An intriguing read, but I struggled with the author’s frequent assumptions about Marie Antoinette’s thoughts and emotions. While historical fiction often fills in the gaps with speculation, I felt that the author overstepped in terms of supposing what Marie Antoinette might have felt during key moments in her life. This approach took me out of the story at times, as it felt more like conjecture than a grounded interpretation of history.

However, the setting and attention to historical details were well done, and I did enjoy the overall narrative. It's clear the author put a lot of effort into bringing the era to life, but I would have appreciated a more nuanced or less presumptive portrayal of such a complex historical figure.

I really enjoyed this biography of Marie Antoinette. I have read a couple other books about her, both well-written and researched, but I feel Melanie Burrows' book gives the best impression of Marie Antoinette as a person. The woman herself comes through the text, giving readers a deep look at the queen. I felt that book gives readers the history of Marie Antoinette herself, rather than the history of France told through Marie Antoinette. Very informative and enjoyable book (if one can say such a thing about a book ending with execution...)

A very easy read as Burrows takes you into the whirlwind of Marie Antoinette's life, showing how much of it was a silly soap opera - until it turned into a political thriller and then horror at the end.

Burrows takes full advantage of how well documented the queen's life was, from birth to death, in letters, diaries, memoirs, public announcements, newspapers, portraits, drawings, and surviving objects and architecture, filling the book with detail so you can see and hear every moment of this life that was crazy at some many levels in excess, emotion, politics, and change.

I absolutely loved this book. Honestly going in I was expecting it to be very dry which is the reason I generally don’t read biographies about historical people. But my opinion has completely changed after reading this amazing account of Marie Antoinette’s life. Numerous times I had to remind myself that this was not a novel while I was reading, but instead an accurate depiction of the life that she lived. The author did a remarkable job bringing out the human side of not only Marie Antoinette, but her entire family friends, and the people that surrounded her of course, I know how the story ends, but nonetheless, I found myself crying towards the end. Melanie Burroughs absolutely made her come to life for me and made me care deeply. I decided after finishing the book to continue so I began to watch the series of Marie Antoinette. It was very funny to me while watching that I continue to pick up inaccuracies and see how the creative process turns and twist stories to make them watchable for a television audience.

Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.

This is a wonderful biography of Marie Antionette for those interested in learning more about her. She was only 14 years old when she was married to King Louis XVI of France, Not only did she have to leave Austria at that young age, but she had to leave every single thing behind, including all of her clothes. Totally ridiculous. She would get lectured for going out with friends and spending money. Note we remember the women in history who 'waste' money far more than we do the men, even though the men were spending far more. And the women almost always had to ask the men for that money, just to be berated for spending it.

If you ever wanted to know about her sex life, you can read about it here. Her brother, Joseph, wrote extensively about it.

Anyway . . . even if you don't feel a need to know about the royals' sex life (you can always skip that part lol), I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for their next non-fiction book!

Melanie Burrows does an amazing job in writing this book about Marie Antoinette, it had that research element that I was looking for and enjoyed from this type of book. It brought the real Marie Antoinette to life and enjoyed how good the information was. I thought Melanie Burrows wrote this well and left me wanting to read more.

Marie Antoinette by Melanie Burrows is an engaging and insightful biography that offers a fresh perspective on one of history’s most misunderstood queens. I enjoyed how the book balanced her personal struggles with the dramatic events of her time, making her story both human and captivating. It was a fascinating read that I truly enjoyed and I give it five stars.

Despite watching movies and reading a light amount about Marie Antoinette, I’ve always wanted to learn more and this book was amazing. It covered her entire life and everything was so well explained. This is not just a bland history, but a vivid and colorful literary education on who she was, what she did, and how she met the end that she did. I truly enjoyed this book and have retained so much from it.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Review will be posted on Instagram and Amazon on pub day and links added to NetGalley.