Literally Leander discussion

This month, our featured book is Lillie Lainoff's debut novel, One for All. Please note that there may be spoilers for the novel in this thread.

One For All is described as a "gender-bent retelling" of The Three Musketeers, and an OwnVoices novel about chronic illness. This book was chosen to be part of the 2023 Texas Lone Star reading list. Discussion prompts for this book were written by a staff member. Feel free to use them!

1. Have you read The Three Musketeers? What aspects of the novel did you see in One For All?

2. The novel is set in 17th century France. What part of the setting was your favorite? Do you know much about this time period in history?

3. What did you think of Tania as a narrator? What characteristics do you think lent well to her duties for a Musketeer? What were her greatest weaknesses?

4. Tania has a chronic illness known today as POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome.) What were some of the things Tania struggled with in the novel that you had never thought about before? How does the book change your view on chronic illness, if changed at all?

5. Discuss Tania’s relationships with her sisters-in-arms: Portia, Aria, and Théa. How did Tania’s friendships with the girls change her view of herself?

That awkward moment when you DNF'd the book club book. 0.0

But no, for real I began to flip through it and decided that this one was not for me, sorry not sorry.

I will say, though, that I'm glad there are books featuring heroes and heroines with chronic illnesses, just as there are books with characters that are physically or mentally disabled. One of my BFFs has POTS so while I don't have it myself, I can see how it and the other chronic health issues can be utterly debilitating, yet how people don't notice or don't think it's "as bad" because it's considered an invisible illness.

@ Kristen: I also DNF'd this one! I read almost 1/3 of the book, but got bored when Tania got to the training academy.

I liked that the book was based on the author's own experiences with POTS. It gave me insight into what people with POTS and other chronic illnesses may experience.