Both girls’ alternating first-person narrations often read like exposition, and occasionally repetitive background information feels underutilized.

As their fates become more intertwined, both Cadence and Remi must decide how far their feelings for each other go and what they’re willing to sacrifice to unseat the powerful queen. When Elene discovers their relationship, she forces Remi to become a prisoner/companion to Cadence to manipulate them both. Through a series of chance encounters, the teens reconnect. Noble Remi is Cadence’s estranged childhood friend, attending the Performing in place of her chronically ill mother. This is Cadence’s first year as the Principal in the Performing, an annual event during which sadistic Elene forces singers to torture the kingdom’s nobles. Cadence is a corporeal mage weaving spells through song, she can manipulate others’ bodies for healing, pleasure, or pain. In Cavalia, cruel Queen Elene has complete control of her population.

Two young women shift from childhood friends to enemies to lovers. The dubious (and very much stereotypical) elderly housekeeping couple, Old Dryden and his wife, Bertha, lend a Scooby Doo feeling to the story (think of the show’s oft-used phrase: “I would have gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling kids”).Ī squeaky-clean romance for the youngest end of YA or readers who want nothing objectionable when it comes to love stories. But Lori’s not the only one looking for clues. Also driving the tension are Nathaniel’s July 3 deadline (or he’ll have to wait again until next year’s re-enactment of the battle) and the unyielding attention of Evan, the very much alive B&B groundskeeper for the summer, who offers to help with the case. Competing theories, involving treason, a Hatfield-McCoy–type family feud and a missing ring once owned by Abraham Lincoln, as well as numerous historical elements, keep the teen’s predictable, first-person, present-tense narration from growing stale. And in just a few days’ time, Lori not only agrees to solve the mystery of Nathaniel’s death, but falls deeply in love with the soldier. When Lori Chase and her hospitality-industry–driven parents move the family from a snazzy Philadelphia hotel to a bed-and-breakfast in Gettysburg, it’s not long before the 16-year-old begins seeing a dashing yet melancholy Union soldier (although the book’s title implies the opposite) named Nathaniel Pierce. Fervor for the Civil War never dies neither can one of its soldiers.

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