Addie Thorley Books In Order

Publication Order of Night Spinner Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Addie Thorley is an American author of fantasy, young adult and historical fiction books best known for her standalone novel an Affair of Poisons. She spent her childhood playing soccer, scribbling stories, and riding horses. After she obtained her undergraduate degree in journalism from the University of Utah, she decided that everyday hard news didn’t contain enough kissing and magic and she spiralled into the land off fiction and has never looked back since then.
Now a resident of Princeton, New Jersey, she spends her nights crafting stories, and when she’s not writing, you’ll find her galloping around the barn or gallivanting in the woods.

An Affair of the Poisons

An Affair of the Poisons is a historical fantasy story based on true historical events. As a historian, you must have heard the popular phrase The Affair of the Poisons also known in French as L’affaire Des Poisons. It was a murder scandal during the reign of King Louis XIV in France between 1677 and 1682 were authoritative figures of the aristocracy where charged and sentenced on charges of witchcraft and poisoning. This major scandal breached the inner circle of the king and led to the killing of 36 people.

Addie Thorley’s novel is a thrilling debut novel for the fans of bestsellers Sky in the Deep and Ash Princess based on the 17th-century assassination scandal in France. After unknowingly helping her mother poison the king, the seventeen-year-old alchemist Mirabelle Monvoisin is prompted to see her moms Shadow Society in a terrifying new light. They are not saviors of the people as they have always claimed, but instead, they are killers.

In efforts to ease her guilt, Mira tries to brew some curatives, but unfortunately, her headache remedies and hunger tonics cannot undo the wrongs of the past or even save the dissenters that her mother has vowed to purge.

Royal Josse de Bourbon is more kitchen boy than a royal man, but when the Sun King and almost half of the royal court perish at the hands of the Shadow Society, he is forced to become the prince he wasn’t meant to be in order to save the petulant dauphin and his injured sister.

Forced to seek refuge in the sewers beneath the city, any hopes of saving the kingdom seems impossible until the day he meets Mirabelle, a surprising ally in the enemy. Mira is a deadly poisoner, and he’s a bastard kitchen boy than a prince. Together they ally to unite the former nobility and commoners against the evil Shadow Society. But the big question remains- can rebellion with a foundation built on mistrust ever succeed? Read the entire novel to find out what happens.

From the first pages, the rich details and lush descriptions depict a dark atmospheric tone that will make you forget about the books original genre, young adult. This fast-paced story is rooted in the 17th century at the brink of a political revolution in France where two main characters, Prince Josse and alchemist Mirabelle has to work together to stop a killing spree in France. The descriptions of the deadly smoke beasts and the alchemical magic give the story a wicked advantage.

The author manages to keep the intensity of the plot without sacrificing her protagonist’s unique voices. The story is told through the different point of views, and as the reader, you’ll find yourself falling in love with the heroine’s courage and fierceness and Josse’s commitment and loyalty. The two characters support each other as they battle against their personal struggles of acceptance, self-worth, trust, pain, guilt and loyalty.

Each character represents the struggles and hopes during this period. There is a romance theme the author explores as well. It’s slow and gives you the reader a sweet feeling of hope without overshadowing the main plot. Thorley has crafted unique characters with depth and lots of room for character development. Neither of the main characters were flawless people. While Josse is quick to anger, Mirabelle makes mistakes one after the other.

Unlike many historical novels that are bogged down with plenty of useless sections detailing nonessential events, An Affair of the Poisons dives into the main important plot points right from the first sentence.

While the narrative is based on true events, the author crafts it in such a way that she makes you care more about the characters by creating subplots. At the back of the book is a nice author’s note where she elaborates more about the characters and the events as well. You’ll also enjoy the magic, the alchemist and poisoner aspect of the story. The main story well paced and full of action and at the same time lingering on personalities and characters traits enough for the reader to care.

The original Affair of the Poisons implicated more than 442 suspects with more than 376 orders of arrests issued, but only 218 were carried out. Of the arrested people, thirty-six were executed, twenty-three exiled and five sent to galleys. These figures exclude all those who died in custody by suicide or torture. Also, many of the accused people never stood trial but instead were placed outside the judicial system and sentenced to life imprisonment by a letter de cachet.

While you might think that Addie Thorley’s debut novel follows the storyline of the actual events, it’s actually quite the opposite. This is an alternate historical fantasy story that tries to answer the question, what if King Louis had been killed in the assassination scandal would the history be as we know it? What would the future of France be like? Like any other historical fiction novel, this book will hook you in and transport you into an alternate historical world as you’ve never seen before. The fast-paced plot and the deadly plot will suck you in and keep you flying through the pages. You will enjoy the transformation that Mirabelle undergoes from the naïve young girl desperate for her mother’s approval to a woman in charge of her fate.