Red-Haired Ash Reads

As soon as I saw this cover, I knew I wanted to read this book. A gender-bent retelling of The Three Musketeers, but with a girl with a chronic illness and the determination to protect her country. How could you not want to read this? Especially since it was amazing. 

Tania de Batz is confident only when she has a sword in her hand. She struggles with constant dizziness and is used to being bullied for being the ‘sick girl.’ When her father, a former Musketeer, is murdered she finds herself sent to the finishing school L’Académie des Mariées (The Academy of Brides). This school isn’t what she expects though and she finds herself in a secret training program for women Musketeers. 

“We are not the ones who are written into history. We are the ones who ensure history exists to be written.”

Like I said, I loved Tania’s story. She is a young woman who is determined to make her own way but at the same time is terrified that everyone around her will always consider her a burden. Tania grows so much in this book. She goes from the lonely girl who only relies on her father and thinks she will always be a burden, to a strong independent young woman who can flirt and fight when necessary. I loved seeing her growth and her shedding her fears and insecurities as she grew closer to the other young women. 

“You will be a siren. A gladiator. Beauty that lures evil to its side before stabbing it through the heart.”

Not only was Tania a great character, but all the other lady Musketeers were as well. I loved the camaraderie these girls had and how they constantly looked after each other. They were always there to help Tania when she was getting dizzy and made it easy for her to hide her dizziness in public. Also, I loved the LGBTQ representation in this group and that no one questioned it or was upset about it. 

My only complaint about this story was that there was little translation provided for the French sentences. I had to use my Kindle translator, which is fine, but that isn’t going to be helpful for the people reading the physical book or listening to the audiobook, especially since a lot of the phrases were not easy to infer from the context of the scene. 

Overall, I really enjoyed this retelling and highly recommend it if you like retellings. As soon as I finished this ARC, I went and purchased a copy of this for my shelves because this is one I know I will want to read again. Also this cover is just gorgeous. 

Trigger Warnings: death of a parent, grief, brief refences to pedophiles, attempted rape, ableism, bullying,

*ARC provided by Netgalley for an honest review.*

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