The opening sentence of Courtesan by Emma Levy Mossanen must surely be listed in the annals of the Classiest First Lines Ever:

I pinch my nose shut and gulp down two raw rooster gonads.

Mmm-hm. You know a book's going to be good when avian genitalia are part of the very first sentence.

Eris Reads, my book blog

I felt as though this book couldn't decide what genre it wanted to be and suffered for it. I wanted and expected to be reading realistic historical fiction, but there were unnecessary silly ghosts ("At that moment, the ghost of Dr. Jacques Mercier materialized from behind Delacroix's painting. He tickled her soles and swirled at her feet. Finding his vantage inappropriate, he stumbled up to squeeze between her breasts") and other too-convenient magic. I expected to read about how courtesans interacted with and influenced important men, but I didn't think that they would do it by consciously opening up their pores and releasing their magical scent to make the men desire them helplessly--that's an easy way to move the plot along, but it eliminates any real interest in the description of the courtesan. I wanted more political intrigue and less magic. I have nothing against magic in general, but every time it occurred here it felt very out of place.

I read this book because I loved the author's previous novel, Harem, which I would strongly recommend as an alternative to this. I started reading this with high hopes, and ended up very disappointed. ( )