DNF at 43%.

I was super interested in this book based on the description, but it did not deliver.

I'm afraid this book was a disappointment. I was hoping to fill in the little bit of knowledge I have about the court of the Sun King but there was very little about Versailles other than a mention of the Hall of Mirrors I've seen pictured and that one of the characters was no longer amazed by the gilded figures carved on the doors. The main character's niece writes and askes for descriptions of the glorious ball gowns she had heard a little about. All she got was a bit about how uncomfortable it is to wear a wire armature with your hair wrapped around it. We hear there are scandals but never "see" anything happen. The answer to the mysterious scandal was easy to figure out well in advance.. The one spicy bit is a famous character telling the young man about town the 4 steps to making love to a woman. That should be printed out, laminated and handed out. Very on point. The book shows promise but needs details to make it interesting.

I'm not posting a review on Goodreads because I hope the book is improved.

Hall of Mirrors is a very interesting historical fiction novel on a time period that is not often covered in historical fiction. Roxane Lalande blends historical characters and events with the mystery elements very well and it was very enjoyable.

The story is set at Versailles (France) during the reign of Louis XIV, the Sun king.
A lady in waiting (Mathilde) finds a locket that is bound to some horrible events. Mathilde informs her friend Catherine about the find and an investigation is started. The ladies they’re serving also get involved and we get to read about all the intrigues at the Royal Court. Vengeance, love, a little spice and that’s the basis for this story!
Enjoyed reading this book & loved that the author used real characters (prominent historical figures) in this story.

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The Silver Locket

When Mathilde finds a silver locket while sheltering in an old ruin with her friend Robin she doesn’t know the can of worms she has just opened.

The story is a mystery which four young people try to solve with the help of the girls employers. Caroline and Mathilde are handmaidens to a royal family. Robin is next in line for a title when his Uncle is gone and Chretien is the son of the groundskeeper. Quite an unlikely set of sleuths.

They will discover items and circumstances which will shock and disgust them. They will find out that their families , especially Robins, are hiding dark secrets.

Although they seek to find the secret of the locket and how it is linked to the murders they will never know the real story. The story twists and turns and you will not guess how it ends.

This is a mystery of royal families , hidden secrets, betrayals and jealousies. It is a story of mystery and of intrigue. The book was different than what I usually read, but it was a good book.

Thanks to Roxanne Lalande, The Book Whisperer, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy for my honest review.

This sounds so great, has such promise, but I just ended up disappointed. The writing was stilted and just didn't fit together very well. I couldn't force myself to continue, DNF approx 50% through.

The premise for this historical thriller was intriguing: the year, 1682; the location, the Palace of Versailles; the cast of characters drawn from royalty and the nobility, their servants and surrounding commoners; the events – triggered by the discovery of a silver locket inscribed with the enigmatic inscription ‘If you love me you shall follow’ and some human remains – uncovering a web of intrigue and mysterious goings-on at the royal court.

Unfortunately, this novel just didn’t really gel: the plot meandered and was jerkily paced; there was a lot of historical information seemingly included for the sake of it, as if the writer had done a lot of background research and was determined to include it whatever the impact on the novel; the characters were two-dimensional and most were not particularly sympathetic; many of the characters, particularly the upper-class ones had two names (formal and informal), which made it difficult to follow what was going on.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you love the current trend in historical murder mysteries this is for you. A well written, very historically researched novel that reads like an HBO series, lots of graphic scenes and some shock value sequences.
This isn’t my type of thing. I love the time period but I avoided the Versaille series because I like things more subtle and my characters more likeable. I think lots of things can be more artfully suggested. And people can be both interesting AND likeable.

Versailles, the Court of the Sun King and two mysteries to solve. Who could ask for more. Great characters along with a compelling story line that will keep you up late to keep reading. I really liked it. Thank you to NetGalley, the author and publishers for an e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was badly written and quite painful to read. From the very first paragraph, I knew it was going to be impossible to finish, which is a shame, because it's based on one of my favorite topics.

The story was really good, I love historical fiction books so I was really excited to read this one. I loved the characters in the story however, there were a lot of different point of views and character hopping which made the story drag. The topic of exploration might be hard for some to read especially about young boys however this was a norm during that time. There was great suspense that keeps you wanting to read it to find out what the locket was about and of course “Who did it?” Factor that made the story enjoyable.

CW: This book contains frequent mentions of childhood sexual assult.

It was obvious that a lot of historical research went into this book. The setting of Louis XIV Versalles was so well done that even in this work of fiction I felt like there were things to learn. I agree with the reviews that say this is a gripping story. Especially in the beginning I was quite taken with it and drawn in.

However, I did not love the author's frequent use of idioms and other common phrases. I looked up a few of them and found that they were in fact old enough to have been used at the time (ex. "A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush") but all of these common phrases kept pulling me out of the story. My other dislike was that I thought a few too many big reviels happened off-stage and were later retold for us readers. That's why I rated it three stars, an average book, and not more. I can see why some people have really liked it though. I would suggest giving this book a try if you have any particuliar interest in the reign of Louis XIV.

1682. Versailles When bones and a locket are discovered by her lady-in-waiting Elisabeth Charlotte d'Orleans investigates will the help of various staff. She puts herself in danger by wanting to discover the truth behind the death of her husband's first wife.
Interesting to read aabout life in and around Versailles, which I would have preferred to have read as a separate story, but there was not enough of a mystery for me.
Overall an interesting and well-written enjoyable read.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Hall of Mirrors by Roxanne Lalande is an incredible book! I loved the writing and the plot so much, very well done!

Interesting spin on Sun King Era at Versailles.
Compelling read regarding dynamics of Parsian court.
Enjoyed how the mystery was presented

I really wanted to love this book because it checked off all of the points of intrigue for me. Historical fiction. Royal courts. Dark secrets. Mystery and murder. Yes please! I DNF this at 20%.

To me, this book needed another edit, maybe two in order to really shine. The tone right from the beginning made the characters who kick the whole story off seem like they were children, but then a couple of chapters later those same characters were doing very adult things - oh no!
The bouncing around to different people all doing things at the same time was also a little off for me at times - I think a couple of edits to make some of those transitions clearer and better set up would do wonders.
Lastly, I noticed at times the author forgot to put in the actual character's names instead of placeholders. I noticed it happen the most with Mathilde.

I think if this were to go through one more major edit to flush out the characters a bit more, adding appropriate details where needed, improving some of the transitions, and fixing character names, I honestly would give it another go because the story overall is still very interesting to me.

Hall of Mirrors by Roxanne Lalalnde is a historical mystery fiction set in Versailles, France. The plot has been drawn incredibly great with keeping in mind the history. It created an environment of thrill right from the start. Romance and thrill has been mixed well. But, I was little disappointed with the climax. I expected it to be more terrifying. But, eventually the revelations just slumped.

The author has tried to provide with a mind blowing twist, but for me it didn't worked out. But, I will give the book 4 stars hoping that the author will surely bring out a sequel for the unanswered questions.

When you are interested in the Louis the XVI-era or were a fan of the Versailles series on TV and like to read detectives this is the book for you. To me as a layperson who is just a hobby historian it felt historically correct.

One day one lady-in-waiting is about to have her first sexual tryst somewhere in the woods near a ruined cottage when she feels something poking into her back (NOOOOOO not that!). It turns out to be a golden cross. Looking around they also find a human skull. But when the girl and her colleague lady in waiting come back it is gone. With the help of a commoner they discover more gruesome things. Their mistresses, two German princesses now one married to Monsieur the gay brother of the king and the other to the bore that is his son, also join in the search for the culprits.

I am not sure if the fact that I knew quite a bit about the historical figures helped or not when reading this book. I knew the scandals and what happened to whom what eliminates culprits but I guess that for a blank canvas reader it might on the other hand be difficult to grasp who is who while I was like "Oh yes that @sshole".

The description of this book was extremely interesting and exciting, but the actual book fell flat. The intrigue at Versailles was well portrayed, and I enjoyed the insight into the world of the ladies in waiting and the servants. Some of the plot points that should have been shocking and suspenseful were described in very tame, matter-of-fact ways, such as the initial discovery of the charred human remains. I liked the inclusion of letters, but since they were mostly one way, the sense of a correspondence was lost. Also, a scene that I would have anticipated as being the climax was described only in a letter, which led to a very underwhelming sense of closure. The last chapter was probably the most exciting part. Overall, the pacing was fine.

The characters on their own were not too exciting, and some seemed to be mostly caricatures. The dialogue between them sometimes felt exaggerated and overdone. I did appreciate the inclusion of several well-known historical figures, such as Henriette of England Julie d'Aubigny. This book's greatest strength is its portrayal of the atmosphere of backstabbing and shifting alliances in Versailles. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about Versailles, court life in the late 1600s, and tensions between France, Germany, and England. As far as a mystery, suspense, or thriller, this book falls flat, but it is an effective historical depiction.

The Duke of Saint-Simon, the best scandal monger & genial chronicler of the court of Louis XIV, would have been very proud of Ms Lalande's astonishing and brillant novel about the dangerous world of Versailles at the tail-end of the 17th century and its atmosphere of lust, hate, envy and very poisonous, intents, a royal golden trap where undigested slights, underhandness, bitchiness and smoldering jealousies reign supreme.
A cesspool of very devious sycophants and deceitful snakes in the entourage of the king's brother Philippe, the suspicious death of the latter's first wife, the beautiful Henriette Stuart and some malevolent secrets discovered by Liselotte, his second wife are at the center of this magnificent novel build with a plot as twisty as the many corridors of the royal palace and blessed with a cast of unprepossessing and disgusting characters.
I just loved this novel and I must definitely command its author for the amount of research she must have done prior to diving into its writing. Bravo👏👏

A higly recommended historical thriller elegantly written & a boisterous tale of Royal shenanigans.
Hopefully this wonderful novel will be translated into French. I do hope so!

Many thanks to Netgalley and the Book Whisperer for this terrific ARC

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