I received a copy of this ebook in exchange for an honest review
This was actually really disappointing to me. I had hoped for a little more focus on the history and less on the.. passions of the figures. I wanted historical fiction not erotica.

A great read! Very well researched and definitely held my interest! I'll look for more from this author!

I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

The Empress caught my attention for two reasons: I was really intrigued to learn not too long ago that a junior branch of the Habsburgs ended up reigning for a while in Mexico, and I wanted to increase my consumption of books in translation. And while I feel this book did accomplish both for me, I also couldn’t help but feel let down by the book in general.

The politics of the era and how Maximilian and Carlota ended up as Emperor and Empress are interesting, and I appreciated seeing things from Carlota’s perspective, especially as she’s very much out of her depth, in a loveless marriage, and ends up falling in love with someone else. I liked that balance of her struggling to acquaint herself with her new role and the personal turmoils she dealt with.

The book also includes some other perspectives I wasn’t that fond of, but I liked how they really colored the era. One of my favorites was a brief snapshot of Victor Hugo after having written Les Mis.

However, the narrative choices are also quite jarring, and led to me struggling with it even more than I anticipated. It goes back and forth in time without any real rhyme or reason, and while I’m not against a good dual timeline book, I feel the multiple timelines need to have a flow, and this one does not.

I didn’t love this, but I do think this book will have an audience, especially if you have more patience with the jumbled timeline. And it is one of the first books I can recall seeing about the topic (particularly from a woman’s perspective), so I think it’s worth trying on that basis alone.

I knew very little about Mexico’s emperor, Maximillian. I knew that he’d been appointed by Napoleon III in 1863 and that he met with little success. Carlota, has always seemed to be in the background so I appreciated this book focusing on her. Maximilan knows he’s being installed as a puppet, but his wife, Carlota has abilities that should have led to her being the leader. There’s a lot packed into this book including affairs and illegitimate children. There’s a ton of characters to keep track of and because the story is not told in chronological order, things can be confusing, but it is a quick book to read and you’ll know more about this confusing period in Mexican history.

# The Empress by author # Laura Martinez-Belli is historical novel. And the year is 1863. Through the eyes of Empress Carlota, the Empress of Mexico. A wonderful translation.
Thank you,
#Netgalley, # Laura Martinez-Belli, and # Amazon Crossing for the advanced copy

I LOVE reading and learning about royalty. Empress Carlota of Mexico was a woman I had no prior knowledge of. The Empress was an enlightening, fantastically written portrayal of history. A must read for fans of royalty and historical fiction.

Thank you NetGalley and Amazon Crossing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

For more reviews and bookish posts please visit: https://www.ManOfLaBook.com

The Empress by Laura Martinez-Belli (translated by Simon Bruni) is a novel about the life of Empress Carlota, wife of Maximilian von Habsburg of Austria who was, for a sort time, installed by the French as Mexico’s Emperor. Ms. Martínez-Belli is a successful author who has been translated to several languages.

I knew almost nothing about Maximilian, Mexico’s emperor, and nothing at all about his wife Charlotte (Carlota), so I was looking forward to read this book. I also have a soft spot for books which have been translated, since my personal theory is that if they weren’t excellent no one would bother.

In 1863 Napoleon III appointed Maximilian as emperor to Mexico. Together with is wife, Charlotte, a Belgian princess, they embark to take the throne. Maximilian knows that he is being installed as a puppet of the French, with very little real power and devotes much of his time to his hobbies and affairs (with both men and women) neglecting his young wife who has been waiting, for years, to consummate their marriage. As it turned out, young Charlotte, Carlota, is a much more savvy ruler then her husband, putting her energy into running the country and keeping out with the political changes and turmoil at home and abroad.

The Empress by Laura Martinez-Belli (translated by Simon Bruni) is on the long side, but it’s a quick read (comparatively speaking). The story is filled with every kind of court intrigue which would make Machiavelli proud. There are secrets, innuendos, forbidden affairs, illegitimate children, and a whole lot of deception by almost everyone with a name.

The author’s descriptions of Mexico’s landscape, people, and food are fantastic and really play an integral part in the ability to enjoy the book (kudos to Mr. Bruni for the great translation). I really enjoyed reading about the land from the point of view of the newly arrived Europeans, as well as that of the natives.

The cast of characters in this novel is big, and sometimes it’s difficult to keep track of. Add that to the fact that the novel is not told in a chronological order, which sometimes works but could be confusing at times as well. Unfortunately the character of Empress Carlota gets lost in the shuffle here and there, before she is brought back to the forefront.

One of the more fascinating characters in the book is Lieutenant Colonel Van der Smissen, commander of the Belgian Foreign Legion which was raised by Carlota’s father, Belgian King Leopold I, to protect his daughter. The legions was made of young men, almost all with no military experience. One third of the force was killed almost upon arrival in Mexico. Sworn to protect the empress, Van der Smissen became her lover at some point.

The book mixes history and drama, of an imploding world of a young woman who is tough and born to lead. It’s an exciting and gripping dramatization of life in a gilded cage, but it manages never sinks to the “rich poor girl” cliché.

This book was fascinating but I struggled to connect with the narrative voice, so it wasn’t really for me. I can definitely see this finding an audience with fans of Philippa Gregory or historical fiction.

for the first time english book this was really good, the characters were great and I felt that the grammar flowed like a native english speaker. I enjoyed learning about Empress Carlota .

A fascinating look at the short reign of Empress Carlota of Mexico. Martinez-Belli sends you into Carlota's to see her struggle for the acceptance of the Mexican people and the people who are determined to overthrow all European control. The only issue I had were the time jumps that I did not feel hindered the flow of the story.

I found this book just ok , I had a hard time relating to the characters or caring about what happened to them.

First I'd like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book for my review.

I had a hard time with The Empress. I found the topic interesting as it's about a royal I was not familiar with. It was definitely interesting to learn about the power/politics of Mexico at this time.

That being said, I found myself often bored while reading this book. I also felt like it jumped around too much from different periods in time to different characters.

I love historical fiction so I was excited about this book about the Mexican empress Carlota. However, this book is kind of a mess. I don't know if it's bad writing or some translation problems, but this book is hard to follow and choppy. It's redundant and not enjoyable. Unfortunately, this book just wasn't good. I would suggest some more editing and cutting out the sex scene that it starts with that is completely unnecessary and starts it off on the wrong foot.

Thank you to netgalley.com for the ARC.

This is a translated historical fiction story about an Austrian prince and princess who were made
Emperor and Empress of Mexico for a short period of time in the mid 1800's as part of political turmoil.

I had never heard of either of these people or the situation, so it made it interesting to read and then of course to google and get more information.

The characters were all flawed but it made for an interesting and sad story of Princess/Empress Carlota of Mexico.

I was glad to have read it and learned something new.

The Empress is a refreshing, fantastic piece of historical fiction, covering a place and time period that has been left relatively unexplored/neglected by the historical fiction genre on the whole. In a genre that is so overwhelmed by books set during WWI and WWII, it is always refreshing when an author chooses to go a different route.

The Empress was a story about the married couple of Maximillian and Charlotte and their time in Mexico during the nineteenth century. Maximillian was brother to the Austrian Emperor and an Archduke of Austria in his own right; Charlotte was a Belgian princess and cousin to Queen Victoria. They were chosen by Napoleon III, the French Emperor, and the conservative party in Mexico to establish the second empire in Mexico, becoming the de facto Emperor and Empress there. This story followed both Max and Charlotte, but focuses on Charlotte as she fins her strengths and really comes into herself while in Mexico.

This is a great story about a relatively unknown period of history that I, as a history buff, enjoyed learning about. After I finished the book, I went online and read more about the couple, their reign, and the period because I just needed to know more. It was that fascinating. I highly recommend this book to fellow history buffs who are tired of the usual WWII fiction.

As someone who prides herself on knowing some pretty random historical knowledge, I knew nothing about Empress Charlotte or Emperor Maximliion (or that they once ruled Europe). This was a a split narrative historical fiction that is suffers from a few too many narrators. I was very interested in the characters and the story but felt like I couldn't quite connect. In addition, I felt there was more to the back story of Constanza and Phillipe (ostensibly background characters).

I had a feeling I'd enjoy this book and I was so right! The only minor quibble I had with it was that it could have been shorter. But other than that, I'd say I enjoyed this book as much as the Borgia Chronicles novels by Kate Quinn -- which is to say, quite a lot.

The timeline jumps back and forth for successive alternating chapters but once you realize that, you won't have much trouble following the events. One of the protagonists is the Empress Carlota of Mexico. She's a strong female character who is capable to govern a nation. Even so, the usual suspects, such as an ongoing civil war, an inept husband, her gender, and the fact that she isn't Mexican thwart her plans throughout her very brief reign. As I read about the things she did like visiting sex workers and instituting laws for their protection and well being, I kept thinking what she might have done in the right circumstances.

There are other important characters too and it was interesting to read about them too. But what stood out the most was how the author entwined facts with fiction, resulting in a spectacular read!

I love historical novels and since I didn’t know anything about this royal couple I couldn’t wait to read this book.

Sadly it wasn’t the book for me. I had trouble getting into the story. The constant going back and forward in time just distracted me from getting involved in the story and the characters. I didn’t feel a connection to the main characters, about who they were and what their motives were.

I really couldn't get into this book. The writing style felt very on the surface and I struggled to picture the scenes of the courts and the characters. I was looking forward to reading this book and the premise sounded good but it was not for me unfortunately

Laura Martínez-Belli mostly succeeds in her daunting task of detailing the rise and downfall of Empress Carlota and Maximilian von Habsburg. I was impressed by the amount of historical details she managed to include as well as the side characters she inserted into the story; however, as other reviewers have mentioned, the lack of dialogue made it read more like a non-fiction textbook with fictional characters rather than as a work of historical fiction.

I was not in the right head space to finish this, unfortunately, but I think it would work really well for another lover of historical fiction.