I picked this up at an Op Shop (Charity/Thrift) and liked the look of the blurb and the few pages I perused.

Sometimes I wonder if I'm more forgiving when reading French as perhaps I cannot tell the good from the bad and so just focus on the story, but I do firmly believe Demers is an extremely capable writer of fiction. Her grounding in children's/YA fiction pays off with a wonderful combination of clarity of style, intelligence and effective plotting. Characters are also extremely well-developed and defined.

So, a real pleasure to read. I am seeking out the first in the series (the reading of which was thankfully not essential to an appreciation of this novel), Marie-Tempête and have bought Le Pari, now residing on my "to be read" shelf while I catch up on other things. ( )