publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's
date of publication: February 28, 2012
format: eGalley
pages: 368
source: Netgalley
Amazon / IndieBound / B&N / The Book Depository
From Goodreads:
Eliza Monroe-daughter of the future president of the United States-is devastated when her mother decides to send her to boarding school outside of Paris. But the young American teen is quickly reconciled to the idea when-ooh, la-la!-she discovers who her fellow pupils will be: Hortense de Beauharnais, daughter of Josephine Bonaparte; and Caroline Bonaparte, youngest sister of the famous French general. It doesn't take long for Eliza to figure out that the two French girls are mortal enemies—and that she's about to get caught in the middle of their schemes.
Loosely drawn from history, Eliza Monroe's imagined coming of age provides a scintillating glimpse into the lives, loves, and hopes of three young women during one of the most volatile periods in French history.
What I Thought
Having long been fascinated by Paris as a literary setting, I pounced upon the chance to read The Académie, as I enjoy both the particular point in history during which the story takes place and the little intrigues likely to take place in such a novel. This novel held many high points, as well as low points that made it fall a little short of expectations. However, as I will explain, it made for an interesting read that was able to fully arrest my attention in the end.
The Académie is told from the perspective of 3 girls, though perhaps not the 3 girls you might think. We are initially introduced to Eliza, a snobby, naive girl who is placed in the boarding school in which both the stepdaughter and younger sister of Napoleon Bonaparte attend. Initially, I found Eliza to be purely obnoxious. Her attitude toward many things were grating and she wasn't very likeable, at first. However, as she began to go through certain changes, she became much more enjoyable. I must say, however, that there was a downside to this, as well. It almost felt as though there was a fourth character thanks to the dramatic shift in attitude, which did throw me for a bit of a loop. The second narrator, Hortense, quickly became my favorite of the 3 narrators, as she had a certain level of sweetness, yet was not perfect. She became the most believable character of the 3 and, as such, was much more engaging. The third narrator, an actress by the name of Madeleine with an unexpected tie to Hortense, was also somewhat inconsistent, though it works very well thanks to her background and situation in life. Overall, the 3 narrators provided a varied, yet somewhat halting story full of intrigue and much misfortune.
The pacing that took place throughout The Académie was somewhat difficult to keep up with. At first, there is a certain amount of boredom involved with Eliza's initial narration. The scene is not set very well and the descriptions of daily life just wasn't very compelling. However, the story did pick up and become very engaging, though there was a certain amount of choppiness. If I had to pick one word to describe the pacing, that word would be "turbulent." It was definitely very jarring and I found myself hard-pressed to keep my attention from wandering, at times. The jewel in this story is the setting. The attention to detail paid by Ms. Dunlap as to the girls' surroundings was very well done and made imagining everything very easy to accomplish.
While The Académie may not have been my favorite historical YA novel ever, it was still a fun read that combined an appropriated account of post-revolutionary France and teenage whimsy. If you go into the book prepared for a semi-fictional account of the lives of Eliza, Hortense, and Caroline and with the understanding that the pacing may require particular attention at times, you will likely find it to be enjoyable. Fans of historically-based fiction may enjoy this book. Due to the uneven nature of the book's construction, I rate The Académie at 3 hoots.
Obligatory legal statement: This eGalley was provided to me free of charge by the publisher via Netgalley. No monetary compensation was received in exchange for this fair and unbiased review.
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