When I got this ARC I figured from the cover that it was middle-grade. Nope, teen, according to the age range listed on the cover. When I finished the book, I REALLY wished it was middle-grade (no adult content and the cover really doesn’t have teen appeal). I expressed this wish to the author, who told me that it was in fact now going to be middle-grade!

Why don’t publishers just ask me in the first place?

Fortunata’s mother has died, and her father’s shoemaking ability along with her. Her father insists it’s because the fairies stopped visiting him – he cites his dusty tools as proof, saying that the fairies used to clean them and bring him magic and now they have abandoned him and his magic is gone. Fortunata knows better – it was her mother cleaning the tools, not fairies.  Magic doesn’t actually exist, but there’s no way to convince her father of that fact. So together they soldier on, Fortunata using her sharp mind and clever tongue to continue to sell the abominable creations her father is churning out in his workshop.

Unfortunately Fortunata and her father anger a local Captain, and they are forced to flee and ply their trade in other towns. An unfortunate run-in with a thieving businessman essentially turns them into indentured servants, and before she knows it, Fortunata finds herself as an apprentice of sorts to a traveling fortune-teller. The fortune-teller teaches her how to use careful observation and thinly veiled lies to weave a picture of the future for an unsuspecting customer, something Fortunata reluctantly becomes very skilled at.

However, eventually the businessman tricks Fortunata into weaving an elaborate fairy tale of a fortune for a prince, and she is then tasked with ensuring that he fulfills the prophecy and gains the throne of his country. If she does not, her father will be put to death.  She begins an impossible journey to find a magic sword; an evil, thieving witch; a long-lost golden slipper; and the princess on whose foot it fits.  But how can she ensure a lie is fulfilled? The entire fortune was a fairy tale plucked from her imagination out of desperation. And what of her own growing feelings for the prince himself? Can Fortunata’s cleverness save her father and get her the life of which she’s always dreamed?

Fans of Jessica Day George (like me) and Shannon Hale (like me) will very much enjoy this debut novel by Deva Fagan. Fortunata is a terrific character. You’ll be touched by the way she cares for her grieving father, outraged at the way she is treated by those in authority, laugh out loud at some of the things that happen to her when she is trying to fulfill her “prophecy,” and cheer for her to triumph in the end. The secondary characters are as well-sketched as Fortunata herself – the prince is a particular favorite of mine – and the world is well-developed. I also love reading a fantasy novel where there is no magic involved. I look forward to seeing more from this author!

Preorder from Powell’s or your local independent bookstore.