The Storyteller's Tale

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Pub Date Aug 21 2024 | Archive Date Feb 28 2025

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Description

GENRE: MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT FANTASY

The Storyteller's Tale is an enchanting novel about a librarian with a wonderful gift and the mysterious suitor who proposes to her.

Iliad is a snatchwords: She can breathe life into words by speaking them aloud. Thanks to this wonderful gift, the young woman has become the most famous storyteller in the kingdom of Esmeria.

When she receives an anonymous and very advantageous marriage proposal from a member of the royal family, Iliad, chaperoned by her flamboyant grandmother, sets off to the capital, where she is to meet her mysterious suitor.

But Iliad, coming from a middle-class family with no money or title, doesn’t know anything about court life. With her peculiar sense of fashion and her awkwardness, she finds that life in Babel is more trying—and perilous—than she expected…


Excerpt from The Storyteller’s Tale

When Iliad finally went to bed, sleep evaded her. Gulliver’s Travels was lying on her beating heart. It was the first book she had ever snatched words from. Fifteen years ago, between the shelves of Pergamon’s library, she had whispered the words of Jonathan Swift. When the syllables passed her lips, the printed words started jiggling on the page. Thinking her eyes must be playing tricks on her, she stopped mid-sentence, then wiped her glasses and squinted at the stirring words. She must’ve been mistaken. All adjectives, nouns, and verbs were lying still, perfectly motionless.

She spoke again, her voice a whisper in the half-light. What started out as a slight vibration became an undeniable flutter, so she picked up speed. The sentence looked like it wanted out of the book. One by one, the letters detached themselves from the paper with a swish, hovering in the air. Wild-eyed, Iliad inspected them closely before brushing them with her index finger. The fugitive letters felt like cold, tiny, silken flames running aimlessly above her red hair. Iliad took hold of them the way she would a lost moth. She wrapped them around her fingers, then made them slide along her forearms. They winked out of existence when she closed the volume.

Iliad wanted to know what had become of the wandering words, so she reopened the book almost immediately, only to find them in their original spot. The little girl read them again, once more jolting them awake with her voice. She switched pace and intonation, but the letters took off all the same. The next line suffered the same fate. And the next, and the next, until Iliad had extracted an entire chapter from the novel.

Iliad decided to try another book. She wanted to know if the same would happen or if it was specific to Gulliver’s Travels. She tested out a geography textbook, then a play, and both times, the miracle came again. Little Iliad was positively shaken. She put the tomes away and swore to never read aloud again. Something about this whole affair felt dangerous. Ripping sentences out of books might just be worse than breathing fire. To unstick words was to steal them, and oral reading was but a guilty pleasure. Period.

Iliad stood firm for two whole weeks. In the end, curiosity got the better of her; she was just too fascinated with books! She tried again and again, plundering all manner of publications. The words always resumed their rightful place anyway, so it wasn’t really stealing, was it? She began experimenting with the dictionary, cramming as many words as she could within the confines of her bedroom. She tried opening two books at the same time, taking one idiom from the first and one preposition from the other, mixing writing styles and making worlds collide into space.

GENRE: MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT FANTASY

The Storyteller's Tale is an enchanting novel about a librarian with a wonderful gift and the mysterious suitor who proposes to her.

Iliad is a snatchwords: She...


Available Editions

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ISBN 9782493897220
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PAGES 272

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Average rating from 66 members


Featured Reviews

I requested this book purely based on the beautiful cover, and was thrilled that I enjoyed it so much! It was a gorgeous tale full of interesting magic. It starts off explaining our main characters magic in a really digestible and fun way. Beautiful storytelling, setting(s), and lovely characters. I had fun!

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Thank you netgalley, the publisher, and Judith Bouilloc.

This story was very unique. There were so many twists and it kept me guessing what would happen next. I read it in one sitting because I couldn't put it down! I absolutely adored the mmc and her grandmother.

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This is the cutest Young Adult Fantasy Romance. If you love books, magic, and a little bit of romance this book is for you. There is zero spice though but I didn't even care the story kept you very entertained. I would even vote for this one as teen-friendly.

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The Storyteller’s Tale was such a cozy, enchanting read! It’s filled with all the tropes I adore: arranged marriages, hate-to-love dynamics, sunshine and grumpy characters, and a dreamy, mystical magic system. The story follows a librarian who can breathe life from words and an upright royal judge with a dark past, which adds so much depth to their dynamic.

The romance between the two unfolded beautifully, and the chemistry had me hooked from the start. The writing was easy to read but still managed to make me squeal with excitement at all the right moments. I could vividly imagine every scene as it played out, making it an immersive and magical experience.

If you’re looking for a heartwarming, whimsical romance that’s both fun and full of emotional depth, The Storyteller’s Tale is a must-read!

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WAAAAAHHHHH! BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE!!! THIS IS HOW U WRITE COZY FANTASY!!!

this book, to me, is not like any other book. it's a very special book, one that is so dear to me i will not accept any hate on! it was such a cozy, comforting, easy, quick read. and to me this book was the definition of, "never let them know ur next move." which i did not expect at all. anyways the storyteller's tale is such a pleasant surprise, i requested it due to its interesting synopsis and pretty cover (and because it was about reading/books! hehe) and i am not disappointed one bit! it even has gardening aspects and i just love love love it so much i might explode. iliad and adil, my librarian x gardener duo, u are very precious to me, i hope these characters all live the happiest life ever!

u bet i will be reading more books from rivka publishing, perhaps i will find more gems like this one!

biggest thank you to judith bouilloc and the team for providing an arc!

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The Storyteller's Tale is so good. I wasn't expecting it to be so good as it is. Lovely storyline, amazing plot, loved every single second of it.

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