Reviews tagging 'Murder'

One for All by Lillie Lainoff

24 reviews

caseythereader's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Thanks to FSG Books for the free copy of this book.

 - ONE FOR ALL is a gender bent Three Musketeers retelling, with swashbuckling girls, fancy parties and mysterious machinations.
- Tania's chronic illness is central to her life, and I loved that this wasn't a story about "fixing" her, but learning how to both manage it herself and ask for help when she needs it. 

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plumpaperbacks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

[Early copy from Netgalley. This doesn’t affect my opinions/review.]

This was one of my most anticipated 2022 releases—a historical fantasy with a chronically ill protagonist? Sign me the hell up. And I’m thrilled to say that it did NOT disappoint. I loved everything about One for All, from cover to cover, and it’s undoubtedly one of my favorite books not just of the year, but of all time.

Although we don’t have the same conditions, I can’t begin to describe what it meant to me, a disabled girl, to see a another disabled girl as the badass main character of a book. I saw so much of myself in Tania and related to so many of her struggles. Her determination and strength are admirable, and honestly, I want to be like her when I grow up. 🤩🤩

And the other Musketeers? Ohmygod. Icons, all of them. Don’t ask me to pick a favorite because that would be literally impossible. Théa is the biggest sweetheart, Aria is impressively clever, Portia is absolutely hilarious, and they’re all totally badass. Seeing all the ways they rallied around Tania and supported her without hesitation was heartwarming. I love their little found family more than I can say. ❤️❤️❤️

Also, I’d like to take a moment to appreciate Henri. I think he might actually be the biggest cinnamon roll I’ve ever encountered and I adore him. His awkwardness is endearing and he’s so adorably thoughtful; he must be protected AT ALL COSTS. 🥺🥺

I’m not really gonna say anything about the romance elements in this book because the main one is tied heavily to the plot, and the side one is so deliciously slow-burn you don’t actually know if it’s going to happen until it does. The only teaser I’ll give is that, for like 200 pages, I had VERY STRONG suspicions that two characters were very much ~not straight~ and was immensely happy when I ended up being right. We gays can sense each other. 😎
I can’t help it, I have to scream somewhere—PORTIA AND ARIA??? PORTIA AND ARIA!!! I first started to suspect when the four girls were practicing seduction prior to the first ball, and these two were paired up for a demonstration. I was like 👀 and then the more I read, the more they seemed to be flirting 👀 and then they KISSED and I swear I nearly SHRIEKED love this for my girls!!! 🌈✨💕


(New spoiler tag because it’s time for me to fangirl about the other ship lol.) All we got was an inkling, really, but TANIA AND HENRI!!! Badass girl with sword x total cinnamon roll is one of my absolute ship dynamics, and even though all we got were a few crumbs, I know in my heart that that’s going to end up being a DELICIOUS cake. (Is that a weird analogy? Maybe, but I’m sticking with it. 🍰) I loved Henri from the beginning, but didn’t initially ship them because I thought he fancied Théa and knew Tania was supposed to get a love interest of her own. Enter Étienne, who at first I loved because he was so similar to my sweet boy Thomas Cresswell, and then I had to hate him, because even though I was really hoping he wouldn’t be an asshole, I had a feeling that he would be and then he was, which is rather unfortunate. But then, in the end, Théa told Tania that she saw Henri as more of a brother than anything else, which my hopeless romantic heart is going to take and run with and imagine Tania and Henri as the most adorable Musketeer couple. 🥺💕🤩


Okay, now that I got that out of my system, I have one other thing to say. Yes, the story’s pacing is slower, and yes, I ultimately did predict the big bad guy’s identity, but neither of those ruined it for me. I think the reason that these can ruin some books for me while not fazing me in others has a lot to do with how attached I am to the characters and how invested I am in the story. In this case, where the answer to both is “very much,” I’m more lenient. (Does this make sense? It does in my head.)

I think I’ve done all the rambling that I can, at least for now. Honestly, I’m sad that it’s over; I finished reading One for All two hours ago and I’m still thinking about it. I’m pretty sure I’ll be thinking about it for a while, and rereading it soon enough. In the meantime, add it to the list of books I shout about from the virtual rooftop constantly. Add it to my list of personality traits. Its spot is wholeheartedly deserved.

Representation
  • chronically ill protagonist (POTS)
  • sapphic side couple

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Thank you to Colored Pages Book Tours, Farrar, Straus and Giroux and Netgalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review and promotion. All opinions are my own.

4.5/5

I really enjoyed this book and I want to see more disabled stories like this one!!

One for All is a genderbent retelling of the Three Musketeers. It follows Tania de Batz, the daughter of a former Musketeer and her greatest champion. Tania has chronic dizziness (postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome), but regardless of what everyone else thinks, Tania knows she's might to become a Musketeer. When her father is brutally murdered she thinks her dreams will fade to nothing. But when she arrives at L’Académie des Mariées, she finds something unexpected.

This was such a fun book. I can't speak much to the retelling aspect, because I know basically nothing about the Three Musketeers, but I really loved the sisterhood of the Academie! I came to love the other girls of the Academie so quickly. It was just the best girl gang I've read about in a while! I loved how the other girls gave Tania accommodations when she needed them, but refused to let her believe she's weak or a burden.

Tania was such a strong character and I really loved her. She's spent a lot of her life isolated and seeing her befriend the other girls and begin to make a home for herself was such an empowering storyline. I loved all of the fencing practice, and I definitely could've used more of it. More duels too! More swords are always a good idea.

Both Tania and I have invisible disabilities. Seeing how that impacts every part of your life is so validating. Tania's hesitancy around doctors and strangers is something all too familiar. It's so easy to believe what people tell you about being lazy or faking it or not actually in that amount of pain. And it just hurts. No matter how "well meaning" some of these comments can be.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this book and I hope we see more MC's with chronic illnesses and disabilities take center stage across all genres and age categories.

Rep: white Russian-French cishet female MC with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), sapphic cis female side characters, aroace cis female side character.

CWs: Ableism, chronic illness, death of parent, death, murder. Moderate: Sexual assault (of side character), blood, gore, violence, emotional abuse, medical trauma.
 

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melaniereadsbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

Thank you to Netgalley and RB media for an ALC of this book.

In this feminist and genderbent Three Musketeeers retelling, Tania joins a secret band of female musketeers and finds sisterhood and love in the midst of struggling with her father's murder and her chronic illness.

I LOVE the chronic illness rep in this book. I don't have the same type of chronic illness as Tania, but the way others treated her like she was fragile or lazy or faking it--I just related so hard to so much of it. I love the character development with this and how Tania learns that the way others treat her isn't because of her but them, and the explanations about what her body can and can't do and that isn't her fault and AH! It's so good.

I also really like the mystery and secrecy in this! And the BA group of female musketeers is also great!

There is some side queer rep in this book. I believe the author has said that there is a lesbian girl and a demi-bi girl, as well as an Ace adult. After having read the book, I can tell which character is which, but none of that rep is explicit. There is some coding in there, but nothing is very obvious except that two of the characters are sapphic.

Anyway, this is a really good one, and I definitely recommend the audio!

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