Member Reviews
Thank you to the publishers, author and NetGalley for the free copy of this audiobook.
This was great, I loved the characters, the action, the intrigue- everything! It was a little long but it just seemed to flow so well. The narrator had a lovely voice.
I actually dnfed. This is a long audiobook, and it just wasn't working for me. It's confusing at first and takes like over an hour to get to where we are in the synopsis. There's a lot of words in French which confuses my brain to hear it scattered among the English words. The narrator had a really nice voice and even uses slightly different ones among the characters which was helpful. I couldn't understand anything on faster then 1.5x speed and I kept zoning out. I like the chronic illness rep in this book, it's mentioned so often whereas in most books it is quickly forgotten. I'm looking forward to reading the book when it comes out to see if that makes a difference. I'd still be likely to recommend to anyone who likes audiobooks and has a chronic illness.
This was a really fun gender bent 3 Muskateers story. The main character Tania has POTS. I appreciate when YA books have characters (main or otherwise) that have chronic illness or mental illness because if the readers have these illnesses, they feel seen and validated, and if readers do not have these illnesses, it really opens their eyes. I can't speak personally, but I think Tania's POTS was well explained without feeling super informational and I think it was represented well. It didn't seem like the author was trying to force it down our throats, but it was always there.
I loved the girls that Tania joined and how they accepted her for who she was and did not treat her any differently despite her chronic illness, something she was not used to.
I'm a sucker for a murder mystery, so that aspect really had my attention and I really wanted to know how part of the book was going to unfold.
There was a little bit of romance in this book, but for me it felt a little bit forced and wasn't my favorite part of the book.
Overall, super fun and one to check out!
ONE FOR ALL made me fall in love with Fantasy again. Lainoff is a master of craft and character and an auto-buy who should be on everyone's TBR.
Thank you to NetGalley and Recorded Books for providing me with an ALC of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.
CONTENT WARNING: ableism, bullying, murder, grief, violence, blood
I was thrilled to get my hands on a copy of this audiobook in advance of the release date.
Gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers? ✅
Character with a chronic illness (POTS)? ✅
OwnVoices story? ✅
Seriously, what about this wouldn't I like?
And for the record, Mara Wilson did an amazing job with the narration. I loved listening to her voice, even when she shifted into French, of which I understand nothing at all.
I'm pretty sure that all of us are at least vaguely familiar with the story of The Three Musketeers. I haven't read it since I was a child, but I adored the idea that fencing was involved in the story, since I fenced for a few years. And the descriptions and training that occur in this book brought me right back to my own fencing days.
I adored the fact that Tanya has a chronic illness that makes it difficult for her to function in daily life, yet she refuses to let it hold her back from what she really wants to do. Life with a chronic illness is a constant battle to do what you want to be able to do, and accepting the limitations placed on you by your own body (that traitor). However, the line about chronic illness that spoke to me the most was when Tanya explains that not every day with a chronic illness is the same, and what you are capable of doing can change drastically from day to day:
"They knew about the dizziness, about my inability to stand without something nearby to catch me. Now whenever I had a good day, people were quick to assume I felt better. It was hard enough living with the knowledge that if I felt healthy, it didn't mean the next day would be the same. Being reminded of that fact by others was a painfully close second."
And I completely loved Tanya's character. She's determined to be a fencer, regardless of what other people and her body tell her about how she won't be able to accomplish this goal. And when her father is murdered and his last wish is to send her to a finishing school, she definitely doesn't expect to enroll in one that is determined to create spies and lethal women out of the girls who attend.
While Tanya had been isolated from her peers, who bullied and shunned her because of her disability, she expects more of the same from the girls already in training at the school. However, the girls in her new school are different in unexpected but great ways. And it allows Tanya to finally find friendship and acceptance.
Woven in with the emotional aspects of the story is a plot, because Tanya wants to find out who killed her father. And get revenge. But as she's focused on that, she can't forget about the mission she is assigned by the Madame of the school. I truly enjoyed the plot twists and the action throughout the story, as well as the growing sense of friendship and self-love that Tanya experiences as she finally lets down her walls and gets closer with the other girls.
My only complaint with the audiobook is that there was so much French used, and it wasn't all explained. I'm not sure if there's a glossary of terms included with the print book, but some parts of the story weren't as accessible to me because of the language barrier. But I enjoyed hearing the French words, and the narrator has a great grasp of the language.
There has been a retelling trend for quite some time, and this is right at the top of it. Because it's really, really good.
I have to say that I wish the narrator had done more justice to this story. She spoke at a reasonable speed but left long pauses between sentences sometimes -- maybe between paragraphs? -- which made it difficult to pay attention no matter what speed I tried. She also didn't really distinguish very much between character voices which made it difficult to follow different speakers. She also had a little bit of a monotone quality to her performance which meant my mind tended to wander while listening.
The story itself was so good, however, that I only took off one star here, though I wouldn't purchase or recommend purchasing the audio version.
Review of story (from e-arc)
I loved this book. I mean, I went into it knowing I would because, genderbent Musketeers? Everything I ever wanted. And I did love it for that, but mostly for Tania. She is *such* a great MC, not least of which because she lives with debilitating chronic illness AND IS ALSO a great fencer and a Musketeer.
This book does an absolutely amazing job driving home the point that yes, you can be disabled AND competent -- AND that competence *does not make you any less disabled.* This is maybe the only book I've read that makes such a clear point of this. Disability does not equal incompetence. Competence does not equal a lack of disability. They can both be true.
Tania's illness is never far from her. She never takes a breath free of the dizziness, and we never lose sight of her struggles or her determination. Her illness is threaded through every scene, every moment of the story -- but it does not define the story, and it does not define her. It does not truly limit her, not in any way that matters or that she and her sisters in arms cannot find a way to overcome.
Aside from that, I love the way Tania and her sisters in arms grow closer and come to trust and rely on one another. I love that they are trained and trusted to go on missions to protect the king, even if they are denied official entry into the Musketeers. I love that they use every means at their disposal to complete their missions -- and are also relatable teen girls.
Another thing I absolutely love is that the four girls' names are clearly related to the original Three Musketeers (and D'artagnan), and that they also share some of the same personality traits as their namesakes. It's such a clever and subtle nod to the original.
I love how Tania's father steadfastly believes in her and teaches her to fence despite her mother's worries and despite her illness. And that his lessons give her tools to combat the dizziness she feels.
I also love the musing about others like her, reduced to begging and being disbelieved. About how there are so many words for disbelief that a girl can be having the physical symptoms she complains of. About how it's the poor who suffer during a regime change. This book has a lot of really powerful passages that hit hard and don't shy away from ugly truths. And yet it still manages to be fun and empowering.
Empowering is actually a great word to describe how I feel about this book. As someone with chronic illnesses myself, I really deeply felt Tania's frustrations and rage at being disbelieved, mocked, treated like a delicate object, not seen. Her journey is uplifting and empowering and I am so glad that I read it. And even more, I'm so glad Lillie Lainoff wrote it, that it will be available to future "sick girls" who secretly yearn to be Musketeers and save themselves for a change.
I absolutely adored watching this chronically ill, badass swordswoman find her people among the musketeers and discover her value. Narration was great too.
Tania is the daughter of a Musketeer, who has no desire to get married off and live the life of a dutiful wife. Instead, she revels in the joy she gets during in the her father's fencing lessons, and though she's disabled, the lessons have made her strong. All is well until her father is murdered, and she is sent to Paris, specifically L’Académie des Mariées, a place masquerading as a finishing school but where she'll actually train to be a female Musketeer. In Paris, her ultimate goal is to uncover her father's murderer.
As a young girl, I really enjoyed the story of The Three Musketeers, but never saw myself in any of the valiant men fighting to protect the king. It is my hope that this book will introduce young girls to a new kind of Musketeer, one they will see themselves in as they imagine being like the heroines Lainoff describes. The disabled, queer, and female rep she puts in a fighting spotlight is so important. I think we need to see more stories like this, and as an educator I'm so glad that this book exists.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ALC. I really appreciate Mara Wilson's pronunciation of all the French words that I couldn't even begin to tackle. Aside from that she was a great narrator. I definitely recommend this book.
I can't figure out how to work the Net Galley app but as the author of this book I am a big fan and don't want my Net Galley review ratio to be ruined so, 5 stars! Still in utter shock that Mara Wilson narrated the One for All audiobook. A dream come true.
DNF at 40%.
I am CLEARLY in the minority here, but this book was just not my cup of tea.
I do love that this is an own voices story centering a chronically ill and disabled MC and her challenging the mindset that chronically ill and/or disabled people can’t be the hero. From that aspect, I think this story is great for that.
That being said, the story itself just drags. I found myself interested in the beginning where we learn about Tania, her complicated family dynamics, and the fact that she is the daughter of an esteemed Musketeer.
Once Tania goes to the finishing school though, the story just lost a lot of steam. It didn’t help that the other girls that Tania trains with seem pretty one dimensional.
Oh well. Had high hopes for this one.
As somebody with POTS, this was my first time reading this representation in a book and I loved it!! The main character learns how to accommodate for her chronic illness while training to fight, and her illness makes her no less of a badass than the other characters!! I also loved the relationships developed between her and her sparring partners--so much fun to read about. I prefer my books to have a bit more romance, but this was a fun romp nevertheless.
The audiobook narrator was very good--they had great voice acting and sped up to 2x speed it sounded great! I listened to this pretty much all in one sitting :) Thanks for the ALC!