The very best chronic illness representation I’ve ever seen. In any media! This book means the world to me and I will never shut up about it.

It's a very fun fantasy romp. Ladies belong front and center with swords! Tania is a kickass protag who won't let anything stop her. Her friends, however, shot me through the heart with their kindness. I cried every time they said, "we won't let you fall" and then followed through. Thank you so much to Lillie Lainoff for writing a disabled protag whose friends treat her appropriately/as a PERSON instead of as a fragile doll. I very highly recommend this book to all fantasy lovers or to anyone who wants to know more about what chronic illness feels like. Full disclosure: I don't have POTS; I have rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia. But I do have limited energy and I do have days where my body says "nope!!!!" to everything.

Thank you to NetGalley for a preview copy of the ebook and eaudiobook in exchange for an honest review. I ended up ordering the digital audiobook and requested that the library where I work at order it too.

This was a really entertaining and creative #ownvoices, YA gender-swapped retelling of The three Musketeers! I loved that this story featured a main character living with a chronic illness and showed how she was able to contribute to the cause in an active way and wasn't just a supportive sidekick!

When her father (one of the original Musketeers) is brutally murdered, Tania de Batz is devasted and vows to discover the person(s) responsible. To this end she enrolls in an elite finishing school, L’Académie des Mariées, which is secretly an organization in which elite young French socialites work as spies to protect the Crown and uncover threats against him.

Once there, Tania finds an outlet for her fencing skills, gains respect and purpose and forms deep friendship with the other girls. There is also a bit of romance, adventure and betrayal. Everything that makes for a highly entertaining YA historical fantasy. Perfect for fans of Adrienne Young and great on audio. I can't wait to see what's next from this author! Much thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance review copy!

I really enjoyed this book, but I couldn't quite love it.
It started off slow, but once she got to the school I found things picked up.
Unfortunately, I had an inkling of how the story would end and I was correct. I don't think it was a bad ending at all but it ended up being predictable for me.

Overall, an enjoyable read that I would recommend but not a new favourite.

If you liked Barbie and The Three Musketeers growing up, you will love this book. It was a fun and empowering adventure, pulling on those same messages of Sisterhood and Self-Love.

It's Sapphic (Side Characters).
It's got disability rep! (Main Character)
and so much more!!!!!

It is also a STAND ALONE!!!!

If you don't have this on your bookshelf you are missing out.

Also the Audio Book is narrated by Mara Wilson and she does a fantastic job!

I enjoyed the premise a LOT: A gender-bent retelling of the story of the Three Musketeers, featuring a protagonist with a chronic illness (POTS).

While I enjoyed the book overall, the pacing was a bit weird, and in the middle, the book felt a bit slow… Almost boring. In fact, I was so bored, I was tempted to just stop, but I had seen rave reviews on goodreads, so instead, I put the narration at a faster speed,
so I could get through it quicker. Overall, it felt like the book was a bit too long. The book was fun, although, I have to admit - none of the “twists” took me by surprise.

I have mixed feelings about our protagonist - Tania. I loved that we got to see the book through her experiences, as she lives with POTS - especially during a time period with little medical advancement, and a lot of ignorance, where her diagnosis could very well have meant the end of her life, or a completely different life trajectory for her. This led to some interesting stylistic choices in the narration, which was cool. We got to “experience” the dizziness and the build up to it. We get to experience the ways her vision clouds, which impacted what [we] saw in the story.

Her lived experiences with her illness led to a lot of ostracization, anxiety, and insecurity - which felt realistic, and while it was a pretty accurate depiction of the ways people with chronic illnesses often have to live with a lot of mistrust of other people, it was a bit annoying at times to be in her head while she catastrophized, or completely dismissed the ways people around her were demonstrating care for her. I get why she had a hard time trusting kindness and love from others, but as a reader, it felt a bit much at times - even when we’d seen over and over again how people had done things to care for her - especially when [we] can so clearly see the “writing on the wall”. I’m not sure how to address this though. Like I really liked how we were shown the complex nature of how when you’re chronically ill, in a society where that could mean the end of you, or totally being ostracized from society - when people have belittled or dismissed you for most of your life, OF COURSE you’re mistrusting - and I think that was important to be shown to us. But I think (for me) maybe there was a line where it felt like too much, and almost self pitying, and this book crossed it. Perhaps this is just a me thing. While it annoyed me, I don’t necessarily think others will feel strongly about this? And it’s not altogether my biggest critique of the book, or of Tania.

She was also exceptionally naive. Like, annoyingly so. Some of the questions she asked, or things she said - especially during some of the “big reveals” made me roll my eyes. It felt like she didn’t have a lot of critical thinking or common sense - and while yes, she is a teenage girl & has been pretty sheltered - she was also intended to be very clever, and I imagine spies need critical thinking skills, and to be “fast on the uptake”. I think because of her slowness to “get” some things, it made it a bit more annoying, when as a reader - you have pretty much figured everything out.

Furthermore - while the (supporting) cast was charming in many ways - none of them had much depth to them at all, and in fact,
most of them felt a bit one-dimensional to me. Even when we got some back story for a couple of the characters, it felt a bit shoehorned in, and out of place - rendering them almost forgettable and interchangeable. I’m glad there is a sequel and really hoping we see ✨something✨ more to these characters.

Finally, The banter between our Musketeers was at times kind of fun - most often it felt forced. I think I see what the author was trying to do, when they interspersed unrelated banter, or random “funny” commentary, in the middle of serious situations - very like Ocean’s Eleven, or something, where the dialogue is meant to add a bit of levity or charm, and show us these characters are “fun”, and “funny”… However, due to the flatness of most of the secondary characters, this banter often felt forced, and landed more on the line of “this feels silly” than “lol, i love that they can switch back and forth between their battle and their banter”.

Overall: I didn’t dislike this book, but nor did I love it. I think I do recommend this book, it was unique and compelling, and I loved the representation. I think I will likely end up reading the sequel at some point.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one side, I liked the retelling aspect of Alexandre Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers” and the idea of a female musketeer a lot! The first 6 chapters give the story a mission and it’s really easy to empathize with Tania’s mission, but after this point, the story takes a turn which did not go well with me at all, but then again, this is just my viewpoint, others fall even more in love with the story!

The second aspect which I liked a lot was the story developed around the villain. There is a lot of back and forth on their entity and the revelation at the end of the book was brilliant! Again, it’s a very subjective viewpoint, other readers might see this aspect in another side, but I’ll let you be the judge of it starting from the 8th of March 2022, when the book in paper and audio format become available.

Special thanks to NetGalley, RB Media, Recorded Books, and the author for giving me the opportunity to review the ARC in audiobook format and to you, my reader, for taking the time to read this honest personal book review.

If you are interested in other of my book reviews, make sure to follow me on GoodReads!

#LifeLongLearning #OneForAll #NetGalley

One for All by Lillie Lainoff is the gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers that I have been waiting for. With its action-packed plot and compelling cast of characters, this one lived up to all of my expectations. The audiobook is equally well done, and I had no issues keep up with the fast-moving plot. This is a meaningful story of sisterhood and sword fights that fans of historical fiction will love.

Following the murder of her father, Tania is sent away to finishing school to honour his dying wish. As she dreams of following in his footsteps as a Musketeer, this request first seems like a betrayal, but Tania quickly learns that the school is not what it seems. On top of learning to charm men, the school serves as a secret training ground for women to become Musketeers. However, during her training with her new sisters, Tania finds herself wrapped up in a major assassination plot, and it is up to her to help gather information–information that may even be related to her father’s murder. As her target is surprisingly cute and thoughtful, Tania must decide where her loyalties lie and what she is willing to fight for.

❀ COMPELLING MAIN CHARACTER

Tania is a compelling main character, as are each of the side characters. Tania herself must work twice as hard to follow her dream because of the constant dizziness she experiences as a result of her disability, and I felt for her as she is determined prove herself as more than the “sick girl.” While she is strong throughout the entire book, it takes her some time to acknowledge her own strength, and I loved watching her slowly gain confidence in herself at the academy. The other girls are equally complex, and their bond is so well written. Their mutual support and growth is more significant than the romance, which makes for a heartwarming story.

❀ ENJOYABLE AUDIOBOOK

As an audiobook, I really enjoyed listening to this one. There are many characters to keep track of throughout the book, but Mara Wilson does an exceptional job making each sound distinct by giving each character their own little quirks–from Théa’s high energy to Madame de Treville’s refined elegance. I also enjoyed the way the narrator captures the emotions behind each scene, such as Tania’s frustration, which makes this a satisfying listening experience.

❀ FEMINIST STORY

One for All by Lillie Lainoff is a feminist story of strength and found family. I adored the concept of a gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers, and the cast of richly developed characters is one of the book’s highlights. The audiobook is also well-narrated, and I would definitely recommend this format to those looking for an action-packed story of sisterhood.

This book. Is. So. Good!!!
I super duper recommend. How else can I explain how much I love women wielding swords? This story is no exception, but rather a great prime example.
I should also clarify that I've never seen or read the original Three Musketeers, nor do I plan to, but I'm familiar with the storyline because I watched the Disney's Mickey Mouse version! In all seriousness, I think I would like to enjoy this story as it's own, as the ownvoices masterpiece that it is.
This is also the first I'm hearing of Mara Wilson since like, ever. She narrated the audiobook and it was really fantastic, her voice work is wonderful and made the story way more enjoyable, I think I truly benefitted from hearing the characters speaking French in actual pronunciation, rather than be just glossing over words I don't know in my brain while reading. This was a delight to read (listen to) from start to finish.
Now that I've covered the basics, I want to go over why this book is so good. Tania (pronounced Tan-ya) is one of the best examples of an enjoyable main character. She starts out as a classic example of a Mary-sue, for good reason and from understandable circumstance, but by the end of the story she is a completely different woman, confident, proud and extremely capable, it is such a far cry from the way she was at the start that I was surprised I hadn't noticed the time slip by how she'd changed, it was a very gradient character-development which I enjoyed.
These characters are so incredibly diverse, the inter-personal relationships actually had me invested, throughout the story there's always an air of an entire country at stake, the environment of this book is so brilliantly set, there is so much suspense, it is almost like a brilliantly written character-driven who-done-it murder mystery, with twists and turns literally all around the corner. I can honestly say that you'll barely know who to trust.
The side characters are so incredibly enjoyable, Mara had a different voice for each one which I imagine helped my enjoyment, but every character is so useful and utilized throughout the plot.
There are 4 more days until the release of this book, and yall need to read it when it comes out! This is definitely a well-hyped book that in my opinion, completely deserves all of it and more to come!

This would be great for a teen reader who wants action, romance, and a hint of history in their reads! Tanya, the protagonist, is a chronically ill teen who has fits of dizziness which makes her an outcast from her community. Her true love is fencing, something that comes in handy when she is eventually recruited by the musketeers. Once at her school for training, she makes friendships with like-minded girls and learns how to seduce men for information. I love the world of this book, but found it to drag a little bit in the middle during her training. However, I really enjoyed the reveal of the "big bad" and the ending!

What an awesome historical fiction novel! One for All is fast paced, action packed, and full of heart. J’ai adoré le dialogue en francais (I loved the bits of dialogue in French) and the audiobook narrator Mara Wilson brought tremendous skill to the performance as well.

As a standalone novel, the author has to balance character development with the plot that was promised, which can be very challenging. I felt the author conquered the challenge deftly here and feel sure that future novels will feature even stronger characters.

I found the author's portrayal of the main character’s disability to be thoughtful and emotionally engaging. I also found it refreshing that the plot did not revert to being a book about disabilities, but instead, about achieving one's dreams despite a disability. Further, the author draws awareness to the existence of disabilities such as Tania’s and how such conditions have been perceived and discussed historically.

Readers in both middle grades, high school, and beyond will fall in love with Tania and I can’t wait to read more from Lillie Lainoff in the future.

I thought this book was fantastic and original. The characters are well developed and I found myself cheering for Tania as she found her way and sought answers for her father's murder. I really loved that this story portrayed the female characters as the heroines instead of as damsels as is typical for the period. Hand this off to fans of Ally Carter's Gallagher Girls series.

The Three Musketeers but feminist? Yes please! I'm not usually a fan of historical fiction but Lainoff did a really good job at keeping me entertained. We also had some excellent representation for people with disabilities (POTS in particular if I'm not mistaken), but unfortunately it seems Like Tania's disability was inconsistent and she'd have attacks for plot convenience sometimes. For example, at one point she was able to climb upside-down up a gangplank only getting a little bit dizzy after she completed that feat, only to get dizzy every time she stood up a little too fast.
Another minor thing that kind of annoyed me was when parts of dialogue were said in French and the immediately repeated in English... like all of these characters are francophones so basically characters were repeating the same thing. When your book is set in a non-English speaking country and it's understood that the characters are not speaking English, you don't need to slip in words in their native language especially if they're mundane words that have an English equivalent. Anyway, that's just a little pet peeve of mine, especially when it's in a language that I'm fluent in, and shouldn't impact your experience if this doesn't bother you that much.

I really struggled with this one. Not because of the narration that was perfectly fine, though I didnt find it extraordinary. But the story dragged so badly, especially once Tania leaves for school. I often found my mind wandering to other things because it took so long to ~something~ to happen.

I thought Tania was overly whiny, constantly talking about how she couldn't be a hero/swordsman but then actively working towards it daily which I found weird. I was looking forward to the OwnVoices POTs rep, as a chronically ill potsie myself, and I thought that aspect was pretty accurate. Though as I said, it was kind of a bummer how whiny Tania was about everything.

I was also disappointed in the "historical" aspect of things. The characters all felt too modern that I kept forgetting what time period I was supposed to be in.

Overall, this isn't something I would recommend.. Many thanks to netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for my honest review.

4.25 Stars

Thank you to Netgalley and RB media for an ALC of this book.

In this feminist and genderbent Three Musketeeers retelling, Tania joins a secret band of female musketeers and finds sisterhood and love in the midst of struggling with her father's murder and her chronic illness.

I LOVE the chronic illness rep in this book. I don't have the same type of chronic illness as Tania, but the way others treated her like she was fragile or lazy or faking it--I just related so hard to so much of it. I love the character development with this and how Tania learns that the way others treat her isn't because of her but them, and the explanations about what her body can and can't do and that isn't her fault and AH! It's so good.

I also really like the mystery and secrecy in this! And the BA group of female musketeers is also great!

There is some side queer rep in this book. I believe the author has said that there is a lesbian girl and a demi-bi girl, as well as an Ace adult. After having read the book, I can tell which character is which, but none of that rep is explicit. There is some coding in there, but nothing is very obvious except that two of the characters are sapphic.

Anyway, this is a really good one, and I definitely recommend the audio!

Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Sexual assault, and Death
Minor: Blood

*3.5 stars

this was a really fun ya book. it’s a genderbend retelling of the 3 musketeers. i don’t know much about the 3 musketeers except from the barbie movie so i can’t talk about accuracy, but it gave me similar vibes as the barbie movie, which is a good thing in my opinion. the characters were all likable, and the plot was interesting. very much recommend for when it comes out.

thank you netgalley for providing an arc

This debut novel is a powerful and passionate adventure about the depth of making new family, the unbreakable bond of true sisterhood, the strength that goes beyond the body, and the determination it takes to fight for what you truly want. A brilliant retelling of The Three Musketeers, which involves a girl (Tania de Batz) who lives with a chronic illness that is manifested by her legs betraying her and she gives way to falling, and that she succumbs to frequent dizzy and fainting spells. To the outside world, Tania seems a sickly, weak, pitiful girl, a certainly not the most desirable as a wife for any type of suitor. Her future looks bleak. It seems as if she will have to rely on others to take care of her the rest of her life. Even her mother is of this mind and wants to quickly marry her off to be free of the burden to care for her.

But Tania wants to be strong, independent, and a fencer like her father who was a former Musketeer and who was her greatest champion. When her father is brutally and mysteriously murdered, Tania’s whole world is turned upside down. Her mother found a note while going through her father’s things that stated that Tania was to attend a finishing school should anything happen to him. Feeling lonely and betrayed, the choice and her destiny was made for her, without her input, and almost immediately, her bag is packed and she is sent to the "finishing school".

However, shortly after arriving, she realizes that not all is what it seems. It's actually a secret training ground for a new kind of Musketeer: an elite group of select women who are trained to be socialites on the surface, but strap daggers under their skirts, are expert swordfighters, and seduce men into giving up dangerous secrets to protect France and its King.

Torn between duty and the dizzying emotions for a man she's fallen for, Tania will have to lean on the sisterhood, listen to and trust her own body, then decide where her loyalties lie…or risk losing everything she’s ever wanted.

Loved this book! The narration by Mara Wilson was stellar. It has captured my attention and thoughts well after completing the last page.

Highly recommended. Earns 5 Brilliant well deserved Stars. ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher RB Media, and Little Lainoff for an AAC in excahnge for my honest review.

Thanks to Netgalley, Macmillan Children’s and Recorded Books for the ARC and audio ARC of this! I switched back and forth between editions while reading.

I admit I haven’t read The Three Musketeers 😂 I don’t know why I love retellings, even if I haven’t read the original, but you had me at genderbent retelling. Plus that cover! I didn’t realize that the main character has POTS (as does the author) and I was really excited to see that as well. I saw this shelved numerous times as queer, so I kind of assumed that there would be a sapphic storyline with the main character, and instead she got an all boys love triangle. There were two other musketeers who were queer though, just don’t go in hoping the main character is going to stop making eyes at her target and fall for a girl instead. I recommend this one for fans of retellings, powerful women, and found families.

I really enjoyed Mara Wilson reading this and recommend the audiobook if that’s your preferred format!

One for All is a great story with incredible disability representation, a strong romance, and a genuinely interesting plot. My only complaint is that the feminism occasionally felt outdated. From the very start of the book the main character is warring with her mother, as she wants to be a fighter but her mother wants her to pick up traditionally feminine hobbies. While this theme is dealt with pretty well for the most part and her mother's concern also has to do with her disability prejudice, there were quite a few one liners about the main character's hatred for sewing and other feminine activities. The thing is that when it comes to women's jobs and hobbies your feminism isn't determined by what you choose to do, but rather why you choose it. You are allowed to enjoy "feminine" hobbies. You are allowed to want to be a stay at home mom or something equally traditional. Not every choice you make has to directly oppose gender norms, as long as it is your choice. The book did bring up this more nuanced discussion a couple of times, but more frequently it mentioned the main character's hatred of "feminine" hobbies, as though that was what made her a strong female character (when really it's her morals that do so). Additionally, later in the book the main character goes to a school to learn weaponized seduction, and while there are a ton of good scenes of women fighting men both physically and strategically, as well as really well developed female friendships, I'm tired of this trope of a strong women's power coming from her ability to manipulate men. I'd rather see women dismantle the patriarchy than simply use it to their advantage. These are all complex discussions and I feel a bit bad critiquing this book so heavily on them, but by incorporating these themes the author has brought them up, so they need to be addressed. Overall this book was still really good, and despite my complaints, more often than not the feminist messages were written well, it just wasn't quite all I'd hoped it would be.

ONE FOR ALL was a genuine delight to read! Full of action, adventure and romance, this is a book that kept me on the edge of my seat. I love love love the chronic illness representation that the author has developed in our main character, Tania, based on her own experience living with POTS. While I do not have this particular chronic illness, I deal with a chronic illness that often makes it a challenge to get through day to day life and to navigate the world and people's perceptions of you as a result. So on this level, I could identify with Tania as her chronic illness presents a challenge not just physically, but emotionally as well, because it is so exhausting when your body is the thing keeping you from feeling well and there's nothing you can do about it. Tania is also fierce and determined, and you can't help but root for and be in awe of her. I loved this fresh feminist take on the legend of the Musketeers and the sisterhood that forms between Tania and her fellow lady musketeers and how they supported each other unreservedly. I also felt that the author did a wonderful job with bringing 17th century France to life. ONE FOR ALL is full of sword-fighting, secrets and sisterhood and was such a great debut, in my humble opinion and I really would love to see more from this world and these characters in the future.

Half an hour in, and I was thrilled and fully prepared to give the book 5 stars. The main character was compelling, the setting was fantastic, and the story had so much promise. Unfortunately, the story lost a good amount of momentum and interest when Tania arrived at school, and the remainder of book fluctuated between fun and rather slow.
There were so many good things about this story: the representation of a main character living day to day with chronic illness, LGBTQ+ characters, both good and bad portrayals of family, self-discovery, found family. I can't say it enough times: I love books that portray strong female friendships! In this story though, the creation of those bonds was, disappointingly, nearly nonexistent. They were built mostly off page, along with all of the other skills vital for the girls to become accomplished Musketeers. I would have loved to spend more time getting to know the other girls and seeing Tania's confidence and competence grow firsthand.
Despite a setting in 1650s France, One For All does not feel like historical fiction. From the treatment of social issues to the writing style and the dialogue itself, this story is very modern. If you are prepared for a sprinkling of history in a YA novel rather than a slightly modern take on a Three Musketeers retelling, you'll have a great time!