The Bibliophile's Bookshelf

Title: One for All

Series: Standalone

Author: Lillie Lainoff

Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Retelling

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

An OwnVoices, gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers, in which a girl with a chronic illness trains as a Musketeer and uncovers secrets, sisterhood, and self-love.

Tania de Batz is most herself with a sword in her hand. Everyone in town thinks her near-constant dizziness makes her weak, nothing but “a sick girl”; even her mother is desperate to marry her off for security. But Tania wants to be strong, independent, a fencer like her father—a former Musketeer and her greatest champion.

Then Papa is brutally, mysteriously murdered. His dying wish? For Tania to attend finishing school. But L’Académie des Mariées, Tania realizes, is no finishing school. It’s a secret training ground for a new kind of Musketeer: women who are socialites on the surface, but strap daggers under their skirts, seduce men into giving up dangerous secrets, and protect France from downfall. And they don’t shy away from a swordfight.

With her newfound sisters at her side, Tania feels for the first time like she has a purpose, like she belongs. But then she meets Étienne, her first target in uncovering a potential assassination plot. He’s kind, charming, and breathlessly attractive—and he might have information about what really happened to her father. Torn between duty and dizzying emotion, Tania will have to lean on her friends, listen to her own body, and decide where her loyalties lie…or risk losing everything she’s ever wanted.

This debut novel is a fierce, whirlwind adventure about the depth of found family, the strength that goes beyond the body, and the determination it takes to fight for what you love. -summary from Goodreads

This book came out of nowhere and I really enjoyed it!

This isn’t quite like anything I have read before. It took place in France during the mid 1600’s, and it follows Tania and three other girls in Paris.

This story had a slow beginning, and it took a minute for it to settle into its groove. Tania is our main character, and she has some health problems that ostracizes her. Because of this health issue, which causes dizziness, muscle weakness, and fainting, she is looked down upon, especially from people outside of her family.

I liked the inclusion of the disability. I think books need more disability representation. I especially liked the fact that this took place in high society, olden-times France. I love dramatic settings, so this one spoke to me.

The first seventy pages or so take place in a small town in France, where Tania lives with her parents. Her mother is determined to find her a partner, which Tania disagrees with. Her father, a retired Musketeer, tries to help her with her fencing, despite the dizziness.

When the father is killed, Tania is sent to a school to become a wife in Paris. When she arrives, she learns that it is actually a school for female Musketeers!

I don’t actually know anything about Musketeers, except there is a Disney movie. I thought this use of sword fighters was super cool. These girls (Tania, Portia, Aria, and Thea) aren’t supposed to be Musketeers, but they are super-secret, undercover, spy Musketeers, which is the best type, in my opinion!

I enjoyed all of the characters. I enjoyed Etienne, though you could kind of see where that was going. I wished Henri was in the story a little bit more. I liked Madame de Treville, but she was kind of gruff and maybe one dimensional. I felt like I could have dived into her character a little more. I loved the main girls. I love a good found family group, and this one was so good. I want more of these characters; I think this could be a good series.

I wished Tania’s mother was part of the story more or there was more closure there. I think out of all of the characters and relationships, this is the one that needed more.

I thought the story itself was fun and interesting. It was a mystery/adventure that wasn’t too dark and relatively easy to follow. I actually quite enjoyed the storyline and think it could have gone even deeper.

One for All is a gender-bent Musketeer retelling with disability representation and strong females taking the lead in seventeenth century France!