One for All

DNF at 56%. As much as I desperately wanted to Love this, especially as someone who's also disabled (albeit in a different way), sadly the writing just wasn't there. It got to the point that I dreaded reading it. The pacing was off and there was a lot of unnecessary details. I truly did want this to be a new favorite, but unfortunately this just wasn't for me.

“Being sick meant, at any moment, the people I cared about could decide I wasn't worth the trouble I put them through”

This book means more to me than I can put into words. Is it perfect? No - Is it perfect for me? Absolutely yes.

The whole concept of the musketeers is new to me, I've never read much on it so I was going in blind. Saying this, I absolutely loved it. The book is filled with mystery, suspense and plot twists that had me on the edge of my seat. There's even some minor subplots of romance that were so much fun to read.

The representation in this book is amazing. It's not often you see chronically ill characters in books, and definitely not as the main character. You can tell that the character's experience with POTS comes from the own author's experiences because it feels so real. Tania's dizziness and symptoms are not just a convenient plot point but affect her everyday experiences. God they even managed to fit compression clothes into the story, which is harder than it seems as it was set in 17th France

Not only did it show the physical symptoms of chronic illness so well, but also the psychological issues. How even on the “good” days you're tormented with the fact that it could go bad at any moment. It even showed Tania dealing with grief in a way I think a lot of people can relate in one way or another.

This book is so important and will be one I treasure for a long time. Thank you to the author for writing this, it will make a lot of readers feel seen and heard in ways most people cannot even begin to imagine

“Un pour tous et tous pour un!”

“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

“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

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.

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION
I keep stumbling over coming up with my own synopsis, it's either too long, too spoiler-filled (although I wonder if I'd have said as much as this does), or too brief to be worth it. So, here's what the publisher has to say:

Tania de Batz is most herself with a sword in her hand. Everyone thinks her near-constant dizziness makes her weak, nothing but “a sick girl.” 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 new Musketeers: 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 sword fight.

With her newfound sisters at her side, Tania feels that she has a purpose, that she belongs. But then she meets Étienne, her target in uncovering a potential assassination plot. He's kind, charming—and might have information about what really happened to her father. Torn between duty and dizzying emotion, Tania will have to decide where her loyalties lie...or risk losing everything she's ever wanted.

One for All

Star Trek

why

* See the section head above for an accidental example of what I'm saying.

ONE FOR ALL

Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Macmillan Children's Publishing Group via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this. Although I'm sorry that this posted the day after publication, I tried, really.