Denise

“But she has risen now—like the pieces of the Montglane Service. And we may well tremble, all of us. For this is the end that was foretold."

I don't think that I will be able to explain just what an amazing adventure that this book turned out to be. I was invited by the publisher to read this book (this being the first time that the book is being published in ebook format) and even though I was a bit wary of it I decided to give it a try. Little did I know that once I picked it up it would be nearly impossible to put down. 

This book switches between the 1970's and the 1790's. In the 1970's readers follow Cat as she is being shipped off to exile in Algeria after upsetting some major players at her work. Before she can even get to Algeria she is thrown into some mysteries in which she will only be able to find answers in Algeria. In the 1790's we follow two French novices, Valentine and Mireille, who are lead on a dangerous mission by their abbess.

I was originally wary about this book because I don't know how to play chess and I thought that I would need to know how to enjoy this book. While this book does have a lot of chess in it I still found it absolutely fascinating even with my lack of knowledge about chess. There was just so much adventure to this story and so many twists and turns that I was constantly amazed by this story and practically on the edge of my seat throughout. I don't want to give anything away about the plot as I feel that everyone should go into reading this with a clean slate.

I really loved the cast of characters in this book. There were characters that I really grew to love (and loved to follow) from both time periods. I originally did not like Lily at all but as the story progressed she really grew on me. There were plenty of characters from both time periods that I was unsure if they were trustworthy or not and was ultimately glad at where each of those characters ended up at the end.

This has most likely been my favorite read of 2015 so far and I really don't think that anything will be able to top this. I became a maniac absolutely obsessed with this book and felt like I was right there with the characters. I couldn't get enough of this while I was reading it and quite frankly I am a bit bummed that its over. Thank you (so very much) to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.