A lush and beautiful fantasy set in a world where music is magic and the fate of many thrones lies with one girl…
Excellent.
- Booklist
Twelve-year-old Elissa has been raised in seclusion as a devotee of the Mother Goddess. She is a special child, a blessed child, a child who can sing miracles into being. Her voice can heal wounds, halt landslides, cure hunger - and even end wars.
But there are those who would use her gift for darker things. And when Elissa finds herself the farthest from home she’s ever been - along with her vain and jealous music tutor, Lucio - she will have to develop the judgment to decide who wants to use her song to heal… and who wants to use her song to hurt.
In this astonishing debut - perfect for music lovers - Catherine Bakewell presents not only a wholly unique musical magic system, but a sumptuous baroque world filled with soaring basilicas, gilded palaces, dazzling food, and snow-piled wildernesses. It is a world both beautiful and treacherous, with a fiercely determined girl blazing brightly at its center. Can a lone voice change the world?
Spellbinding.
- The Horn Book
Beguiling.
- Publishers Weekly
Unique.
- BCCB
Captivating.
- School Library Connection
Enthralling.
- YA Books Central
Alluring.
- School Library Journal