anna_fangirling 's review for:

One for All by Lillie Lainoff

5.0

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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: Complicated

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I was gifted One For All by a friend. Normally I don’t do Historical Fiction without some fantasy element however I love to read disability representation. And oh did Lainoff deliver. 

Filled with so much heart, accuracy to the disabled experience, passion, and suspense, One For All kept both wanting to read more and not wanting to keep going because I didn’t want it to end. This took me a few months because life got in the way of my reading but did in no way take any amount from my enjoyment of the book. Tania’s story – helping France as a female musketeer, learning about herself and pushing herself for what she wants – was incredibly well done. The disability experience is represented well; as something that can be impactful to the individual; the ableism that the world can instill, the self loathing, the worthlessness. But with these, it shows how having the right people around, the right accommodations, and support can really help someone thrive. Even if their physical disability symptoms don’t change, having love and support, as well as the disabled person being the one to define themselves, can cause a disabled person to thrive. Tania got to grow as character about and with her disability but that was not the only way she had to grow and learn. Tania’s arc was not just about her disability and I loved that; it was one of a few of the growth storylines she had. As a disabled reader I felt so heard and seen and represented, even though I do not have POTS. This is definitely the kind of book I needed as a teen and my inner disabled child is incredibly happy.

Aside from the representation, the plot was well constructed and I felt it built in a natural, exciting way that kept me wanting more and more. Even without figuring out the twist near the end, I saw how it all came together and fell for some of it too. 

Lainoff’s writing is full of life and atmosphere. All the characters were fully realized and felt so real, like they could have actually existed in history. It wasn’t just Tania, our main character, who went through an arc of growth, but the main cast as well. I found the intermingled french difficult as someone who is not fluent but most times the meaning could be derived from context or was told immediately afterwards. Despite the confusion it also helped with immersing the world and making it feel grounded and real.

Definitely a 5 star read for me!