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The Académie
Madame Campan’s Academie Nationale is one of the most celebrated schools in all of France, and her students are equally illustrious. Meet the impetuous Eliza Monroe - la belle Americaine - whose father will one day be named president of the United States. And Hortense de Beauharnais, Josephine Bonaparte’s stunningly beautiful daughter, who has fallen for a man her family will never accept. Meanwhile, Caroline Bonaparte - yes, Napoleon’s sister - will stop at nothing to capture the attention of a handsome young general, even if it means crossing her brother. And then there is (the original character) Madeleine de Pourtant, daughter of a volatile actress in the Comedie Francaise, who harbors a secret that could tear apart the world of the dazzling young socialites. Before the term is out, one girl will find true love, one will be heartbroken, and a third girl’s dreams will take a deadly turn.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published February 28, 2012
10 people are currently reading
2221 people want to read
About the author
Susanne Dunlap
29 books467 followersSusanne Dunlap is the author of more than a dozen historical novels for adults and teens. Susanne grew up in Buffalo, New York and has lived in London, Brooklyn, Northampton, MA, and now Biddeford, ME. Her love of historical fiction arose partly from her PhD research at Yale.
Susanne is also an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach in fiction and nonfiction, specializing in coaching historical fiction and historical nonfiction.
Susanne is also an Author Accelerator Certified Book Coach in fiction and nonfiction, specializing in coaching historical fiction and historical nonfiction.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 108 reviews
April 29, 2018
Eliza Monroe came to Paris for adventure. Not so her mother could abandon her at boarding school. But with the Academie’s high-class borders—Hortense de Beauharnais and Caroline Bonaparte among them—this school is a veritable gateway to adventure.
And trouble.
I genuinely enjoy Susanne Dunlap’s historical fiction, and the Academie is no exception. While the story and relationships appear greatly fictionalized, I found the characters intriguing; and the book has made me wish to learn more about their real-life counterparts. An achievement—I think—for any work of fiction.
And trouble.
I genuinely enjoy Susanne Dunlap’s historical fiction, and the Academie is no exception. While the story and relationships appear greatly fictionalized, I found the characters intriguing; and the book has made me wish to learn more about their real-life counterparts. An achievement—I think—for any work of fiction.
March 9, 2012
I suppose I should start off with the fact that this is fiction based VERY loosely on historical figures and events; the story is made up, but the names are real. Considering how frequently I air my (occasionally annoying) thoughts pertaining to accuracy in details as they apply to persons, places, and events that were real, it will probably come as a surprise that - though Dunlap played fast and loose with her fiction and fact - it didn't really bother me. (Are you shocked? I was.) Maybe it is because her primary characters were people that I knew of but little about. She keeps the external historical details fairly accurate while making the events most intimate to the characters primarily fiction. That seemed to make it somehow okay. I was able to read the entire novel without feeling the need to flip to the back of the book or pull up google to fact-check, which is a testament to just how engrossing I found The Académie.
Dunlap's characters captured me and wouldn't let me go. The four young women central to the plot were all very honest, believable portrayals of young ladies of their time and in their positions. They were exceptionally well developed - vibrant and vital - and capable of creating strong emotions. Sadly, my primary emotions were dislike, disdain, and less frequently sympathy. I think it another testament to Dunlap's talent that the latter was even possible. Every time I would start to like a character, or think perhaps I had been too hard on them, they would do something so self-serving or cruel that I was right back at square one.
The Académie is written in a very intimate first person style that feels almost like diary entries, and alternates perspective between three of the four main characters. While reading their alternating views of events, I was constantly reminded of something a teacher once said, 'rarely does someone think they are the villain in their own story.' We switch between seeing the excuses for and the effects of each girl's actions, and it is enlightening in a horrifying sort of way. To see how cruelly something can be felt by someone, followed by what the other actually intended to happen was fascinating. Which is why, even though I really didn't like these girls, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about them. This pulling closer to and pushing away from each of the characters with the change of narration also gave the girls' characters added depth that I didn't at first suspect. I don't think they would feel so terrible if they were not so real. Each time I was with a character, I sympathized with them, and could understand their actions if not condone them. (And to be truthful, Madeleine and Hortense weren't actually that bad until later in the book. I am also thankful that Dunlap never gave Caroline control of the narration - that is one head I do not want to be in.)
Overall I actually really liked The Académie, and thought it was very well done. I will definitely read other books by Dunlap, and think she is a skilled author. However, I do have one problem with The Académie - and it is a rather large one. Dunlap (per her Author's Note) purposely attempted to explore 18th century racism and the issue of slavery. She attempted to display it in all its ugliness, and then show how circumstances could change people's opinions, allowing 'shaded feelings' on the issues. She particularly tried to show this in the character of Eliza. While I greatly appreciate the attempt, I think she was unfortunately so successful in the first part of her aim that she utterly failed in the second. I did not get 'shaded feelings' from Eliza. Her behavior to the French servants early in the book was so cruel (and her thoughts about both the servants in France and the slaves at home so dismissive) that her turnabout toward African-American slaves at the end felt contrived and inauthentic to her character. Eliza's behavior with Madeleine felt believable insofar as she had already invested in Madeleine's humanity, and could not take it back. It has been repeatedly documented throughout history that exceptionally racist people can be adept at compartmentalizing those feelings - suspending them when confronted with a single individual they come to know while still maintaining them against a race as a whole. Nothing ever makes me think this is not the case with Eliza and Madeleine. (Nor does the actual life story of Eliza Monroe - as seen in a few hours of googling - ever betray hints of these conflicted feelings.)
Perhaps it is only a product of my own privilege (that of having education and experiences which allow me to not be racist) but I find the book's implications to be both insulting and patronizing. I strongly resent the idea that it takes being thrown into close proximity to or intimacy with an individual of another race (or sexual orientation, or sex, or gender, or (dis)ability, or religion, etc.) to recognize their humanity. (Or, conversely, that racism, sexism, etc. arise from a lack of experience with people who are different.) I call BS. Over and over again we see people who were 'products' of the very same times, situations and circumstances as racist individuals who, unlike their less open-minded peers, were instead quite aware of the inherent humanity of people different from themselves. (In counterpoint to Eliza - white, southern, and/or wealthy people who were abolitionists and members of the Underground Railroad.) There are people out there who can recognize the basic common humanity of us all - no matter in which society, time, or income class they lived. I think it sells humanity as a whole short to say that we must all be taught or forced to recognize this. Yes, a person who is merely self-absorbed may be made to see that they have been unintentionally or unknowingly cruel or racist, and will then change. (Oskar Schindler as he was portrayed in Schindler's List comes to mind.) However, people who are truly racist (sexist, homophobic, etc.) are rarely going to shed those beliefs that simply. I willingly admit I could be wrong, and would welcome thoughts on the topic.
Dunlap's characters captured me and wouldn't let me go. The four young women central to the plot were all very honest, believable portrayals of young ladies of their time and in their positions. They were exceptionally well developed - vibrant and vital - and capable of creating strong emotions. Sadly, my primary emotions were dislike, disdain, and less frequently sympathy. I think it another testament to Dunlap's talent that the latter was even possible. Every time I would start to like a character, or think perhaps I had been too hard on them, they would do something so self-serving or cruel that I was right back at square one.
The Académie is written in a very intimate first person style that feels almost like diary entries, and alternates perspective between three of the four main characters. While reading their alternating views of events, I was constantly reminded of something a teacher once said, 'rarely does someone think they are the villain in their own story.' We switch between seeing the excuses for and the effects of each girl's actions, and it is enlightening in a horrifying sort of way. To see how cruelly something can be felt by someone, followed by what the other actually intended to happen was fascinating. Which is why, even though I really didn't like these girls, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about them. This pulling closer to and pushing away from each of the characters with the change of narration also gave the girls' characters added depth that I didn't at first suspect. I don't think they would feel so terrible if they were not so real. Each time I was with a character, I sympathized with them, and could understand their actions if not condone them. (And to be truthful, Madeleine and Hortense weren't actually that bad until later in the book. I am also thankful that Dunlap never gave Caroline control of the narration - that is one head I do not want to be in.)
Overall I actually really liked The Académie, and thought it was very well done. I will definitely read other books by Dunlap, and think she is a skilled author. However, I do have one problem with The Académie - and it is a rather large one. Dunlap (per her Author's Note) purposely attempted to explore 18th century racism and the issue of slavery. She attempted to display it in all its ugliness, and then show how circumstances could change people's opinions, allowing 'shaded feelings' on the issues. She particularly tried to show this in the character of Eliza. While I greatly appreciate the attempt, I think she was unfortunately so successful in the first part of her aim that she utterly failed in the second. I did not get 'shaded feelings' from Eliza. Her behavior to the French servants early in the book was so cruel (and her thoughts about both the servants in France and the slaves at home so dismissive) that her turnabout toward African-American slaves at the end felt contrived and inauthentic to her character. Eliza's behavior with Madeleine felt believable insofar as she had already invested in Madeleine's humanity, and could not take it back. It has been repeatedly documented throughout history that exceptionally racist people can be adept at compartmentalizing those feelings - suspending them when confronted with a single individual they come to know while still maintaining them against a race as a whole. Nothing ever makes me think this is not the case with Eliza and Madeleine. (Nor does the actual life story of Eliza Monroe - as seen in a few hours of googling - ever betray hints of these conflicted feelings.)
Perhaps it is only a product of my own privilege (that of having education and experiences which allow me to not be racist) but I find the book's implications to be both insulting and patronizing. I strongly resent the idea that it takes being thrown into close proximity to or intimacy with an individual of another race (or sexual orientation, or sex, or gender, or (dis)ability, or religion, etc.) to recognize their humanity. (Or, conversely, that racism, sexism, etc. arise from a lack of experience with people who are different.) I call BS. Over and over again we see people who were 'products' of the very same times, situations and circumstances as racist individuals who, unlike their less open-minded peers, were instead quite aware of the inherent humanity of people different from themselves. (In counterpoint to Eliza - white, southern, and/or wealthy people who were abolitionists and members of the Underground Railroad.) There are people out there who can recognize the basic common humanity of us all - no matter in which society, time, or income class they lived. I think it sells humanity as a whole short to say that we must all be taught or forced to recognize this. Yes, a person who is merely self-absorbed may be made to see that they have been unintentionally or unknowingly cruel or racist, and will then change. (Oskar Schindler as he was portrayed in Schindler's List comes to mind.) However, people who are truly racist (sexist, homophobic, etc.) are rarely going to shed those beliefs that simply. I willingly admit I could be wrong, and would welcome thoughts on the topic.
abandoned
December 22, 2024I actually could not get past the first few pages of this book over the summer. The main character comes across as very whiny, and the historical details are off. The story begins in 1799 or 1800 and refers to when Jefferson WAS president. I enjoy some good alternative history, but that detail was too inaccurate for me to buy into. He won the election of 1800 and didn't take office until March 1801. For historical fiction, accurate research must be conducted and used in the writing, or I have no interest in reading it.
February 13, 2012
This review was first available at
Bottom Line Book Reviews
Summary
The year is 1799 and Eliza Monroe has just been unceremoniously deposited by her mother at a prestigious boarding school in France. Instead of the Parisian holiday she expected, Eliza must now undertake the difficult task of befriending members of the young French upper class, including Caroline Bonaparte, sister to the great Napoleon, and Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine Bonaparte, Napoleon’s wife. Eliza was hoping for adventure and romance in Paris, will she find it while trying to deal with the intrigues and manipulations of Caroline and Hortense?
Hortense is growing fatigued by Caroline’s attempts to ruin her family and reputation. She wants to fall in love, to be caught up in a great romance, and the son of her music teacher just might do the trick. Can Hortense find love on her own terms or will she be forever bowing to her controlling mother’s will?
Madeleine wants to be rescued from her life as the serving girl to her mother, an abusive, narcissistic actress. Madeleine’s lover, Eugene de Beauharnais, has promised to take her away and marry her. Will he fulfill his vow or leave her to fend for herself with a mother who grows more unhinged by the day?
Review
I had mixed feelings about this title. As a whole, this was a decent read set in a very interesting period in French history. The years following the French Revolution were uncertain and fraught with potential conflict, particularly for members of the upper class. One of the main reasons I enjoyed this title is because the author captured the precarious atmosphere of this period so well. This aspect of the book was fascinating.
The Academie switches narration between Eliza, Hortense and Madeleine which builds suspense in some instances but in others only serves to unnecessarily replay particular scenes. I really enjoyed the character of Hortense. I actually wish the entire story would have been about her life before the events of this book. She must have had a fascinating upbringing which would have made for a better story than the one here. The character of Eliza seemed a little inconsistent. She did grow throughout the events of the book, but her development seemed forced. The character of Madeleine was simply a wasted opportunity. As an aspiring singer and actress, she could have been extremely interesting. In the end, she did little more than move the action forward which again, made for another inconsistent character.
I have to say, I wish this book had been better. I enjoyed it for the first half simply because the time period was represented so well and the characters held my interest. In the second half the story became tedious and the characters began to feel very underdeveloped and capricious. If you enjoy historical fiction, you may like this one, but the ending will probably disappoint most readers. For better spins on this genre, try The Luxe by Anna Godberson and for the French Revolution with a supernatural twist try The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner.
The Publisher provided me with an advanced copy, through netgalley, for this review. The Academie will be released on April 10, 2012
Bottom Line Book Reviews
Summary
The year is 1799 and Eliza Monroe has just been unceremoniously deposited by her mother at a prestigious boarding school in France. Instead of the Parisian holiday she expected, Eliza must now undertake the difficult task of befriending members of the young French upper class, including Caroline Bonaparte, sister to the great Napoleon, and Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine Bonaparte, Napoleon’s wife. Eliza was hoping for adventure and romance in Paris, will she find it while trying to deal with the intrigues and manipulations of Caroline and Hortense?
Hortense is growing fatigued by Caroline’s attempts to ruin her family and reputation. She wants to fall in love, to be caught up in a great romance, and the son of her music teacher just might do the trick. Can Hortense find love on her own terms or will she be forever bowing to her controlling mother’s will?
Madeleine wants to be rescued from her life as the serving girl to her mother, an abusive, narcissistic actress. Madeleine’s lover, Eugene de Beauharnais, has promised to take her away and marry her. Will he fulfill his vow or leave her to fend for herself with a mother who grows more unhinged by the day?
Review
I had mixed feelings about this title. As a whole, this was a decent read set in a very interesting period in French history. The years following the French Revolution were uncertain and fraught with potential conflict, particularly for members of the upper class. One of the main reasons I enjoyed this title is because the author captured the precarious atmosphere of this period so well. This aspect of the book was fascinating.
The Academie switches narration between Eliza, Hortense and Madeleine which builds suspense in some instances but in others only serves to unnecessarily replay particular scenes. I really enjoyed the character of Hortense. I actually wish the entire story would have been about her life before the events of this book. She must have had a fascinating upbringing which would have made for a better story than the one here. The character of Eliza seemed a little inconsistent. She did grow throughout the events of the book, but her development seemed forced. The character of Madeleine was simply a wasted opportunity. As an aspiring singer and actress, she could have been extremely interesting. In the end, she did little more than move the action forward which again, made for another inconsistent character.
I have to say, I wish this book had been better. I enjoyed it for the first half simply because the time period was represented so well and the characters held my interest. In the second half the story became tedious and the characters began to feel very underdeveloped and capricious. If you enjoy historical fiction, you may like this one, but the ending will probably disappoint most readers. For better spins on this genre, try The Luxe by Anna Godberson and for the French Revolution with a supernatural twist try The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner.
The Publisher provided me with an advanced copy, through netgalley, for this review. The Academie will be released on April 10, 2012
April 8, 2012
The Académie is a historical novel set in Paris right after the French Revolution. It's a re-imagined history, intentionally fudging dates and ages, to put Hortense de Beauharnais (daughter of Josephine), Carolyn Bonaparte (sister of Napoleon) and Eliza Monroe (daughter of James Monroe) at L'Académie Nationale a SaintGermain at the same time. It's a fun little book set against the backdrop of a struggling France.
Eliza is naive and young, but it's more endearing than obnoxious. Carolyn is cunning and bold, much like her famous brother, Hortense is caring and careful. They make quite the trio.
Their mischievous adventures takes them from school to Malmaison to Saint Cloud where they disguise themselves as soldiers to obverse some of the biggest moments in the history of France.
For me this book felt a little more juvenile than I expected. All of the romance was underdeveloped (with Eliza it actually made sense given her age). It hit on some of my romantic pet peeves, such as characters being able to read LOTS into other characters eyes. I know sometimes in the past conversations between boys and girls was not easy, but having eye conversations seems like a cheaters way to create romantic tension. Despite the dash of insta-love, the book later addressed that in an unusually self-aware move.
While I do not enthusiastically love this book, I did enjoy reading it. I think this is best for the younger spectrum of the YA audience or people particularly enthusiastic for French history. What I liked most about this novel was the historical backdrop, even if the ages of the main characters were modified, because I found the schoolgirls perspective on changing France to be interesting.
The authors note might be my favorite part because I had no idea that a real friendship between Hortense and Eliza Monroe existed. I love the fact that the author took that little snippet of history and wrote an entire book based up on it.
Eliza is naive and young, but it's more endearing than obnoxious. Carolyn is cunning and bold, much like her famous brother, Hortense is caring and careful. They make quite the trio.
Their mischievous adventures takes them from school to Malmaison to Saint Cloud where they disguise themselves as soldiers to obverse some of the biggest moments in the history of France.
For me this book felt a little more juvenile than I expected. All of the romance was underdeveloped (with Eliza it actually made sense given her age). It hit on some of my romantic pet peeves, such as characters being able to read LOTS into other characters eyes. I know sometimes in the past conversations between boys and girls was not easy, but having eye conversations seems like a cheaters way to create romantic tension. Despite the dash of insta-love, the book later addressed that in an unusually self-aware move.
While I do not enthusiastically love this book, I did enjoy reading it. I think this is best for the younger spectrum of the YA audience or people particularly enthusiastic for French history. What I liked most about this novel was the historical backdrop, even if the ages of the main characters were modified, because I found the schoolgirls perspective on changing France to be interesting.
The authors note might be my favorite part because I had no idea that a real friendship between Hortense and Eliza Monroe existed. I love the fact that the author took that little snippet of history and wrote an entire book based up on it.
May 16, 2012
To say that "The Académie" disappointed me would be a gross understatement. It's not that I dislike historical fiction in the vein of YA - I love them, actually, especially when they have wonderful characters and emotional resonance that stay with me long after I finish the book. It's not even that I dislike speculative retellings or alternate interpretations of various historical figures. Probably my favorite retelling in the vein of French history would be the Japanese manga "Rose of Versailles," which was amazing in its research and depth/detail of the characterizations leading up to the French Revolution.
But "The Académie" tries to be too many things at once, and without proper expansion or development of the characters or the overarching plot, it falls flat in its delivery in so many respects. The author does say she takes liberties with the historical timeline and events, but it's clear that the development itself is speculative because there really isn't much heart to this story. More like a toggling of "she loves him" and "he loves her but he can't be with her because of money and/or manipulation done by interference." It would have more impact if there was a sense of who these characters are and their background, but its so underdeveloped that it's hard to care.
The story toggles between the perspectives of a group of girls attending The Académie in France: Eliza Monroe (daughter of the aspiring U.S. president), Hortense de Beauharnais and Caroline Bonaparte (the former Josephine Bonaparte's daughter, and the other sister to Napoleon). There is another perspective, Madeline, who crosses paths with the girls at one point as well, living in the theater with her abrasive, but prominent mother.
To first address some of the flaws of The Académie, there's a shifting of perspectives between three primary (but ulimately four) active characters. I actually didn't have a problem going between the perspective characters, but I did find their subsequent development lacking. Each character has their fair share of flaws. Eliza's young and naive to French society, and has premature crushes on quite a few of the gentlemen she comes across. Hortense is in love, but conflicted because her love wouldn't be accepted by her family or the people around her because of her mother's identity, despite being Bonaparte's lover. Caroline is insufferable in that she hates Hortense, loves a soldier from afar, and practically manipulates every person she comes across (the most prominent being Eliza in this novel). The only character I think I started out liking a little more than the rest was Madeline, but it seemed her story stood out quite a bit more and at a distance from the other characters, with her pursuits in the theater and living with her jealous mother. She longs to be taken away as she comes of age, by her lover who happens to be Hortense's brother.
There are a fair share of clashes between the characters, but while in the beginning it's a fair dose of interesting push/pull conflicts, by the end, it feels a bit milked to the point where it was hard to keep my investment in the novel. And the big tragedy? It made me angry instead of shocking me, because it felt like the most stupid, stupid manipulation of emotional resonance. Think of a scenario where Romeo kills Juliet - by accident sure, but it was just...how the heck could that happen if the two of them really loved each other. Seriously?
I'm not going to tell you which character, and I'm not even going to say which couple it involved, but I was a fair measure of disappointed by it. It did not hit home as much as it could've if the development of the characters were more pronounced. And the novel's abrupt ending after that event did not help to bring closure to the events or character arcs all that much.
Suffice to say, this was a one time read for me. I didn't like it and I think there are better retellings to be had out there in the backdrop of this particular time period, but I did like the beginning and appreciated some of the historical backdrop, even when those lines weren't as rooted as I would've liked them to have been.
Overall score: 1.5/5
Note: I recieved this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Bloomsbury.
But "The Académie" tries to be too many things at once, and without proper expansion or development of the characters or the overarching plot, it falls flat in its delivery in so many respects. The author does say she takes liberties with the historical timeline and events, but it's clear that the development itself is speculative because there really isn't much heart to this story. More like a toggling of "she loves him" and "he loves her but he can't be with her because of money and/or manipulation done by interference." It would have more impact if there was a sense of who these characters are and their background, but its so underdeveloped that it's hard to care.
The story toggles between the perspectives of a group of girls attending The Académie in France: Eliza Monroe (daughter of the aspiring U.S. president), Hortense de Beauharnais and Caroline Bonaparte (the former Josephine Bonaparte's daughter, and the other sister to Napoleon). There is another perspective, Madeline, who crosses paths with the girls at one point as well, living in the theater with her abrasive, but prominent mother.
To first address some of the flaws of The Académie, there's a shifting of perspectives between three primary (but ulimately four) active characters. I actually didn't have a problem going between the perspective characters, but I did find their subsequent development lacking. Each character has their fair share of flaws. Eliza's young and naive to French society, and has premature crushes on quite a few of the gentlemen she comes across. Hortense is in love, but conflicted because her love wouldn't be accepted by her family or the people around her because of her mother's identity, despite being Bonaparte's lover. Caroline is insufferable in that she hates Hortense, loves a soldier from afar, and practically manipulates every person she comes across (the most prominent being Eliza in this novel). The only character I think I started out liking a little more than the rest was Madeline, but it seemed her story stood out quite a bit more and at a distance from the other characters, with her pursuits in the theater and living with her jealous mother. She longs to be taken away as she comes of age, by her lover who happens to be Hortense's brother.
There are a fair share of clashes between the characters, but while in the beginning it's a fair dose of interesting push/pull conflicts, by the end, it feels a bit milked to the point where it was hard to keep my investment in the novel. And the big tragedy? It made me angry instead of shocking me, because it felt like the most stupid, stupid manipulation of emotional resonance. Think of a scenario where Romeo kills Juliet - by accident sure, but it was just...how the heck could that happen if the two of them really loved each other. Seriously?
I'm not going to tell you which character, and I'm not even going to say which couple it involved, but I was a fair measure of disappointed by it. It did not hit home as much as it could've if the development of the characters were more pronounced. And the novel's abrupt ending after that event did not help to bring closure to the events or character arcs all that much.
Suffice to say, this was a one time read for me. I didn't like it and I think there are better retellings to be had out there in the backdrop of this particular time period, but I did like the beginning and appreciated some of the historical backdrop, even when those lines weren't as rooted as I would've liked them to have been.
Overall score: 1.5/5
Note: I recieved this as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher Bloomsbury.
February 29, 2012
What a really fun read!! I haven't really read any historical novels in a while so it was really fun reading something from a different time period! One of the first things that caught my eye about this novel was the setting/location. It was really interesting to see what France was like right after the revolution, especially from a teenager's perspective. Susanne Dunlap does a really great job of describing the setting and making the reader really able to imagine France during this time.
One of my favorite parts about this book was that the chapters rotated between the different characters in the book. At first, I wasn't a huge fan of the main character Eliza, but as the book went on and I learned more about her, I really started to like her. Her character developed a lot throughout the novel and in the end I really enjoyed seeing what happened to Eliza and her friends.
Another part of this novel that I really enjoyed was the suspense and mystery that I got from reading this book. I thought the book was going to go in one direction, but by the end I was totally wrong and something happened that I did not see coming!! I love when books surprise me and keep me on edge, and this novel definitely did this for me!!
Overall, I really enjoyed The Académie, and I recommend that you all check this book out if you are looking for a great historical young adult novel!
One of my favorite parts about this book was that the chapters rotated between the different characters in the book. At first, I wasn't a huge fan of the main character Eliza, but as the book went on and I learned more about her, I really started to like her. Her character developed a lot throughout the novel and in the end I really enjoyed seeing what happened to Eliza and her friends.
Another part of this novel that I really enjoyed was the suspense and mystery that I got from reading this book. I thought the book was going to go in one direction, but by the end I was totally wrong and something happened that I did not see coming!! I love when books surprise me and keep me on edge, and this novel definitely did this for me!!
Overall, I really enjoyed The Académie, and I recommend that you all check this book out if you are looking for a great historical young adult novel!
September 2, 2012
It takes a talented author to make me despise a character within the first three sentences, but that's exactly what happened.
I wanted so badly to like this book. I love France; I love historical fiction, but I hate this book.
I found the dialogue to be unrealistic and stilted, and the characters seemed like annoying, popular bratty kids of today than historical characters. In fact, I spent most of the book picturing them as valley girls. After all, the book starts out, "Paris! Oh, Paris!" Far too many exclamation points, too.
Characters are extremely important for me in a book, and unfortunately, I never warmed to these characters and I never warmed to the book.
I wanted so badly to like this book. I love France; I love historical fiction, but I hate this book.
I found the dialogue to be unrealistic and stilted, and the characters seemed like annoying, popular bratty kids of today than historical characters. In fact, I spent most of the book picturing them as valley girls. After all, the book starts out, "Paris! Oh, Paris!" Far too many exclamation points, too.
Characters are extremely important for me in a book, and unfortunately, I never warmed to these characters and I never warmed to the book.
October 14, 2012
Sigh. Sometimes when you read a book’s summary, you think WOW it sounds like this book and I are MEANT TO BE. And then you read the book and have a deep soul connection. Other times, you read the book and unfortunately end up disappointed. Friends, I did not experience a deep soul connection with The Académie by Susanne Dunlap.
Read the rest of my review here
Read the rest of my review here
May 24, 2019
Trying to give this book a chance as I’m an avid reader and lover of boarding school novels but it’s hard to get into and isn’t the most friendly time period. Don’t think I’ll finish it. Too drawn out. Wrong time period to get enthusiastic about.
February 13, 2014
"Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité- République française"
Setting:Paris and Saint=Germain-en-Laye; 1799
Coverly Love?:No; why on Earth did they decide not to show her face. If I hadn't' known any better or not read the synopsis, I would have thought it was a teenage erotica read. I do like the pink background though.
Plot:Madame Campan's Academie Nationale is the France's most exclusive girls boarding school. If your anybody who's somebody, you go to that school. Such is the case for three lucky girls; Eliza Monroe, Hortense de Brauharnis, and Caroline Bonaparte. Quickly becoming friends, they embark on various romantic adventures. But change is coming to France, and their lives will be affected by it in more ways than one. Friendships will be tested, loyalty will be measured and lessons will be learned in this tumultuous time. And in a life far removed from theirs, Madeleine de Pourtant must face prejudices in order to be with the one she loves.
This was what some people would describe as a fluffy read. While there is some political backdrop to the story, the book mainly revolves around the various crushes and romances that the girls face. So if you're looking for something deep and philosophical, you've found the wrong book! Think Gossip Girl in the 18th century. I liked the historical detail and the fact that it was actually kind of based on real events. While the characters could veer towards whiny and boy-crazy, overall I thought this was a fun historical romp.
Characters:Eliza Monroe is the daughter of future president of the US James Monroe. She's under the impression that she will stay in Paris with her mother, but when she leaves, Eliza is left to stay at the boarding school. In the beginning, she is a narrow-minded character, especially towards Madeleine, but over time sees events in a new light and the ideas that we are all created equal. no matter what our skin color. Caroline Bonaparte is the sister of Napoleon Bonaparte. She's a spoiled little brat who uses other people for her own selfish purposes. Needless to she was not an endearing character in my eyes. Hortense was a likable character in the beginning to me, a very sweet girl. But . And then there's poor little Madeleine. I felt so sorry for her, with an abusive mother who treats her like crap. I was so much wanting her to be the one who had the happy ending, and was thoroughly disappointed when she didn't. Keep in mind as well that most of the characters in this book are absolutely boy crazy.
Onto the boys! Michel is Hortense's object of affection, even though he is a dirt poor musician. Due to some events in the book, I did not like him very much due to his and his sister's selfishness. Armand is a noble general, as well as Eugene though their nobility can be tested at times.
Pros:It's set in Paris; what's not to love about that? And I generally like historical fiction, so this was a god travel back in time, considering I don't know much about the time after the French Revolution. So glimpsing what life was like back at the turn of the century was very exciting, especially for a history buff.
Cons:Honestly, I wish the girls weren't so boy crazy. This isn't necessarily their fault, due to the time period, where they were expected to marry quickly and have children. And I think the author gave the wring character their happy ending, which was heartbreaking for me, considering how much I had invested in that particular character.
Love triangle?:Yes; Madeleine vs. Eugene vs. Eliza. It never amounts to anything, but it lies beneath the surface.
Insta-love?:So much instalove yes! Characters talk about how their souls speak to one another and how it's true wuv. Ugh; instalove has not age limits.
A Little Romance?:I should probably retitle this and say a lot of romance Because let's face it; there's A LOT of romance here. So without getting too complicated, here's the lowdown. Eliza has a crush on Eugene, who's in love with Madeleine, who Hortense thinks is stealing Michel's affections with her. But Hortense is promised to Louis Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, and she has a crush on her stepfather, who's Napoleon (bleh!). Caroline has her sights set on General Murat, and only him. And poor Armand has a thing for Eliza.
Confused much? ;)
Conclusion:While not much in the way of substance, this is a fun journey into the world of historical fiction. A prestigious boarding school filled with boy-crazy girls rounds up the tale. So if you like boarding school, this is the book for you. Be prepared for groan-inducing love triangles though.
August 13, 2012
Cover Blurb: While I love the color scheme - soft, blushing pink and emerald-green dress - and the title’s font, I don’t like the girl. Her position and emphasis on the lips screams GIRL READ! The cover doesn’t like - this is a girl read, but it also isn’t as bad of one as the cover may indicate. If it was on a paperback, I would almost assume that it’s one of those cheap romances that little old ladies are always reading (except the girl does have her clothes on).
What I Liked: The setup - a posh boarding-school in Paris - was interesting. I love historical fiction boarding-school stories. The mix of different characters added a lot to the story. I did not, at first, much care for Eliza. She seemed pretty dense; why in the world would you trust someone like Caroline? She is so obviously a conniving little jerk. Her like for Hortense, but refusal to stand up for her, bothered me a lot. However, by the end of the story, Eliza seemed to have learned a lesson, and for that I liked her. Armand, her other love interest, begins as a minor character, but then plays some fairly big roles as the story progresses, and he struck me as being the only sensible male in the group, along with Eugene.
What I Disliked: While it’s true I grew to like Eliza once I realized she’d learned a lesson, I spent the majority of the book not really caring for her. Caroline is a mean, selfish, bratty little thing, and Madeleine goes a bit insane and doesn’t treat Eliza or Hortense the way she ought, considering they save her life. I liked Hortense at first, but her crush on her stepfather, Napoleon, is more than a little disturbing, and in the end, she falls under the category of scheming female, right along with all the other females in the book.
Believability: The Author admits that while her three main female characters - Hortense, Caroline, and Eliza - are real, went to the same boarding-school, and Hortense was Eliza’s good friend, she made up the situation. Eliza never went to the boarding-school in the year that the story takes place. Madeleine didn’t exist. And there’s no evidence Hortense loved her music teacher’s son. Even so, the Author has done research into the era, and the fact that she was able to make her story convincing - when the majority of it was fictional - shows that she knew what she was writing about.
Writing Style: Present-tense; urg. I didn’t like it for this story. Each chapter alternates between three narrators: Hortense, Eliza, and Madeleine. I did like this; I’ve always been a fan of that technique. And the Author manages to give each girl a distinctive narrative voice, so it doesn’t get confusing.
Content: Nothing! Madeleine’s mother maintains a string of lovers, but we never get any details beyond that. I’m glad that this book doesn’t follow along the lines of Anastasia’s Secret, and it could have easily done that.
Conclusion: Exciting. And unexpected. I really was not expecting the bittersweet note that it ends on. The Author may have fabricated the majority of the circumstances, but her characters still meet the same fates they did in real life. After I got over my initial surprise at the lack of “happily ever after,” I found that I liked the ending. It somehow suited.
Recommended Audience: This is definitely a girl read. Historical fiction romance fans will like it, especially romance fans who get tired of reading romance books that are full of content.
What I Liked: The setup - a posh boarding-school in Paris - was interesting. I love historical fiction boarding-school stories. The mix of different characters added a lot to the story. I did not, at first, much care for Eliza. She seemed pretty dense; why in the world would you trust someone like Caroline? She is so obviously a conniving little jerk. Her like for Hortense, but refusal to stand up for her, bothered me a lot. However, by the end of the story, Eliza seemed to have learned a lesson, and for that I liked her. Armand, her other love interest, begins as a minor character, but then plays some fairly big roles as the story progresses, and he struck me as being the only sensible male in the group, along with Eugene.
What I Disliked: While it’s true I grew to like Eliza once I realized she’d learned a lesson, I spent the majority of the book not really caring for her. Caroline is a mean, selfish, bratty little thing, and Madeleine goes a bit insane and doesn’t treat Eliza or Hortense the way she ought, considering they save her life. I liked Hortense at first, but her crush on her stepfather, Napoleon, is more than a little disturbing, and in the end, she falls under the category of scheming female, right along with all the other females in the book.
Believability: The Author admits that while her three main female characters - Hortense, Caroline, and Eliza - are real, went to the same boarding-school, and Hortense was Eliza’s good friend, she made up the situation. Eliza never went to the boarding-school in the year that the story takes place. Madeleine didn’t exist. And there’s no evidence Hortense loved her music teacher’s son. Even so, the Author has done research into the era, and the fact that she was able to make her story convincing - when the majority of it was fictional - shows that she knew what she was writing about.
Writing Style: Present-tense; urg. I didn’t like it for this story. Each chapter alternates between three narrators: Hortense, Eliza, and Madeleine. I did like this; I’ve always been a fan of that technique. And the Author manages to give each girl a distinctive narrative voice, so it doesn’t get confusing.
Content: Nothing! Madeleine’s mother maintains a string of lovers, but we never get any details beyond that. I’m glad that this book doesn’t follow along the lines of Anastasia’s Secret, and it could have easily done that.
Conclusion: Exciting. And unexpected. I really was not expecting the bittersweet note that it ends on. The Author may have fabricated the majority of the circumstances, but her characters still meet the same fates they did in real life. After I got over my initial surprise at the lack of “happily ever after,” I found that I liked the ending. It somehow suited.
Recommended Audience: This is definitely a girl read. Historical fiction romance fans will like it, especially romance fans who get tired of reading romance books that are full of content.
February 12, 2012
I love reading historical fiction, and this book didn't disappoint me. I started reading it and I couldn't stop. It's not full of action and drama, but it was interesting to me. I learned more from this book than I did in my grade 11 history class (my teacher did pretty much nothing). It's a good look into how an all girls school might have been in that era.
The story is told from three points of view. There is Eliza, the American; Hortense, Josephine's daughter; and Madeline, the daughter of an actress. I'm normally not a huge fan of using multiple character's PoV, but Susanne Dunlap makes it work.
Eliza, the youngest of the three, starts out as more of a child, but she is from America and wasn't around for all the events that caused the others to grow up faster. As the story progresses, she slowly learns more about the real world, and is no longer as sheltered. She falls in love, learns that not everyone can always be trusted, and learns more about friendship. By the end, she has grown up quite a bit, even if it hasn't been a whole lot of time that's passed. Eliza is probably my favorite of the characters because she changes the most.
Hortense on the other hand, is one of the most famous girls in Paris, her stepfather is Napoleon Bonaparte after all. At first I truly felt sorry for her, she has some real horror in her past. But, as the story goes on, I kept switching back and forth between liking her and not liking her. Sometimes something would happen to make me feel bad for her, but then other times what she was doing was just selfish. I kind of feel bad with how things end up for her in the end, but she knew it was how things would turn out for her in the end.
Madeline is a character that I felt bad for the whole time. Her mother was awful to her, just completely awful. So when she falls in love, all she can do is think about when she'll finally get away from her mother. Things look up for her for awhile, and you learn that she really has some talent with her singing, but then you get to the end and you're back to pitying her.
I can't forget Caroline! She doesn't narrate at all, but she does play a major role. I probably disliked her the most. As selfish as Hortense seemed at times, Caroline was always selfish, and it got her everything she wanted in the end. But she uses Eliza and Hortense along the way, which makes me dislike her.
So the story was a little slow in a couple of place, but it read fast overall. I would start reading and an hour later would realize I had read 100 pages and was shocked because it didn't feel like I had read that long or much. So the book does flow along pretty good. I would recommend this book to those of you who really enjoy historical fiction and don't mind a story that has a little less action. There were a few points where I would get confused as to who was narrating, but I quickly found out in a line or two, I'm going to blame that on my mommy brain. Overall, this was a nice, enjoyable read for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy!
For more reviews visit Owl Read It.
The story is told from three points of view. There is Eliza, the American; Hortense, Josephine's daughter; and Madeline, the daughter of an actress. I'm normally not a huge fan of using multiple character's PoV, but Susanne Dunlap makes it work.
Eliza, the youngest of the three, starts out as more of a child, but she is from America and wasn't around for all the events that caused the others to grow up faster. As the story progresses, she slowly learns more about the real world, and is no longer as sheltered. She falls in love, learns that not everyone can always be trusted, and learns more about friendship. By the end, she has grown up quite a bit, even if it hasn't been a whole lot of time that's passed. Eliza is probably my favorite of the characters because she changes the most.
Hortense on the other hand, is one of the most famous girls in Paris, her stepfather is Napoleon Bonaparte after all. At first I truly felt sorry for her, she has some real horror in her past. But, as the story goes on, I kept switching back and forth between liking her and not liking her. Sometimes something would happen to make me feel bad for her, but then other times what she was doing was just selfish. I kind of feel bad with how things end up for her in the end, but she knew it was how things would turn out for her in the end.
Madeline is a character that I felt bad for the whole time. Her mother was awful to her, just completely awful. So when she falls in love, all she can do is think about when she'll finally get away from her mother. Things look up for her for awhile, and you learn that she really has some talent with her singing, but then you get to the end and you're back to pitying her.
I can't forget Caroline! She doesn't narrate at all, but she does play a major role. I probably disliked her the most. As selfish as Hortense seemed at times, Caroline was always selfish, and it got her everything she wanted in the end. But she uses Eliza and Hortense along the way, which makes me dislike her.
So the story was a little slow in a couple of place, but it read fast overall. I would start reading and an hour later would realize I had read 100 pages and was shocked because it didn't feel like I had read that long or much. So the book does flow along pretty good. I would recommend this book to those of you who really enjoy historical fiction and don't mind a story that has a little less action. There were a few points where I would get confused as to who was narrating, but I quickly found out in a line or two, I'm going to blame that on my mommy brain. Overall, this was a nice, enjoyable read for me.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy!
For more reviews visit Owl Read It.
March 3, 2012
I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
This book didn't impress me as much as I was hoping it would. The descriptions of the setting were fantastic, and I couldn't help but feel that I was in Enlightenment Era France. The plot was decent, and the pacing was quick moving for the first half, but the last half dragged a bit. The characters, on the other hand, were not so great.
The character of Eliza, who was one of the three narrators, was extremely annoying. I felt like I was reading a narration from the Kibbles N Bits puppy. I don't know if any of you remember that commercial, but there's this little puppy who jumps around following this older dog, basically hero-worshiping the older dog. He's all overly excited and yelling about Kibbles N Bits. Anyway, Eliza reminded me of that. There were so many exclamation points that I wanted to remove that key from Dunlap's keyboard. Seriously, I didn't know they had crack in 1799, but apparently Eliza had smoked some. Bad stuff.
Hortense and Madeleine weren't as annoying, and I personally wish that Hortense had narrated the entire thing. It would have been a much more enjoyable story had it all been told from her perspective. Madeleine didn't stand out to me or fall short. She simply was there. Hortense shined, though. She was an extremely interesting character, and I would have liked more of her and less of Eliza. Much, much less of Eliza.
The switch in narration didn't do much for the story. It just made me feel scattered and gave me a break from Eliza's overly-excited rambling. It didn't drive the plot in any way, and as far as I could see, it didn't even aid in the plot that much. Madeleine served to move the action forward a bit, but other than that, the three narrators weren't needed. I'm pretty sure the action could have been moved forward without having Madeleine as a narrator. I'm not sure why Dunlap decided to have three narrators. It really didn't work for this story, though.
The ending was a big disappointment for me. The last half of the book really dragged along. The first half of the book flew by because it was focused on describing the time period. The second half, when all of the exciting stuff was supposed to take place, just fell flat. I didn't feel any suspense, and the characters didn't grow that much in the end. I prefer a lot of character development in the novels I read.
Overall, I'd recommend checking this book out from the library before buying it. Historical fiction buffs will probably eat this one up. I'm a big character person, though, so I'm not 100% sold on this book.
Check out other reviews, giveaways, and contests at http://falln2books.blogspot.com
This book didn't impress me as much as I was hoping it would. The descriptions of the setting were fantastic, and I couldn't help but feel that I was in Enlightenment Era France. The plot was decent, and the pacing was quick moving for the first half, but the last half dragged a bit. The characters, on the other hand, were not so great.
The character of Eliza, who was one of the three narrators, was extremely annoying. I felt like I was reading a narration from the Kibbles N Bits puppy. I don't know if any of you remember that commercial, but there's this little puppy who jumps around following this older dog, basically hero-worshiping the older dog. He's all overly excited and yelling about Kibbles N Bits. Anyway, Eliza reminded me of that. There were so many exclamation points that I wanted to remove that key from Dunlap's keyboard. Seriously, I didn't know they had crack in 1799, but apparently Eliza had smoked some. Bad stuff.
Hortense and Madeleine weren't as annoying, and I personally wish that Hortense had narrated the entire thing. It would have been a much more enjoyable story had it all been told from her perspective. Madeleine didn't stand out to me or fall short. She simply was there. Hortense shined, though. She was an extremely interesting character, and I would have liked more of her and less of Eliza. Much, much less of Eliza.
The switch in narration didn't do much for the story. It just made me feel scattered and gave me a break from Eliza's overly-excited rambling. It didn't drive the plot in any way, and as far as I could see, it didn't even aid in the plot that much. Madeleine served to move the action forward a bit, but other than that, the three narrators weren't needed. I'm pretty sure the action could have been moved forward without having Madeleine as a narrator. I'm not sure why Dunlap decided to have three narrators. It really didn't work for this story, though.
The ending was a big disappointment for me. The last half of the book really dragged along. The first half of the book flew by because it was focused on describing the time period. The second half, when all of the exciting stuff was supposed to take place, just fell flat. I didn't feel any suspense, and the characters didn't grow that much in the end. I prefer a lot of character development in the novels I read.
Overall, I'd recommend checking this book out from the library before buying it. Historical fiction buffs will probably eat this one up. I'm a big character person, though, so I'm not 100% sold on this book.
Check out other reviews, giveaways, and contests at http://falln2books.blogspot.com
April 26, 2012
Posted to Almost Grown-up:
In the aftermath of the French Revolution, The Academie draws children of influential people across the world, including Eliza Monroe, the daughter of the future president, Hortense de Beauharnais, stepdaughter of Napoleon Bonaparte, and Caroline Bonaparte, sister of the very same– the original short man with short man syndrome.
On the fringes of society, Madeline, a Creole actress at the Comedie Francaise, lives abused by her mother and head-over-heels in love with Hortense’s brother, Eugene.
I was prepared to be a little obsessed with this book because, well, of three reasons mostly:
1) BOARDING SCHOOL
2) Historical fiction (and thus INTRIGUE POTENTIAL)
3) FRANCE. Oh, frenchy french France.
But, alors, I cannot say “J’adore.”
The Academie is written from 3 points of view: Eliza, Hortense, and Madeline. Despite occasionally revelations of their different maturity levels and obviously different situations, all three girls sound relatively the same, which didn’t really fit for me since they’re from completely different walks of life. As I was getting introduced to them, I didn’t always keep track of which point of view I was reading, since I wasn’t familiar enough with their situations.
As things went on and I understood them separately, each girl had the potential to win me over completely. Eliza kind of made me want to pat her on the head, Hortense had my respect, and Madeline my sympathy.
Different areas of the plot held my attention more than others. I read most avidly during Napoleon’s overthrow of the standing government (that totally doesn’t count as a spoiler, guys, it’s HISTORY). But a great deal of the novel felt rushed. Each girl had a love interest (or two) and with 3 points of view it was overwhelming.
I loved the inclusion of historic details. I really did, but sometimes it felt like some details, while interesting, simply took away from the plot that Susanne Dunlap was trying to weave in The Academie.
And the ending– well, it totally threw me off. I was so sure I knew what was going to happen, but I was wrong. Sometimes that’s cool, but in this case I don’t think it would have been a bad thing if I was right. The ending left me unfortunately unsatisfied.
Overall rating: 3/5. The Academie was more of a guilty pleasure historical fiction novel than anything else, but kind of all over the place.
In the aftermath of the French Revolution, The Academie draws children of influential people across the world, including Eliza Monroe, the daughter of the future president, Hortense de Beauharnais, stepdaughter of Napoleon Bonaparte, and Caroline Bonaparte, sister of the very same– the original short man with short man syndrome.
On the fringes of society, Madeline, a Creole actress at the Comedie Francaise, lives abused by her mother and head-over-heels in love with Hortense’s brother, Eugene.
I was prepared to be a little obsessed with this book because, well, of three reasons mostly:
1) BOARDING SCHOOL
2) Historical fiction (and thus INTRIGUE POTENTIAL)
3) FRANCE. Oh, frenchy french France.
But, alors, I cannot say “J’adore.”
The Academie is written from 3 points of view: Eliza, Hortense, and Madeline. Despite occasionally revelations of their different maturity levels and obviously different situations, all three girls sound relatively the same, which didn’t really fit for me since they’re from completely different walks of life. As I was getting introduced to them, I didn’t always keep track of which point of view I was reading, since I wasn’t familiar enough with their situations.
As things went on and I understood them separately, each girl had the potential to win me over completely. Eliza kind of made me want to pat her on the head, Hortense had my respect, and Madeline my sympathy.
Different areas of the plot held my attention more than others. I read most avidly during Napoleon’s overthrow of the standing government (that totally doesn’t count as a spoiler, guys, it’s HISTORY). But a great deal of the novel felt rushed. Each girl had a love interest (or two) and with 3 points of view it was overwhelming.
I loved the inclusion of historic details. I really did, but sometimes it felt like some details, while interesting, simply took away from the plot that Susanne Dunlap was trying to weave in The Academie.
And the ending– well, it totally threw me off. I was so sure I knew what was going to happen, but I was wrong. Sometimes that’s cool, but in this case I don’t think it would have been a bad thing if I was right. The ending left me unfortunately unsatisfied.
Overall rating: 3/5. The Academie was more of a guilty pleasure historical fiction novel than anything else, but kind of all over the place.
March 20, 2012
Posted on Book Chelle.
Susan Dunlap’s The Académie is a historical tale that takes place after the French Revolution. While Dunlap has taken creative license to the events that take place, The Académie has many similarities to reality. Set in 1779 France, Dunlap writes about lives of four young women – Eliza Monroe, the daughter of soon-to-be President Monroe, Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine de Beauharnais, Caroline Bonaparte, sister to Napoleon Bonaparte, and Madeline, a daughter of a stage actress.
The Académie is told in an intimate way, revealing each lady’s most intimate and inner thoughts. There is nothing held back, each thought filled with an arrogance and pride that suits a wealthy and privileged debutante. Dunlap nicely blended the historical events with the social events. It was like watching an episode of a teen drama show, but with a historical twist.
Dunlap’s world, even if it was a realistic setting, was great. I enjoyed seeing France at that time and through the eyes of young women. The culture at The Académie was specific, but given where the girls are from, it wasn’t a surprise. I wish the pacing was a little more steady, but it could have just been me. I felt that some characters were exciting while others were just there for additional detail and information.
After a while, the varying points of views confused me. There wasn’t a particular order, that I could understand, so it was easy for me to lose track of what was going on. The characters each had a great start, but after several chapters, I thought it was a little cumbersome to follow along.
The Académie is a good historical fiction for young adults. I would definitely give it a try.
Susan Dunlap’s The Académie is a historical tale that takes place after the French Revolution. While Dunlap has taken creative license to the events that take place, The Académie has many similarities to reality. Set in 1779 France, Dunlap writes about lives of four young women – Eliza Monroe, the daughter of soon-to-be President Monroe, Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine de Beauharnais, Caroline Bonaparte, sister to Napoleon Bonaparte, and Madeline, a daughter of a stage actress.
The Académie is told in an intimate way, revealing each lady’s most intimate and inner thoughts. There is nothing held back, each thought filled with an arrogance and pride that suits a wealthy and privileged debutante. Dunlap nicely blended the historical events with the social events. It was like watching an episode of a teen drama show, but with a historical twist.
Dunlap’s world, even if it was a realistic setting, was great. I enjoyed seeing France at that time and through the eyes of young women. The culture at The Académie was specific, but given where the girls are from, it wasn’t a surprise. I wish the pacing was a little more steady, but it could have just been me. I felt that some characters were exciting while others were just there for additional detail and information.
After a while, the varying points of views confused me. There wasn’t a particular order, that I could understand, so it was easy for me to lose track of what was going on. The characters each had a great start, but after several chapters, I thought it was a little cumbersome to follow along.
The Académie is a good historical fiction for young adults. I would definitely give it a try.
July 22, 2016
*1.5
Don't bother. There are so many other books you could be reading.
When I read the synopsis I was interested and looking forward to reading it. I like historical fiction. Or that is, I like good historical fiction... I'm sorry to say that this book was not one of them.
I'm going to try to keep this short. My main issues were
1. The first person - every chapter switches between Madeleine, Eliza and Hortense. The latter two are often interchangeable and it made keeping track of the characters difficult.
2. Believability - You can tell that the author has done some research but even so the story wasn't at all believable. Mind you, that probably also had something to do with all the plot conveniences.
3, The Characters were caricatures. They had no real depth and variation of personality.
Everybody seemed either boring, stereotypical or ridiculous.
I found it very difficult to care about what happened to them.
On a more positive note, the ending was interesting.
Don't bother. There are so many other books you could be reading.
When I read the synopsis I was interested and looking forward to reading it. I like historical fiction. Or that is, I like good historical fiction... I'm sorry to say that this book was not one of them.
I'm going to try to keep this short. My main issues were
1. The first person - every chapter switches between Madeleine, Eliza and Hortense. The latter two are often interchangeable and it made keeping track of the characters difficult.
2. Believability - You can tell that the author has done some research but even so the story wasn't at all believable. Mind you, that probably also had something to do with all the plot conveniences.
3, The Characters were caricatures. They had no real depth and variation of personality.
Everybody seemed either boring, stereotypical or ridiculous.
I found it very difficult to care about what happened to them.
On a more positive note, the ending was interesting.
July 23, 2012
I really wanted to love this one because I am such a history geek about anything to do with the Bonapartes, but I just couldn't bring myself to give it more than three stars. The Academie started out strong and I loved all the characters but I couldn't get into the romance part much because I knew how history would play out for the three girls. I agree along with some of the other reviewers that there were some plot holes that lead to a confusing ending. I had high hopes for The Academie but found it disappointing. However, I did like the writing style and would probably check out one of Dunlap's other books in the future.
February 27, 2012
This was a very interesting historical fiction read about four girls in France during the time of Napoleon Bonaparte. Each chapter is written by one of the girls telling the story from their perspective through the course of the year. It has a little bit of action and romance as well. If you like historical fiction you will enjoy this book.
March 11, 2012
A whole lot of fun :)
February 19, 2012
This review originally appeared here
THE ACADÉMIE has a solid premise, friends, and it takes place during one of the more interesting–and one of my personal favorite–historical periods: Napoleonic France. I LOVE reading about the society and the politics and how basically the Bonapartes sound kind of like a stereotypical mafia family, except with less murder and more political scheming. There’s so much SCANDAL about them, guys, and that makes them JUICY to read about. And for the most part, reading about Napoleon’s sister, Caroline, step-daughter, Hortense, and their school friend Eliza Monroe, was interesting in a history nerd way. But THE ACADÉMIE didn’t quite meet my expectations. *Sad face*
I’ll start with the things I liked. The historical setting is awesome. I just love this time period! And really, reading about Napoleon and his immediate family as well as his wife and step-children and the way they interact with each other is fascinating and backstabby and brimming with barely-veiled distaste. I wish we had gotten a bit more of this, to be honest, but there was lots of good family politics in THE ACADÉMIE.
The pacing improved after the half-way point, when things really started happening. There’s lots of plans and action and THINGS going on. All of the plot threads start to weave together. It might have seemed still a little scattered and hasty, but it was more exciting than the first half, which I thought lagged a bit.
There were also some very likable characters, too: Eugene, Hortense’s brother, was very endearing and sweet. I wish we could have seen more of him. He seemed a little more well-rounded than some other characters, who came off kind of flat to me. And I enjoyed reading about the Bonapartes, especially Napoleon’s mother, who seemed like a major beyotch. I think it would have been fun to see her a little bit more as well. Madeleine, the young actress living with her MONSTROUS mother, was an empathetic character who wound up having quite a bit of mettle.
Alas, all of these things that I liked couldn’t really make up for some other things that I didn’t like as much. For instance, our girl Eliza. Eliza is IRRITATING. Also superficial, snobby, childish, and kind of ridiculous. Granted, she’s only 14, and props for having her ACT her age, but she still made me roll my eyes A LOT. It was hard to connect with her when she’s being a brat to the servants and basically hoping that something scandalous will happen so that she can go write a letter about it to her mother.
Hortense is a good character, but kind of flat, and some of the things she gets herself into were either weird (her mildly uncomfortable relationship with her step-father) or seemed out of character for her (her attachment to Michel, and her role in her brother Eugene’s relationship). But I certainly empathized with Hortense. Caroline, on the other hand, seemed to be a little bit more well-rounded, what with her love for her brother’s general, Murat. But mostly she was the bad guy. There was a little confusion at the end there, when she seemed to turn around a little bit, but then I think we were supposed to assume that she had only been faking her turn to the good side? I’m not sure. In any case, she didn’t have a very likable personality, which I usually have no problem with. Lots of times villains are the most intriguing characters, but something about Caroline just made her seem manipulative and mean. Boo.
Things happen, too, as the book winds down but they never seem fleshed out somehow. Or smoothly connected. There’s so much time devoted in the beginning to meeting the characters, who I didn’t find particularly likable or interesting in both the sense of personality and/or characterization, that by the time we make it half way through and the story starts picking up steam, there isn’t really enough time left to give each event its proper due.
Perhaps most disappointingly, the romances were really…blah. Mostly because we saw almost literally NOTHING of them. I KNOW, RIGHT? So sad. There was mention of a kiss with tongue that occurred in the past (we didn’t see it) and a chaste kiss that wasn’t even meant to be romantic between two people OTHER than one of the established couples. THAT’S IT. For all that I thought the book would have more of the romances in it because it’s really those romances that drive the culminating action, they were pretty flat. I felt nothing for them. This was a bummer to me both because I felt like they wound up being important enough to warrant more attention than they got and because I felt the lack of sexytimes MAJORLY.
Overall, there were certainly entertaining aspects of THE ACADÉMIE, and I LOVED reading about Napoleonic Paris. The ending picked up the pace and flew by, which was great. And the events of the last half of the book were dramatic. But I had such high expectations for this book and, unfortunately, it didn’t quite meet them. There were seeds of great things–complicated romances, difficult family relationships–but nothing seemed to fully flesh out. I hope you guys will read THE ACADÉMIE, though, and tell me what you think!
Quick thoughts
This one was a little disappointing. :-( Review to come.
THE ACADÉMIE has a solid premise, friends, and it takes place during one of the more interesting–and one of my personal favorite–historical periods: Napoleonic France. I LOVE reading about the society and the politics and how basically the Bonapartes sound kind of like a stereotypical mafia family, except with less murder and more political scheming. There’s so much SCANDAL about them, guys, and that makes them JUICY to read about. And for the most part, reading about Napoleon’s sister, Caroline, step-daughter, Hortense, and their school friend Eliza Monroe, was interesting in a history nerd way. But THE ACADÉMIE didn’t quite meet my expectations. *Sad face*
I’ll start with the things I liked. The historical setting is awesome. I just love this time period! And really, reading about Napoleon and his immediate family as well as his wife and step-children and the way they interact with each other is fascinating and backstabby and brimming with barely-veiled distaste. I wish we had gotten a bit more of this, to be honest, but there was lots of good family politics in THE ACADÉMIE.
The pacing improved after the half-way point, when things really started happening. There’s lots of plans and action and THINGS going on. All of the plot threads start to weave together. It might have seemed still a little scattered and hasty, but it was more exciting than the first half, which I thought lagged a bit.
There were also some very likable characters, too: Eugene, Hortense’s brother, was very endearing and sweet. I wish we could have seen more of him. He seemed a little more well-rounded than some other characters, who came off kind of flat to me. And I enjoyed reading about the Bonapartes, especially Napoleon’s mother, who seemed like a major beyotch. I think it would have been fun to see her a little bit more as well. Madeleine, the young actress living with her MONSTROUS mother, was an empathetic character who wound up having quite a bit of mettle.
Alas, all of these things that I liked couldn’t really make up for some other things that I didn’t like as much. For instance, our girl Eliza. Eliza is IRRITATING. Also superficial, snobby, childish, and kind of ridiculous. Granted, she’s only 14, and props for having her ACT her age, but she still made me roll my eyes A LOT. It was hard to connect with her when she’s being a brat to the servants and basically hoping that something scandalous will happen so that she can go write a letter about it to her mother.
Hortense is a good character, but kind of flat, and some of the things she gets herself into were either weird (her mildly uncomfortable relationship with her step-father) or seemed out of character for her (her attachment to Michel, and her role in her brother Eugene’s relationship). But I certainly empathized with Hortense. Caroline, on the other hand, seemed to be a little bit more well-rounded, what with her love for her brother’s general, Murat. But mostly she was the bad guy. There was a little confusion at the end there, when she seemed to turn around a little bit, but then I think we were supposed to assume that she had only been faking her turn to the good side? I’m not sure. In any case, she didn’t have a very likable personality, which I usually have no problem with. Lots of times villains are the most intriguing characters, but something about Caroline just made her seem manipulative and mean. Boo.
Things happen, too, as the book winds down but they never seem fleshed out somehow. Or smoothly connected. There’s so much time devoted in the beginning to meeting the characters, who I didn’t find particularly likable or interesting in both the sense of personality and/or characterization, that by the time we make it half way through and the story starts picking up steam, there isn’t really enough time left to give each event its proper due.
Perhaps most disappointingly, the romances were really…blah. Mostly because we saw almost literally NOTHING of them. I KNOW, RIGHT? So sad. There was mention of a kiss with tongue that occurred in the past (we didn’t see it) and a chaste kiss that wasn’t even meant to be romantic between two people OTHER than one of the established couples. THAT’S IT. For all that I thought the book would have more of the romances in it because it’s really those romances that drive the culminating action, they were pretty flat. I felt nothing for them. This was a bummer to me both because I felt like they wound up being important enough to warrant more attention than they got and because I felt the lack of sexytimes MAJORLY.
Overall, there were certainly entertaining aspects of THE ACADÉMIE, and I LOVED reading about Napoleonic Paris. The ending picked up the pace and flew by, which was great. And the events of the last half of the book were dramatic. But I had such high expectations for this book and, unfortunately, it didn’t quite meet them. There were seeds of great things–complicated romances, difficult family relationships–but nothing seemed to fully flesh out. I hope you guys will read THE ACADÉMIE, though, and tell me what you think!
Quick thoughts
This one was a little disappointing. :-( Review to come.
September 12, 2018
Reading from the perspective of women with very close ties to Napoleon as he was rising to power kept me interested, but I was frustrated by the fact that none of these girls were particularly friendly or respectful of one another, and by the fact that their primary motivation was boys.
July 7, 2023
2.5, rounded up to 3!
the extra half-star is because when i am not entirely invested in a book, having a melancholic ending instead of a mary-sue "and everyone lived happily ever after!" ending is a pleasant surprise.
the extra half-star is because when i am not entirely invested in a book, having a melancholic ending instead of a mary-sue "and everyone lived happily ever after!" ending is a pleasant surprise.
March 26, 2012
(Note: Due to GoodReads rating system, I rounded up to 4 stars, but my true rating is 3.5 stars.)
Eliza Monroe, a native of Virginia, has been sent to Paris for a year to attend Saint Germaine, a prestigious boarding school for well-to-do young ladies. There, she is expected to study and learn the fashion and character attributes of the French. She is a bit put-out by her parents' decision until she learns that she is to be associated with Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte, and Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon's little sister. Exciting as that may be, she soon learns that Hortense and Caroline, despite family ties, are enemies.
Caroline and her family believe that Napoleon could have married younger, wealthier and better, and despise both Josephine and Hortense for the ill-fated match. Hortense is the level-headed of the two, and though she fatigues of the constant torment, she does not allow herself to fall to Caroline's level. Eliza is understandably torn between the two, longing to be adventurous and daring like Caroline, and sweet and sophisticated like Hortense.
Both Hortense and Caroline have secrets, which they confide to Eliza. Caroline is in love with Murat, a close confidant of her brother, Napoleon. Unfortunately, her brother does not support the match, and Caroline graduates to desperate measures to be with Murat, including sneaking out of the school and parading as a boy soldier to be near him. Meanwhile, Hortense just wants to be free to pursue and marry the boy she has fallen in love with, the son of her music teacher, of whom her mother would surely disapprove.
During a week-long stay with Caroline and Hortense at the Bonaparte's home, Eliza eventually meets and develops a crush on Hortense's brother, Eugene. However, Eugene barely notices Eliza's existence, because he is secretly in love with Madeleine, the daughter of an abusive, egotistical actress, whom he has promised to take away and marry.
Throw in a skirmish between Napoleon's men and the current government, a shocking death, numerous declarations of love, and a bit of scandal, and you're hooked.
Such drama! Such intrigue!
The Académie is narrated by Eliza, Hortense, and Madeleine. While it was interesting to see how things played out from the different points-of-view, I found that the "voice" of each character could have been more consistent, especially Madeleine's. At first, she's this meek, put-upon, frail bird of a girl, and towards the end she turns into a brash, cunning and seemingly violent woman. This did make for quite an interesting twist, but I didn't think it was necessary. I think my favorite character was Hortense, followed closely by Eliza. Caroline had absolutely no redeeming qualities as a character. What a snot!
It was interesting to note the stages of maturity and growth (or lack thereof) for each girl. For example, Hortense was almost the pinnacle of maturity from the start. She was generous, understanding and honest, if a little naive. She wanted to make her own decisions about her love life, and life in general, but was generally aligned with the notion that her mother would make a match for her. Eliza experienced the most growth as a character, particularly in regard to the equality of all people, as her family in Virginia still owned slaves. Caroline grew and matured the least. Right up to the end, she was spiteful, conniving and selfish. She played nice a few times with Hortense, but only when it suited her current needs.
The setting of The Académie was the real crowning achievement of author, Susanne Dunlap. I believe she really captured the essence of 1799 Paris, both socially and economically. The period was certainly represented well, which I believe most history buffs will appreciate. I will warn you though, dear reader, that the pacing of the novel was a bit jarring at times. It would speed up, then slow down, and speed up again. I found myself checking to see how much longer I had until the book was finished.
The ending was slightly disappointing, but given that Susanne Dunlap based much of the story off true events, I suppose there really was no other ending it could have had. It was a realistic ending nonetheless, whether fictional or no, because not everyone's dreams came true, and not everyone lived "happily ever after". If you're looking for that type of Historical Fiction novel, you may want to look elsewhere.
Overall, I enjoyed reading The Académie. I really love Historical Fiction and thought that this book provided a great break from the dystopian novels I've been reading lately, which tend to be a bit depressing. I wish there had been a bit more consistency between the characters and pacing; however, I particularly enjoyed reading more about post-revolutionary France and appreciated Susanne Dunlap's attention to detail.
I would recommend borrowing this book from the library or a friend first, before deciding to commit to it. The Académie did not blow me away, but you may love it, especially if you're a history buff.
Eliza Monroe, a native of Virginia, has been sent to Paris for a year to attend Saint Germaine, a prestigious boarding school for well-to-do young ladies. There, she is expected to study and learn the fashion and character attributes of the French. She is a bit put-out by her parents' decision until she learns that she is to be associated with Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte, and Caroline Bonaparte, Napoleon's little sister. Exciting as that may be, she soon learns that Hortense and Caroline, despite family ties, are enemies.
Caroline and her family believe that Napoleon could have married younger, wealthier and better, and despise both Josephine and Hortense for the ill-fated match. Hortense is the level-headed of the two, and though she fatigues of the constant torment, she does not allow herself to fall to Caroline's level. Eliza is understandably torn between the two, longing to be adventurous and daring like Caroline, and sweet and sophisticated like Hortense.
Both Hortense and Caroline have secrets, which they confide to Eliza. Caroline is in love with Murat, a close confidant of her brother, Napoleon. Unfortunately, her brother does not support the match, and Caroline graduates to desperate measures to be with Murat, including sneaking out of the school and parading as a boy soldier to be near him. Meanwhile, Hortense just wants to be free to pursue and marry the boy she has fallen in love with, the son of her music teacher, of whom her mother would surely disapprove.
During a week-long stay with Caroline and Hortense at the Bonaparte's home, Eliza eventually meets and develops a crush on Hortense's brother, Eugene. However, Eugene barely notices Eliza's existence, because he is secretly in love with Madeleine, the daughter of an abusive, egotistical actress, whom he has promised to take away and marry.
Throw in a skirmish between Napoleon's men and the current government, a shocking death, numerous declarations of love, and a bit of scandal, and you're hooked.
Such drama! Such intrigue!
The Académie is narrated by Eliza, Hortense, and Madeleine. While it was interesting to see how things played out from the different points-of-view, I found that the "voice" of each character could have been more consistent, especially Madeleine's. At first, she's this meek, put-upon, frail bird of a girl, and towards the end she turns into a brash, cunning and seemingly violent woman. This did make for quite an interesting twist, but I didn't think it was necessary. I think my favorite character was Hortense, followed closely by Eliza. Caroline had absolutely no redeeming qualities as a character. What a snot!
It was interesting to note the stages of maturity and growth (or lack thereof) for each girl. For example, Hortense was almost the pinnacle of maturity from the start. She was generous, understanding and honest, if a little naive. She wanted to make her own decisions about her love life, and life in general, but was generally aligned with the notion that her mother would make a match for her. Eliza experienced the most growth as a character, particularly in regard to the equality of all people, as her family in Virginia still owned slaves. Caroline grew and matured the least. Right up to the end, she was spiteful, conniving and selfish. She played nice a few times with Hortense, but only when it suited her current needs.
The setting of The Académie was the real crowning achievement of author, Susanne Dunlap. I believe she really captured the essence of 1799 Paris, both socially and economically. The period was certainly represented well, which I believe most history buffs will appreciate. I will warn you though, dear reader, that the pacing of the novel was a bit jarring at times. It would speed up, then slow down, and speed up again. I found myself checking to see how much longer I had until the book was finished.
The ending was slightly disappointing, but given that Susanne Dunlap based much of the story off true events, I suppose there really was no other ending it could have had. It was a realistic ending nonetheless, whether fictional or no, because not everyone's dreams came true, and not everyone lived "happily ever after". If you're looking for that type of Historical Fiction novel, you may want to look elsewhere.
Overall, I enjoyed reading The Académie. I really love Historical Fiction and thought that this book provided a great break from the dystopian novels I've been reading lately, which tend to be a bit depressing. I wish there had been a bit more consistency between the characters and pacing; however, I particularly enjoyed reading more about post-revolutionary France and appreciated Susanne Dunlap's attention to detail.
I would recommend borrowing this book from the library or a friend first, before deciding to commit to it. The Académie did not blow me away, but you may love it, especially if you're a history buff.
July 9, 2017
2.5/5
July 11, 2017
Chick book in historical setting. Interesting.
October 20, 2017
A quick and easy read.
June 16, 2015
In The Academie, Susanne Dunlap has taken real people (and a few imagined characters) and married real events and imagined events - this story is loosely based on actual history. What we have is an American girl that arrives at a French boarding school to find that two of her fellow students are closely connected to Napoleon Bonaparte - one is his sister, one is his stepdaughter - during a time of big political tension in France. As the girls become friends and as the American girl learns the refined ways of French society, there are shenanigans, there are some major politics, there is some romance, and there is plenty of drama.
The main players are:
There are three alternating points-of-view telling the narrative - Eliza, Hortense, and Madeline. Caroline is the only one not telling the story, but she is a key player in it.
--
Okay, so here's the deal: overall I liked the story, but there are things that I liked and things that were merely okay.
Setting. I liked the boarding school feel in the beginning of the book, and I wish it would have carried more seamlessly throughout the entire novel. Because the second part of the book feels so differently than the first part and because there plenty of long scenes that took part elsewhere, I feel a little hesitant to call this a "boarding-school book" although I'm sure others would still categorize it this way.
Characterization. I like all of the characters, I genuinely like them - even the ones that are supposed to be less likable were enjoyable to me. However, there are so many of them that it was tough for me to get to know them as well as I like to. Also, there were instances where the author would call some of the characters by first name, and then sometimes use the last name for the same character - this was confusing to me and it took quite a bit of flipping back and forth (which sadly was not the most fun on an ereader).
Romance. I get that the young girls during this time were already thinking ahead to marriage, I do. And I get that they often had to consider marrying according to what was best for their family, I do. But there were so many romances in this story because there were so many girls! There was some effort in keeping up with who loved who - and there was also some I guess I like him more than I thought and I misread his intentions, doggone it. I kept having to remind myself that the romance portion of the story was likely in keeping with the maturity level of the girls and with the time period in history. Honestly, though, with this particular set of flat-ish characters, the romances felt a little flat too.
History. I love historical fiction and I absolutely LOVE history. Even so, I was not up-to-speed enough on the history of this time and place with regard to everything mentioned in this story. I stopped to research some of the phrases used and a couple of the people mentioned in the book, and the reading was a little easier after that. A brief explanation of these phrases (or use of context?) or indication of who these people were would have been so helpful! But the biggest thing that would have helped me regarding the historical part of this book would have been if the Author's Note had been included BEFORE the book rather than at the end. That way, I would have learned which parts were real and not real, etc. and this would have honestly made the book a little more enjoyable for me.
The Academie by Susanne Dunlap, I think, fits best with a younger-young adult reading crowd. I say this because I think that my young girls would love this one because they would buy into all of it without question, where I was questioning things [and having to suspend my belief that 14-year-old girls would do some of the political things that these girls did]. At any rate, this was a fun read, but honestly not my very favorite YA historical fiction. I would recommend The Academie by Susanne Dunlap to a younger-YA reading crowd, to readers that enjoy French Revolutionary historical fiction, and to readers that enjoy a boarding school setting.
Read my full review HERE at Into the Hall of Books.
The main players are:
Eliza - daughter of future US President James Monroe
Hortense - stepdaughter of Napoleon
Caroline - sister of Napoleon
Madeline - mixed-race actress at a local theater, not a student at the school
There are three alternating points-of-view telling the narrative - Eliza, Hortense, and Madeline. Caroline is the only one not telling the story, but she is a key player in it.
--
Okay, so here's the deal: overall I liked the story, but there are things that I liked and things that were merely okay.
Setting. I liked the boarding school feel in the beginning of the book, and I wish it would have carried more seamlessly throughout the entire novel. Because the second part of the book feels so differently than the first part and because there plenty of long scenes that took part elsewhere, I feel a little hesitant to call this a "boarding-school book" although I'm sure others would still categorize it this way.
Characterization. I like all of the characters, I genuinely like them - even the ones that are supposed to be less likable were enjoyable to me. However, there are so many of them that it was tough for me to get to know them as well as I like to. Also, there were instances where the author would call some of the characters by first name, and then sometimes use the last name for the same character - this was confusing to me and it took quite a bit of flipping back and forth (which sadly was not the most fun on an ereader).
Romance. I get that the young girls during this time were already thinking ahead to marriage, I do. And I get that they often had to consider marrying according to what was best for their family, I do. But there were so many romances in this story because there were so many girls! There was some effort in keeping up with who loved who - and there was also some I guess I like him more than I thought and I misread his intentions, doggone it. I kept having to remind myself that the romance portion of the story was likely in keeping with the maturity level of the girls and with the time period in history. Honestly, though, with this particular set of flat-ish characters, the romances felt a little flat too.
History. I love historical fiction and I absolutely LOVE history. Even so, I was not up-to-speed enough on the history of this time and place with regard to everything mentioned in this story. I stopped to research some of the phrases used and a couple of the people mentioned in the book, and the reading was a little easier after that. A brief explanation of these phrases (or use of context?) or indication of who these people were would have been so helpful! But the biggest thing that would have helped me regarding the historical part of this book would have been if the Author's Note had been included BEFORE the book rather than at the end. That way, I would have learned which parts were real and not real, etc. and this would have honestly made the book a little more enjoyable for me.
The Academie by Susanne Dunlap, I think, fits best with a younger-young adult reading crowd. I say this because I think that my young girls would love this one because they would buy into all of it without question, where I was questioning things [and having to suspend my belief that 14-year-old girls would do some of the political things that these girls did]. At any rate, this was a fun read, but honestly not my very favorite YA historical fiction. I would recommend The Academie by Susanne Dunlap to a younger-YA reading crowd, to readers that enjoy French Revolutionary historical fiction, and to readers that enjoy a boarding school setting.
Read my full review HERE at Into the Hall of Books.
April 9, 2012
The Academie by Susanne Dunlap
Pages: 368
Release Date: February 28th, 2012
Date Read: 2012, March 4th-11th
Received: ARC via NetGalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
Recommended to: +12
SUMMARY -
Eliza Monroe - daughter of America, innocent and young, desiring romance and handsome generals, wanting to be accepted.
Hortense de Beauharnais - daughter of Josephine Bonaparte, beautiful young woman, one who loves deeply, one who has a secret she cannot deny, but must try to escape from.
Madeleine - actress in the Comedie Francaise, treated like a slave by her own famous mother, in love with the son of Josephine Bonaparte, waiting for someone to take her away.
Three girls, three paths of life, intertwined and tangled. When thrown together, their lives will never be the same.
MY THOUGHTS -
I was hoping to love this book...but even though I didn't, its still a good historical fiction that I enjoyed. It started out with 5-star material, and ended 3 star. But that's not bad. I appreciate it for what it was. However, there were definitely some major points that stopped me from loving the story. One thing was Susanne Dunlap's style. i was okay with telling apart three 1st person voices...until they were all thrown together into the same place. For the last 100 pages they were frustratingly similar.
CHARACTER NOTES -
Eliza, Hortense, Madeleine, Caroline, Josephine, Napoleon, Eugene.... The list goes on. This is one large cast. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to keep track, except maybe a little with Josephine and Caroline. Caroline is Napoleon's sister, and Josephine is married to Napoleon, and has two kids - Hortese and Eugene - from a different way. So...in a way, Caroline is Hortese's step-aunt. But they're around the same age. This could have been super confusing, but it was only a tiny bit confusing at first, and as time went on it got easier to understand. I appreciate this very very much.
Putting that mess aside, I really did like most of the characters because they were human. Eliza was a brat, doing the most infuriating things until finally she saw sense. (So don't give up on her!) Madeleine was mysterious...I suspected the twist about her at the end but wasn't too sure.
Hortense and Eugene, siblings, step-children of Napoleon, were by far my favorites. They were consistent, selfless, and people I could relate to because they weren't all about the ridiculous society rules that their parents/cousins followed.
Caroline was fascinating, but less consistent and I felt there were holes about her development in the end. She changed suddenly, it seemed. But maybe it was just my perception.
STORY NOTES -
I like historical books that have reality and fiction mixed together. So, while Eliza, the Bonapartes, and all the stuff about France were real, Madeleine and Eugene and the events surrounding them were fabricated. I found this interesting and it kept my attention throughout.
For the most part I was totally glued to the story, but there were a few anticlimactic scenes that should have been riveting. The outcomes (Eliza's first kiss - which was weird, for who she kissed - Hortense's visit to the music teacher's house, and Caroline just disappearing) made me go, "Wait, where were we?"
I didn't love the climax because 1. it seemed a bit pointless; and 2. it was SO SAD. Thinking about it even now, I can't help but shudder at the thought of the events. However, the very end did sum up the story well and I liked the lessons the characters learned from their experiences.
SUMMING IT UP -
A good mix of real life and good story-telling. I wish it had been better, but that's just me. I'm sure tons of readers will eat this book up like a gourmet dessert. And if I happen to come across one of Dunlap's other books, I'll definitely give it a try!
For the Parents -
A kiss or two, talk of affairs/lovers; an antagonist is addicted to opium; some brief but very saddening violence. Recommended 12+
*This ARC copy was provided by NetGalley (thanks a million!!) in return for an honest review. I was in no way compensated; all thoughts and feelings expressed are my own.*
Pages: 368
Release Date: February 28th, 2012
Date Read: 2012, March 4th-11th
Received: ARC via NetGalley
Rating: 3/5 stars
Recommended to: +12
SUMMARY -
Eliza Monroe - daughter of America, innocent and young, desiring romance and handsome generals, wanting to be accepted.
Hortense de Beauharnais - daughter of Josephine Bonaparte, beautiful young woman, one who loves deeply, one who has a secret she cannot deny, but must try to escape from.
Madeleine - actress in the Comedie Francaise, treated like a slave by her own famous mother, in love with the son of Josephine Bonaparte, waiting for someone to take her away.
Three girls, three paths of life, intertwined and tangled. When thrown together, their lives will never be the same.
MY THOUGHTS -
I was hoping to love this book...but even though I didn't, its still a good historical fiction that I enjoyed. It started out with 5-star material, and ended 3 star. But that's not bad. I appreciate it for what it was. However, there were definitely some major points that stopped me from loving the story. One thing was Susanne Dunlap's style. i was okay with telling apart three 1st person voices...until they were all thrown together into the same place. For the last 100 pages they were frustratingly similar.
CHARACTER NOTES -
Eliza, Hortense, Madeleine, Caroline, Josephine, Napoleon, Eugene.... The list goes on. This is one large cast. Surprisingly, it wasn't hard to keep track, except maybe a little with Josephine and Caroline. Caroline is Napoleon's sister, and Josephine is married to Napoleon, and has two kids - Hortese and Eugene - from a different way. So...in a way, Caroline is Hortese's step-aunt. But they're around the same age. This could have been super confusing, but it was only a tiny bit confusing at first, and as time went on it got easier to understand. I appreciate this very very much.
Putting that mess aside, I really did like most of the characters because they were human. Eliza was a brat, doing the most infuriating things until finally she saw sense. (So don't give up on her!) Madeleine was mysterious...I suspected the twist about her at the end but wasn't too sure.
Hortense and Eugene, siblings, step-children of Napoleon, were by far my favorites. They were consistent, selfless, and people I could relate to because they weren't all about the ridiculous society rules that their parents/cousins followed.
Caroline was fascinating, but less consistent and I felt there were holes about her development in the end. She changed suddenly, it seemed. But maybe it was just my perception.
STORY NOTES -
I like historical books that have reality and fiction mixed together. So, while Eliza, the Bonapartes, and all the stuff about France were real, Madeleine and Eugene and the events surrounding them were fabricated. I found this interesting and it kept my attention throughout.
For the most part I was totally glued to the story, but there were a few anticlimactic scenes that should have been riveting. The outcomes (Eliza's first kiss - which was weird, for who she kissed - Hortense's visit to the music teacher's house, and Caroline just disappearing) made me go, "Wait, where were we?"
I didn't love the climax because 1. it seemed a bit pointless; and 2. it was SO SAD. Thinking about it even now, I can't help but shudder at the thought of the events. However, the very end did sum up the story well and I liked the lessons the characters learned from their experiences.
SUMMING IT UP -
A good mix of real life and good story-telling. I wish it had been better, but that's just me. I'm sure tons of readers will eat this book up like a gourmet dessert. And if I happen to come across one of Dunlap's other books, I'll definitely give it a try!
For the Parents -
A kiss or two, talk of affairs/lovers; an antagonist is addicted to opium; some brief but very saddening violence. Recommended 12+
*This ARC copy was provided by NetGalley (thanks a million!!) in return for an honest review. I was in no way compensated; all thoughts and feelings expressed are my own.*
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June 13, 2012The Academie starts with a good historical premise. Three girls, all related to powerful historical figures, thrown together at a school for young women? It makes you wonder what will happen, especially as the events of the novel take place soon after the French Revolution and right around the time that Napoleon Bonaparte plotted to overthrow the Directoire. Big changes are brewing in France at the same time that the girls play a game of politics with one another, each girl acting with her best interests in mind and guessing at the other girls' motives. It was interesting seeing events take place through the eyes of three very different girls: Eliza and Hortense in addition to Madeleine, the daughter of an actress who will get entangled in the politics of the aristocrats. This has promising potential; however, the novel's set up makes it hard to get into the plot.
The first-person narrative as told through three different perspective makes it hard to follow events clearly and even more so to relate to the characters. Each girl has her own thoughts and observations, and they see the same people in different lights. They also believe that they know what's best for other characters and will act for other people's "best interests" when their actions really end up hurting them. Just when I thought I had formed my opinion on a character, the narrative would switch to another girl and I would see the aforementioned character in another light. Because the narrative switches perspectives so often, I didn't get to know the girls as well as I would have liked, and sometimes the narrative would replay an event from another person's perspective, which felt redundant despite the new angle the present narrator offered.
I was very much interested in the politics of the aristocratic world. Initially, Hortense and Caroline exihibit much distaste for one another, something that is no big secret; yet, they must act in a certain manner with each other in public. The novel could have easily explored much more of the intricacies of the nobility. However, rather than focusing on the intrigue and politics of the girls' worlds, the story spends much of its time exploring the girls' romantic interests. The promise of romance is the girls' primary motivation factor. Eliza is interested in Hortense's brother, who loves the actress Madeleine. At the same time, Hortense develops feelings for the musician Michel, and Caroline wishes to marry the general Murat. Love drives the girls to do lose reason and do silly things like dress up as soldiers to go to where they know something big will happen, but not what exactly.
The plot is slow to unfold. A quarter into the novel, I considered dropping it because it didn't seem like anything was going to happen, though I finally finished the book because I read the last couple pages and wanted to see what happened in between. Not much ended ended up happening. As I mentioned earlier, much of the book is about the girls falling in love, with each girl finding a different resolution. There is joy, there is resignation, and there is tragedy. There is a fair amount of fiction in this novel, but there is also realness in the characters' humanity. While this is far from the best historical fiction that I've read, it is rather light-hearted for the topic that it addresses and may interest readers looking for a light summer read with romance and scandal but nothing a parent wouldn't let a middle-grade student read.
Review at Imaginary Reads
The first-person narrative as told through three different perspective makes it hard to follow events clearly and even more so to relate to the characters. Each girl has her own thoughts and observations, and they see the same people in different lights. They also believe that they know what's best for other characters and will act for other people's "best interests" when their actions really end up hurting them. Just when I thought I had formed my opinion on a character, the narrative would switch to another girl and I would see the aforementioned character in another light. Because the narrative switches perspectives so often, I didn't get to know the girls as well as I would have liked, and sometimes the narrative would replay an event from another person's perspective, which felt redundant despite the new angle the present narrator offered.
I was very much interested in the politics of the aristocratic world. Initially, Hortense and Caroline exihibit much distaste for one another, something that is no big secret; yet, they must act in a certain manner with each other in public. The novel could have easily explored much more of the intricacies of the nobility. However, rather than focusing on the intrigue and politics of the girls' worlds, the story spends much of its time exploring the girls' romantic interests. The promise of romance is the girls' primary motivation factor. Eliza is interested in Hortense's brother, who loves the actress Madeleine. At the same time, Hortense develops feelings for the musician Michel, and Caroline wishes to marry the general Murat. Love drives the girls to do lose reason and do silly things like dress up as soldiers to go to where they know something big will happen, but not what exactly.
The plot is slow to unfold. A quarter into the novel, I considered dropping it because it didn't seem like anything was going to happen, though I finally finished the book because I read the last couple pages and wanted to see what happened in between. Not much ended ended up happening. As I mentioned earlier, much of the book is about the girls falling in love, with each girl finding a different resolution. There is joy, there is resignation, and there is tragedy. There is a fair amount of fiction in this novel, but there is also realness in the characters' humanity. While this is far from the best historical fiction that I've read, it is rather light-hearted for the topic that it addresses and may interest readers looking for a light summer read with romance and scandal but nothing a parent wouldn't let a middle-grade student read.
Review at Imaginary Reads
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