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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
The real question is, why don't you have this genderbent retelling of The Three Musketeers on your shelf yet?!
slow-paced
Very much a just fine book. It feels like a lot and nothing happens. I also know very little about France during this time. I think I should reread it and slow down a bit.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-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:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Woah, this one hit home. I don’t have POTS like main character Tania de Batz, daughter of D’Artagnan (the fictional one in Dumas’s The Three Musketeers, not the historical one). But I do have Sjögren’s related small fiber neuropathy and autonomic neuropathy. In short, my immune system attacks the nerves in my feet, hands, organs, and tissue. It manifests similar symptoms to POTS: fatigue, brain fog, dizziness, nausea, rapid heart beat, and difficulty walking and moving.
Because of the chronically ill connection some passages really hit hard. About feeling distanced from society, about the fear of getting sicker every time you have a good day, about how quickly other people’s empathy can expire, about reconciling your illness as a part of you. And having a chronically ill heroine sword fight and spy and gain a sisterhood who want to make the world a better place is a balm I did not know I needed.
I do like the episodic nature of their missions and training; I know not everyone likes that in a novel. The plot is predictable. If you go in knowing that, you can have fun and focus on the characters. Our quartet was well-developed, with everyone having a full life and defined personality. I enjoyed the minor characters as well, they are not cookie cutter, but tended to only have a couple of functions. But our core characters grew into a great sisterhood, complicated but accepting and nourishing each other.
Lainoff manages to never let it be a sob story while letting us into the reality of being chronically ill in a past time. The narrative doesn’t brush off the illness either. It’s still a YA historical fiction retelling of a classic work, so some tropes from those parts still find a home in this novel. But I strongly feel it’s worth the read, unless the caveats I mentioned turn you off as a reader.
My favorite book of all time is The Count of Monte Cristo, written by the same author as The Three Musketeers, Alexandre Dumas. You are not getting another Dumas work in One for All, it never pretends to be that. Lainoff is also chronically ill, an expert fencer, and a writer. One for All embeds all of that into a YA novel above the standard. I read a copy from my library, but I plan to purchase my own copy, to highlight passages with meaning to me and to have as a part of my personal library. There is something to owning a book, like showing others a part of your mind, your soul. To encourage thinking, to find faults, to connect, to having a shared conversation with other readers. This book isn’t perfect, but it has a special kind of literary magic that has lodged itself in my brain.
9/10 stars, highly subjective.
I often forget to say this, but thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the review copy!
I’m honestly pretty disappointed because I want to love this more than I did. Tania is such a cool character and I love the strength that she displays. I just wish that there would not have been a romance plot. Ordinarily, you would NEVER hear me say that, but boy was that rushed. The novel would have been better without it. Also, I lowkey saw the big plot twist coming several miles away.
That said, there were merits to this book. Besides the character of Tania just being all around awesome, the plot was pretty good. It had its slow moments, but I was entertained overall.
I’m honestly pretty disappointed because I want to love this more than I did. Tania is such a cool character and I love the strength that she displays. I just wish that there would not have been a romance plot. Ordinarily, you would NEVER hear me say that, but boy was that rushed. The novel would have been better without it. Also, I lowkey saw the big plot twist coming several miles away.
That said, there were merits to this book. Besides the character of Tania just being all around awesome, the plot was pretty good. It had its slow moments, but I was entertained overall.
adventurous
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Lo predecible no le saca lo disfrutable. Las relaciones son adorables, la vibe de familia encontrada y la importancia de construir y reafirmar esos lazos incluso desde el conflicto fue muy linda. Me gustó la manera en que la prota crece hasta sentirse cómoda y segura en su cuerpo, especialmente porque es re bebé. Muy lindo.