Blood Rose Rebellion

In this new Regency fantasy series set in 19th-century London, 16-year-old Anna is a member of the Luminate, the British nobility whose magic powers solidify their place as the ruling class. But Anna has no magic of her own, only the ability to break others’ spells, which makes her the black sheep of the family. After ruining her sister’s debutante spell, she is sent to Hungary to live with her exiled grandmother. But once there, she discovers that the Luminate are artificially keeping magic for themselves and that there is a resistance movement dedicated to freeing magic for all to use—and Anna’s special gift may be the key, if she is willing to join them. Voice actor Hardingam emphasizes Anna’s yearning and conflicted emotions, and she is especially gifted at creating unique character voices with an endless array of authentic accents: the upper-class British nobility, cockney servants, a Scottish revolutionary, Anna’s Hungarian cousins and elderly grandmother, and Austrian officials, as well as ghoulish supernatural creatures with unearthly voices. Her dazzling narration creates a dark and intriguing world that fans of both Jane Austen–style drawing room novels and the supernatural will enjoy. Ages 12–up. A Knopf hardcover. (Mar.)