Moving Historical Fiction with characters you will remember. Historical fiction readers that enjoy period pieces will enjoy this one.

"Antoinette's Sister" is a historical fiction based on the life of Maria Carolina (otherwise known as Charlotte), Archduchess of the Habsburg empire and ultimately Queen of Naples and Sicily. The title comes from the fact Maria Carolina was Marie Antoinette's sibling and, in fact, one of the people leading the charge to try to save Marie Antoinette during the Revolution.

What's good: The book is genuinely fascinating, focusing on a lesser-known figure. The author doesn't ignore some of Charlotte's messier characteristics (i.e., a temper) and her strained relationships. It also paints a portrait of what it was like as a royal mother to bury multiple children.

What's iffier: The book feels like it runs too short. I almost wish for more time spent in Charlotte's childhood, more time to just *be* in this world before the overall sweep of the plot carries us away.

This book was generously granted to me by Netgalley and its publisher in exchange for an unbiased review.

As a lover of historical fiction, I thought this was a really great read. The novel transports you to the eighteenth century and gives you a seat at the tables of the Kings and Queens of Austria, Naples and France. The Empress of the Holy Roman Empire, Maria Theresa of Austria, manipulates the betrothals of her children in order to gain greater power, throughout all of Europe, for the Hapsburg dynasty. However, the main character in this story is Maria Carolina Charlotte who is the tenth daughter of the Empress and sister to Marie Antoinette. When Charlotte is forced to marry King Ferdinand IV of Naples she begins to exert her own power over their kingdom, while at the same time she is helpless to save her sister from her fateful destiny in France.

The lives and loves of these strong women spill onto the pages and immerse the reader into a different time and place. The letters between many of the characters, at the end of each chapter, were a great conduit to outlining the story. I would highly recommend this book to fans of Philippa Gregory or Michelle Moran or to readers who enjoy anything royal or who are looking for an escape.

My sincere thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for a digital review copy of this book, which is available now in bookstores and libraries.

I was drawn in by the gorgeous cover (seriously, isn't it so eye-catching?!) and the premise, especially since I have previously enjoyed books set during this time period. However, this novel ended up being a mixed bag for me.

First, the positives: I love the strong female protagonist. Giovinazzo does a really good job at portraying female strength that feels appropriate for the time period. I found this inspiring.

The novel is also very evocative in terms of the scene-setting. As a reader, you really feel like you are being let in behind the scenes, which is entertaining. Also, the descriptions are sumptuous and lush with cinematic details. I could definitely see this being made into a great movie.

Now for the negative: there is quite a bit of explaining/exposition that bogs down the narrative. At first, I gave it the benefit of the doubt and figured, well, the author is having to explain things to make sure we are set up at the beginning. However, ultimately, too much politics and exposition got in the way of the narrative. I wish the politics had bubbled up organically from the dramatic action rather than slowing it down.

However, I still recommend this for readers of historical fiction, especially if they are interested in this time period and enjoy strong female characters.

From The Historical Novels Review, February 2022:
Charlotte, born Maria Carolina to Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa, tells her story in this biographical novel. Her sister, Marie Antoinette, was the most famous of sixteen siblings, but Charlotte has her own fascinating life. The Empress arranged politically advantageous marriages for many of her children. Charlotte is married to King Ferdinand IV and sent to Naples. At fifteen, she has difficulty accepting her fate and finds her new husband to be childish, irresponsible, and uninterested in ruling. Instead, he spends his time hunting and playing make-believe games with the common people such as a fishmonger or an innkeeper. This endears him to his subjects, but is detrimental to Naples under the rule of his regent, Tenucci.

The Empress wisely included a clause in the marriage contract giving Charlotte the right to take a place on the governing council once she has produced an heir. The first third of the novel is lackluster through Charlotte’s childhood and early years of her marriage. When she finally provides an heir, the narrative picks up and interest builds when Charlotte, who has been observing and learning, challenges Tenucci to take her rightful place in the governance of Naples, upsetting the status quo.

She matures into an intelligent, formidable leader able to match wits with deceitful, power-hungry men. As Ferdinand ages, he still has no interest in ruling, but he changes from a buffoon into a tender, loving father to his seventeen children. Each chapter ends with a letter from people in her circle, primarily Marie Antoinette. These are unconvincing as personal letters, but read as news items to provide a view of events outside of Naples. They do add interesting context as we follow what is taking place in revolutionary France through Marie Antoinette’s missives. This novel is enjoyable for its family drama and political power plays.
Janice Ottersberg

I don't know what I was really expecting from this book was just okay. I didn't love it but it certainly was better than many books I've read. I also am a mood reader and don't think I was in the mood for this one.

I rounded up to 4 because it kept my attention and was interesting.

I liked all the history and getting to see a character’s whole life. The author does a great job of taking history and making it come to life. While I don’t normally care for much politics in the books I read, the author always has a great balance and keeps me interested even in the politics.

This time of history is fascinating to me and it was fun to watch it come to life.

With following the whole life, the connection was hard to make with the characters and really getting to know them deep. They were just characters on the page instead of in my head coming to life.

Thank you to netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review. These opinions are my own.

I am all in when it comes to learning about History in a fictional narrative. I will have to say that I have never read anything about Charlotte, Marie Antoinette's Sister, so I was elated to be approved for this Netgalley so that I could learn more. This book absolutely did not disappoint as it showed me a glimpse into the Royal family and the lives they led "behind the walls" so to speak. The way in which it is written is intriguing and kept my attention rapt as I navigated alongside the characters as I journeyed through this novel. It is well described, appropriately paced and highly interesting. I recommend this for sure!

Book about royalty? Say less! I was so excited when I was approved for this book because I can't resist any book about royalty and court life.

The book is a fictionalized version of one of Marie Antoinette’s sister, Charlotte. Marie and Charlotte were inseparable sisters and children of Hapsburg Empress Maria Theresa of Austria in the late 18th century. Marie Antoinette’s story has been told many times (my favorite is Kirsten Dunst’s movie version), but how many times do we get to hear about her sister’s? We follow Charlotte from her time in Austria to when she becomes Queen of Naples, and how the French Revolution takes a toll on her life and relationships. Queen Charlotte takes charge of the situation and is able to govern when her husband can’t. Talk about female leadership!

This is about a period of history I know little about, so I had to read a little on Wikipedia to make sure I was following the story. I learned so much about the powerful Hapsburg family. I also found it interesting how various letters were interspersed between chapters to give other character’s perspectives as well. This book was such a unique concept that was executed very well.

I would recommend this book to anybody who enjoys women-centric historical fiction about European court life in the late 1700s. There’s a reason that some of my favorite books are all about royals, including Red, White, and Royal Blue, Tokyo Ever After, and the Princess Diaries.

Thank you to the author and Grand Central Publishing for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a great lover of biographical and historical fiction, so a novel that revolves around the sister of Marie Antoinette and daughter of Maria Theresa intrigued me from the very beginning. I enjoyed many things about the book. First and foremost was the view into a royal that is not well known. Charlotte is a strong and interesting character even without the ties to her more famous family. It is clear that a lot of research went into this novel but it never feels like a stodgy history book. Instead history comes to life here. I loved all the details of life in the palace and the political intrigue of the times. This book was compelling and I was engrossed in the wonderful story telling. But most importantly, it left me wanting to learn more. This was my first book by this author and I look forward to seeing what she will do next.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest and fair review.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. This was a great read for me, it was interesting learning about a historical figure that I had never heard of before. The pace of the story was decent and I also really enjoyed the characters. The only problem I had was that some of the letters included at the ends of the chapters felt out of place.

Thank you @grandcentralpub and @netgalley for my gifted copy!

"As Marie Antoinette took her last breath as Queen of France, another formidable monarch, Antoinette's sister Charlotte, was in Naples fighting desperately to secure her release from the revolutionaries. Little did Charlotte know, however, that her sister's execution would change the course of history and bring about the end of her own empire."

What I liked:
- It was refreshing to read about a strong, independent female lead in Maria Carolina Charlotte, a character who is often overlooked in history due to the infamous story of her sister.
- I really admired Maria Carolina's efforts to improve the Sicilian government and enforce political action to benefit the people, and she did this amongst a government of men who challenged her every move.
- I enjoyed reading and learning about the dynamics of Maria Carolina's relationships with her husband, children and siblings, and how the toll of war with France affected their livelihood and familial relationships.

Why I was disappointed:
- Although I enjoyed aspects of this historical fiction, what was lacking for me was the emotional connection to these characters and their story. In my favorite historical fiction novels, I become so invested in the characters, their emotions and their journey, but this novel's writing left me feeling quite neutral. It didn't spark the emotion I was hoping to achieve.
- After each chapter, there is a letter that foreshadows what's to come in the novel or provides another character's perspective. I typically enjoy the addition of letters in historical fiction, but I did find it odd and at times confusing that the letters were most often out of order, and typically did not align with the timeline in the current story. I routinely had to check the dates of these letters and compare to the date of the next chapter to ensure I was keeping the events straight in my mind. I do appreciate the author's efforts here, but I think it could have been utilized more efficiently.

Wow! This book is SO GOOD! It is powerful, moving, emotional, thought-provoking, gripping, and so much more! Whenever I picked up "Antoinette's Sister", I was whisked back in time to the 1700s and early 1800s, and went on such an emotional journey with this story.

This is the first book I have read by Diana Giovinazzo, and it will certainly not be my last! Her writing style is visceral, vivid, detailed, and incredibly well-researched. I can only imagine the amount of time she spend researching this book, as each aspect: from the story being told, to the historical figures brought to life, to the various locations, etc. jumped right off of the page before my eyes. They all also felt so authentic to the time period the book is set in. I could really envision everything, and often forgot I was reading a book as I was so swept away into the story.

This book tells the story of Maria Carolina Charlotte, who becomes Queen of Naples and Sicilty. We first meet Charlotte as a young girl, who absolutely adores her sister Antoinette. The two have a very close relationship and spend all of their time together, until their mother separates them thinking they are bad influences on one another. Charlotte and Antoinette promise they will never allow themselves to be separated, and that they will find a way to communicate.

When their sister Josepha dies, Charlotte is chosen to marry King Ferdinand IV of Naples, and her life is changed forever as she is sent away to be queen. I do not want to spoil too much of this book plot wise, but, I will say, this book is a must-read. So much history is in this book, and everything weaves together in a story that is difficult to put down.

I found the concept the letters being written throughout very interesting, and think the author did a wonderful job of tying them in to what the chapter is about in many ways. I found this very unique and intriguing!

If you enjoy historical fiction novels, I highly recommend this book! It kept me turning the pages to see what would happen chapter after chapter, and I so look forward to reading what Ms. Giovinazzo writes next! I also look forward to doing more research of Maria Carolina Charlotte, and her life and times too.

Thank you so much to Grand Central Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book, and to Grand Central Publishing for sending me a beautiful finished copy as well, it is incredible! All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

Having read a number of books about Marie Antionette and her mother, Maria Theresa, I was very pleased to get an advanced reader’s copy of “Antionette’s Sister” by Diana Giovinazzo which is about Maria Carolina (Charlotte).

One of the most difficult things to convey is a way to keep track of all of Maria Theresa’s children - there were a lot and most of them were married into other ruling families. It doesn’t help any that most of her children went on to have a great number of their own children (and repeated names!) so it can add to a bit of a tangled bit of names to track. Ms. Giovinazzo nicely has a family tree listing Maria Theresa’s children - and a separate tree listing Charlotte’s children. I found myself consulting it (and online sources) quite a bit.

Out of all of Marie Theresa’s children, the best known is Marie Antionette, which is rather sad because a number of Marie Theresa’s children had their own exciting lives. The publisher’s summary details this book better than I can - but suffice to say that Charlotte did not lead a dull life and, luckily, she learned a bit of running a country from others, including her mother, brothers, and advisors.

While I enjoyed learning more about Charlotte - along with how strong she was mentally (and physically having so many children) - I felt like there was something missing in her story. Of course, as this is a fictionalized first-person book, it’s impossible to know what she was thinking and feeling, but there is a gap of a number of years from when Charlotte had four or five children and then she’s expecting her eighth, I think, when the story picks back up. Ms. Giovinazzo also includes letters (real? made-up? a combo?) at the end of each chapter that sometimes from the future (such as the chapter discussing 1768 but the concluding letter being written in 1770) or the past - it was a bit confusing. I liked the idea of the letters as they usually paralleled the chapter’s content (such as Charlotte falling for Sir John Acton and Antionette falling for Axel von Fersen). But at times the letters didn't help move the story along. I also liked that Charlotte surrounded herself with smart people - Sir John Acton and Sir William Hamilton were helpful and knowledgeable advisers - and that Ms. Giovinazzo explored their characters a bit more - including a bit about Lady Hamilton and Lord Nelson. I do wish that the Author’s Note had included the sources (she advises readers to see her Goodreads page for the list), but that’s minor.

Because of her grisly end, Marie Antoinette has become the best known daughter of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria. But Antoinette was only the youngest of 15 offspring, ⅔ of whom were girls. This book follows the life of Maria Carolina (all the daughters shared their mother's first name), known as Charlotte at her own request. Three years older than Antoinette, Charlotte considered herself her youngest sister's twin, and the two of them were inseparable until their mother decided they were a bad influence on each other and forced them onto different paths.

Originally, Charlotte was destined to become queen of France, raising questions of how that might have affected the course of the French Revolution. But the death of yet another sister sent Charlotte to Naples and Antoinette to Paris. Already married by proxy, Charlotte was at first not much enchanted by her husband, Ferdinand, a kindly but ugly man with no interest in governance. But while he hunted, she took over his counsel, applying the lessons learned from her empress mother even as she birthed 16 children.

As the situation in France deteriorated, though, Charlotte became steadily more hostile to French ambassadors, French culture, and even the French language. After the executions of her sister and brother-in-law, that hostility deepened. Through her prime minister, Sir John Acton, she strengthened her secret ties with Britain, contributing to an alliance against Napoleon that would have dire consequences for Naples, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies, and Charlotte herself..

I read an ARC, so I won't comment on ordinary typos, but there are a couple of small but distracting errors that must come from the author, such as modes of address. Sir William Hamilton, for example, would be addressed as Sir William, not Sir Hamilton. But his wife (confusingly, I admit) would be Lady Hamilton, never Lady Emma, a title reserved for the daughters of dukes and earls. I also doubt that social and political forces like the French Revolution or Napoleon's desire for conquest could have been stopped by one woman, no matter how talented.

But this is a novel, and its main character must therefore be front and center. I found it interesting to be reminded of how powerful and widespread Habsburg influence was in early modern Europe; how valiantly Maria Theresa guarded her inheritance; and how difficult society made life for strong-willed women, even queens. Queen Charlotte was a remarkable if not always lovable person, and it's good to see her get her due at last.

I feel my review of this book will be a little skewed because I have read numerous non-fiction accounts of the Hapsburgs. With that being said I believe the author does a fantastic job at shedding light on some of the lesser known children of Empress Maria Theresa of Austria, specifically Charlotte. While Marie Antoinette of France is the most notorious, the other children equally influenced the course of European history. Maria Carolina Charlotte was a force to be reckoned with. When her sister Josepha dies, Charlotte is forced to marry a man she loathes. She took every opportunity to shape both her life and her adopted home of Naples into examples of culture and independence. On the flip side though Charlotte was portrayed as being driven by emotion, especially when it came to her sister Marie Antoinette. The insertion of letters into the book served more as a distraction even though I believe there was good intent on the author's part for including them.

I received a copy of this title via NetGalley.

Charlotte, the sister of Marie Antoinette. 3 years apart and closer than twins. Charlotte becomes the Queen of the Two Sicilies and Marie the Queen of France. They correspond regularly as they become Mothers and all through the uprising against the royal family in France. Charlotte hears of her closest sister's death after fighting for ways to save her. Charlotte shows an indomitable spirit throughout the entire book. She takes the reins of Naples in her husband Ferdinand's stead. She is a competent ruler and Mother. After her sister's death, she eschews everything and everyone French, causing a national uprising. In the end, she sees Naples restored and Napoleon Bonaparte defeated. Charlotte was responsible for the salons she hosted and art that was brought in. For the olive trees planted in the wasteland. Marie Antoinette had such a fascinating and devastating life that I'm not surprised Charlotte was overshadowed and misconstrued. I love strong female characters, fictional or otherwise. Lovely book, I devoured it. Thank you to NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for the advanced read.

Given the opportunity to always read about French history, I requested this book. Unfortunately, I really don't think the author did her research. Even though it's genre is classified "historical fiction" the need for accuracy is still necessary. However, thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

While I have read numerous books on Marie Antoinette, there is very little written about her sister Maria Charlotte. This novel shows how great a queen Maria Charlotte was. A few things detracted from the novel was the other characters were not as well-developed and seemed more like plot devices. Also, the letters at the end of each chapters seemed jarring and out of place with the plot due to the letters being in a different timeline. This kept me distracted from the story. Still, this novel showed the love between two sisters. I recommend this for fans of Marie Antoinette!

This is an interesting attempt to write a fictionalized, first person novel based on the life of Maria Carolina, Marie Antoinette's sister, and ruler of Bourbon Two Sicilies through the French Revolutionary period. The problem is that if you're going to write about the Regency period, you have to be grounded in research. Giovinazzo doesn't have it, in really basic things, like that Sir William Hamilton is not "Sir Hamilton." That neither the author or editor caught happening over and over this is a red flag that there's just a lack of expertise and care.