Happy Monday and welcome to my stop on the blog tour for BEGUILED! I’m so excited because today I have an interview with Cyla Panin to share with you! This book is truly amazing and I’m so excited to for you to find out more about it!
Beguiled by Cyla Panin Published on August 23, 2022 by Amulet Books
Genres: YA, Fantasy, Historical Fantasy, Historical Fiction
Pages: 384
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A dark and enthralling story about a young woman who makes a deal with a spirit to try and gain her independence—and the twisted price she has to pay for it.
Ella is a 17-year-old weaver whose entire livelihood depends on her loom. She dreams of opening her own shop, but when her father died in debtor’s prison, she had to support herself by taking whatever clients she could get. In order to buy her supplies she goes into debt of her own, and when her loom breaks, Ella realizes she needs more help than a repairperson can give her. She, like everyone, has heard about the old washerwoman spirit called the Bean-Nighe who will grant any one wish—for a price. But Ella is desperate, so she asks the Bean-Nighe to fix her loom. And it works. The loom is fixed, and she's creating beautiful pieces she could have never imagined before. All she has to do is feed the loom a drop of blood each time she weaves—a small price to pay for such magnificent silks. And when she brings two bolts to a rich client, she meets a mysterious young man named Callum and bargains for an invitation to his exclusive party. At that party, he's so mesmerized by her talent, he offers Ella a place to live and patronage for her art. It seems like Ella's fortune is finally turning for the better... until she begins to notice the loom taking more from her than she offered. As she becomes entangled in the lives of the city’s rich, swept into Callum's allure, and trapped by the Bean-Nighe’s magic, Ella must figure out a way to secure her future while she still has a future at all.
What would you do if you spent the day with Ella? Where would you go to eat, hang out, relax, etc.?
Ella loves to spend time at the riverbank, and I’d be happy to do that too! We could have a picnic (bread and cheese, of course!) and then meander through the market looking at beautiful things through shop windows.
If Ella were to hang out with other fictional characters, who would they be and why?
Oh, I love this question! I think Ella would love spending time with Sansa Stark so they could talk about how to move from wielding power from behind to taking centre stage. She’d also enjoy an afternoon with Annaleigh Thaumas from HOUSE OF SALT AND SORROWS so they could commiserate about magic curses.
If there was one fictional place you could travel to for a day, where would it be and why?
Probably the Shire or Rivendell. I’ve never read the LOTR books (I know, I know!) but the movies came out when I was a teen and they’ve been some of my favourite comfort movies ever since.
If you buried a time capsule with three items inside, what three items would you choose and why?
Hmmm, this one is tough! I’d probably put in a notebook where I outlined BEGUILED, a vial of Tim Horton’s coffee grounds, and the Outlander soundtrack – all the ingredients for writing a book!
What was your favorite bit of research you ended up not using?
I absolutely love Ian Mortimer’s Time Traveller’s Guide series for research, and one thing that stood out is that someone in Early-Modern Scotland would have never heard anything louder than a church bell. It’s obvious if you think about it, but I hadn’t really ever considered that before—how quiet their world would have been.
What is your favorite quote, scene, or moment from Beguiled?
I don’t want to spoil anything, so I’m going with a safe choice! My favourite moment is when Ella negotiates for an invitation to the next Players party because it’s the first time she’s that assertive and really the beginning of her story.
About Cyla Panin
Cyla Panin is a YA Author who prefers to look at the world through a dusting of magic.
After spending most of her childhood wanting to escape into the wonderful worlds her favourite authors created, she’s now using her own words to craft magical places. When not writing, Cyla can be found playing dinosaurs with her two young boys, watching swashbuckling and/or period TV shows with her husband, and, of course, reading.
Her YA debut, STALKING SHADOWS released with Amulet, Abrams Fall 2021. Her second YA fantasy, BEGUILED, released in August 2022. She is represented by Eva Scalzo at Speilburg Literary Agency.
What do you think about Beguiled? Have you added it to your tbr yet? Let me know in the comments and have a splendiferous day!
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