This was a great story! It has a nice mix of historical facts about the Haitian and French revolutions and then the fictional tale of Sylvie's life. The characters were great! I especially liked learning more about the painter Éléonore Duplay, Napoleon and Josephine and many more and seeing Sylvie's character change and grow throughout the story! The author does not shy away from the dark events that took place during this time period nor does she shy away from the beauty and hope that develops in Sylvie's life and both of those make this book really come to life! Thank you Let's Talk Books and Berkley Books for sharing this fantastic story with us!

I enjoyed this historical fiction novel and the unique point of view of the main character. Anything that helps me humanize and understand complex events—such as the French and Haitian revolutions—is a win in my book, and I really loved that it was told from a woman’s perspective, and that it did not shy away from the inconsistencies in application of ideals of the French Revolutions. Well done.

thank you PRH international for sending me an EARC of this book!

3 stars!

Okay, wow this was heavy and definitely not what i was expecting. Let me start saying that this book was absolutely BEAUTIFULLY written and absolutely flawlessly done. The book was easy to follow, POWERFUL, had such important and crucial conversations handled. Also the representation was absolutely flawless. Then, why did i rate it what i consider is low for such a powerful and crucial story?

I went into this story believing it would be a historical ROMANCE with queer and afrolatine rep. However, this story was actually HISTORICAL FICTION with a very small romantic subplot. Historical fiction is a genre i personally don't enjoy and tend to struggle with, so to be fair, that is on me and not the book or the author whatsoever. But i still wish i knew this beforehand.

There is a main plot of a sapphic couple, however very complex, and again very secondary when it comes to the story as a whole. If you enjoy POC rep in your stories, specially in a society where POC struggle to have a place and to be heard, this story will be powerful and perfect for you. If you enjoy historical fiction, and a female main character who is badass and brave and FLAWED but learns and grows from her mistakes, then you need this story. If you have ever wanted to read more about the France post revolution, aka the Reign of Terror, all told by a POC woman who always ends up involved in these political situations, you will CHERISH this story.

The author did a flawless job on telling this story and creating this incredible character. I just wish that was enough to make me fall in love with it. I'm, sadly, not the target audience for it. But i do cherish the story and the representation it gave, as well as will reflect upon many things this story taught me.

Sivak’s bold debut is an original take on the Haitian and French Revolutions, seen from the viewpoint of a biracial woman awakening to her privilege and learning how to wield it in liberty’s name. In 1791, Sylvie de Rosiers, eighteen and beautiful, is the cosseted only daughter of a coffee planter in Saint-Domingue, a French colony in the West Indies. Her father’s status means she was born free, unlike the Black mother she never knew, and she disdains politics in favor of standard feminine pursuits. But the island’s enslaved people are rising in rebellion. After she sees Vincent Ogé executed for his racial justice activism, Sylvie realizes her complicity in the horrific system.

The action scenes are strikingly written as Sylvie and her half-brother Gaspard narrowly escape being killed and, eventually, sail to Paris, where they stay with their kindly aunt. Among their neighbors are the Duplay family and their soon-to-be-famous tenant, Maximilien Robespierre. As Sylvie’s mind expands through their conversations, she falls into an affair with Robespierre’s confidante and mistress, Cornélie Duplay, though admires Robespierre deeply and can’t get him off her mind.

It takes audacity to insert a fictional character amidst the French Revolution’s major players, but Sivak manages to pull it off. That said, Sylvie can be reckless—leaving the house in pearls with impoverished sans-culottes nearby isn’t the brightest move—and the prose occasionally lands heavily. The scope is impressively wide-ranging as Sylvie, from her unique vantage as a woman of color, observes the shifts between different political factions and realizes her power and its limitations.

Cinematic details unfold on the page as violent discord plays out on Paris’s streets and Sylvie ponders the similarities and differences between the two revolutions. Thought-provoking and passionate, this story marks Sivak as an author worth watching.

(From the Historical Novels Review, August 2022)

This book had such an interesting premise and I really liked how it was executed. The plotline was well planned and there was the perfect blend of historical elements and interpersonal themes throughout. It explores such an interesting setting and time period of an island colony and the slavery that was the structure of society at the time; it is a part of history that is not often focused on in popular culture. The emotional aspect of Sylvie’s journey was sometimes hard to read but that was because it was so powerful and realistic, without holding back on the struggles she had to go through. This was such a thought-provoking read and I really enjoyed it!

As the daughter of a rich white planter and a slave, Sylvie has trouble with her identiy and where she belongs. When Sylvie and her family are forced to leave during the Saint-Domingue uprising, she finds herself in France. There, she meets Robespierre and his paramour, Cornelie Duplay.

I hate to say this, but this book felt like a cheap harlequin romance novel. I found Sylvie a bit of a snob and hard to like. Most of the secondary characters felt stereotypical. I found it really hard to get into the story. Overall, not a book I would recommend or reread.

Sylvie de Rosiers, the daughter of a wealthy landowner and enslaved woman, has never been fully accepted into 1790s Saint-Domingue society. When the Haitian Revolution begins, Sylvie and her brother escape the violence by fleeing to Paris. But little does Sylvie know, she’s inserted herself into another world-changing revolution — and a love triangle with Maximilien Robespierre and his mistress.

YES YES YES to more queer, diverse historical fiction!!! This was a great balance of real history, daring adventure, and steamy romance. I loved getting a glimpse into past events through Sylvie's eyes. Can't wait to read more books from Zoe Sivak in the future!

I knew absolutely nothing about this period of time. I really like when historical fiction lends some attention to a period of time or an event where I have zero knowledge.
.
This book was a lot more intense than I expected but that’s not a bad thing! This story is about revolution, bravery and loyalty and it is available now!
.

Huge thank you to @berkleypub @berittalksbooks @thephdivabooks @dg_reads and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sylvie de Rosiers, the freeborn daughter of a wealthy Haitian planter, lives a life of privilege until the slave revolt. Forced to escape with her family, Sylvie and her brother Gaspard flee to Paris to safety with their aunt Fifi. But they are soon swept up in the French Revolution and fall under the spell of Robespierre and his fellow revolutionaries.

Interesting subject matter but the writing fell short. I hope an editor worked through this one before publication. Lots of drama that will appeal to the YA crowd, although the LGBTQ may put off some readers.

This novel has a lot to unpack - Haitian Revolution, French Revolutionaries, slavery and bi-racial female lead. I was intrigued up to the point she fled to France with her brother - it all went sideways at this point for me. Overall it was an ok read that had a strong opening and dragged on a bit too long...

Thank you Berkley for the advance reader copy of this novel.

I wanted so much more about Haiti. I eagerly consumed the first quarter of this book - such amazing detail regarding Sylvie's life as a mulatto in Haiti. Her social standing based upon her father's was not something I was aware occurred. This gave her some freedoms - yet Sylvie struggled to be accepted by either race.
The slave revolt forces Sylvie and her family to flee to the southern states of America. Refusing to stay with her family, Sylvie joins her brother - seeking residence with their father's sister. Her life expands - a need for attention allows her to ingest the revolution's literature. Equal rights, human rights, the need to ease poverty. And of course her relationship with Robespierre and his lover, Cornélie.
Harsh in its depiction of war, realism of seeking solace from close friends while struggling with the exhaustion of revolution.

So I actually haven't finished this yet, but I am enjoying it. Initially, Sylvie's character is painfully materialistic and ignorant, and intentionally so. Even halfway through the book, she has grown and shifted her perspective in some incredible ways, but she's still fairly superficial. Though frustrating, I really appreciate a character who doesn't suddenly change their mind and their life when the Call to Action appears. I love that she's trying and doing the best she can with what she knows for reasons that make sense to her. I don't know much about this period of history, but the setting and characters feel rich and real. I'll definitely be returning to see Sylvie finally (I hope) embrace and love herself and the revolutionary changes it will bring.

An absolutely brilliant historical novel about the French Revolution from the eyes of a biracial woman who has just left Haiti in the midst of its own rebellion. Sivak writes with knowledge and empathy, taking care to address each issue honestly and from the eyes of a flawed woman. What is so incredible about this book is that the reader learns alongside Sylvie, and be by her side as she starts to come into her own and raise her voice in a room full of privileged white French revolutionists. Zoe Sivak's tone is witty and evocative - she builds a huge world while taking special care to go into the gory details at just the right moments. I have been raving about this book for weeks and cannot stop thinking about it. I can't wait for Sivak's next book!

Wow. There’s so much to unpack here.

I really expected to like this book…… BUT …. I didn’t really like it. I think this is meant to be YA, but it reads very simple to the point of awkward at times. I didn’t enjoy the writing style at all.

As for the story, there was a lot of moving parts here, and I think it was just a bit more than the author could do well. Our protagonist was a young biracial girl from a French colony (now haiti) born to a white planter father and an enslaved mother. She flees Haiti during the Revolution there. I think up to this point the book was solid. There was a lot going on here in Sylvie’s understanding and development of issues. The author choose to rush this into the first 20% though and send our MC fleeing to Paris.

This led to a cultural upheaval and social shift for our MC that changed the main thrust of the book to something different. She then falls in with a set of revolutionaries and becomes so enraptured with one that she seems to use every single other person in her life (cruelly) to get close to and possess this man. This leads to involvement in the French Revolution AND an affair with this revolutionary’s mistress. This is where we just descend into chaos.

The relationship between MC and the Man is just not shown on the page, but she is obsessed with him to the point she takes his lover as her own and cruelly uses her for years. She also becomes involved with the French Revolution seemingly to impress him while not seeming to understand it (or give any knowledge to the reader in the meantime). (There are obviously tons of deaths and cruelty and graphic depictions of murder, riot, rape, state sanctioned deaths, racism, classism, etc. so pleased be advised.) Throughout, the MC is consistently self-centered, vain, and self-serving. This is painted under a veil of survival, but the MC doesn’t seem to grow or even offer great rational explanations to tough moral conundrums, she just reacts to everything with little thought or even evidencing a “trying to do the right thing” vibe. (Albeit this simplistic writing style could contribute to the lack of formed intentions by the MC).

I did like the setting of both the Haitian Revolution and the French one. I just wish this character could have been in one and truly dug deeper into the setting and the political and social circumstances while personally growing. Instead, I felt like both were kinda half-a$$ed while the MC flits around in a frantic haze never seeming to grow and with 432 pages in this one, this just got tiresome and boring.

I did really appreciate the author’s note, and I would urge the author to write more novels and to do so in the more elegant and knowledgeable verbiage of the note rather than the tone of the book.

What a debut! I am just amazed by this book’s brilliance and dynamic and fierce characters. I’m so glad I have found a new author to read! Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction. I cannot wait to read what this author writes next.

It is no one's surprise that Mademoiselle Revolution is an action packed book about rebellion. But truly the action will sweep you away and carry you out of Haiti and to France. Sylvie must contend not only with her complex family relationships, but also a new society in which she feels Othered. Somehow not quite belonging to any one category. As someone who is adopted, this struggle of finding a place to fit in, being marked as Other, and unsure of where we belong - resonated with me. What I loved was how Mademoiselle Revolution explores being a biracial heroine.

Of not feeling like her family accepts her and being unsure of where she belongs in society. Benefiting from the wealth and status of her slave owning father, while also being reminded of her mother's status as a slave. Or of moving to Paris and being marked by her upbringing, even when those around her see her biracial identity clearly. Mademoiselle Revolution began by sweeping me in away in its discussions of family. What it means to us. And how we can look past what is in front of our eyes.

So I picked this book based on the cover. It looked cool and was under ya historical fiction so I thought I would give it a try. So going into this I was completely blind and I think that works best for this book because I didn’t have any preconceived notions of what this book should have been.

This book is about the Haitian Revolution and the French Revolution. This book was so interesting and if you read it please read the authors notes because Zoe speaks about how the enslaved peoples uprising in Haiti started the wheels in motion for what would become the civil war in America. The topic was interesting especially how the French Revolution was seen from people inside the revolution.

This book is powerful and emotional. There are some more graphic parts but war and revolutions are messy so please go in knowing that. Please do yourself a favor and read this book.

I want to say thank you to Netgalley, Zoe Sivak, PRH Audio and Berkley Books for not only the digital but audio copies of the book. The narration done by Imani Jade Powers was so captivating and brought the story to life.

Sylvie de Rosiers has lived her whole life on her white father's coffee plantation in Saint-Domingue. She is beloved by her father and one of her brothers, Gaspard, reviled by the other and tolerated by her father's wife. As much as her father loves her, has pampered her and given her everything she wants, she knows she does not fit in, amongst her white siblings or the slaves that they own. It is an existence she feels she must accept--until the rebellion started by Vincent Ogé, a Creole aristocrat, ends in his ghastly execution, one that her elder brother insists she sees. The man is put upon the wheel and broken, and it is this act that wakes the revolutionary hidden in Sylvie's heart.

The masters thought it would end the rebellion to kill the voice of it--they thought wrong. As Saint-Domingue burns, plantation after plantation taken over by slaves, Sylvie and her brother escape, fleeing to France in the hopes of peace. But France is in the middle of its own revolution, headed by the icy Maximilien Robespierre. Here, Sylvie will find education as a rebel of France, and fall into a soul-consuming love, not only for Robespierre, but for his mistress, Cornélie Duplay. And as we know, history is not kind to revolutionaries.

I loved this book, and some of that is the amazing writing, the time-period, etc., but most of it is because of the protagonist, who starts off as being almost unlikeable but always understandable, and develops so well over the book into a woman who is not afraid to challenge the status quo. Sivak does something that is so hard as a writer--lets her character be full of faults, and slowly, so slowly we hardly notice it, lets her develop into someone we want to succeed over everything, and love. Revolutionary France comes to vivid life in Mademoiselle Revolution, and I loved every one of the little details that were put in, so obviously well-researched! And of course, loved seeing so many historical figures: Danton! Napoleon and Josephine! Marat and his killer, Charlotte Corday!

This book is a contender for one of my favorites of the year, and I can't wait for everyone to get their hands on it and experience Sylvie de Rosiers--revolutionary, woman, sister, and Rhea Silvia!

Sylvie is the product of her father, an owner of a Haitian slave plantation, and her mother, a slave who died giving birth to her. Growing up acknowledged by her father and with all the privilege that it entails - Sylvie has never wanted for anything but has also never fully been seen by the whites of the island because of her skin. When the Haitian revolution comes to her doorstep, Sylvie and her brother flee to France, unknowingly walking into yet another brewing revolution. As Sylvie and her brother emerge in Paris, they are brought into the sphere of Robespierre and his mistress, Cornelie Duplay. Sylvie finds herself drawn to both of them while the flames of revolution ignite all around them.

A fascinating look at the French Revolution, told from the point of view of the revolutionaries. Lots of philosophy coupled with some titillating romance. I struggled with Sylvie - I did not love her, she was very selfish, but I do think that was rather the point even if it did make me dislike the main character. Overall, a good read!

I received a complimentary advanced copy of MADEMOISELLE REVOLUTION by Zoe Sivak. Thank you to Berkley Publishing and PRH Audio for the chance to provide an honest review.

MADEMOISELLE REVOLUTION follows Sylvie de Rosiers, a young woman born to a white father and an enslaved Black mother in Haiti. She is raised in her father’s house, an upbringing of wealth and privilege, though she never is able to be fully accepted given her mixed ancestry. When the Haitian Revolution begins, her family is in imminent danger. Sylvie and her brother flee together to safety in France.

France isn’t entirely the stable and safe setting they were looking for as revolution is stirring there as well. Sylvie winds up entwined with the leader Robespierre and with his mistress Cornelie and winds up in a love triangle with both as she learns more about the movement and the ideologies involved.

I really enjoy finding historical fiction that places a fictional story in the midst of a very real historical moment, and I think it was done well here. It is obvious that the author put research into these revolutionary settings. I found the Haitian setting in the beginning particularly interesting as this was a new time and place for me in my reading and I did wish a bit that we got a bit more in that setting. I do always enjoy a French setting as well though!

MADEMOISELLE REVOLUTION is a good blend of a good fictional story with real history, and a good read for the historical fiction fans!