Review and Giveaway! "Becoming Marie Antoinette"


"Becoming Marie Antoinette"
 by Juliet Grey

Publisher: Ballantine Books
Release Date: Aug 9, 2011 
Source: sent by publisher and TLC Book Tours

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

Summary from goodreads.com:

This enthralling confection of a novel, the first in a new trilogy, follows the transformation of a coddled Austrian archduchess into the reckless, powerful, beautiful queen Marie Antoinette.

Why must it be me? I wondered. When I am so clearly inadequate to my destiny?

Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother’s political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon.

Before she can journey from sunlit picnics with her sisters in Vienna to the glitter, glamour, and gossip of Versailles, Antonia must change everything about herself in order to be accepted as dauphine of France and the wife of the awkward teenage boy who will one day be Louis XVI. Yet nothing can prepare her for the ingenuity and influence it will take to become queen.

Filled with smart history, treacherous rivalries, lavish clothes, and sparkling jewels, Becoming Marie Antoinette will utterly captivate fiction and history lovers alike.

My Review:

I really enjoyed this book, more than most historical fiction. It was such a different view than what we normally see of Marie Antoinette. I feel like the author really searched deeper in her research and actually cared about Marie.


I previously had no idea of all the pains that were taken to make Marie "worthy" of the French crown. The braces that were put on her teeth, with no anesthetic at all, sound like complete torture!

As a lover of romance, of course I was the most interested in Marie's relationship with her husband, Louis Auguste. Their relationship was bittersweet in many ways, but also very sweet and genuine. I was yearning to read more about them both. It's hard to remember sometimes how very young they were when they became King and Queen.

This story was highly readable and written in a very relatable way. Not once did it feel like dry historical facts. There was also a sympathy for the characters that you don't often see in the historical fiction genre. I really liked this writing style so much more than a lot of historical fiction, because it wasn't so harsh.

I did not realize this was the start of a trilogy, so I wasn't prepared for the slightly cliffhanger is ending. I absolutely cannot wait to read the next installment.


Main Characters: 5/5
Supporting Characters: 4/5

Setting: 4/5

Romance: 4/5

Uniqueness: 5/5
Cover: 4/5 (I love that it looks modern)
Writing: 4/5



Bottom Line:A wonderful, heartfelt version of Marie Antoinette's story, and this book is just the beginning.


GIVEAWAY RULES:

Ballantine Books and TLC Book Tours have generously provided a copy of "Becoming Marie Antoinette" for a lucky reader of my blog!



All you have to do is follow my blog publicly and leave a comment on this review with your email address! Please follow publicly or I can't tell that you are following :) Also, if you aren't comfortable leaving your email here, go ahead and leave a comment and then send me an email with your email addy
Extra Entries:
+1 Tweet this contest (leave link in comment)
+1 Post link in sidebar of your blog (leave link in comment)

Rules:
  • US and Canada only
  • Must be a follower to enter
  • Extra entries are optional and can all be left in the same comment
  • Leave a comment with your email address
  • Books will be mailed out by the publisher
  • Must be 18 or over 
  • Ends Mon Aug 29
Thanks to everyone for entering! Good luck!


More Tour Stops Here:

31 comments

  1. Great review! I so want to read this! Thanks!

    Margaret
    singitm@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for sharing your review. I look forward to reading this one.

    Thanks for the giveaway!
    jenalang(at)live(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Not an entry!

    Thanks for the review. I always love reading historical fictions on Marie Antoinette, and I just got this one on Netgalley. I guess there is one good thing about historical fiction and cliffhanger endings...you already know what happened in the end! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the great giveaway! I am fascinated by Marie Antoinette, so this one sounds fantastic.
    GFC follower- audreyclair
    twigerina[at]hotmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  5. I've been eyeing this book for as long as I've known about so thanks for offering it as a giveaway!

    prajaline at gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. I would love to read this, it looks interesting!

    GFC: Rachel King

    hopester777 at gmail dot com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Looks like a good book! Thank you for the giveaway! I love giveaways!

    bookcrookliza at gmail dot com

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  8. Of course I got stuck on one thing, they had braces then?! Lol, I would like to red it just cos of that

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  9. Thanks for the review and giveaway! I think Marie Antoinette is one of those historical characters we hear too much about, but...I like historical fiction, and it sounds like a good read anyway.

    susanna DOT pyatt AT student DOT rcsnc DOT org

    ReplyDelete
  10. I have seen quite a few reviews of this book. I believe she is one of the most misunderstood women in history. It will be interesting to learn more about her in her early years. Something that has been seldom discussed.

    Thank you for the giveaway.

    I am a GFC Follower as librarypat.

    librarypat AT comcast DOT net

    ReplyDelete
  11. http://twitter.com/#!/wingedescapes/status/103249309570568193

    http://wingedescapes.wordpress.com

    (following wiht my google accound foreverraelynn)

    I can't wait to read this! I love Marie and her whole story! Sounds fantastic!

    ReplyDelete
  12. And my e-mail, ever so sorry.
    xnovaxgalx (at) aol (dot) com

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks so much for this giveaway! This book looks so good!!

    teddybrgrrl@sbcglobal.net

    ReplyDelete
  14. This sounds really cool!
    I'm glad the story turned out to be a bit more than just another historical fiction book.

    :D And great giveaway too!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. No need to enter me! I too very much enjoyed this story - I think that you really need to understand her young life to really "get" who she was. I most liked reading the parts that were set in the Austrian court. Great review.

    ReplyDelete
  16. This looks amazing! I would love to be entered Carrie. Thank you so much!

    XOXO~ Renee C.
    steelergirl83(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  17. Lovely review. I'm excited. Hope I win.

    reflectionsofabookaholic[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  18. Looks like a good one....

    http://twitter.com/#!/tlukey73
    teresa[dot]lukey73[at]gmail[dot]com

    ReplyDelete
  19. Awesome review! Thanks for rating it. I'd love to win a copy!

    GFC Follower - Loreal L

    lacrossex3(at)gmail(dot)com

    ReplyDelete
  20. This book sounds great! Please include me in the giveaway!
    candc320@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  21. Thank you for your review! I've been eying this book for a while now, but with such a large page count I was worried it would become tiresome. I'm so happy you've said it's written in a very readable manner.

    Thank you for the giveaway!
    imagesandwords at optonline dot net

    ReplyDelete
  22. great giveaway
    follow via gfc
    drakebdog@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  23. Love historical fiction though I've not read anything from this era.
    follow via gfc-Lisa Richards
    http://twitter.com/#!/alterlisa/status/104355722820730880

    (\___/)
    (='.'=)
    (")_(")

    alterlisa AT yahoo DOT com
    http://lisaslovesbooksofcourse.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  24. I like that this is a trilogy - I think the author can put in so much more details about this fascinating historical figure that way.

    Thanks for being on the tour!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I would love to read this! Thanks for the chance.

    felecia@twinoaksfl.org

    ReplyDelete
  26. I think my previous comment disappeared. Apologies if this is a duplicate.

    I'm a new follower
    Tweeted - http://twitter.com/#!/forever913/status/105107497735557120
    tiredwkids at live dot com

    ReplyDelete
  27. Marie Antionette is one of my favorite characters - I'm looking forward to the whole trilogy! thank you!
    GFC follower: Michele
    tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/rlawrence110/status/107442852233101314
    rlawrence110 at yahoo dot com

    ReplyDelete
  28. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  29. Great Review! I'm adding this to my Goodreads.
    GFC follower- Megan
    amethystdaydreams at zoho dot com
    tweeted: http://twitter.com/#!/mekyser/status/108307085996986370

    ReplyDelete
  30. Great review! I'm so much more excited to read this now!

    ReplyDelete
  31. This book sounds great & like something I'd really enjoy. Thanks for the giveaway!

    TheFictionEnthusiast @live.com

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for your lovely comments!