The Girl From Versailles tells the story of a teenage girl in the service of Marie Antoinette at the dawn of the French Revolution. She must navigate a tense political world and find where her true loyalties lie. Torn between a queen who she knows to be nothing more than human and sympathy for the revolution, the main character must find her own place in history.

First off, a warning: this book has a fair amount of gore. Given that this centers on the French Revolution, it’s definitely understandable, yet sometimes the odd unnecessarily graphic description would come out of nowhere. There were times where the detail was enough that I had to put down the book for a while, and this was almost enough to make me stop reading the book entirely. Since I didn’t have any trigger warning going in, consider this one for you.

I have to give the author credit for the overall premise of this book. Having the main character be someone caught between worlds at the start of the French Revolution is such a creative concept, and it is unique for me, at least. Giselle isn’t a particularly interesting main character, but she is perfectly situated to give the reader insight into both sides of the coin. This is something I think this book does particularly well; although we see Giselle and those she love’s personal opinions on the situation, the story paints both sides as both sympathetic and cruel without making either seem like the “good guys” or the “bad guys.” This grey morality presents an image of this time period that isn’t always seen.

I did, however, have a number of problems with this book. There are some anachronisms and liberties taken with history that probably won’t bother most people quite as much as it bothered me—it’s called historical fiction for a reason, of course. The romance felt rushed. There was no time to grow invested in the couple, even though I did find Léon endearing, and it wasn’t until almost the end of the book that romance subplot grew interesting. While I understand the need for the politics talk, I found the dialogue to be largely unrealistic and too weighed down by exposition. It’s not some mortal sin or anything, but at times it did take me out of the story.

Luckily, about halfway through the book the story picks up significantly, and I enjoyed the second half astronomically more than the first. The romance grew more interesting and the plot stronger and more emotional. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone not quite so stubborn as me didn’t make it that far; there were times in the first half that I almost DNFed. The ending felt a bit abrupt, but understandably so; I do think the latter half of the book made up for most of the faults of the first half.

I received a free e-ARC through Netgalley.
Giselle, our protagonist, is building a relationship with Marie Antoinette as a 16-year-old in the palace during these turbulent times as France evolved from a monarchy to the Republic. The secondary plot is her romantic relationship with Leon as she comes of age. A good story both for those who enjoy historical fiction and/or romance as well as those with an interest in this time period.

Loved it. Absolutely wonderful book to read, I highly recommend this. It’s a well written story and I feel like this sort of plot hasn’t been used that often so it’s very fresh in my mind.
Whilst reading the novel it is very easy to feel the pull of the characters. Obviously I can’t spoil anything but at one point I felt my heart break along with the main character. It was so good!
Also the cover art is lovely too.

I am sad to say that this one just didn't work out for me at all. I enjoyed that this was told within Marie Antoinette’s household but not in her POV. But I just really didn't care for Giselle at all. I think those who die hard enjoy historical romances might enjoy this one. I do however also think that this is one of those books that won't appeal to everyone.