The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

Summary

The winds of change are blowing through Paris in 1789, both for France and a mysterious Gypsy boy named Yann Margoza. He was born with a gift for knowing what people are thinking and an uncanny ability to throw his voice, skills he uses while working for a foolish magician. On the night of a special performance, he meets shy Sido, a lonely heiress with a cold-hearted father. Though they have the shortest of conversations, an attachment is born that will influence both their paths. While revolution is afoot in France Sido is being used as the pawn of the fearful villain Count Kalliovsky. Some have instead called him the devil; and only Yann, for Sido’s sake, will dare to oppose him.

Number of pages: 378

Review

Sally Gardner has done the amazing task of creating a historical fiction that I am sure will captivate anyone who is up for it. I, personally, love historical fiction books, but I am confident in saying that those of you who don’t like those types of books will love this French Revolution story. There’s action, magic, romance, mystery. What could be better? Some times it did get a little creepy and disturbing, what with beheading and such things. The people of France were quite gruesome at this stage of the Revolution. The characters were wonderfully created. You really got a sense of each essence of the characters. It gives you a look at those dark times in France from both an aristocratic point of view (Sido) and the point of view of Yann the Gypsy fellow with charming looks and amazing abilities. basically, this story was intriguing from start to finish. I can’t wait to read the sequel, The Silver Blade! From 1-10? I give this book a 8.