Reviews with content warning for Ableism - One for All

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

One for All by Lillie Lainoff

56 reviews

buffy87's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful inspiring medium-paced

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

3.5

My best friend lives with POTS so to read a book with a MC who also lives with POTS is surreal and not something I'd ever expect to read.

Writing: good enough? don't get too distracted by bad writing or weird moments. That being said there were a lot of moments where I was like "wait what's happening and who's here now?" There is French italicized throughout, but either immediately translated or we are given enough context clues. It is weird that the English and French is alternated, but I was able to get past it. Others might get hung up on the weirdness of them speaking in English and translating French when they're all French lol.

Plot: Even though I kind of expected some of it, I'm glad it ended the way it did because I feel it helps the final development of Tania's character. It is slightly predictable and therefore wasn't too exciting but I wasn't reading for the actual plot - rather more intrigued with Tania's journey.

Thoughts: A YA book with a little bit of queer representation, disability representation, and a book based on female empowerment? I'd recommend to all of my students. There is a bit of romance as well but I didn't mind it BC it didnt go too far. It's not an amazing stand out novel in the sense of a spine-tingling page turner. However, I believe that any younger girls or womxn who live with chronic illness would definitely appreciate this telling.

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bookforthought's review against another edition

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adventurous funny lighthearted mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting when I picked up One for All, but a gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers sounded like something I would enjoy, and I was entirely right in that!

This book had everything I could have wanted: spies and court intrigue, balls and swordfights, a school that isn't at all what it seems, and a delightful found family. The story starts off a bit slow as we're introduced to Tania and her struggles to live a normal life. She suffers from a condition that causes her to have frequent dizzy spells and fainting, which we know to be POTS but in 17th-century France causes her to be dismissed as a "sick girl" who'll never amount to anything. That is, from everyone except her father. Tania's relationship with her father was beautiful, and the way he always believed in her and pushed her to defy other people's expectations and labels was heartwarming. Until he was murdered.

The pace picks up when Tania arrives in Paris to join a mysterious finishing school as her father's last wish. Between training, fencing, learning high-society etiquette and uncovering a potential assassination plot, Tania will need to learn whom to trust: her newfound sisters-in-arms or the charming Étienne?

I loved the way the author handled this work compared to the original. Unlike some other retellings, this isn't a scene-by-scene replay of the original with female characters. Rather, she took the essence of the story and weaved something new and original from it, so much so that at times I felt as though this could almost be a companion novel to The Three Musketeers rather than simply a retelling. I also liked the inclusion of French words and phrases throughout the novel, as it helped to bring the setting to life for me, although sometimes there were a few needless repetitions in translation.

Reading about this time period was also very interesting, as I realised I knew hardly anything about La Fronde and the following years (as always, thank you Wikipedia for helping me fill in the gaps!), and I love a book that pushes me to do some research and learn something new! The plot was captivating enough, although I had guessed most of the surprises (as many avid, adult readers will probably also do), but it does a good job for a YA novel and a debut at that.

The representation in this was also a major plus point for me. The book is OwnVoices, as the author herself shares Tania's chronic health problems and is a fencer. This was really cool and shown through the writing, making it all feel more authentic. As a former fencer myself, I particularly loved those scenes and how real they felt. Alongside the disability rep, there are also discussions on women's rights and social expectations, as well as a lovely LGBT rep. This last one I particularly appreciated because it was handled so delicately and not used as a conflict point. There was also a bit of social commentary, with references being made to the poorest and most marginalised in society, and how they are often exploited and used as scapegoats by the higher classes - again, one of my favourite themes (as you may have gathered if you're a regular around here!).

The dynamics between the characters were probably my favourite thing. I adore the found family trope, and this was one of the best I read recently. Every interaction between Tania and her newfound sisters Portia, Théa and Aria was an absolute joy, and I loved every moment spent together. The individual character development wasn't quite as strong for me. This is a YA novel and the characters mostly act their age, which I'm fine with, but it felt as though there was something missing in their characterisation and growth. Tania especially was a little bit of a disappointment in this sense: I loved the fact that she grew more confident as the novel progressed, but she seemed to continue to lack common sense and maturity by the end.

I accompanied this with the audiobook, which is narrated by Mara Wilson (forever Matilda in my mind). She does a wonderful job of it, both with the English and the French lines. Definitely worth it if you like audiobooks.

Overall, this was an extremely pleasant read, expertly mixing adventure with a number of social issues and some great representation. I had a few minor issues with it, but they didn't take much away from my enjoyment of this book and are very likely things that will be ironed out in future works. If this is Lainoff's debut, I'm really curious to see what she'll write next!

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book in any way.

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shaipanda's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

This was a very hit or miss book for me. While I really enjoyed the queer side characters, disability rep, and general concept of this book, I didn’t find the execution to be as great as I would’ve liked.
To start with, this book was just generally too long, too hard to get into, and kinda a slog to finish for me. While I wanted to know what happened I was continuously surprised by how many more pages there were and didn’t have as much interest as I would’ve wanted in finishing it meaning that it took longer to finish than I would’ve liked despite me enjoying the book and wanting to know what happened.
Additionally, while interesting, I didn’t love the way the romance(a) were handled.

I did love the character development and seeing the 4 musketeers together I found that to be really enjoyable.
However, in addition to my other issues with the pacing, length, and love interest(s), I also found the French used to not necessarily detract for me but also didn’t add anything, I found the spy plot line to be incredibly confusing at times, and I think the word dizzy started to become incredibly repetitive.

Overall while I enjoyed the story, this was a fairly middling book for me unfortunately.

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emily_mh's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious 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

4.0

This book really grew on me! I’m not going to lie, the start was super slow. I was pretty worried because I was like 60 pages in and still not feeling gripped, questioning why we were spending so much time in this beginning phase. But once the plot kicked off I got into it and ended up really enjoying the story!

First and foremost, this book has some fantastic disability rep. MC Tania has POTS, and her character development is centred on unlearning her internalised ableism, and growing her self-worth which has been persistently undermined by societal ableism. I loved being able to relate to Tania’s worries and beliefs as a chronically ill person myself. I also liked the exploration of what it’s like to have a disability that doesn’t even have a name yet; Tania feels so incredibly isolated because of that fact. It really drove home the need for visibility to me, as seeing there are other people with your disability can alleviate some of the isolation that comes with having that disability. Which is another reason why I like this book, because it is providing that visibility. Honestly, disability books like this make me so happy!

Another thing this story has going for it is that it is essentially about historical spies. The historical setting gives a real sense of time and place to the narrative, especially as the plot is woven into real historical events. The spy part provides all the action, as the girls carry out training, codebreaking, sidling up to suspects, mini-heists, fencing and more, all undercover as noble ladies. It was just a lot of fun, but also intriguing enough of a mystery for it to have substance.

I also liked the sisterhood aspect of the Musketeers. Lainoff makes sure to include the small and everyday interactions between the girls as well as stuff that moves the plot forward, and she also takes care that Tania forms a connection with all three other girls, so their bond is totally believable. I loved that they provided such reliable, caring support to Tania and just automatically accommodated her without question. Also, each of the girls were distinct from one another, although I wish we had gotten to know Portia more.

Unfortunately I did have a large criticism of the book, leading me to dock one star, and that was the writing style. I found it to be pretty clumsy, like I knew what it was trying to say but it could have said it in a more eloquent or expressive way. The sentence structure could be super clunky at times, and the dialogue a little confusing. I also wish it had been more concise in areas, and that some scenes had been removed entirely. Ultimately it wasn’t enough to put me off the book, as I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to others, but I can see why this might be a problem for other readers!

Rep: MC with POTS, sapphic SCs, potentially aro SC

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thatbookishwriter23's review against another edition

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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

4.0

"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.

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virgilsinferno's review against another edition

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Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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.

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jes312's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

It felt like the text needed to go through a few more rounds of edits; so much over-description through similes and metaphors (there are some good ones, but they are overshadowed by the constant use of others) and constant rephrasing, made it a slow read (nothing wrong with slow books, but it was just so repetitive). Loved the premise, historical retelling/perspective, characters and their backgrounds and strong relationships, and realistic representation of chronic illness. Mara Wilson is a fantastic narrator.

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turnthepages_nl's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

5.0

Own-voices POTS rep. And it did not dissapoint. This book has not left my mind since I read it months ago!!

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bookcheshirecat's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional mysterious medium-paced

4.0

“We are not the ones who are written into history. We are the ones who ensure history exists to be written.”

➽ One for All is fun, historical Three Musketeers retelling set in France! Tania de Batz is a disabled young girl who has been learning sword fighting from her father and is devastated when a violent attack leads to his death. He was the only one who believed in her and taught her capable, while everyone else in the village looks down on her for being the ‘sick girl’. Tania gets shipped off to L’Académie des Mariées, a finishing school that secretly specialises in espionage and has a rooster of girls who are trained to infiltrate high society! I loved the bond of sisterhood between Tania and her new friends, it was lovely to see how they accepted her for who she is. I also liked seeing her gain confidence in her new ability and ignore the ableist comments that some people throw her way!

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mattyb's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense 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? It's complicated

4.75

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