Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing The Palace of Illusions by Rowenna Miller. I DNFd Miller’s debut. So, I was hesitant about this one, but the premise really called to me. Ultimately, I decided to give it a shot. Am I glad I did? Read on to find out!

This enchanting and atmospheric fantasy brings readers to a Paris breathless with excitement at the dawn of the twentieth century. But for a select few there is a second, secret Paris where the magic of the City of Light is very real.

In the run up to the 1900s World’s Fair Paris is abuzz with creative energy and innovation. Audiences are spellbound by the Lumiere brothers’ moving pictures and Loie Fuller’s serpentine dance fusing art and technology. But for Clara Ironwood, a talented and pragmatic clockworker, nothing compares to the magic of her godfather’s mechanical creations, and she’d rather spend her days working on the Palace of Illusions, an intricate hall of mirrors that is one of the centerpieces of the world’s fair.

When her godfather sends Clara a hideous nutcracker for Christmas, she is puzzled until she finds a hidden compartment that unlocks a mirror-world Paris where the Seine is musical, fountains spout lemonade, and mechanical ballerinas move with human grace. The magic of her godfather’s toys was real.

As Clara explores this other Paris and begins to imbue her own creations with its magic, she soon discovers a darker side to innovation. Suspicious men begin to approach her outside of work, and she could swear a shadow is following her. There’s no ignoring the danger she’s in, but Clara doesn’t know who to trust. The magic of the two Parises are colliding and Clara must find the strength within herself to save them both.

***Thank you to Orbit Books for providing an advanced copy of the book. My review contains my honest thoughts about my reading experience.***

I’m so glad that I decided to pick up The Palace of Illusions despite DNFing some of the author’s previous work. I loved every second I spent with this book. It wasn’t perfect, but it was so enchanting that I savored every word.

The setting of The Palace of Illusions was probably my favorite thing about the book. I loved exploring the construction of the world’s fair, as well as the streets of Paris in 1900. Even better, the Otherworld version of Paris was beautiful, magical, and had an ethereal quality to it. I really liked the idea of a parallel world where dreams come to life and the only limit is one’s imagination. The author’s writing did a wonderful job of bringing both worlds to life in vivid and breathtaking detail.

I also really enjoyed getting to know the main character of The Palace of Illusions, Clara. Her experience was such an interesting one to follow. She was obsessed with her work and felt like an outsider because of it. The story did a good job of exploring the difficulties of being the only woman engineer at the world’s fair in a time when women were excluded from such professional endeavors. I loved seeing her become more confident in herself outside of her work. She also learned the significance of relying on others at times and built some great relationships with several other pretty awesome characters.

The weakest thing about The Palace of Illusions for me was the plot. It had its moments of excitement, and the author did a great job of making me suspect some of my favorite characters were the villain. However, the pacing just wasn’t great. It was often incredibly slow, especially in the beginning. Many of the plot points felt a bit too contrived, as well, and things happened later in the story that left me wondering why they just didn’t do those things 200 pages ago. lol.

I also struggled to see how some of the actions of the villain fit with their supposed motivations. By the end, the villain felt a bit too cartoonish, and the way it all played out left me wondering if they should have just given him what he wanted all along and waited for him to be arrested. Strangely, though, none of these issues took away from my enjoyment of the story. I just loved the setting, premise, and characters that much.

The last thing I want to briefly discuss about The Palace of Illusions is the themes. Specifically, I really liked how the imagery highlights the drawbacks of the commercialization of imagination and creation. The villain clearly sees the Otherworld and its magnificent power as something to be harnessed and used for gain. Even when the selfish actions of taking the creations for profit begin destroying the very essence of imagination itself, the villain keeps pushing forward. It just made me think of how the focus on creating for trends, the use of AI, and other aspects of the automation/commercialization of imaginative endeavors can actually stifle originality and potentially harm the creativity of whole swaths of people.

All in all, The Palace of Illusions won’t be for everyone, but it was definitely for me. The setting was wonderful, and I loved the characters. If you don’t mind some pacing issues and a plot with a few too many contrivances, there’s a lot to enjoy in this historical fantasy. Therefore, I rate the book 4 out of 5 stars.

There you have it! My thoughts on The Palace of Illusions by Rowenna Miller. This one was a pleasant surprise for me despite its weaknesses. Have you read it or Miller’s previous work? What did you think? Let me know down in the comments!