Reviews with content warning for Death of parent - One for All

My best friend lives with POTS so to read a book with a MC who also lives with POTS is surreal and not something I'd ever expect to read.

Writing: good enough? don't get too distracted by bad writing or weird moments. That being said there were a lot of moments where I was like "wait what's happening and who's here now?" There is French italicized throughout, but either immediately translated or we are given enough context clues. It is weird that the English and French is alternated, but I was able to get past it. Others might get hung up on the weirdness of them speaking in English and translating French when they're all French lol.

Plot: Even though I kind of expected some of it, I'm glad it ended the way it did because I feel it helps the final development of Tania's character. It is slightly predictable and therefore wasn't too exciting but I wasn't reading for the actual plot - rather more intrigued with Tania's journey.

Thoughts: A YA book with a little bit of queer representation, disability representation, and a book based on female empowerment? I'd recommend to all of my students. There is a bit of romance as well but I didn't mind it BC it didnt go too far. It's not an amazing stand out novel in the sense of a spine-tingling page turner. However, I believe that any younger girls or womxn who live with chronic illness would definitely appreciate this telling.

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decie's review

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Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

4.25

def leans towards a younger/middle grade audience in parts, so there's not a ton of depth. which was honestly kind of nice bc I needed a break.

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shaipanda's review

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adventurous emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

This was a very hit or miss book for me. While I really enjoyed the queer side characters, disability rep, and general concept of this book, I didn’t find the execution to be as great as I would’ve liked.
To start with, this book was just generally too long, too hard to get into, and kinda a slog to finish for me. While I wanted to know what happened I was continuously surprised by how many more pages there were and didn’t have as much interest as I would’ve wanted in finishing it meaning that it took longer to finish than I would’ve liked despite me enjoying the book and wanting to know what happened.
Additionally, while interesting, I didn’t love the way the romance(a) were handled.

I did love the character development and seeing the 4 musketeers together I found that to be really enjoyable.
However, in addition to my other issues with the pacing, length, and love interest(s), I also found the French used to not necessarily detract for me but also didn’t add anything, I found the spy plot line to be incredibly confusing at times, and I think the word dizzy started to become incredibly repetitive.

Overall while I enjoyed the story, this was a fairly middling book for me unfortunately.

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midgereads's review

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

It was slow at times and most of the clues the girls found on the second half of the story confused me, but overall it was pretty good.

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emily_mh's review

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

This book really grew on me! I’m not going to lie, the start was super slow. I was pretty worried because I was like 60 pages in and still not feeling gripped, questioning why we were spending so much time in this beginning phase. But once the plot kicked off I got into it and ended up really enjoying the story!

First and foremost, this book has some fantastic disability rep. MC Tania has POTS, and her character development is centred on unlearning her internalised ableism, and growing her self-worth which has been persistently undermined by societal ableism. I loved being able to relate to Tania’s worries and beliefs as a chronically ill person myself. I also liked the exploration of what it’s like to have a disability that doesn’t even have a name yet; Tania feels so incredibly isolated because of that fact. It really drove home the need for visibility to me, as seeing there are other people with your disability can alleviate some of the isolation that comes with having that disability. Which is another reason why I like this book, because it is providing that visibility. Honestly, disability books like this make me so happy!

Another thing this story has going for it is that it is essentially about historical spies. The historical setting gives a real sense of time and place to the narrative, especially as the plot is woven into real historical events. The spy part provides all the action, as the girls carry out training, codebreaking, sidling up to suspects, mini-heists, fencing and more, all undercover as noble ladies. It was just a lot of fun, but also intriguing enough of a mystery for it to have substance.

I also liked the sisterhood aspect of the Musketeers. Lainoff makes sure to include the small and everyday interactions between the girls as well as stuff that moves the plot forward, and she also takes care that Tania forms a connection with all three other girls, so their bond is totally believable. I loved that they provided such reliable, caring support to Tania and just automatically accommodated her without question. Also, each of the girls were distinct from one another, although I wish we had gotten to know Portia more.

Unfortunately I did have a large criticism of the book, leading me to dock one star, and that was the writing style. I found it to be pretty clumsy, like I knew what it was trying to say but it could have said it in a more eloquent or expressive way. The sentence structure could be super clunky at times, and the dialogue a little confusing. I also wish it had been more concise in areas, and that some scenes had been removed entirely. Ultimately it wasn’t enough to put me off the book, as I enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to others, but I can see why this might be a problem for other readers!

Rep: MC with POTS, sapphic SCs, potentially aro SC

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thatbookishwriter23's review

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emotional hopeful lighthearted medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"The three of you made me realize that whatever this dizziness is… well, maybe it’s never been the real problem. It’s horrible and it hurts and it makes me feel fragile in a way I never wanted, but it’s not the thing that tears me apart. The problem, the real problem, is the people who decide I’m unworthy because of it.” -Tania Ch 27, pg. 325

"They may not be the Musketeers I’d imagined. But they were better, because they were mine. And I knew, as I looked at them and saw the cold steely resolve inside me mirrored in their eyes, that I was theirs." Tania, Ch 18, pg. 206

Great med-paced read!

For starters, I loved this book. The sisterhood, mystery, the disability repsentation. This book really put in perspective what it's like to have POTS, at least in one example. It's definitely one of fav books and I'm sad to see it end.🥺

My only wish is that girls' relationship was more stretched out a little. I just felt it all happens so fast. One minute their strangers to Tania, the next she calling them her sisters. However, this did make for a kinda fast medium paced read and over all the girls' relationship was cute. And I like how the book touched briefly on serious subjects like SA and ableism. I also like the message and see Tania slowly accept herself.

I'm very proud of ONE FOR ALL being the first book I ever pre-ordered and hopefully in the future, we can see more of Tania's world. Otherwise, I will definitely be reading more of Lainoff's books as she releases them.

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mattyb's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful inspiring tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

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