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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
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:
No
Tania de Batz is most comfortable with a sword in her hand. When she practices with her father, a former Musketeer, Tania knows she is more than the "sick girl" with the sudden and debilitating dizziness that no one can explain.
But no number of drills or practice positions can prepare Tania when her father is violently killed with the murdered escaping into the night. Without Papa to champion her, Tania isn't as confident that she can follow in his footsteps as a Musketeer--an uncertainty that grows when she finds out his last wish is for her to attend finishing school.
Upon arriving at L’Académie des Mariées, Tania soon realizes that it is no ordinary finishing school. Instead of preparing girls like Tania for marriage, the Academie is secret training a new type of Musketeer: one that most men are all to quick to take for granted.
With the other young women, Tania refines her swordwork alongside skills like disguise and seduction to protect France from outside threats. Instead of feeling stifled or othered at the school Tania feels like she's found her purpose with girls who feel like sisters and new ways to navigate her chronic illness.
When the students are tasked with stopping an assassination plot, Tania's loyalties will be tested as she tries to gather information from a dangerously attractive target. Training as a Musketeer is everything Tania has ever wanted, but even she isn't sure if she should trust her newly honed instincts or her heart in One For All (2022) by Lillie Lainoff.
One For All is Lainoff's debut novel. Tania's first person narration immediately draws readers into her richly detailed world while making the frustrations and limitations of her chronic illness immediately understandable. As the author's note explains, Tania's experiences are informed by Lainoff's own life as a competitive fencer who has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Tania and most main characters are white. There's some variety of skintones among secondary characters as well as characters across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
This gender-flipped retelling of The Three Musketeers imagines a world where girls like Tania are able to find sisterhood and purpose operating in the shadows. With the Musketeers limited in their reach compared to the peak of their power, the stakes have never felt higher as Tania works to earn her place at the Academie. High action and cinematic swordfights move the story along while tender moments between Tania and her fellow Academie students show the importance of community and friendship. Tania's illness is integral to her character and explored with nuance as she not only has to learn the limitations of her own body but also explain them to her new friends so that they can all work together.
Hints of romance permeate the story but at its core One For All is a story of empowerment and sisterhood where one girl learns that coming into her own can change everything.
Possible Pairings: Valiant Ladies by Melissa Gray, The Game of Hope by Sarah Gulland, The Reckless Kind by Carly Heath, Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers, Of Better Blood by Susan Moger, Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim
But no number of drills or practice positions can prepare Tania when her father is violently killed with the murdered escaping into the night. Without Papa to champion her, Tania isn't as confident that she can follow in his footsteps as a Musketeer--an uncertainty that grows when she finds out his last wish is for her to attend finishing school.
Upon arriving at L’Académie des Mariées, Tania soon realizes that it is no ordinary finishing school. Instead of preparing girls like Tania for marriage, the Academie is secret training a new type of Musketeer: one that most men are all to quick to take for granted.
With the other young women, Tania refines her swordwork alongside skills like disguise and seduction to protect France from outside threats. Instead of feeling stifled or othered at the school Tania feels like she's found her purpose with girls who feel like sisters and new ways to navigate her chronic illness.
When the students are tasked with stopping an assassination plot, Tania's loyalties will be tested as she tries to gather information from a dangerously attractive target. Training as a Musketeer is everything Tania has ever wanted, but even she isn't sure if she should trust her newly honed instincts or her heart in One For All (2022) by Lillie Lainoff.
One For All is Lainoff's debut novel. Tania's first person narration immediately draws readers into her richly detailed world while making the frustrations and limitations of her chronic illness immediately understandable. As the author's note explains, Tania's experiences are informed by Lainoff's own life as a competitive fencer who has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome. Tania and most main characters are white. There's some variety of skintones among secondary characters as well as characters across the LGBTQ+ spectrum.
This gender-flipped retelling of The Three Musketeers imagines a world where girls like Tania are able to find sisterhood and purpose operating in the shadows. With the Musketeers limited in their reach compared to the peak of their power, the stakes have never felt higher as Tania works to earn her place at the Academie. High action and cinematic swordfights move the story along while tender moments between Tania and her fellow Academie students show the importance of community and friendship. Tania's illness is integral to her character and explored with nuance as she not only has to learn the limitations of her own body but also explain them to her new friends so that they can all work together.
Hints of romance permeate the story but at its core One For All is a story of empowerment and sisterhood where one girl learns that coming into her own can change everything.
Possible Pairings: Valiant Ladies by Melissa Gray, The Game of Hope by Sarah Gulland, The Reckless Kind by Carly Heath, Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers, Of Better Blood by Susan Moger, Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim
One for All is a gender-swapped take on The Three Musketeers with a quick and witty protagonist who just happens to have a chronic illness. In a refreshing turn of events, Tania's illness is not the main plot point, it's simply part of her character, and while it does affect events and how Tania handles them, she is never alone in it. Tania's friends and fellow Musketeers are as supportive as Tania needs them to be. They don't treat her like a fragile flower, but like a Musketeer, and are ready to help her if necessary just as they are all ready to help each other.
While the main conflict is just what you'd expect from a Musketeer story—the race to discover and stop those who are plotting against the king—the way the Musketeers go about it is different. These women hide daggers and swords beneath their skirts as they seduce the nobility into revealing their secrets, never going too far. On the whole, they reminded me of Milady de Winter—but, you know, good. It made for a refreshing and fun take on the well-known tale.
There is a healthy dose of representation as well, including queer Musketeers! I wholly enjoyed this and recommend for those who like historical intrigue, Musketeer retellings, and ladies wielding swords.
***I am a bookseller and received this book as an ARC***
While the main conflict is just what you'd expect from a Musketeer story—the race to discover and stop those who are plotting against the king—the way the Musketeers go about it is different. These women hide daggers and swords beneath their skirts as they seduce the nobility into revealing their secrets, never going too far. On the whole, they reminded me of Milady de Winter—but, you know, good. It made for a refreshing and fun take on the well-known tale.
There is a healthy dose of representation as well, including queer Musketeers! I wholly enjoyed this and recommend for those who like historical intrigue, Musketeer retellings, and ladies wielding swords.
***I am a bookseller and received this book as an ARC***
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
"The three of you made me realize that whatever this dizziness is… well, maybe it’s never been the real problem. It’s horrible and it hurts and it makes me feel fragile in a way I never wanted, but it’s not the thing that tears me apart. The problem, the real problem, is the people who decide I’m unworthy because of it.” -Tania Ch 27, pg. 325
"They may not be the Musketeers I’d imagined. But they were better, because they were mine. And I knew, as I looked at them and saw the cold steely resolve inside me mirrored in their eyes, that I was theirs." Tania, Ch 18, pg. 206
Great med-paced read!
For starters, I loved this book. The sisterhood, mystery, the disability repsentation. This book really put in perspective what it's like to have POTS, at least in one example. It's definitely one of fav books and I'm sad to see it end.🥺
My only wish is that girls' relationship was more stretched out a little. I just felt it all happens so fast. One minute their strangers to Tania, the next she calling them her sisters. However, this did make for a kinda fast medium paced read and over all the girls' relationship was cute. And I like how the book touched briefly on serious subjects like SA and ableism. I also like the message and see Tania slowly accept herself.
I'm very proud of ONE FOR ALL being the first book I ever pre-ordered and hopefully in the future, we can see more of Tania's world. Otherwise, I will definitely be reading more of Lainoff's books as she releases them.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Chronic illness, Misogyny, Violence
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Sexual assault
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book uses a lot of French in the text and dialogue. I imagine having an understanding of the language would allow one to appreciate and enjoy the novel more than I did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism
adventurous
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-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
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was a fun historical retelling with a reimagining, or extra storyline added to the musketeers of history. It made me dig into some French history comparing what time period this was based on what I knew from other stories. So that is a positive. The audio was a neat way to read/listen to this story for sure, because the narrator did do a great French accent and pronounced the French words very well. However at times the accent/pronunciation did get me confused as I listened because sometimes the words sounded close and if I’d been reading the print book I wouldn’t have been confused. It was mostly having to do with the names of people. The narrator did also leave big pauses between parts of a conversation, but then no pause at all often at where I know there had to have been a space or something in the book to represent a new section/scene beginning. Otherwise it was a great story! I received a hardback copy from the publisher to read for the library book award committee I’m on, but I ended up fitting in the audio version from my public library in the end.
adventurous
inspiring
lighthearted
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
adventurous