Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters.

The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.Īutumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart their mothers are still best friends. An author’s note explains that Tania, like the author, has postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome.Īn insightful, affirming tale of swordplay and sisterhood.

Two girls are queer in the predominantly White cast, one girl is cued as a person of color. The Musketeers’ unwavering support is heartwarming, smoothing a somewhat predictable ending.

Amid suspenseful spying and code-breaking, Lainoff deftly explores chronic illness and internalized ableism others’ ignorant comments and Tania’s struggles with pervasive self-doubt are painfully realistic. But when Tania falls for her target, a boy who might possess information about her father’s death, she jeopardizes the Académie’s reputation and future. Despite her dizziness and initial distrust of the whole endeavor, Tania gradually finds her footing and bonds with her three fellow Musketeers, who each express distinct personalities. At the Académie des Mariées, however, girls actually study to be undercover Musketeers, learning to wield swords as well as feminine charms on unsuspecting men as they uncover and thwart plots against the king. So when he’s brutally murdered, Tania is stunned to learn his final wish: that she attend finishing school in Paris. But her father, a retired Musketeer, has always supported her, teaching her to be a talented fencer against societal norms. Prospective suitors dismiss her as weak, former friends bully her, and even her own mother seems ashamed.

Tania de Batz’s constant dizziness renders her an outcast in her small town. In 17th-century France, a chronically ill girl vows to avenge her father’s murder.

One for all lillie lainoff