Today we’re going to talk about Angelique’s personal journey thus far. It was something I so badly wanted to bring up with the first book, but really you don’t see any big changes until Curse of Magic, so now is the perfect time to begin the discussion.
In Apprentice of Magic we saw how Angelique feared her powers. She was wary of using any form of her magic, and did her best to appear unassuming when meeting people. (She also actively held her powers in check, something that normally just isn’t done.) In that way she resembles Rakel of Snow Queen–though there is a stark difference in the why. Rakel tried to appear unintimidating because she didn’t want people to fear her–she never regretted her powers of ice and snow. Angelique, however, did her best to appear unintimidating because she felt she had to mislead people into thinking she was good, when she personally felt like a monster.
Mostly, she spent her time as an apprentice in fear. Not of Evariste, but a general fear of the Veneno Conclave and what they might do to her. At the end of the book she does give herself a freer rein and no longer strangles her magic.
But it’s still not enough.
By the time Curse of Magic, begins, Angelique realizes that her kind but slightly dense apprentice persona won’t serve her very well anymore. Running around alone and chatting with royalty means she needs to exude a certain amount of confidence and competence, or she’ll be questioned–something she can’t afford given her precarious position. And so she takes on the mantle of elegant enchantress–an act my longtime Champions have seen before the in the Timeless Fairy Tale series.
She doesn’t feel the part, but she’s willing to fake it if it means searching for Evariste–and fulfilling her duty as a mage.
But Angelique’s attitude isn’t the only change in Curse of Magic, her use of magic alters as well. For the first time ever she experiences her price and uses war magic without direct supervision. (Not willingly, mind you, but at least she uses it.) She’s starting to progress–because of Evariste’s actions, because she has to help the royal families of the continent, or no one else will.
And Curse of Magic closes with another moment of growth for Angelique. She’s finished with groveling and scraping. She still fully intends to follow Conclave law, but no longer will she allow herself to cower in fear of the Council and what they may do.
She still doesn’t believe in herself, and she absolutely doesn’t believe she’s good, but give her a chance. 😉 It’s only book 2, after all. We still have four books to go!
But Angelique’s journey in this book is especially poignant, because in this story you realize that no matter what Evariste did, he wouldn’t have been able to ease Angelique’s disbelief, anxiety, and hatred of her magic. The progress she’s making is due to a change in her–one that couldn’t have been done no matter how much class instruction she was given.
The fact is no one can see your heart, and no one can judge your worth. No matter how many people believe in you, if you do not it means nothing. The story of the Timeless Fairy Tales is really the story of Angelique becoming a hero. Not because her friends give her a good pep talk, but because through out all these terrible trials, she is learning and growing herself.
So! Any predictions how she’ll grow in Reign of magic?! 😉
You don’t know how happy I am to hear there will be FOUR more books about Angelique! I almost stopped reading 3/4 of the way through her first book, because her sugary-sweet apprentice act made me want to scream with frustration. It was her razor-sharp intelligence and inner sarcasm (and Evariste) that kept me reading~ AND I’M SO GLAD I DID! I can’t wait for the next book!
AND POOR EVARISTE! I loved him LONG before the end of the first book, and to see him trapped in that mirror and tortured endlessly…. 💔😭
I know it’s necessary for Angelique’s growth as a person and as an enchantress, but I hope she rescues him soon!
It’s kind of funny, but I’m a writer, too~ and the main character of my books is also named Angelique! She’s very different from your Angelique, however, and I’ve enjoyed the odd jolt I get every time I realize someone else has my Angel’s name! XD
Watching Angelique grow has been so much fun, especially since we’ve seen the external part of that through the rest of the books and now we get to see what’s actually happening inside her. It is SO true that this isn’t something Evariste could do for her – you have to choose to grow. We often need help to heal, but it has to be our choice to move toward it.
I do have one question: in Apprentice of Magic, the first time she uses her war magic was in Alabaster Forest when she accidentally hit Evariste. Didn’t she experience her price then, just without recognizing it? She did, after all, immediately empty her stomach.
That’s what I thought too!! But she didn’t really use that much magic, did she? I think that might just have been shock, fear and blood.
Well, when I first read it I assumed it was her price, but you’re right that it was the kind of situation that could easily have been shock and fear. Evariste certainly took it for that. Still…it seems like too much of a coincidence that it’s the exact same physical response as her price.
(And wasn’t his reaction to it so sweet? Dear Evariste. <3 )
Indeed. It was a bit strange. And yes, evariste is wow. No one deserves the amazing person angel is, no one except him. That man deserves everything!!
Yay! So excited about another book being added to her series!
I hope we get to see her show her true personality a little more in this next book, especially because she will be interacting with Stil and is comfortable being herself around him.
Side note with a question: Something that I have really enjoyed is looking up the translations of some of the words like veneno. Apparently it is the Spanish word for poison, was that on purpose for foreshadowing? 🙂
Veneno is poison in Latin too. We discussed it on discord and apparently an alternative translation of the related adjective is ‘magical’ (veneficus). So double meaning!! Maybe.
THAT IS SO COOL!!!!
Oh cool, I didn’t know that!
I found it interesting that a lot of the internal conversations Angelique has with herself remind me of imposter syndrome. It is a topic that is frequently discussed for women in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) where we feel like we don’t belong or will be found out as frauds. Seeing how Angelique grows and fights those feelings could be good inspiration for the Champions dealing with similar real life struggles outside of the fairy tale realms.
I hope she begins to like her magic soon. I loved the scene with king Giuseppe when she takes comfort in her magic and calms herself with it 😍, like rakel.Also super excited to see acri fighting angel in ROM.
Because I’m a nerd and I like analyzing character motives, I’m glad to see how much thought has been put into Angelique’s actions, since it pretty much matches with how I’ve thought of her as well! And here comes a long ramble, sorry:
At her core, Angelique is, as mentioned by a new favorite character of mine 🙂 , a soldier and a protector, and she seems to be at her best when she has something to protect and there is something for her to fight for. Evariste was able to strengthen and imbue her sense of morality (and thank god he did, who knows how the Chosen might have crushed to her otherwise) but it is the pain she goes through from his disappearance and her own righteous desire to shield others from such suffering that ultimately makes her stronger; based on certain events we see in the later books of the Timeless series, I feel like this will be the key for her to finally accept not just her magic, but also herself.
But I’m getting ahead of myself; as of right now, she’s barely begun to tap into her magic and given the timeline already established, the worst is still to come for her (won’t that be a fun thing to read in Reign of Magic).
Speaking of the timeline, it’s not too spoiler-y to ask, will Reign of Magic be covering the remaining 6.5 (…7?) novels left in the series, and the last three novels be about the Shimmer Conflict/battle with the Chosen? Or will the sheer amount of events (the demon rider in Verglas, the summit, Rothbart’s wyverns, the elves, Snow White, to name a few) have to take up all of Reign of Magic AND the unnamed 4th novel? Originally, I remember Angelique’s story being contained to only 5 novels so I’m unsure of how an additional book would change the timeline-plot. And while it’s a small comfort knowing how she’ll end up based on the events of Snow White, I’m rather impatient to get to the uncharted territory past Evariste’s return, post-series (mostly because I would love to see how her and Evariste’s dynamic have changed after everything they’ve gone through apart. Yes, I’m pretty invested at this point.)
For anyone still reading this, thanks for listening to my thoughts!
Hooo you are quite the observant reader! 🙂 Bravo!
And it’s not too spoilery to ask about the timeline now that CoM is out! 😉
So Reign of Magic (RoM) will cover Stil’s story through Sleeping beauty. Book 4 will cover 12 Dancing Princesses, Sleeping Beauty, annnnd some new material.
Books 5 and Book 6 will be the Angelique and Evariste show! 😉 (Though you get the start of that in book 4.) I am so so so so so hoping I can indeed cap it at 6 books and not need 3 books to tie up the end, but one of my beta readers has informed me that she’s not holding her breath. 😉
I really wish I could tie up the rest of the current timeline in RoM, but there’s stuff I have to cover in order for…things…to happen in book 5 and 6.
I have to wait until book 4 for the Squad of Awesome Heroines???!!! Where Quinn & Gabi & Elle & Odette help Angel search Evariste (or just be awesome, which works too)?! I’m not sure I can live that long! *sighs melodramatically*
Seriously, though, I really enjoyed Curse of Magic, and I’m really excited for the rest!!!
Out of curiosity, I was wondering will the next four books be released consecutively? Or will you work on other projects like Age of Retha as well?
Somewhere in here I’m going to write an Elves of Lessa book when I need a mental break, but otherwise it’s just Angelique’s series. 🙂 (After finishing Retha book 3, I realized that Retha and the Timeless Fairy Tale world are just too massive for me to easily switch back and forth, so once Angelique’s series is finished I’m hoping to write another Elves of Lessa book or two, and then I will start and finish the last two Retha books! )
Yea! I really love the Timeless series, and Angelique in particular, but I also very much enjoyed the Lessa books and am happy to hear more are coming!