With a Sword in My Hand

I automatically have a less positive impression of this book than I might have just because it's historical fiction, which makes me suspicious of it. I can't help but wonder, the entire time I'm reading, "how much of this is bullshit?" Creative non-fiction is a weaselly genre that gives you the cachet of non-fiction with the freedom of fiction, and makes it extremely easy to mislead your audience - whether you intend to or not. I was also a little thrown off by the way it's all written in first-person present tense but doesn't match with how the character would actually have written or spoken at the various points in her life at which it's set. Her voice doesn't change at all as she ages from 5 to 15. That aside, the book is easy to read and the characters are vivid and believable. Unfortunately, the protagonist is just not a person I liked or cared about - and I'm pretty sure I was supposed to. Her life seemed largely frivolous and she never seems to have any clear motivation other than to not do what's expected of her. That's a fine starting point, but what does she actually want instead? I've finished the book and I don't know.

We also don't get any sense of the larger historical context or Marguerite's place within it. She's born into power and politics but that's almost irrelevant to the book. It makes the entire story seem kind of a waste of time. What's all this leading to? Nothing that matters.