Allyson Dahlin

"With a love story for the ages, this vivid tale takes the history we know and recasts it into an exciting, technicolor, future world that challenges what we know here in the present, and how we know it. I loved it! I couldn't put it down!" —Beth Revis, New York Times bestselling author of the Across the Universe trilogy

Decadent, thrilling, and romantic, this Black Mirror-esque retelling of the reign of one Marie Antoinette is perfect for fans of The Belles and American Royals.

The year is 3070, and Marie Antoinette has just arrived at the glittering, thrilling palace of Versailles to marry the shy, soft-spoken Louis-Auguste.

But beneath the luxurious world lies a sinister underbelly and an uncompromising elite who want to keep Marie and Louis pawns in a deadly game.

Will history repeat itself? Or will these doomed lovers outwit their enemies and escape their grisly fate?

Cake Eater will take readers to a dazzling world full of breathless luxuries, deadly secrets, and a thrilling romance that attempts to rewrite history itself. 

Cake Eater

Latitude Tamarind

like 3.5 honestly? real review forthcoming

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Diversity: Asexual love interest, gay character, lesbian character

Recommended For...: young adult readers, retelling, Marie Antoinette, historical fiction, sci-fi, LGBT

Genre: YA historical fiction sci-fi retelling

Age Relevance: 15+ (alcohol consumption, romance, sexual content, animal violence, body image issues, pressuring for sex, vaping, gambling, panic attack, death, climate disaster, violence, gore, pregnancy)

Explanation of Above: There is some alcohol consumption shown and mentioned, along with vaping and gambling. There is some romance and some sexual content, but that is mostly fade to black with just a few mentions in non-descriptive terms in the book. There is also some pressuring for sex on both parties and a mention of teen pregnancy. There is some animal violence mentioned against some holo deer. Body image issues are shown and discussed in the book. There is a panic attack shown in the book. Climate change and crisis are mentioned and shown in the book. There is some violence mentioned and some gore with vomit shown.

Synopsis: She has a million followers on social media.

She uses her fashion-forward eye to pick the perfect angle and filter on every photo.

She’s Marie Antoinette, the year is 3070, and she’s arrived in the Franc Kingdom to marry the prince, secure an alliance, and rake in likes from her fans.

Versailles is not the perfect palace Marie’s seen on The Apps. Her life is a maze of pointless rules, and the court watches her every move for mistakes. Her shy husband Louis is more interested in horses and computer-hacking than producing heirs. Versailles seems like a dream full of neon-lit statues, handsome android soldiers, and parties till dawn. Under the surface, it’s a creepy den of secrets: surveillance in Marie’s bedroom, censored news feeds, disappearing courtiers.

When Marie and Louis become king and queen long before they’re ready to rule, any efforts to aid their suffering subjects are stamped out by the mega-corporations of the First Estate. Between riots in Paris and image-wrecking social media firestorms, Marie can’t afford to lose her head. Using her social media savvy and Louis’ hacking knowledge, they try to fix their reputations and change their kingdom for the better, but the royals may find it’s already too late. They’re ruling over the end of an era.

Review: I really liked this book! At first it read like the Royal Diaries version of Marie Antoinette but soon it took on a life of its own. The book does good to talk about a lot of underlying issues, two of the most prominent are social media commentary and how information is presented to people. The book had a great conversation about capitalism and the elite on social media and how the AI/algorithm can keep them from seeing real issues. The book also did so good to talk about a similar issue in further detail, and that’s in how information is given. If you were paying attention to the media during 2020 and 2021, you saw a lot about how officials talked down COVID and how that caused people to stop taking it seriously (along with other issues, but the media played a huge role in COVID information distribution). The book has a ton of great quotes about information that is sent to coddle people and calling it “gentle information” which I really loved. I also loved how the book talked so well about how officials and media can be used to intentionally keep people ignorant because it’s easier to control those in power and those not when you keep them ignorant of important matters or of vital information. The book also discussed the power of influencing and how it can be used for good, but how it can also lead to misinformation being spread and how easy the public opinion can sway due to one bad video of you. The book is extremely well written and had amazing world building. I also thought the character development was good and the book was well paced. I really loved this futuristic take on Marie Antoinette and I hope the author does similar things with other historical figures. I, for one, would love to see Elizabeth I and Anastasia.

However, the book did have a lot of confusing moments because it doesn’t 100% line up with the original Marie Antoinette “tale”/life story, but once I got past those I thought the book was super well done.

Verdict: It was great! I recommend for history and sci-fi fans!

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

 

Book: Cake Eater

 

Author: Allyson Dahlin

 

Book Series: Standalone

 

Rating: 5/5

 

Diversity: Asexual love interest, gay character, lesbian character

 

Recommended For...: young adult readers, retelling, Marie Antoinette, historical fiction, sci-fi, LGBT

 

Publication Date: August 9, 2022

 

Genre: YA historical fiction sci-fi retelling

 

Age Relevance: 15+ (alcohol consumption, romance, sexual content, animal violence, body image issues, pressuring for sex, vaping, gambling, panic attack, death, climate disaster, violence, gore, pregnancy)

 

Explanation of Above: There is some alcohol consumption shown and mentioned, along with vaping and gambling. There is some romance and some sexual content, but that is mostly fade to black with just a few mentions in non-descriptive terms in the book. There is also some pressuring for sex on both parties and a mention of teen pregnancy. There is some animal violence mentioned against some holo deer. Body image issues are shown and discussed in the book. There is a panic attack shown in the book. Climate change and crisis are mentioned and shown in the book. There is some violence mentioned and some gore with vomit shown.

 

Publisher: HarperTeen

 

Pages: 448

 

Synopsis: She has a million followers on social media.

She uses her fashion-forward eye to pick the perfect angle and filter on every photo.

She’s iconic.

She’s a trend-setter.

She’s Marie Antoinette, the year is 3070, and she’s arrived in the Franc Kingdom to marry the prince, secure an alliance, and rake in likes from her fans.

Versailles is not the perfect palace Marie’s seen on The Apps. Her life is a maze of pointless rules, and the court watches her every move for mistakes. Her shy husband Louis is more interested in horses and computer-hacking than producing heirs. Versailles seems like a dream full of neon-lit statues, handsome android soldiers, and parties till dawn. Under the surface, it’s a creepy den of secrets: surveillance in Marie’s bedroom, censored news feeds, disappearing courtiers.

When Marie and Louis become king and queen long before they’re ready to rule, any efforts to aid their suffering subjects are stamped out by the mega-corporations of the First Estate. Between riots in Paris and image-wrecking social media firestorms, Marie can’t afford to lose her head. Using her social media savvy and Louis’ hacking knowledge, they try to fix their reputations and change their kingdom for the better, but the royals may find it’s already too late. They’re ruling over the end of an era.

 

Review: I really liked this book! At first it read like the Royal Diaries version of Marie Antoinette but soon it took on a life of its own. The book does good to talk about a lot of underlying issues, two of the most prominent are social media commentary and how information is presented to people. The book had a great conversation about capitalism and the elite on social media and how the AI/algorithm can keep them from seeing real issues. The book also did so good to talk about a similar issue in further detail, and that’s in how information is given. If you were paying attention to the media during 2020 and 2021, you saw a lot about how officials talked down COVID and how that caused people to stop taking it seriously (along with other issues, but the media played a huge role in COVID information distribution). The book has a ton of great quotes about information that is sent to coddle people and calling it “gentle information” which I really loved. I also loved how the book talked so well about how officials and media can be used to intentionally keep people ignorant because it’s easier to control those in power and those not when you keep them ignorant of important matters or of vital information. The book also discussed the power of influencing and how it can be used for good, but how it can also lead to misinformation being spread and how easy the public opinion can sway due to one bad video of you. The book is extremely well written and had amazing world building. I also thought the character development was good and the book was well paced. I really loved this futuristic take on Marie Antoinette and I hope the author does similar things with other historical figures. I, for one, would love to see Elizabeth I and Anastasia.

 

However, the book did have a lot of confusing moments because it doesn’t 100% line up with the original Marie Antoinette “tale”/life story, but once I got past those I thought the book was super well done.

 

Verdict: It was great! I recommend for history and sci-fi fans!

Cake Eater

Reviews