Brigitte Meidell’s high ranking noble family all but banished her as a child, sending her to live in a cottage on her own, when she failed to make a contract with a high ranking spirit. Prince Joseph took pity on her and became her only friend and fiancé. At least until he broke off their engagement in front of the entire school. Now adrift, Brigitte is charting her own path for the first time in years, returning to her childhood dreams of being a spiritologist, and starting an academic rivalry with the school’s top student: Yuri Aurealis. It might be harder in the long run, but Brigitte is determined to make her own happy ending.
This is a fun little series that has surprising depth to it. One of things that’s really interesting is this very much seems a story about an abuse victim learning to heal and move on. Brigitte has been abused both by her family and by her former fiancé. As she slowly starts to come into her own, Brigitte begins to realize both that the way she’s been treated is wrong and that she’s let herself become someone she’s not. The books are as much about her healing and moving on as they are about the romance.
It becomes very obvious early on in the first book that Prince Joseph is a manipulative twat and has done his best to isolate Brigitte and keep her under his thumb, to the point where she’s even given up on a number of her dreams and downplayed her own intelligence. Once free of him, Brigitte begins to blossom as well as discover who she really is. Slowly gaining both friends and confidence, Brigitte starts coming out of her shell as well as healing from her abuse. Books two and three both deal with Brigitte confronting her main abusers to some extent: Prince Joseph and her father.
One of things that I appreciate is the fact that Brigitte’s responses seem quite realistic, if a bit exaggerated at times. For all that the setting is fantastical, the characters feel quite real. I’m going to be every interested in where the story goes in the further volumes and how Brigitte and Yuri’s relationship develops. Four out of five stars.
Bingo – I