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kimigautau's review
3.0
My first book after over a month away from my Kindle! I was actually reading two books at the same time this weekend and just finished this one first, I guess that's how much I missed reading
rosemaryandrue's review
1.0
Raised in Versailles, Julie gets married, becomes the mistress of a royal, runs away from home, and duels an awful lot of people.
I was introduced to Julie d'Aubigny years ago, I think in a Cracked listicle. She led a fascinating life, but one that is documented very haphazardly, and so I was excited to see how it would be turned into a narrative in this book.
Except I would argue that the book did not have much of a narrative. The author adopted an odd style of writing, a sort of stream-of-consciousness that hops around in the timeline and doesn't manage to engage. There's no coherent plot to follow, and I found myself often confused by what was happening - who Julie was bedding, who she'd killed, who she was working for.
I also found myself very frustrated with the character of Julie. She is portrayed as a devil-may-care chameleon, adapt with a sword and good at wriggling out of the many scrapes she gets into. However, we never get much of an explanation of how a young girl from the court of Versailles gained most of these skills, or what drives her incredibly reckless behavior. And her narration is oddly bereft of emotion.
This book really disappointed me, ultimately. Though it has a fascinating subject in its lead, I found the execution very strange and did not learn anything beyond the little I already knew.
Do not recommend.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
I was introduced to Julie d'Aubigny years ago, I think in a Cracked listicle. She led a fascinating life, but one that is documented very haphazardly, and so I was excited to see how it would be turned into a narrative in this book.
Except I would argue that the book did not have much of a narrative. The author adopted an odd style of writing, a sort of stream-of-consciousness that hops around in the timeline and doesn't manage to engage. There's no coherent plot to follow, and I found myself often confused by what was happening - who Julie was bedding, who she'd killed, who she was working for.
I also found myself very frustrated with the character of Julie. She is portrayed as a devil-may-care chameleon, adapt with a sword and good at wriggling out of the many scrapes she gets into. However, we never get much of an explanation of how a young girl from the court of Versailles gained most of these skills, or what drives her incredibly reckless behavior. And her narration is oddly bereft of emotion.
This book really disappointed me, ultimately. Though it has a fascinating subject in its lead, I found the execution very strange and did not learn anything beyond the little I already knew.
Do not recommend.
Disclaimer: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley. This is my honest and voluntary review.
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