. Crown Prince Kellan has only weeks to select a bride from among the nine head families before his 19th birthday. Dinah Chauveau offers an occasional third viewpoint: well-positioned to match her daughter with the prince only to find her schemes crumbling with her husband's murder as his gambling debts bring her family to the verge of ruin. After Blue's father is murdered, Dinah sweeps in with shady paperwork to claim Blue and all of her possessions, hoping to use her alchemy to save her standing. Blue finds surprising solace from Kellan as she comes to understand how high the stakes are for his outwardly frivolous political gamesmanship; the expected romance is slow burning and satisfying, with some fun fairy-tale twists as the danger crescendos. Despite certain predictable plot points, the charming leads carry the day. Most characters have varying shades of brown skin, with occasional white people, and race isn't given weight.Frothy romance with dashes of intrigue and magic. (Fantasy. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Blue de la Cour holds a secret so dangerous it could mean her immediate death for her. Her magic, long outlawed in Balavata, is something she only brings out in the middle of the night in her father's alchemy shop. Kellan Renard, the crown prince of Balavata, is preparing to take a wife from among the country's highborn families, but nothing appeals to him less. Friends as children, now enemies, Blue and Kellan end up working together to solve a kidnapping mystery, fighting among themselves and the noble families who offer threats of their own. As their relationship with each other evolves, Blue and Kellan fight to save the people of the kingdom, from the youngest homeless waif to the richest aristocrat. Redwine's flights of fancy aren't wholesale retellings of the Cinderella story; instead, they are infused with enough originality to bring readers back again and again. A splendid addition to any collection that includes fairy tales retold.--Stacey Comfort Copyright 2018 Booklist

Gr 7 Up-Blue works hard to disguise the magic in her blood, especially when she's working on her attempts at turning metal into gold. Magic has been illegal in the kingdom of Balavata for 16 years, ever since a blood wraith was imprisoned on the outskirts of the royal city, not far from the cottage where Blue and her father live. She's worried about the homeless children in the city, who have started to go missing. The protagonist is also giving alchemy lessons to Nessa, the young princess and Blue's dear friend. Who has time for magic when Kellan, the irritatingly charming crown prince, is suddenly hanging around all the time? This reimagining of "Cinderella" presents all the markers of the fairy tale, complete with a magical shoe that secures Blue's fate, but Redwine has crafted a world filled with dark magic and intrigue as the setting for her story. Blue is an active and passionate protagonist who is invested in helping others, frequently at her own expense. The romance between Blue and the prince is a slow, simmering burn as childhood antagonism turns to something that is deep and true. VERDICT For general purchase and fans of romantic fantasy.-Jen McConnel, Queen's University, Ont. © Copyright 2019. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.