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The Empress Chronicles
"Vitello presents an intriguing, believable portrait of two young women caught up in events and circumstances beyond their control, as well as a painfully sympathetic portrayal of OCD. "—PUBLISHERS WEEKLYIn this dazzling novel from the author of THE MOMENT BEFORE, one courageous girl seeks keys to the past to unlock the future…When city girl Liz is banished to a rural goat farm on the outskirts of Portland, the 15-year-old feels her life spiraling out of control. She can’t connect to her father or his young girlfriend, and past trauma adds to her sense of upheaval. The only person who seems to keep her sane is a troubled boy who is fighting his own demons. But all of this changes in one historical instant.One-hundred fifty years earlier, Elisabeth of Bavaria has troubles of her own. Her childhood is coming to a crashing end, and her destiny is written in the form of a soothsaying locket that has the ability to predict true love. But evil is afoot in the form of a wicked enchantress who connives to wield the power of the locket for her own destructive ends.When Liz finds a timeworn diary, and within it a locket, she discovers the secrets and desires of the young Bavarian princess who will one day grow up to be the legendary Empress of Austria.It is in the pages of the diary that these two heroines will meet, and it is through their interwoven story that Liz will discover she has the power to rewrite history—including her own...Readers of books like Rachel Harris’s MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY will love THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES.
284 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2014
977 people want to read
About the author
Suzy Vitello
11 books85 followersSuzy Vitello is a proud founding member of a critique group recently dubbed The Hottest Writing Group in Portland, and her short stories have won fellowships and prizes (including the Atlantic Monthly Student Writing Award, and an Oregon Literary Arts Fellowship).
Suzy's novels, FAULTLAND, THE MOMENT BEFORE, THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES and THE KEEPSAKE are available wherever books and ebooks are sold.
An e-chapbook of some of her stories, UNKISS ME, can be found here
Find out more about Suzy
Suzy's novels, FAULTLAND, THE MOMENT BEFORE, THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES and THE KEEPSAKE are available wherever books and ebooks are sold.
An e-chapbook of some of her stories, UNKISS ME, can be found here
Find out more about Suzy
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
February 19, 2015
3 1/2 stars!
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
Original review from Little Book Owl
The Short
The Empress Chronicles is a fun and promising start to a new series. This first book really builds up towards the end. I am certainly intrigued, however I feel like the ending was cut short a little too abruptly. I would have loved to have been introduced to some of that excitement a little earlier.
The two main characters, Liz and Sisi, have very distinct voices, which worked wonderfully for the dual points of view. Their development throughout the story was wonderfully executed, and I loved getting to know the two characters.
The Long
Full video review found here: Youtube
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.
Original review from Little Book Owl
The Short
The Empress Chronicles is a fun and promising start to a new series. This first book really builds up towards the end. I am certainly intrigued, however I feel like the ending was cut short a little too abruptly. I would have loved to have been introduced to some of that excitement a little earlier.
The two main characters, Liz and Sisi, have very distinct voices, which worked wonderfully for the dual points of view. Their development throughout the story was wonderfully executed, and I loved getting to know the two characters.
The Long
Full video review found here: Youtube
August 29, 2014
2.5 Stars
From what I can tell this is supposed to be a stand-alone novel but….the way it ended makes me think that there is a possibility that the author is contemplating writing a sequel. It isn’t as closed as I would like it to be for a stand-alone.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I read the synopsis and it included something about a magic diary. Anytime I think about a magic diary I always envision the one used by Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. But the ‘magic’ part of the diary was very minimal so don’t let that be a deterrent form the story.
This has two very distinct settings and PoVs . First there is Liz in modern day, Liz has issues. She is severely OCD and that leads her to have issues with eating so she is also anorexic. Liz sees germs everywhere and worries about what might be in her food, so she has a tendency to not eat. With the help of a therapist she is working through her issues but it is a daily struggle. I really did like being in the mind of someone with this condition and found this aspect of the story very interesting. Liz becomes fascinated with the similarities between herself and Empress Elisabeth of Austria or Sisi since they both have documented eating disorders.
The other PoV is Sisi’s from the 1800s as she lives her life ramping up to the time that she is chosen by Franz Joseph to be his wife and Empress of Austria. While this seemed very historically accurate, I struggled a little with the shifts from present day to the 1800s. Sisi seemed so young and reckless for the most part and the transfer of her emotions onto someone who was very inappropriate for her was fast. I also had a difficult time with the introduction of magic into the historical part of this story especially with the way the book ended.
Overall I really don’t know how I want to rate this. I really liked Liz’s story of a teen coping with OCD and trying to get better or at least manage it. I didn’t like the magic introduced into the HF aspect of the story with the way the ending played out it just felt like it didn’t really need to be there. Then there is the ending that just was off for me and parts of it seem either incomplete or rushed, which if this is a series would make more sense but I believe it is a stand-alone.
Overall I’d say read it if you have an interest in teens suffering from mental disorders or if you are a large fan of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It has some slow parts but most of those were during the HF section of the story.
Thank you to Diversion books via Netgalley for the ACR
From what I can tell this is supposed to be a stand-alone novel but….the way it ended makes me think that there is a possibility that the author is contemplating writing a sequel. It isn’t as closed as I would like it to be for a stand-alone.
I wasn’t sure what to expect when I read the synopsis and it included something about a magic diary. Anytime I think about a magic diary I always envision the one used by Tom Riddle in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. But the ‘magic’ part of the diary was very minimal so don’t let that be a deterrent form the story.
This has two very distinct settings and PoVs . First there is Liz in modern day, Liz has issues. She is severely OCD and that leads her to have issues with eating so she is also anorexic. Liz sees germs everywhere and worries about what might be in her food, so she has a tendency to not eat. With the help of a therapist she is working through her issues but it is a daily struggle. I really did like being in the mind of someone with this condition and found this aspect of the story very interesting. Liz becomes fascinated with the similarities between herself and Empress Elisabeth of Austria or Sisi since they both have documented eating disorders.
The other PoV is Sisi’s from the 1800s as she lives her life ramping up to the time that she is chosen by Franz Joseph to be his wife and Empress of Austria. While this seemed very historically accurate, I struggled a little with the shifts from present day to the 1800s. Sisi seemed so young and reckless for the most part and the transfer of her emotions onto someone who was very inappropriate for her was fast. I also had a difficult time with the introduction of magic into the historical part of this story especially with the way the book ended.
Overall I really don’t know how I want to rate this. I really liked Liz’s story of a teen coping with OCD and trying to get better or at least manage it. I didn’t like the magic introduced into the HF aspect of the story with the way the ending played out it just felt like it didn’t really need to be there. Then there is the ending that just was off for me and parts of it seem either incomplete or rushed, which if this is a series would make more sense but I believe it is a stand-alone.
Overall I’d say read it if you have an interest in teens suffering from mental disorders or if you are a large fan of Empress Elisabeth of Austria. It has some slow parts but most of those were during the HF section of the story.
Thank you to Diversion books via Netgalley for the ACR
July 30, 2014
Is it cheesy to rate your own book? I just wanted to get the party started.
Cannot wait to share this book with you all.
Cover reveal on August 4th!
Cannot wait to share this book with you all.
Cover reveal on August 4th!
February 12, 2016
I received this from the publishers via NetGalley
Liz has OCD and it has lead to issues with food and germs. When she is forced to move to a farm on the outskirts of Portland with her Dad, she fears the worst, and she worries she won't be able to handle it. She finds comfort in the diary of Elisabeth of Bavaria, who became the Empress of Austria. She realises she may have the power to change history, and to change herself.
I'm still not sure what I think of this. I think it is probably just an average read, nothing special, but I wouldn't exactly call it a bad book either. It was dull in places and I did find myself getting bored and wishing the story would hurry up. I found that the 'magical' element of the book was a little bit pointless, and a bit unrealistic. Obviously, anything magic isn't realistic, but the way Liz came to the conclusion that she did about the book I don't know, something about it felt like it was just a little far fetched. Perhaps it is because the world building wasn't very good, that it all felt very fake and flat.
The characters, though interesting, felt a little flat to me, especially Sisi. I felt that Liz was the more interesting, and she was the one who had the character development, where as I don't think Sisi had any character development. I think Liz was more interesting because it was interesting being in the mind of someone who had OCD, and we could see how she battled it and how she managed, to not overcome it yet, but she was making progress, and I think that there was some decent development with Liz. Sisi however, was a let down. I felt like the setting in Sisi's time wasn't done very well and I didn't really get a sense of 1800s.
Overall, an average read, with some entertaining aspects.
Liz has OCD and it has lead to issues with food and germs. When she is forced to move to a farm on the outskirts of Portland with her Dad, she fears the worst, and she worries she won't be able to handle it. She finds comfort in the diary of Elisabeth of Bavaria, who became the Empress of Austria. She realises she may have the power to change history, and to change herself.
I'm still not sure what I think of this. I think it is probably just an average read, nothing special, but I wouldn't exactly call it a bad book either. It was dull in places and I did find myself getting bored and wishing the story would hurry up. I found that the 'magical' element of the book was a little bit pointless, and a bit unrealistic. Obviously, anything magic isn't realistic, but the way Liz came to the conclusion that she did about the book I don't know, something about it felt like it was just a little far fetched. Perhaps it is because the world building wasn't very good, that it all felt very fake and flat.
The characters, though interesting, felt a little flat to me, especially Sisi. I felt that Liz was the more interesting, and she was the one who had the character development, where as I don't think Sisi had any character development. I think Liz was more interesting because it was interesting being in the mind of someone who had OCD, and we could see how she battled it and how she managed, to not overcome it yet, but she was making progress, and I think that there was some decent development with Liz. Sisi however, was a let down. I felt like the setting in Sisi's time wasn't done very well and I didn't really get a sense of 1800s.
Overall, an average read, with some entertaining aspects.
May 8, 2016
Original rating: 3.5
This is the hardest review I've ever written to date. I've been staring at my computer's screen for the past couple of hours trying to think how I'd go about reviewing The Empress Chronicles. It's not helping that the more I think about this book, the more bewildered I get.
The charm of this novel is in its narrative execution. It simply begs to be read and as a reader, you have no choice but to keep turning the pages. It's not only a testament to how my love for this genre grows with every historical fiction novel I read, but also because The Empress Chronicles has an entrancing quality that cannot be ignored. I recently read Queen of Someday and while it falls under the same genre minus the magical elements, The Empress Chronicles is heavier and definitely more complicated.
Its storyline alternates between the contemporary and past timelines of two girls sharing the same name. Liz, from the present time, who is struggling from an anxiety disorder and feelings of social alienation contributed by her illness as well as her father's new life, and Elisabeth or Sisi, from the 19th century Austrian monarchy, who feels trapped by what the court requires of her.
I admit that even after I finished the novel, it was not made clear how these two are connected aside from bearing the same name, possessing a magical diary, and having to face the very same mental illness at some point in their lifetime. It's not surprising that I'm left with a sinking feeling of not having grasp something tangible. In a way, Liz's struggles to overcome her issues was gradually managed and realistically portrayed, and Sisi's acceptance of what she must sacrifice for her one true love was reflective of how she had transitioned from a blithe, indifferent girl to a more mature future queen. I am just having trouble seeing how some of the other details served in the book's overall picture.
So even though this novel's narrative is its main strength, it also acted as a double-edged sword, crippling the story in becoming more substantial and stable. If anything, it felt as if The Empress Chronicles was written with the second installment in mind, which I don't generally have qualms with except that I felt slightly disappointed that nothing significant happened until the latter part of the book.
This is obviously a matter of preference because I'm all for character build-up which Vitello did quite deftly but I find myself more interested in "having the power to rewrite history" aspect. This is not to say that the characters were not interesting because I did eventually warm up to our two different yet seemingly connected Elisabeths. It's just that we barely scratched the surface of what the blurb had promised. Nevertheless, I am excited to know what's in store for us in the next installment. There are so much tangents to be explored. The story really has no direction to go to but forward and the sequel would be hard-pressed to fall in the same pitfalls that were present in this one.
What is the point of having the power to change history, if it might be too late? I don't know. I think I will have words with Vitello and I totally meant that in a non-threatening way. The Empress Chronicles will really have its readers' minds grinding. With that bizarre ending and too many exciting prospects for the sequel to go for, unless you're not into character-driven stories and historical fiction in general, I don't see why you wouldn't pick this up. This would definitely appeal to fans of Philippa Gregory and will serve well for the curious and for those who needs an excuse to dabble more in the history of the world's past sovereigns.
This review is also posted at Smitten over Books. Copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.
“People think that what kills the soul is failed love. It is not. The real tragedy to one's soul is regret. Regret...leaves its stain for generations.”
This is the hardest review I've ever written to date. I've been staring at my computer's screen for the past couple of hours trying to think how I'd go about reviewing The Empress Chronicles. It's not helping that the more I think about this book, the more bewildered I get.
The charm of this novel is in its narrative execution. It simply begs to be read and as a reader, you have no choice but to keep turning the pages. It's not only a testament to how my love for this genre grows with every historical fiction novel I read, but also because The Empress Chronicles has an entrancing quality that cannot be ignored. I recently read Queen of Someday and while it falls under the same genre minus the magical elements, The Empress Chronicles is heavier and definitely more complicated.
Its storyline alternates between the contemporary and past timelines of two girls sharing the same name. Liz, from the present time, who is struggling from an anxiety disorder and feelings of social alienation contributed by her illness as well as her father's new life, and Elisabeth or Sisi, from the 19th century Austrian monarchy, who feels trapped by what the court requires of her.
I admit that even after I finished the novel, it was not made clear how these two are connected aside from bearing the same name, possessing a magical diary, and having to face the very same mental illness at some point in their lifetime. It's not surprising that I'm left with a sinking feeling of not having grasp something tangible. In a way, Liz's struggles to overcome her issues was gradually managed and realistically portrayed, and Sisi's acceptance of what she must sacrifice for her one true love was reflective of how she had transitioned from a blithe, indifferent girl to a more mature future queen. I am just having trouble seeing how some of the other details served in the book's overall picture.
So even though this novel's narrative is its main strength, it also acted as a double-edged sword, crippling the story in becoming more substantial and stable. If anything, it felt as if The Empress Chronicles was written with the second installment in mind, which I don't generally have qualms with except that I felt slightly disappointed that nothing significant happened until the latter part of the book.
This is obviously a matter of preference because I'm all for character build-up which Vitello did quite deftly but I find myself more interested in "having the power to rewrite history" aspect. This is not to say that the characters were not interesting because I did eventually warm up to our two different yet seemingly connected Elisabeths. It's just that we barely scratched the surface of what the blurb had promised. Nevertheless, I am excited to know what's in store for us in the next installment. There are so much tangents to be explored. The story really has no direction to go to but forward and the sequel would be hard-pressed to fall in the same pitfalls that were present in this one.
What is the point of having the power to change history, if it might be too late? I don't know. I think I will have words with Vitello and I totally meant that in a non-threatening way. The Empress Chronicles will really have its readers' minds grinding. With that bizarre ending and too many exciting prospects for the sequel to go for, unless you're not into character-driven stories and historical fiction in general, I don't see why you wouldn't pick this up. This would definitely appeal to fans of Philippa Gregory and will serve well for the curious and for those who needs an excuse to dabble more in the history of the world's past sovereigns.
This review is also posted at Smitten over Books. Copy provided by publisher in exchange for an honest review.
August 13, 2014
I would like to thank NetGalley & Diversion Books for granting me a copy of this e-ARC to read in exchange for an honest review. Though I received this e-book for free that in no way impacts my review.
Goodreads Blurb:
What begins a bit slowly and awkwardly develops into a charming and intriguing story. The characters are interesting and realistic, and the arc of the story smooths out and paces itself after the slightly rough beginning. This story will leave you eager for the next installment in the saga detailing the mystically intertwined lives of two young women from completely different eras. Liz, a mentally ill girl from today, and Sisi, the soon to be Empress of Austria, from 150 years ago.
The story is laid out so that each girl has her own chapter, and their individual stories are parceled out ping ponging between the two. As easy as it is to see the differences, it is also surprisingly easy to spot unexpected similarities. One would hope that women's lives would change for the better over the course of 150 years, but many unpleasantries are still as present today as they were during Sisi's lifetime.
The character of Liz was a bit difficult for me to care for in the beginning, but as time went by and the focus began slipping away from her OCD more and more often, I found a person that I was drawn to. The more she focused on Sisi's story, the more invested I became in both their lives. I am most interested to see how their conjoined futures will play out in this tale.
And I find the concept of a sorceress, Lola Montes, and how she's portrayed, to be eminently fascinating. Watching as Sisi's attitude toward her changes also is enlightening, particularly during a final scene with her governess. I have to wonder if that scene can be taken at face value, or if there isn't something more going on. Something nefarious perhaps? Then we have Liz's therapist, who would have been considered a sorceress or witch during Sisi's time. Is it chance that of all the therapists Liz might have she ends up with Dr. Greta, who is seemingly responsible for lighting Liz's spark of interest in Sisi? And with Dr. Greta's familial history with Sisi's governess and her relations, there are simply too many paths to chose from for where that story goes.
This is certainly one saga which I shall eagerly be awaiting the next volume, with high hopes that it will be in my hands soon. I am emotionally caught up in the lives of Sisi and Liz, and anxious to see if what Liz suspects will end up being true. So many questions remain to be answered, and so much time until the next book will be released!
Goodreads Blurb:
In this dazzling novel from the author of THE MOMENT BEFORE, one courageous girl seeks keys to the past to unlock the future…
When city girl Liz is banished to a rural goat farm on the outskirts of Portland, the 15-year-old feels her life spiraling out of control. She can’t connect to her father or his young girlfriend, and past trauma adds to her sense of upheaval. The only person who seems to keep her sane is a troubled boy who is fighting his own demons. But all of this changes in one historical instant.
One-hundred fifty years earlier, Elisabeth of Bavaria has troubles of her own. Her childhood is coming to a crashing end, and her destiny is written in the form of a soothsaying locket that has the ability to predict true love. But evil is afoot in the form of a wicked enchantress who connives to wield the power of the locket for her own destructive ends.
When Liz finds a time-worn diary, and within it a locket, she discovers the secrets and desires of the young Bavarian princess who will one day grow up to be the legendary Empress of Austria.
It is in the pages of the diary that these two heroines will meet, and it is through their interwoven story that Liz will discover she has the power to rewrite history—including her own...
Readers of books like Rachel Harris’s MY SUPER SWEET SIXTEENTH CENTURY will love THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES.
What begins a bit slowly and awkwardly develops into a charming and intriguing story. The characters are interesting and realistic, and the arc of the story smooths out and paces itself after the slightly rough beginning. This story will leave you eager for the next installment in the saga detailing the mystically intertwined lives of two young women from completely different eras. Liz, a mentally ill girl from today, and Sisi, the soon to be Empress of Austria, from 150 years ago.
The story is laid out so that each girl has her own chapter, and their individual stories are parceled out ping ponging between the two. As easy as it is to see the differences, it is also surprisingly easy to spot unexpected similarities. One would hope that women's lives would change for the better over the course of 150 years, but many unpleasantries are still as present today as they were during Sisi's lifetime.
The character of Liz was a bit difficult for me to care for in the beginning, but as time went by and the focus began slipping away from her OCD more and more often, I found a person that I was drawn to. The more she focused on Sisi's story, the more invested I became in both their lives. I am most interested to see how their conjoined futures will play out in this tale.
And I find the concept of a sorceress, Lola Montes, and how she's portrayed, to be eminently fascinating. Watching as Sisi's attitude toward her changes also is enlightening, particularly during a final scene with her governess. I have to wonder if that scene can be taken at face value, or if there isn't something more going on. Something nefarious perhaps? Then we have Liz's therapist, who would have been considered a sorceress or witch during Sisi's time. Is it chance that of all the therapists Liz might have she ends up with Dr. Greta, who is seemingly responsible for lighting Liz's spark of interest in Sisi? And with Dr. Greta's familial history with Sisi's governess and her relations, there are simply too many paths to chose from for where that story goes.
This is certainly one saga which I shall eagerly be awaiting the next volume, with high hopes that it will be in my hands soon. I am emotionally caught up in the lives of Sisi and Liz, and anxious to see if what Liz suspects will end up being true. So many questions remain to be answered, and so much time until the next book will be released!
May 30, 2019
This and other reviews can be found on The Psychotic Nerd
I received an ecopy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars
MY THOUGHTS
This book was not what I expected. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but based on the synopsis and the comparison to My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, I was expecting a more magical read, maybe with time travel. This book felt more like a historical book with contemporary elements.
This book is told from two different perspectives: Liz and Sisi. Liz lives in present day and struggles with OCD. Sisi lives in the 1800's and has her own struggles. We get alternating chapters between the two, but there's hardly any relation between the two. Liz shows and interest in Sisi, who eventually becomes Empress Elisabeth of Austria, but Sisi has no knowledge of Liz. While this did bother me, I did like hearing their stories and I found the way this book was told to be unique. First of all, it's very unique to have a main character with OCD. The way this story was told in two different time periods was also very unique.
I also have to give the author props. She must've done a lot of research in order to create this book and to make the story believable. I had no knowledge at all of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and while this book is not an entirely accurate account, the author obviously did her research on both the time period and the Empress's life. There was also probably research involved in Liz's OCD.
Now, onto what I didn't like. While I did like hearing the girls' stories, this book was very slow paced and hardly anything happened at all. This usually is not a big problem for me, but when major events actually end up taking place, the book ends abruptly. It's not a cliffhanger, I just felt like I was in the middle of a story and it just ended. When I read the book, though, was upset as I thought this was a standalone, but I now know this is a series so I feel better about it, but I do feel like there should be some kind of ending.
I was also not a fan of the magical elements. I'm usually all for magic in books, but it just felt odd in this book. A majority of the book is very realistic and magical elements are not added until the very end, which made the story a bit awkward and unbelievable.
IN CONCLUSION
I did like the uniqueness in the storytelling and I did enjoy hearing the stories of the two girls, but this book was very slow and addition of magic was very odd.
Overall, don't go into this book expecting magic or a historical fiction, but a little bit of both. If you are interested in Empress Elisabeth of Austria or just want to read a book with a OCD main character, you may want to give this book a try.
As far as reading the sequel, maybe. I did find this book interesting and I do want to know more, but the ending was so abrupt and awkward that I just don't feel too inclined to continue.
I received an ecopy of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review
Actual Rating: 2.5 Stars
MY THOUGHTS
This book was not what I expected. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but based on the synopsis and the comparison to My Super Sweet Sixteenth Century, I was expecting a more magical read, maybe with time travel. This book felt more like a historical book with contemporary elements.
This book is told from two different perspectives: Liz and Sisi. Liz lives in present day and struggles with OCD. Sisi lives in the 1800's and has her own struggles. We get alternating chapters between the two, but there's hardly any relation between the two. Liz shows and interest in Sisi, who eventually becomes Empress Elisabeth of Austria, but Sisi has no knowledge of Liz. While this did bother me, I did like hearing their stories and I found the way this book was told to be unique. First of all, it's very unique to have a main character with OCD. The way this story was told in two different time periods was also very unique.
I also have to give the author props. She must've done a lot of research in order to create this book and to make the story believable. I had no knowledge at all of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and while this book is not an entirely accurate account, the author obviously did her research on both the time period and the Empress's life. There was also probably research involved in Liz's OCD.
Now, onto what I didn't like. While I did like hearing the girls' stories, this book was very slow paced and hardly anything happened at all. This usually is not a big problem for me, but when major events actually end up taking place, the book ends abruptly. It's not a cliffhanger, I just felt like I was in the middle of a story and it just ended. When I read the book, though, was upset as I thought this was a standalone, but I now know this is a series so I feel better about it, but I do feel like there should be some kind of ending.
I was also not a fan of the magical elements. I'm usually all for magic in books, but it just felt odd in this book. A majority of the book is very realistic and magical elements are not added until the very end, which made the story a bit awkward and unbelievable.
IN CONCLUSION
I did like the uniqueness in the storytelling and I did enjoy hearing the stories of the two girls, but this book was very slow and addition of magic was very odd.
Overall, don't go into this book expecting magic or a historical fiction, but a little bit of both. If you are interested in Empress Elisabeth of Austria or just want to read a book with a OCD main character, you may want to give this book a try.
As far as reading the sequel, maybe. I did find this book interesting and I do want to know more, but the ending was so abrupt and awkward that I just don't feel too inclined to continue.
January 24, 2016
enjoyed this. I love the parallels between the elisabeth of today and the elisabeth of long ago-it the empress of Austria. both had the same problems of OCD, eating issues etc.
the thoughts of elisabeth in this book were interesting. You get to see what drove her and what bothered her. You feel for the elisabeth of now because she is thrust from where she feels safe into a new environment that is strange and full of dirt and unknowns. She starts out a little snooty because of her way of living but does slowly change. She feels that she is competing for her dad as well. The diary of the Elisabeth of old helps to ground her. Keeps her mind active and off her problems.
As you see Elisabeth navigate being on a goat farm and all the changes in her world you begin to like her moxie and her timidness. Through the diary we see her gain strength, a voice and a purpose. She no longer is self absorbed and woe is me but wants to learn more about the Empress of Austria and wants to help. She begins to engage in life and even starts to gain a friend. she learns to live again. Sometimes it is through the diary but at least she is living.
the building of both worlds is done is a way that doesn’t overwhelm you but gives you a picture of what each place is and what the two elisabeths are going through. the lost feeling from both of them comes through loud and clear. We see how they are both trying to find their way and become better. Learn to be what they want while meeting demands of others.
This is a fun story that has us in the worlds of than and now of Two Elisabeths- one today and one a Empress. One feeling lost and wanting to get some attention and feel wanted and the other lost and trying to find a balance. Both trying to figure out and navigate the new world they are thrust into while maintaining who they are. The characters draw you in and have you smile with sometimes rebellious behaviour and sometimes timid acts. Either way you are brought on adventure where two girls who are similar help one another grow and learn more about different worlds and lives. Learn how to live and find their way.
the thoughts of elisabeth in this book were interesting. You get to see what drove her and what bothered her. You feel for the elisabeth of now because she is thrust from where she feels safe into a new environment that is strange and full of dirt and unknowns. She starts out a little snooty because of her way of living but does slowly change. She feels that she is competing for her dad as well. The diary of the Elisabeth of old helps to ground her. Keeps her mind active and off her problems.
As you see Elisabeth navigate being on a goat farm and all the changes in her world you begin to like her moxie and her timidness. Through the diary we see her gain strength, a voice and a purpose. She no longer is self absorbed and woe is me but wants to learn more about the Empress of Austria and wants to help. She begins to engage in life and even starts to gain a friend. she learns to live again. Sometimes it is through the diary but at least she is living.
the building of both worlds is done is a way that doesn’t overwhelm you but gives you a picture of what each place is and what the two elisabeths are going through. the lost feeling from both of them comes through loud and clear. We see how they are both trying to find their way and become better. Learn to be what they want while meeting demands of others.
This is a fun story that has us in the worlds of than and now of Two Elisabeths- one today and one a Empress. One feeling lost and wanting to get some attention and feel wanted and the other lost and trying to find a balance. Both trying to figure out and navigate the new world they are thrust into while maintaining who they are. The characters draw you in and have you smile with sometimes rebellious behaviour and sometimes timid acts. Either way you are brought on adventure where two girls who are similar help one another grow and learn more about different worlds and lives. Learn how to live and find their way.
August 11, 2014
(I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)
This book gets three stars.
I was a bit disappointed. This book was a bit uninteresting at the beginning and really slow moving in certain places. The fox portion made me feel a little sick too. It felt like it was dragged out until about half way and suddenly things started happening. I understand you need to set the stage and everything but it was still a bit off-putting.
That said, I really enjoyed this book at times. Sometimes I couldn't put the book down. It was refreshing since I've never read about a heroine with OCD before and your heart really goes out to her. The plot idea also seemed original and if you're into historical romances this is definitely a book you want to read.
So if you don't mind having to push through the slow bits, I recommend reading this book. Yes it's slow at times but it's also really great at times and I have a feeling the next book will be even better.
This book gets three stars.
I was a bit disappointed. This book was a bit uninteresting at the beginning and really slow moving in certain places. The fox portion made me feel a little sick too. It felt like it was dragged out until about half way and suddenly things started happening. I understand you need to set the stage and everything but it was still a bit off-putting.
That said, I really enjoyed this book at times. Sometimes I couldn't put the book down. It was refreshing since I've never read about a heroine with OCD before and your heart really goes out to her. The plot idea also seemed original and if you're into historical romances this is definitely a book you want to read.
So if you don't mind having to push through the slow bits, I recommend reading this book. Yes it's slow at times but it's also really great at times and I have a feeling the next book will be even better.
January 9, 2024
After a series of rapid changes in her life, fifteen year old Liz's OCD has gotten out of control and landed her in a psychiatric unit. After her release, Liz learns of another change; instead of returning to the sparkling clean city loft with her mother, Liz will be moving in with her father, his girlfriend and the girlfriend's brother, Cory on their goat farm. Liz tries her best to deal with the messiness of the farm and does her best to follow her therapist's advice to engage. Liz finds another obsession at her therapist's office when she mentions that Liz reminds her of the Duchess Sisi of Bavaria and allows Liz to see the Duchess' childhood journal. In 1850's Bavaria, Duchess Sisi is also going through a series of changes as she grows and realizes that her destiny is more than she can imagine. As Sisi falls in love the first time, she meets the enchanting Lola who makes promises that seem too good to be true. With Sisi's locket and journal in Liz's hands, she finds that their lives may be connected by more than their circumstances.
The Empress Diaries is an enchanting young adult fantasy intertwining the lives of a modern teen and the young Empress Sisi of Bavaria. Both Liz and Sisi's characters are compelling while facing some parallels in their lives, but have very different challenges in front of them. Liz is trying to live her life with OCD as everyday situations like eating or touching a non-pristine surface send her into a panic. Her time on the farm is challenging her in every single way from the home itself, to sharing a bathroom to eating the food. I was actually surprised at how unaccommodating Liz's dad and girlfriend were with her diagnosis, just expecting her to deal with life in this very different environment. I enjoyed seeing Liz and Cory's relationship grow as well as she helped Cory deal with his own demons. Sisi is dealing with change herself, she is experiencing her first love while learning that her and her sisters are destined to be married off to royalty, their cousins. Lola's character is intriguing and I wish the magical components of Sisi's locket and journal were introduced earlier. I was chalking up the happenstance to wishful thinking and imagination.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
The Empress Diaries is an enchanting young adult fantasy intertwining the lives of a modern teen and the young Empress Sisi of Bavaria. Both Liz and Sisi's characters are compelling while facing some parallels in their lives, but have very different challenges in front of them. Liz is trying to live her life with OCD as everyday situations like eating or touching a non-pristine surface send her into a panic. Her time on the farm is challenging her in every single way from the home itself, to sharing a bathroom to eating the food. I was actually surprised at how unaccommodating Liz's dad and girlfriend were with her diagnosis, just expecting her to deal with life in this very different environment. I enjoyed seeing Liz and Cory's relationship grow as well as she helped Cory deal with his own demons. Sisi is dealing with change herself, she is experiencing her first love while learning that her and her sisters are destined to be married off to royalty, their cousins. Lola's character is intriguing and I wish the magical components of Sisi's locket and journal were introduced earlier. I was chalking up the happenstance to wishful thinking and imagination.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
September 27, 2014
When her illness becomes too much for her mum to cope with, Liz is sent to live with her Dad and his hippy girlfriend Willow, it's only when she arrives she's told Willow's brother Cory will also be staying there. Surrounded by dirt, not very helpful to her OCD, with a father who she can't connect with, and who applauds her when she eats, she feels herself spiraling out of control.
150 years in the past, Elisabeth of Bavaria is finding the transition from childhood harder than she thought it would be. Falling in love with someone inappropriate, and gifted a magical locket by a strange woman called Lola, things then take a turn for the worse when she's found out and her love is sent away. She makes a deal with Lola, to go along with what happens that summer and she'll be reunited with her love, but when the Emperor takes an interest in her and a cryptic warning appears in her diary, she will have a choice to make.
Liz's shrink is related to a servant of Elisabeth's and thus has her diary, she shows it to Liz due to the fact both girls had similar problems. Liz becomes obsessed with the diary, and when she steals it....well it's lucky Cory can read German isn't it? When they realize there's something strange about the diary, something magical, they realize they could be holding the way to change history. All it takes is a few written words of warning....
First of all, this should have had a trigger warning on it. I know it irritates people, but the synopsis is very misleading. You don't know why Liz has been sent there, so when you start reading about her OCD, the self harm that's mentioned among other things, and the eating disorder, it's a bit of a shock when you aren't expecting it and I would imagine it would be a big trigger for unsuspecting readers.
There's a couple of things wrong with the synopsis as well, the impression I got from the book wasn't that the locket predicts true love, but that it shows you which bloke "Has you in his heart" or whatever it was. Neither do their lives intersect, it's only at the very end. The synopsis is just very misleading and the book was a lot different to what I was expecting.
I'm not going to say anything about the open ending of the book and the lack of closure, I'll assume that there is going to be a second book because leaving us hanging that bad is truly terrible.
While I think there should be a trigger warning thrown in the synopsis somewhere, because you spend a lot of time in Liz's head, and she is after all, so severely OCD, seeing germs everywhere, that it's lead to an eating disorder, as I already said, extreme trigger for some people. Having said that, I do think how it was portrayed and how it was written was done very well, with sensitivity and realism, there where mentions of a Psych ward and such, and you saw little glimpses, but I think it was all handled very respectfully.
You can really understand Liz as a character, and you can see why she took such an interest in Elisabeth, who also suffered from an eating disorder. I actually really felt for Liz more than once. The way her father and his girlfriend treated her for most of the book made me so angry it slightly ruined the book for me, because there was no respect whatsoever. She's supposed to be being eased in to the whole conquering the dirt thing, so they shove her in a dirty room, straight in at the deep end. They make her eat and drink things she doesn't want to. Then they applaud her when she manages to eat a muffin, like really? How could someone be so patronizing? It was horrendous. I found it really hard to believe a parent could be that much of an asshole to be honest. I really disliked the father and girlfriend and I couldn't bring myself to like them even when Liz thawed to them.
We have the POV of Elisabeth as well, obviously. Her POV is all about her time leading up to her marrying the Emperor and such, and how things are changing for her as her and her siblings are leaving their childhood behind. The POV switching was every other chapter, and sometimes it was a bit jolting. I personally thought that the whole her loving Sebastian thing was kind of unrealistic, I mean it was very fast and very sudden and didn't really make any sense. It just randomly happened.
The magical element was introduced in Elisabeth's POV and it wasn't very well written in to the story, for me it was very jarring and very odd. If I didn't know better I'd think she was high the way she was going on about a faery woman, and then suddenly there's this magic everywhere, it was just shoved in at one point and just stuck out like a sore thumb. If this is going to have a sequel then it's all good, if not it's even more of a disappointment I'm afraid, because I actually thought this magical dairy would change history, but the book ended with everything still the same, which kind of made the magical element redundant and really unnecessary, like it was shoved there to spice up the historical parts.
Regardless of if this is a series or not, the ending was just....weird. It was very abrupt, and this wasn't helped by the fact that a lot of the ending felt very rushed and incomplete. It was very strange.
For me, the majority of the book was very bland and boring. The only time I wasn't bored was when I was angry with how Liz was being treated. Nothing really happens, there's no excitement or anything, the whole big magical thing with Elisabeth and Liz's lives crossing over literally only happened at the end, before that they where both very separate. I can't decide if the pacing was just very slow or what, I just felt like nothing really happened until the end, and it was just very boring for the majority except for the odd event.
The only part of the book I did enjoy was the history, purely because I was trying to work out what was fabricated and what was real. The parts I ascertained as real where quite interesting, it was a good insight in to life at the time. There was the promise of a very interesting mystery, that for me never delivered, regarding the lockets and the diary and everything, it was all left hanging at the end.
The world building could have been so much better, particularly in the historical time, but it was very fake, and to be honest, both locations could have been anywhere, I actually forgot where both POV's where set multiple times. The book fell a little flat for me, I mean some things where so far fetched and sudden it made no sense. Liz was the only character with any development, Elisabeth was so flat and one dimensional. To be honest, maybe I didn't catch it because I wasn't paying attention too much after a certain point, but there where constant, repetitive mentions of how Elisabeth had an eating disorder and this and that and that's why she's just like Liz, but you never saw any of that from Elisabeth. The connection between the two, therefore, seemed off.
Overall, it's a barely average read, with some aspects that could use work, and others that where pretty pointless. However the historical parts could be fairly interesting, although if you want to know more about Elisabeth specifically, I'm not sure if this is a good option or not.
150 years in the past, Elisabeth of Bavaria is finding the transition from childhood harder than she thought it would be. Falling in love with someone inappropriate, and gifted a magical locket by a strange woman called Lola, things then take a turn for the worse when she's found out and her love is sent away. She makes a deal with Lola, to go along with what happens that summer and she'll be reunited with her love, but when the Emperor takes an interest in her and a cryptic warning appears in her diary, she will have a choice to make.
Liz's shrink is related to a servant of Elisabeth's and thus has her diary, she shows it to Liz due to the fact both girls had similar problems. Liz becomes obsessed with the diary, and when she steals it....well it's lucky Cory can read German isn't it? When they realize there's something strange about the diary, something magical, they realize they could be holding the way to change history. All it takes is a few written words of warning....
First of all, this should have had a trigger warning on it. I know it irritates people, but the synopsis is very misleading. You don't know why Liz has been sent there, so when you start reading about her OCD, the self harm that's mentioned among other things, and the eating disorder, it's a bit of a shock when you aren't expecting it and I would imagine it would be a big trigger for unsuspecting readers.
There's a couple of things wrong with the synopsis as well, the impression I got from the book wasn't that the locket predicts true love, but that it shows you which bloke "Has you in his heart" or whatever it was. Neither do their lives intersect, it's only at the very end. The synopsis is just very misleading and the book was a lot different to what I was expecting.
I'm not going to say anything about the open ending of the book and the lack of closure, I'll assume that there is going to be a second book because leaving us hanging that bad is truly terrible.
While I think there should be a trigger warning thrown in the synopsis somewhere, because you spend a lot of time in Liz's head, and she is after all, so severely OCD, seeing germs everywhere, that it's lead to an eating disorder, as I already said, extreme trigger for some people. Having said that, I do think how it was portrayed and how it was written was done very well, with sensitivity and realism, there where mentions of a Psych ward and such, and you saw little glimpses, but I think it was all handled very respectfully.
You can really understand Liz as a character, and you can see why she took such an interest in Elisabeth, who also suffered from an eating disorder. I actually really felt for Liz more than once. The way her father and his girlfriend treated her for most of the book made me so angry it slightly ruined the book for me, because there was no respect whatsoever. She's supposed to be being eased in to the whole conquering the dirt thing, so they shove her in a dirty room, straight in at the deep end. They make her eat and drink things she doesn't want to. Then they applaud her when she manages to eat a muffin, like really? How could someone be so patronizing? It was horrendous. I found it really hard to believe a parent could be that much of an asshole to be honest. I really disliked the father and girlfriend and I couldn't bring myself to like them even when Liz thawed to them.
We have the POV of Elisabeth as well, obviously. Her POV is all about her time leading up to her marrying the Emperor and such, and how things are changing for her as her and her siblings are leaving their childhood behind. The POV switching was every other chapter, and sometimes it was a bit jolting. I personally thought that the whole her loving Sebastian thing was kind of unrealistic, I mean it was very fast and very sudden and didn't really make any sense. It just randomly happened.
The magical element was introduced in Elisabeth's POV and it wasn't very well written in to the story, for me it was very jarring and very odd. If I didn't know better I'd think she was high the way she was going on about a faery woman, and then suddenly there's this magic everywhere, it was just shoved in at one point and just stuck out like a sore thumb. If this is going to have a sequel then it's all good, if not it's even more of a disappointment I'm afraid, because I actually thought this magical dairy would change history, but the book ended with everything still the same, which kind of made the magical element redundant and really unnecessary, like it was shoved there to spice up the historical parts.
Regardless of if this is a series or not, the ending was just....weird. It was very abrupt, and this wasn't helped by the fact that a lot of the ending felt very rushed and incomplete. It was very strange.
For me, the majority of the book was very bland and boring. The only time I wasn't bored was when I was angry with how Liz was being treated. Nothing really happens, there's no excitement or anything, the whole big magical thing with Elisabeth and Liz's lives crossing over literally only happened at the end, before that they where both very separate. I can't decide if the pacing was just very slow or what, I just felt like nothing really happened until the end, and it was just very boring for the majority except for the odd event.
The only part of the book I did enjoy was the history, purely because I was trying to work out what was fabricated and what was real. The parts I ascertained as real where quite interesting, it was a good insight in to life at the time. There was the promise of a very interesting mystery, that for me never delivered, regarding the lockets and the diary and everything, it was all left hanging at the end.
The world building could have been so much better, particularly in the historical time, but it was very fake, and to be honest, both locations could have been anywhere, I actually forgot where both POV's where set multiple times. The book fell a little flat for me, I mean some things where so far fetched and sudden it made no sense. Liz was the only character with any development, Elisabeth was so flat and one dimensional. To be honest, maybe I didn't catch it because I wasn't paying attention too much after a certain point, but there where constant, repetitive mentions of how Elisabeth had an eating disorder and this and that and that's why she's just like Liz, but you never saw any of that from Elisabeth. The connection between the two, therefore, seemed off.
Overall, it's a barely average read, with some aspects that could use work, and others that where pretty pointless. However the historical parts could be fairly interesting, although if you want to know more about Elisabeth specifically, I'm not sure if this is a good option or not.
November 12, 2018
I love it! I just love how Suzy divided the chapters from the present to the past! It's a very interesting story; just by mixing history with a little magic things, everything turns out great!
March 17, 2019
I liked this, but felt like it took too long for the stories to connect.
May 17, 2025
Two side by side stories. Eating disorders, goat farms, teenage life, a mystery. I really liked this book.
September 4, 2014
Thank you to Netgalley and Diversion Books for providing an eARC. This in no way affects my views on this book.
The Empress Chronicles by Suzy Vitello is an interesting piece of historical fiction, with alternating points of view between Liz in the present and Sisi in 1850s Austria. Liz is a city girl who while her mother is away on business is sent to live with her father on a goat farm. Not only is this cruel, but unbearable to Liz who is OCD and just got out of a psychiatric hospital. Sisi, better known as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, is fifteen and not yet Empress. She is introverted, a daddy's girl, and still living in her "childish ways" when her mother and aunt call her and her sister Helene to arrange their marriages. When Liz finds Sisi's old diary and locket, Liz becomes obsessed with the translation and the potential to change her fate.
The Characters
Liz is a fifteen year old who has had a rough start to high school. Teased in middle school about her hair, then a failed romantic endeavor, and the divorce of her parents lead to her having a mental breakdown. You see, Liz has OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. She believes that everything about her is bad, everything is covered in germs, and if she doesn't fix it then people will be hurt. After cleaning a bathroom she shared with her mother and mixing the wrong chemicals, she lands herself in a psychiatric institution. Once released, her mother sends her to live with her father and his new girlfriend on a goat farm. To me, this is just cruel to send a girl recovering from an OCD breakdown to a farm that is crawling with dirt and germs. Not only is she stuck at this farm with her dad and Willow, but girlfriend's trouble-making brother, Cory, is sent there too. Cory is a carefree teenage boy, or at least that's how he wants people to see him. In reality he is just as troubled as Liz.
Sisi is also fifteen years old when this story begins and I love her! She is portrayed as the tomboy sister, interested in everything her father does. It isn't until her imperious aunt makes a rather mean comment about her teeth that Sisi becomes concerned with her looks. Throughout the book, the author portrays Sisi as a carefree child, then she slowly becomes more and more a teenager, even having her first menses. It's actually quite sad to read as the vibrant character goes out of Sisi as the book continues. Also Sisi is a bit of a romantic. She wants to be unabashedly in love, and as every teen has had a first crush knows it doesn't always end well. Sisi when thinking about her parent's relationship and her uncle's affair with a gypsy says this:
The Plot
This is truly a coming-of-age story that centers around social issues such as anorexia, bulimia, depression, and of course OCD, typical mental health diseases that usually begin during adolescence. Liz is fighting to overcome her compulsions. All she wants is to be normal, to not feel like she has to wash her hands or wear gloves all the time, but to just be normal. Cory becomes her lifeline in a sense. Together they steal Sisi's journal from her psychiatrist, and because Cory can read German, he begins translating it for her. Cory as I already stated is just as troubled as Liz and together they begin to overcome their obstacles.
Sisi, unfortunately, begins a downhill slide as she succumbs to the pressures of her mother and governess. She must act more like a lady. And, again unfortunately, she falls in love, but with the wrong person. Sisi's love is sent away and then as history tells us she is forced into another marriage. Or is she?
As the synopsis says, Liz finds a link to the past with Sisi's journal and locket, and well let's just say it gets really interesting. As a first book in the series, the author has set the stage well for the next book leaving a great cliff-hanger and an enchanting mystery.
My Conclusions
As my friends know, historical fiction is my vice. I love it! This book tops them all for creativity and to be honest, I'm not sure I've ever read another quite like it. The author blends the past and present so well as Liz's and Sisi's stories run parallel to one another. I really can't wait for the next one, and since this book just came out I'm guessing I have a long wait. If you enjoy historical fiction, young adult literature, coming-of-age stories with a little magic thrown in I highly recommend you check out this new book.
The Empress Chronicles by Suzy Vitello is an interesting piece of historical fiction, with alternating points of view between Liz in the present and Sisi in 1850s Austria. Liz is a city girl who while her mother is away on business is sent to live with her father on a goat farm. Not only is this cruel, but unbearable to Liz who is OCD and just got out of a psychiatric hospital. Sisi, better known as Empress Elisabeth of Austria, is fifteen and not yet Empress. She is introverted, a daddy's girl, and still living in her "childish ways" when her mother and aunt call her and her sister Helene to arrange their marriages. When Liz finds Sisi's old diary and locket, Liz becomes obsessed with the translation and the potential to change her fate.
The Characters
Liz is a fifteen year old who has had a rough start to high school. Teased in middle school about her hair, then a failed romantic endeavor, and the divorce of her parents lead to her having a mental breakdown. You see, Liz has OCD, obsessive compulsive disorder. She believes that everything about her is bad, everything is covered in germs, and if she doesn't fix it then people will be hurt. After cleaning a bathroom she shared with her mother and mixing the wrong chemicals, she lands herself in a psychiatric institution. Once released, her mother sends her to live with her father and his new girlfriend on a goat farm. To me, this is just cruel to send a girl recovering from an OCD breakdown to a farm that is crawling with dirt and germs. Not only is she stuck at this farm with her dad and Willow, but girlfriend's trouble-making brother, Cory, is sent there too. Cory is a carefree teenage boy, or at least that's how he wants people to see him. In reality he is just as troubled as Liz.
Sisi is also fifteen years old when this story begins and I love her! She is portrayed as the tomboy sister, interested in everything her father does. It isn't until her imperious aunt makes a rather mean comment about her teeth that Sisi becomes concerned with her looks. Throughout the book, the author portrays Sisi as a carefree child, then she slowly becomes more and more a teenager, even having her first menses. It's actually quite sad to read as the vibrant character goes out of Sisi as the book continues. Also Sisi is a bit of a romantic. She wants to be unabashedly in love, and as every teen has had a first crush knows it doesn't always end well. Sisi when thinking about her parent's relationship and her uncle's affair with a gypsy says this:
How a man could fall so deeply in love that nothing else mattered. Not the silly laws, nor the arguing over where a country border should go, or even who should wear what hat when. Who cared about what time a beer garden should shut down for the night when real tears and passions and hearts were involved?Like I said, she's a romantic ;)
The Plot
This is truly a coming-of-age story that centers around social issues such as anorexia, bulimia, depression, and of course OCD, typical mental health diseases that usually begin during adolescence. Liz is fighting to overcome her compulsions. All she wants is to be normal, to not feel like she has to wash her hands or wear gloves all the time, but to just be normal. Cory becomes her lifeline in a sense. Together they steal Sisi's journal from her psychiatrist, and because Cory can read German, he begins translating it for her. Cory as I already stated is just as troubled as Liz and together they begin to overcome their obstacles.
Sisi, unfortunately, begins a downhill slide as she succumbs to the pressures of her mother and governess. She must act more like a lady. And, again unfortunately, she falls in love, but with the wrong person. Sisi's love is sent away and then as history tells us she is forced into another marriage. Or is she?
As the synopsis says, Liz finds a link to the past with Sisi's journal and locket, and well let's just say it gets really interesting. As a first book in the series, the author has set the stage well for the next book leaving a great cliff-hanger and an enchanting mystery.
My Conclusions
As my friends know, historical fiction is my vice. I love it! This book tops them all for creativity and to be honest, I'm not sure I've ever read another quite like it. The author blends the past and present so well as Liz's and Sisi's stories run parallel to one another. I really can't wait for the next one, and since this book just came out I'm guessing I have a long wait. If you enjoy historical fiction, young adult literature, coming-of-age stories with a little magic thrown in I highly recommend you check out this new book.
September 25, 2014
Two young women are separated by time. They are both at the height of their adolescence, growing and learning. What is expected of each is different because they are separated by 150 years, but both women want what they can’t have. Liz wants to be normal, but is surrounded by an unstable environment and troubled with an obsessive-compulsive disorder with secondary anorexic symptoms. Elisabeth of Bavaria (Sisi) wants a man who is not in her future and will go to great lengths to try to change this destiny. The two realities collide through a common diary, and a story of two ladies trying to control their own worlds is born.
The Empress Chronicles by Suzy Vitello was so raw and convincing that my real life was influenced by the abundance of sensory detail in the book. I had a chiropractor’s appointment and I was so enveloped in Liz’s character’s aversion to germs and dirt that I myself was so grossed out by the minuscule hand print left on the lie-down table that I had to have the entire surface wiped down for me. Vitello uses the senses unlike any other author in her novel The Empress Chronicles. She made me revolt against a normal amount of dirt, not to the point of obsessive-compulsiveness, but I emulated Liz’s symptoms. .
Vitello not only put me through the discomfort of Liz’s disorder, but also through the awkwardness of a teen coming of age, of the confusion that comes with divorce, and all the unpleasant thoughts and things that happen to teenagers. At times the language was hard and vulgar and into the nitty gritty of the unpleasant realities of a teen girl’s life.
It was as if the book was written about someone the author knew intimately, knew all about. Vitello describes classical music, horses and the intricacies of a teenager with the eye of someone who knows, who has seen this person. All that sensory information from someone living in a world of a disorder was detailed and knowledgeable.
I recently read a coming of age novel of a boy trying to grow into a man and I was very happy to read this book, a coming of age novel for a girl trying to become a woman. Not only that, I got two very different, yet very similar examples: Elisabeth Wittelsback and Liz.
I commiserated with both young ladies. Liz had a tendency to add drama to things when there wasn’t a reason, her imagination and reality wiggling together at times. For Sisi, “The world of pranks and misbehavior was past. Soon, I would be slathering on the beauty potions, quenching my hair in oils, and saving my smiles for what the governess called ‘appropriate occasions for mirth’ – a funny part in an opera. The antics of a young child.” (Location 1030).
Liz and Sisi were part of that limbo stage of beyond puberty, before adulthood that Sis describes as, “Not a child. Not a lady.” (Location 1201). I was very impressed with Vitello for giving her two teenagers life and vitality. Vitello didn’t settle for the easy angsty teen character who commits herself entirely to one bad decision. Teenagers (and adults for that matter) are not just one bad decision, they are many poor choices. Sometimes one of those bad decisions turns into a big mistake with big consequences. Authors tend to turn to the worst case scenario to build up the character of a mixed-up teen, but Vitello stuck with the everyday and the normal in real life. Liz makes a stupid error, brought out in part through her disorder, and part through her poor decision and lack of knowledge (all part of young adult life) and the results are grave, the consequences severe, resulting in a catapulting in her life that begins the story. Vitello used a real teen’s thought process resulting in bad consequences. A logical event with a grave conclusion. Teens are not always at their worst, just make some bad decisions at times. But it only takes one bad decision to have the worst case results.
“The real tragedy to one’s soul is regret.” (Location 2309).
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a coming of age novel starring a female (two females actually), two tales interwoven into one story, or a story featuring young teen-girl drama.
The Empress Chronicles by Suzy Vitello was so raw and convincing that my real life was influenced by the abundance of sensory detail in the book. I had a chiropractor’s appointment and I was so enveloped in Liz’s character’s aversion to germs and dirt that I myself was so grossed out by the minuscule hand print left on the lie-down table that I had to have the entire surface wiped down for me. Vitello uses the senses unlike any other author in her novel The Empress Chronicles. She made me revolt against a normal amount of dirt, not to the point of obsessive-compulsiveness, but I emulated Liz’s symptoms. .
Vitello not only put me through the discomfort of Liz’s disorder, but also through the awkwardness of a teen coming of age, of the confusion that comes with divorce, and all the unpleasant thoughts and things that happen to teenagers. At times the language was hard and vulgar and into the nitty gritty of the unpleasant realities of a teen girl’s life.
It was as if the book was written about someone the author knew intimately, knew all about. Vitello describes classical music, horses and the intricacies of a teenager with the eye of someone who knows, who has seen this person. All that sensory information from someone living in a world of a disorder was detailed and knowledgeable.
I recently read a coming of age novel of a boy trying to grow into a man and I was very happy to read this book, a coming of age novel for a girl trying to become a woman. Not only that, I got two very different, yet very similar examples: Elisabeth Wittelsback and Liz.
I commiserated with both young ladies. Liz had a tendency to add drama to things when there wasn’t a reason, her imagination and reality wiggling together at times. For Sisi, “The world of pranks and misbehavior was past. Soon, I would be slathering on the beauty potions, quenching my hair in oils, and saving my smiles for what the governess called ‘appropriate occasions for mirth’ – a funny part in an opera. The antics of a young child.” (Location 1030).
Liz and Sisi were part of that limbo stage of beyond puberty, before adulthood that Sis describes as, “Not a child. Not a lady.” (Location 1201). I was very impressed with Vitello for giving her two teenagers life and vitality. Vitello didn’t settle for the easy angsty teen character who commits herself entirely to one bad decision. Teenagers (and adults for that matter) are not just one bad decision, they are many poor choices. Sometimes one of those bad decisions turns into a big mistake with big consequences. Authors tend to turn to the worst case scenario to build up the character of a mixed-up teen, but Vitello stuck with the everyday and the normal in real life. Liz makes a stupid error, brought out in part through her disorder, and part through her poor decision and lack of knowledge (all part of young adult life) and the results are grave, the consequences severe, resulting in a catapulting in her life that begins the story. Vitello used a real teen’s thought process resulting in bad consequences. A logical event with a grave conclusion. Teens are not always at their worst, just make some bad decisions at times. But it only takes one bad decision to have the worst case results.
“The real tragedy to one’s soul is regret.” (Location 2309).
I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys a coming of age novel starring a female (two females actually), two tales interwoven into one story, or a story featuring young teen-girl drama.
September 16, 2015
I received a review copy of The Empress Chronicles in exchange for an honest review.
The Empress Chronicles begins very slowly. When a book is marketed as being an interwoven story, you kind of want to get to that. Instead there’s lots of backstory for both Liz and Sisi which makes their characters richer but also slows the story down. I can’t quite explain how or why more well-developed characters is a bad thing, but in this book it just doesn’t work particularly well. There’s a point when you just want to get on with it and I reached that point fairly early in the book.
About a third of the way into the book the locket finally makes its first appearance! The book synopsis makes it seem like the diary and the locket are a much bigger part of the story than they actually are. They don’t really become important until near the end, which makes me think that this book and all of that backstory is mainly setup for what’s coming in the second book.
I can’t say I really cared for either of the main characters. This seems to be a pattern for me — disliking characters dealing with difficult issues, and empathy and patience is probably something I should work on. Liz has OCD with secondary anorexia which sounds pretty interesting but in reality it just means a lot of talk about her dislike of dirt…and cats.
You don’t like cats?
I don’t like you.
So I pretty much wrote her off the minute she got to the goat farm. I do sympathize with her, however, for having to go live with her father and his girlfriend Willow, a hippie-type with her own obsession, which is avoiding gluten. I probably wouldn’t last five minutes in the house with Willow. She’s well-intentioned but irritating and there’s also the fact that Liz’s father left her mother for Willow.
Elisabeth, more commonly called Sisi, is a girl ill-prepared for her future, although her parents are somewhat to blame for that. Her mother never even filled her in on menstruation! She first learned of it when she got her first period. Sisi was not supposed to be married off to the future Emperor/King anyway; that was her older sister’s destiny. Alas, he choose Sisi, and Sisi has no real choice at all.
The pace of The Empress Chronicles picks up significantly when Willow’s brother Cory moves to the farm. Cory conveniently speaks German and can translate the pages of Sisi’s diary for Liz, and they even strike up an unexpected friendship. I’m not sure if it’s going to take a romantic turn in future books, but I hope not. I like Liz a lot more when she’s around Cory, but they both have enough to deal with without adding relationship drama to the mix, and I’d like them to remain just friends.
Sisi’s story finally begins to move along around this point, too, however it still drags in comparison to Liz’s. There are a lot more characters on her end and I couldn’t keep up with them all, nor did I care about them. Sisi is a much happier character earlier in her life and in the book. As she matures, she must learn to fit into society and being a reluctant Empress can’t be easy. It seems that she and Liz are and will be going in different directions emotionally.
The ending is left open and there’s potential for all of the storylines to continue on in all kinds of crazy directions. I have my suspicions on where some of them will go!
The Empress Chronicles begins very slowly. When a book is marketed as being an interwoven story, you kind of want to get to that. Instead there’s lots of backstory for both Liz and Sisi which makes their characters richer but also slows the story down. I can’t quite explain how or why more well-developed characters is a bad thing, but in this book it just doesn’t work particularly well. There’s a point when you just want to get on with it and I reached that point fairly early in the book.
About a third of the way into the book the locket finally makes its first appearance! The book synopsis makes it seem like the diary and the locket are a much bigger part of the story than they actually are. They don’t really become important until near the end, which makes me think that this book and all of that backstory is mainly setup for what’s coming in the second book.
I can’t say I really cared for either of the main characters. This seems to be a pattern for me — disliking characters dealing with difficult issues, and empathy and patience is probably something I should work on. Liz has OCD with secondary anorexia which sounds pretty interesting but in reality it just means a lot of talk about her dislike of dirt…and cats.
You don’t like cats?
I don’t like you.
So I pretty much wrote her off the minute she got to the goat farm. I do sympathize with her, however, for having to go live with her father and his girlfriend Willow, a hippie-type with her own obsession, which is avoiding gluten. I probably wouldn’t last five minutes in the house with Willow. She’s well-intentioned but irritating and there’s also the fact that Liz’s father left her mother for Willow.
Elisabeth, more commonly called Sisi, is a girl ill-prepared for her future, although her parents are somewhat to blame for that. Her mother never even filled her in on menstruation! She first learned of it when she got her first period. Sisi was not supposed to be married off to the future Emperor/King anyway; that was her older sister’s destiny. Alas, he choose Sisi, and Sisi has no real choice at all.
The pace of The Empress Chronicles picks up significantly when Willow’s brother Cory moves to the farm. Cory conveniently speaks German and can translate the pages of Sisi’s diary for Liz, and they even strike up an unexpected friendship. I’m not sure if it’s going to take a romantic turn in future books, but I hope not. I like Liz a lot more when she’s around Cory, but they both have enough to deal with without adding relationship drama to the mix, and I’d like them to remain just friends.
Sisi’s story finally begins to move along around this point, too, however it still drags in comparison to Liz’s. There are a lot more characters on her end and I couldn’t keep up with them all, nor did I care about them. Sisi is a much happier character earlier in her life and in the book. As she matures, she must learn to fit into society and being a reluctant Empress can’t be easy. It seems that she and Liz are and will be going in different directions emotionally.
The ending is left open and there’s potential for all of the storylines to continue on in all kinds of crazy directions. I have my suspicions on where some of them will go!
October 4, 2014
This is a young adult book (the first in a series) that has the depth, breadth and richness to appeal to all ages. The test of a book for me is: did it make me feel? “The Empress Chronicles” had me crying by page 40. I empathized with 15-year-old Liz, a smart, sensitive Portland, Ore., teen whose OCD and associated food issues make life tortuous for her and her family. And then there's the equally compelling parallel story of Sisi, a free-spirited dreamer-duchess from mid-1800 Bavaria, who grapples with restrictions of coming of age in a world where royalty rules and women's choices are few. (Sisi’s love for her flawed father reminds me of P.L. Travers’ relationship with her father in the film ‘Saving Mr. Banks.) In the present day voice of Liz, Vitello paints an intimate portrait of a pained teen on the road to healing amid real life obstacles in a specifically drawn Portland, Ore. (Vitello is a Portlander.) The writing is so vivid, you can feel Liz's pain. We encounter fear of germs, eating disorders, a pot-smoking dad who leaves mom for a younger woman, goat farming (!), prodigious piano talent mysteriously put on hold, budding sexuality, high school drinking, bullying, therapy, German language and literature, including the original Grimm’s fairy tales. One can learn a lot about writing -- and life -- from Vitello. She’s masterful in making us wait for answers to story and character questions, including one reveal about our protagonist, Liz, and 'why?' the scant tufts of hair, unveiled near the end. The stories of Liz and Sisi take off on a parallel path, eventually intersecting and aligning with surprises of the magical variety. The book propels forward and surprises throughout. Liz is advised by her therapist (an intriguing character I expect to see more of in future books) to “engage” and that’s what I did with this book. “Empress” satisfies those of us who love character and those who love plot. “The Empress Chronicles” has it all, which is what you need to be successful as a writer today. Vitello never underestimates her audience; I was surprised at the level of character development in a book of this title. Vitello is a masterful word handler. "Empress" is rich. Thought provoking. Entertaining. Magic. This book chronicles the challenges of growing up right here, right now, and links it up with challenges from a century and a half ago. The ending satisfies yet primes us for the next book. I care about Liz and want to know what happens next. A keeper.
September 13, 2016
-POTENTIAL SPOILERS-
-I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FOR FREE IN A GOODREADS CONTEST-
Well, let's get started, shall we?
When I first started reading this book, I didn't like it. Like at all. I couldn't relate to any of the main characters, and since this book is told in two separate narratives, I'll judge them both separately. The contemporary narrator I found myself annoyed by how much I wasn't able to relate to her. We both have mental disorders, oddly enough centered around rituals, and that's basically it. My mental disorder is pretty tame compared to the norm, and I couldn't help but to wonder if the author had gone overboard in describing just how exact her rituals had to be.
However, I did start to like her near the middle of the book, where we see she was bullied when she was younger for really stupid things(she gets a bad hair cut and spills glue on herself), and I found myself being able to relate! Plus she starts to develop as the book goes on. She becomes more daring and less focused on her perfect rituals; she wants to live in the moment. I was glad she developed strongly as a character like that, and the historical parallels between the two worlds were very interesting, such as when Elisabeth's crush dies and Lisbeth finds the guy she cares about about to overdose in her outhouse the next chapter.
Speaking of which, let's get to the historical aspects of this novel, which was the main reason why I wanted to read it. At first, I wasn't very keen on this part. The author seems to assume you know everything there is to know about Empress Elisabeth and dives right in-and I don't. All I know is that she was Empress of Austria-Hungary and has my name spelled with an 's'. Some sort of historical background would've been nice, like who was she related to, who were her favorite servants, etc. Some of it's there, but it wasn't enough. Unlike Lisbeth, though, I didn't really warm up to Elisabeth's narrative by the end. Sure, she grows and develops as a character too, but if I don't know very much about her historically, then why does it matter to me?
Despite this, I liked reading this book, despite the fact both main characters share my name. It's not a great book or anything, but the author knew what she wanted to do, and did it well enough.
EDIT: Evidently there's a sequel to this, which I think is strange. I think it wrapped up rather nicely at the end there; the only possible plot I could think of would be them meeting in either the past or present. I don't know yet if I'll read that or not.
-I RECEIVED THIS BOOK FOR FREE IN A GOODREADS CONTEST-
Well, let's get started, shall we?
When I first started reading this book, I didn't like it. Like at all. I couldn't relate to any of the main characters, and since this book is told in two separate narratives, I'll judge them both separately. The contemporary narrator I found myself annoyed by how much I wasn't able to relate to her. We both have mental disorders, oddly enough centered around rituals, and that's basically it. My mental disorder is pretty tame compared to the norm, and I couldn't help but to wonder if the author had gone overboard in describing just how exact her rituals had to be.
However, I did start to like her near the middle of the book, where we see she was bullied when she was younger for really stupid things(she gets a bad hair cut and spills glue on herself), and I found myself being able to relate! Plus she starts to develop as the book goes on. She becomes more daring and less focused on her perfect rituals; she wants to live in the moment. I was glad she developed strongly as a character like that, and the historical parallels between the two worlds were very interesting, such as when Elisabeth's crush dies and Lisbeth finds the guy she cares about about to overdose in her outhouse the next chapter.
Speaking of which, let's get to the historical aspects of this novel, which was the main reason why I wanted to read it. At first, I wasn't very keen on this part. The author seems to assume you know everything there is to know about Empress Elisabeth and dives right in-and I don't. All I know is that she was Empress of Austria-Hungary and has my name spelled with an 's'. Some sort of historical background would've been nice, like who was she related to, who were her favorite servants, etc. Some of it's there, but it wasn't enough. Unlike Lisbeth, though, I didn't really warm up to Elisabeth's narrative by the end. Sure, she grows and develops as a character too, but if I don't know very much about her historically, then why does it matter to me?
Despite this, I liked reading this book, despite the fact both main characters share my name. It's not a great book or anything, but the author knew what she wanted to do, and did it well enough.
EDIT: Evidently there's a sequel to this, which I think is strange. I think it wrapped up rather nicely at the end there; the only possible plot I could think of would be them meeting in either the past or present. I don't know yet if I'll read that or not.
August 29, 2014
This review was originally posted on my blog, Hiver et Cafe
I was provided with an e-ARC from Diversion Books via Netgalley. This fact does not affect my opinion in any shape or form. This review is my honest opinion and I was not compensated in any way for this review.
THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES is told in dual perspective that switches between the points of view of 15 year old Elisabeth, the future Empress of Austria, and Elizabeth, a 15 year old with a repulsion disorder living in modern society.
The book is written in a way that it leaves you on a cliff hanger with each chapter as you switch to the other person's perspective. It leaves you wanting to continue on with the story of the person you were just reading. I have to admit I found Elizabeth's journey of learning to deal with her disorder and learning about Empress Sisi much more interesting than Sisi's story herself, even if her story takes a turn for the paranormal.
Throughout the book, I didn't really understand why I was reading the perspectives of two different people. Their stories didn't truly intersect until the book was about 75% through or so. And because of this and the switching perspectives, the story feels a little disjointed and not a smooth ride. I think that if each of the perspectives were fleshed out a little more, each of the perspectives could stand as a story by themselves.
I really liked learning Elizabeth's story and her struggles with her OCD. It's eye opening and a little tragic how she got to the point of needing to be rehabilitated. I liked watching her heal and grow and learn to broaden her horizons. I liked that there was depth and complexity to Cory's character and I would love to know more about him
Sisi, I thought was kind of meh. She is dealing with the perils of her position as a high born duchess. Her father is an eccentric playboy who teaches Sisi circus tricks and takes her with him on a hunt. She is coming into her womanhood and learning the difference between duty and love. She does a lot of things without thinking them through. There were points in her story where I mentally screamed at her to stop what she was doing, because seriously, she's one of those "do now, think later" people.
I liked the way Sisi's story turned out and since the story ends on a Sisi chapter, I would have liked to know how Elizabeth and Cory turned out. I rather like those two.
I was provided with an e-ARC from Diversion Books via Netgalley. This fact does not affect my opinion in any shape or form. This review is my honest opinion and I was not compensated in any way for this review.
THE EMPRESS CHRONICLES is told in dual perspective that switches between the points of view of 15 year old Elisabeth, the future Empress of Austria, and Elizabeth, a 15 year old with a repulsion disorder living in modern society.
The book is written in a way that it leaves you on a cliff hanger with each chapter as you switch to the other person's perspective. It leaves you wanting to continue on with the story of the person you were just reading. I have to admit I found Elizabeth's journey of learning to deal with her disorder and learning about Empress Sisi much more interesting than Sisi's story herself, even if her story takes a turn for the paranormal.
Throughout the book, I didn't really understand why I was reading the perspectives of two different people. Their stories didn't truly intersect until the book was about 75% through or so. And because of this and the switching perspectives, the story feels a little disjointed and not a smooth ride. I think that if each of the perspectives were fleshed out a little more, each of the perspectives could stand as a story by themselves.
I really liked learning Elizabeth's story and her struggles with her OCD. It's eye opening and a little tragic how she got to the point of needing to be rehabilitated. I liked watching her heal and grow and learn to broaden her horizons. I liked that there was depth and complexity to Cory's character and I would love to know more about him
Sisi, I thought was kind of meh. She is dealing with the perils of her position as a high born duchess. Her father is an eccentric playboy who teaches Sisi circus tricks and takes her with him on a hunt. She is coming into her womanhood and learning the difference between duty and love. She does a lot of things without thinking them through. There were points in her story where I mentally screamed at her to stop what she was doing, because seriously, she's one of those "do now, think later" people.
I liked the way Sisi's story turned out and since the story ends on a Sisi chapter, I would have liked to know how Elizabeth and Cory turned out. I rather like those two.
October 1, 2015
For me, the stand out feature of The Empress Chronicles, is the same thing that grabbed me upon reading Vitello's first book, The Moment Before. The characters and settings are so beautifully flawed and so beautifully written that I couldn't help but be drawn in within the first few chapters.
This book is listed as Young Adult, but Vitello writes with the confidence that her audience will understand literature that reads with power and intent. Within the first chapter I realized there were some valuable lessons hidden in plain sight. As Liz is talking to her therapist, Dr. Greta, there is this: “Dr. Greta erupts, slicing into my space-out. "For if you do not (engage), the world will write what it wants upon you."
Liz, an OCD teen, plagued by the need to avoid well, just about everything, since her father left her and her mother, must go to live with her father and her father's girlfriend, on their farm. She has no choice but to engage in living. One of my favorite moments was when she participates in the birth of a goat: "...I'd never seen life happen before outside of YouTube. The smells, the sounds, the prickly hotness. It's a sort of chaos. Entropy. Exploding cells, random order. All the things that usually leave me fearful and panicky. But within all that, there's another feeling, the same kind I get looking at a beautiful painting..."
Then there is Elizabeth (Sisi) of Bavaria, from the past. Her world feels just as real, just as well thought out. Trapped by the expectations of a girl who is becoming woman, she finds her moments of freedom. "...The sound of my pony's hoofs striking the cobblestones clattered my back teeth. I rose slightly in my stirrups and leaned forward, tapping Cupid with my crop. He stretched his stride. We were faster than the wind. This was how it was to ride like a man. Never had I felt so powerful, so free."
Eventually, the two worlds do collide, over a journal and a locket. The ending does not come to a conclusion, but will leave you ready for the next book in this series. Since I thought it was going to draw to a conclusion, I feel compelled to share that you will be left eagerly anticipating a second book. I know I, for one, will be first in line.
This book is listed as Young Adult, but Vitello writes with the confidence that her audience will understand literature that reads with power and intent. Within the first chapter I realized there were some valuable lessons hidden in plain sight. As Liz is talking to her therapist, Dr. Greta, there is this: “Dr. Greta erupts, slicing into my space-out. "For if you do not (engage), the world will write what it wants upon you."
Liz, an OCD teen, plagued by the need to avoid well, just about everything, since her father left her and her mother, must go to live with her father and her father's girlfriend, on their farm. She has no choice but to engage in living. One of my favorite moments was when she participates in the birth of a goat: "...I'd never seen life happen before outside of YouTube. The smells, the sounds, the prickly hotness. It's a sort of chaos. Entropy. Exploding cells, random order. All the things that usually leave me fearful and panicky. But within all that, there's another feeling, the same kind I get looking at a beautiful painting..."
Then there is Elizabeth (Sisi) of Bavaria, from the past. Her world feels just as real, just as well thought out. Trapped by the expectations of a girl who is becoming woman, she finds her moments of freedom. "...The sound of my pony's hoofs striking the cobblestones clattered my back teeth. I rose slightly in my stirrups and leaned forward, tapping Cupid with my crop. He stretched his stride. We were faster than the wind. This was how it was to ride like a man. Never had I felt so powerful, so free."
Eventually, the two worlds do collide, over a journal and a locket. The ending does not come to a conclusion, but will leave you ready for the next book in this series. Since I thought it was going to draw to a conclusion, I feel compelled to share that you will be left eagerly anticipating a second book. I know I, for one, will be first in line.
April 21, 2016
A free digital copy of this book was sent by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I’ve always had a fascination with Elisabeth of Bavaria, nicknamed Sissi. She was the quintessential princess with her long, flowing hair and ethereal looks. It was only later that I discovered the dark side to this fairytale story.
The Empress Chronicles is told in dual perspective. It alternates between Liz, a girl with personal demons and OCD in present time, and Elisabeth, a young, freedom-loving girl who must navigate the political sea of the court.
Liz’s perspective was written excellently. As perverse as it might sound, I really enjoyed being inside the mind of a person who suffers from anorexia and sees germs on every visible surface. She becomes fascinated with Sissi after her therapist tells her about the latter’s own struggles with an eating disorder and gives her the princess’ girlhood diary.
While I loved Liz’s character, I felt the opposite for Sissi. I felt that she wasn’t as developed as Liz was, which made it difficult for me to sympathize with her on her own troubles.
The Empress Chronicles was very slow-placed, even dull at some parts. Not a lot of things happened during the first half of the book and I feel that I would have DNF’ed this had it not been for the promise of fantastical and magical elements. However, these aspects were introduced suddenly and in a jarring manner. After an entire book filled with realistic situations and feasible events, the inclusion of magic in the last part was rather awkward.
Don’t get me wrong, I did like The Empress Chronicles. But the abrupt ending and brusque introduction of magic didn’t really make me inclined to continue on with the series.
I’ve always had a fascination with Elisabeth of Bavaria, nicknamed Sissi. She was the quintessential princess with her long, flowing hair and ethereal looks. It was only later that I discovered the dark side to this fairytale story.
The Empress Chronicles is told in dual perspective. It alternates between Liz, a girl with personal demons and OCD in present time, and Elisabeth, a young, freedom-loving girl who must navigate the political sea of the court.
Liz’s perspective was written excellently. As perverse as it might sound, I really enjoyed being inside the mind of a person who suffers from anorexia and sees germs on every visible surface. She becomes fascinated with Sissi after her therapist tells her about the latter’s own struggles with an eating disorder and gives her the princess’ girlhood diary.
While I loved Liz’s character, I felt the opposite for Sissi. I felt that she wasn’t as developed as Liz was, which made it difficult for me to sympathize with her on her own troubles.
The Empress Chronicles was very slow-placed, even dull at some parts. Not a lot of things happened during the first half of the book and I feel that I would have DNF’ed this had it not been for the promise of fantastical and magical elements. However, these aspects were introduced suddenly and in a jarring manner. After an entire book filled with realistic situations and feasible events, the inclusion of magic in the last part was rather awkward.
Don’t get me wrong, I did like The Empress Chronicles. But the abrupt ending and brusque introduction of magic didn’t really make me inclined to continue on with the series.
September 5, 2014
This is a YA/Fantasy and I can clearly see that a young girl would love this story. I even as an adult loved the storyline, maybe I am still a young girl at heart. My genre of preference is anything paranormal and mystery suspense but this book captured my attention right from the beginning all the way through to the end. I love how the author wrote about the past and the present with the POV of two teenage girls and their lives. Suzy Viltello captured the place in time perfectly describing the two characters personality’s heartaches and joys.
We have Liz a present day teenager that is struggling with OCD and an eating disorder due to her OCD of germs. She lives with her Mother in the city and when her Mother has to go out of town for a job she is sent to live with her Father and stepmother on a goat farm in the country. Doesn’t sound like the right place for a girl with a germ phobia does it?
And then we have Sisi/Elisabeth a young girl struggling with being a teenager during times of arranged marriages in the 1800’s in Bavaria. Sisi is a tomboy/daddy’s girl who’s Mother and Aunt are trying to force her to grow up, become a lady and accept her fate to one day become the Empress of Bavaria.
The author went back and forth with the chapters between the two girls showing the parallels of their lives. Liz finds the diary and locket of Sisi in her psychiatrists office and becomes obsessed with her story.
Over all I would recommend this book for young adults and lovers of fantasy fiction books. It was a very enjoyable read with my opinion the ability to become a series to continue the story.
We have Liz a present day teenager that is struggling with OCD and an eating disorder due to her OCD of germs. She lives with her Mother in the city and when her Mother has to go out of town for a job she is sent to live with her Father and stepmother on a goat farm in the country. Doesn’t sound like the right place for a girl with a germ phobia does it?
And then we have Sisi/Elisabeth a young girl struggling with being a teenager during times of arranged marriages in the 1800’s in Bavaria. Sisi is a tomboy/daddy’s girl who’s Mother and Aunt are trying to force her to grow up, become a lady and accept her fate to one day become the Empress of Bavaria.
The author went back and forth with the chapters between the two girls showing the parallels of their lives. Liz finds the diary and locket of Sisi in her psychiatrists office and becomes obsessed with her story.
Over all I would recommend this book for young adults and lovers of fantasy fiction books. It was a very enjoyable read with my opinion the ability to become a series to continue the story.
September 20, 2014
The Empress Chronicles seems unusual because it ties together a contemporary protagonist with one who lived her life many, many years ago. This isn’t a Dear America or Royal Diaries installment—this is a very interesting blend of “now” and history. I picked it up (not just because I am a fan of German history) but because the story of Sisi is an engrossing and tragic tale in its own right, and I was curious to see what sort of role Sisi would have in Liz’s life.
As for Liz herself, I found her engrossing immediately. I felt for her. I felt for her during her episodes, and I felt for her as she did her best to adjust to her new way of life. She made for a convincing protagonist.
I enjoyed the history and the pacing from the start. Lately after reading so many stories of fictional princesses, it was nice to curl up with this book and read an imagining of a “real” historical princess.
My enjoyment of the history and the protagonist helped me to get through the bumpy spots—I wasn’t entirely convinced by the introduction of magic in the book, and the ending really did make me frown and swipe, frustrated across my iPad screen. Is there going to be a sequel?
As potentially shallow as it may be, I wish the cover somehow incorporated Sisi more so than just the castle of Neuschwanstein— this one might be a hard sell to teens just based on the cover alone. That being said, this book was a really interesting incorporation of historical fiction into a modern narrative, and I would definitely pick up a sequel!
As for Liz herself, I found her engrossing immediately. I felt for her. I felt for her during her episodes, and I felt for her as she did her best to adjust to her new way of life. She made for a convincing protagonist.
I enjoyed the history and the pacing from the start. Lately after reading so many stories of fictional princesses, it was nice to curl up with this book and read an imagining of a “real” historical princess.
My enjoyment of the history and the protagonist helped me to get through the bumpy spots—I wasn’t entirely convinced by the introduction of magic in the book, and the ending really did make me frown and swipe, frustrated across my iPad screen. Is there going to be a sequel?
As potentially shallow as it may be, I wish the cover somehow incorporated Sisi more so than just the castle of Neuschwanstein— this one might be a hard sell to teens just based on the cover alone. That being said, this book was a really interesting incorporation of historical fiction into a modern narrative, and I would definitely pick up a sequel!
October 27, 2014
Liz is a girl with some issues. I think she is obsessed about cleaning and what she eats because she feels that is all she really has control over. She is sent to live with her father and his girlfriend on a goat farm. She has been talking about this with her therapist for awhile now. Her therapist is a descendant of a Bavarian princess and shows her the princesses diary. She also tells her that the princess had some of the same problems as Liz. Liz becomes quite interested in this diary. Her therapist lets her read some it and that just makes her more interested in it. Back on the goat farm things are strained between her and her father as well as the girlfriend. Then the girlfriends brother comes to stay at the goat farm as well. Liz and the brother talk, but he has problems of his own. He says that he will help her get the diary when they go to a parade in town. This is where everything gets interesting.
I really liked this book. Liz goes through so much and is trying her best to what everyone else considers normal. Once she starts to read this diary she becomes so intrigued by what the princess went through. She feels like the diary calls to her and that she needs to read it to find out what it is trying to tell her. I really enjoyed this book. I liked how she related to the princesses story in the diary. She finds comfort in diary that she can't seem to find anywhere else. I can't wait to read the next one in this series.
I really liked this book. Liz goes through so much and is trying her best to what everyone else considers normal. Once she starts to read this diary she becomes so intrigued by what the princess went through. She feels like the diary calls to her and that she needs to read it to find out what it is trying to tell her. I really enjoyed this book. I liked how she related to the princesses story in the diary. She finds comfort in diary that she can't seem to find anywhere else. I can't wait to read the next one in this series.
September 1, 2014
Copy provided by NetGalley in return for an honest review
I'm really conflicted about this book. I liked the idea, but it seemed to take a long time to get going and I'm not always great with "magical elements" to books if you know what I mean - I really like Philippa Gregory's Tudor monarch books - but I got fed up with the magic elements of the Wars of the Roses books by the end of The White Queen. I think basically I have a limited tolerance for the supernatural and the magical elements of this didn't necessarily always work for me.
I think, really, I wanted to prefer Sisi's story - I was drawn to this book because of the fact that I'd just read and enjoyed another book about Sisi, but I had trouble with some elements of her story - and I wanted to know more about Liz and her problems - but I understand that in a YA book you can't go into to much detail about OCD and eating disorders because it can encourage/enable similar behaviours in people who are actually in the target age range for the book.
So I finished it, I quite enjoyed it - and I wanted to know how it ended, but I didn't love it. I've given 3 stars, because 2 seemed too harsh and I know that other people may really like this.
I'm really conflicted about this book. I liked the idea, but it seemed to take a long time to get going and I'm not always great with "magical elements" to books if you know what I mean - I really like Philippa Gregory's Tudor monarch books - but I got fed up with the magic elements of the Wars of the Roses books by the end of The White Queen. I think basically I have a limited tolerance for the supernatural and the magical elements of this didn't necessarily always work for me.
I think, really, I wanted to prefer Sisi's story - I was drawn to this book because of the fact that I'd just read and enjoyed another book about Sisi, but I had trouble with some elements of her story - and I wanted to know more about Liz and her problems - but I understand that in a YA book you can't go into to much detail about OCD and eating disorders because it can encourage/enable similar behaviours in people who are actually in the target age range for the book.
So I finished it, I quite enjoyed it - and I wanted to know how it ended, but I didn't love it. I've given 3 stars, because 2 seemed too harsh and I know that other people may really like this.
April 14, 2015
3.5 stars.
I enjoyed most aspects of this novel. I was not expecting the duel narrative but Vitello did a great job making both sides of the story interesting enough that I never felt like I was just getting through one chapter just to get back to the other story. Over all I thought the story was good with a few complaints.
(rest contains minor spoilers.)
The first is it took too long to get to the "wormhole" aspect of the story. It seemed as if this was a big part of the story but it took almost 2/3 of the book to get there. Not that I did not enjoy the journey it just seemed the novel was not really about crossing into a different era. Another thing that brought this book down for me was how there were times Vitello would gloss over details or events and simply summarize aspects of the story which would have been interesting had she put them into the story. The last big complaint was the abrupt ending. I know that this is a series however it seemed with the way the book ended it feels as if I just read 260 pages of a prequel and we just go to the heart of the story when it ended.
I enjoyed most aspects of this novel. I was not expecting the duel narrative but Vitello did a great job making both sides of the story interesting enough that I never felt like I was just getting through one chapter just to get back to the other story. Over all I thought the story was good with a few complaints.
(rest contains minor spoilers.)
The first is it took too long to get to the "wormhole" aspect of the story. It seemed as if this was a big part of the story but it took almost 2/3 of the book to get there. Not that I did not enjoy the journey it just seemed the novel was not really about crossing into a different era. Another thing that brought this book down for me was how there were times Vitello would gloss over details or events and simply summarize aspects of the story which would have been interesting had she put them into the story. The last big complaint was the abrupt ending. I know that this is a series however it seemed with the way the book ended it feels as if I just read 260 pages of a prequel and we just go to the heart of the story when it ended.
September 12, 2014
Only a few days short of the 116th anniversary of The Empress Elisabeth's death, I was excited to get my hands on this creatively crafted novel!
Although I’m an avid Historical Fiction fan, I’m very open-minded with the avenues an author can take. It’s hard not to become immersed completely when a story steps out of the norm and leads you into the unknown. I love the fact that Vitello paired the famous beauty “Sisi”, known for her eccentricities, with a young woman from present day who suffers as she did. This tale takes the reader on a mystical journey full of sorcery, love, and adventure. It suits the Empress, as she herself was a mystical force on her own!
The Bonus material at the end is always a favorite of mine, as well. The author gives background on one of the focal points that connects the two heroines, and interesting tidbits about some of the characters.
I rather enjoyed this read and I’m quite curious as to where the author will take it from here.
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
Although I’m an avid Historical Fiction fan, I’m very open-minded with the avenues an author can take. It’s hard not to become immersed completely when a story steps out of the norm and leads you into the unknown. I love the fact that Vitello paired the famous beauty “Sisi”, known for her eccentricities, with a young woman from present day who suffers as she did. This tale takes the reader on a mystical journey full of sorcery, love, and adventure. It suits the Empress, as she herself was a mystical force on her own!
The Bonus material at the end is always a favorite of mine, as well. The author gives background on one of the focal points that connects the two heroines, and interesting tidbits about some of the characters.
I rather enjoyed this read and I’m quite curious as to where the author will take it from here.
I received a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.
November 2, 2015
I think what really attracted me to this book was whole concept surrounding modern vs historical point of views. Separated by more than a century, the main characters both have a certain connection, a bridge: a diary.
I felt it wasn't a well-thought out connection between our main protagonists. Besides the diary and the illnesses they share. Our modern character has OCD; Elizabeth of Bavaria, a real historical figure, was known to have had issues as well. But that's it? there wasn't really much to go on.
The story itself didn't give me a satisfying feeling because the ending also felt so sudden and abrupt, which left me a bit confused.Was Vitello trying to give readers a cliffhanger, setting for a sequel or was that it?
Despite it not doing much for me, this book did have so potential. The concept was interesting, although It just didn't deliver very well. Maybe it's all because of the debut novel syndrome?
I felt it wasn't a well-thought out connection between our main protagonists. Besides the diary and the illnesses they share. Our modern character has OCD; Elizabeth of Bavaria, a real historical figure, was known to have had issues as well. But that's it? there wasn't really much to go on.
The story itself didn't give me a satisfying feeling because the ending also felt so sudden and abrupt, which left me a bit confused.Was Vitello trying to give readers a cliffhanger, setting for a sequel or was that it?
Despite it not doing much for me, this book did have so potential. The concept was interesting, although It just didn't deliver very well. Maybe it's all because of the debut novel syndrome?
September 4, 2014
*I was provided a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
This is such a sweet and realistic yet imaginative story... does that make sense??
We are told the story of two teenage girls, each using their own narrative. You really feel like you are looking into their worlds as you read each characters portion.
We are introduced to Liz in Oregon and Elisabeth who is back in time trying to find her own way.
Liz & Elisabeth become connected in a way that will change history!!
The story moves along really well and the characters are woven together in a way that really attaches you to them. You can understand the ways that the two girls are similar and how they are troubled by their own times, and connected at the same time.
This is a book that young and a little less young can enjoy!
Grab your copy today!!!
~Dowie
This is such a sweet and realistic yet imaginative story... does that make sense??
We are told the story of two teenage girls, each using their own narrative. You really feel like you are looking into their worlds as you read each characters portion.
We are introduced to Liz in Oregon and Elisabeth who is back in time trying to find her own way.
Liz & Elisabeth become connected in a way that will change history!!
The story moves along really well and the characters are woven together in a way that really attaches you to them. You can understand the ways that the two girls are similar and how they are troubled by their own times, and connected at the same time.
This is a book that young and a little less young can enjoy!
Grab your copy today!!!
~Dowie
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