A lovely historical romance set against actual historic events, with themes of sibling rivalry, repressed trauma and duty, touched upon but never fleshed out.
I’ve watched the Netflix series and loved it, so had to listen to the book. I cannot wait for season 2 of the series and wouldn’t mind a book 2 either to continue the journey.

It’s based on Elisabeth, aka Sisi the younger sister of Helene who was meant to be The Empress but The Emperor actually falls for Elisabeth. Elisabeth is such a carefree, strong, independent character who wants to go against her mothers wishes to marry who her mother chooses. She wants to marry for love which she finds in Franz.
When she becomes Empress though Elisabeth finds it hard to live a life with such restrictions as it completely contradicts her behaviour and what she likes to do, this makes it such a good read as he character habits are challenged

It was a very relationship led story, not just love but family. So if you’re expecting a deep historical fiction this perhaps isn’t for you. Despite this it was a really enjoyable and easy read. There are three narrators in the book - Franz and Sisi (the romantic couple) and Helena. Giving Helena a voice gave the book an avenue to explore (feeling of betrayal and anger) more than just the romance.

I DNF this book. I couldn’t get into it at all, I don’t know if I’d prefer to read it as a book rather than listen. I am going to rate it as five stars as it’s not the authors fault that I couldn’t get into it, it was just not my type of book.

A lovely historical romance set against actual historic events. Sisi is rebelling against her family's expectations for her to marry. Her older sister is preparing to marry the Emperor. So when Franz and Sisi meet and fall in love, it goes against what everyone else planned. Is their love enough to conquer the restrictions put apon them by those around them? A lovely romance, don't read this for a lot of history, apart from context.

This was a stunning audiobook to listen to. I was swept away and drawn into the story from beginning to end

I took me so much to get into this book, and I didn't really enjoy it. For once, I would say Netflix did an amazing job portraiting this in an entertaining engaging manner.
Even in the audiobook version, which is the easiest way to get into the book for me, we didn't really connect, I wasn't swept away, I just wasn't really interested, or rather, I was bored by the whole thing, even if the history behind this fascinated me to no end.
It's quite unfortunate in my opinion.

Great contemporary story based like Bridgerton style with the Victoria town. Good narrator and great story lines. Was written well.

I didn't really enjoy this story, i found the characters to be flat and very 1 dimensional and the story was so very slow it was a struggle. i only made it half way thought and then had to admit defeat! just wasn't for me.

LOVED IT!!!

I loved that it wasn't full of angst and empty promises and a bunch of misunderstandings.
The MC's knew what they wanted and went for it and it made for a really satisfying read.

In terms of being historically accurate, I've no idea but it has urged me to jump on my usual research train because I am curious.
I am absolutely going to give the Netflix adaptation a read.
I am not sure if this is turning into a book series as it ends at a rather inconspicuous moment but even if it's not, I had a great time getting to k now the characters.
It gave me Brigerton season 2 vibes without the plastic-y feel and it was easy enough to speed through.

Thanks to Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for a review copy of this audiobook. Set in 19th century Bavaria and Vienna the audiobook tells the story of Sisi, the younger duchess of the Bavarian royal family who resolves only marry someone for which she has an all consuming love, even if it means climbing out of a window to avoid a meeting with an awful prospective husband. The painful efforts to prepare her older sister Helena for the arranged match with the Hapsburg emperor Franz only reinforces Sisi’s resolve. But in Vienna, where Franz is recovering from an assassination attempt, his only thought is to escape the nightmares that plague him and deal with his scapegrace brother, as well as facing his duty as emperor with stoical resolve. When Sisi accompanies her sister and mother to Vienna to present Helena and for the inevitable marriage proposal both Sisi and Franz’s worlds are overturned when they meet in the garden. The story is sweet and easily enjoyable and filled with all the elements of a royal historical romance, complete with the glitter and pitfalls of a royal court that Sisi constantly struggles against while trying to maintain her true self. Franz is nicely drawn as is Sisi and the narrators both increase the depth of the characters that help to draw in the listener. The story is especially poignant given they are figures from history who lived amid the turmoil of revolution and change in Europe with plenty of tragedy in their lives.

This has to be one of the best audio books that I have listened to in a long while. I have watched the Netflix series of The Empress and I absolutely adored it so when I saw the audio book available on Netgalley I did not hesitate in requesting it. Luckily I was approved and I got stuck into listening to this straight away.

We meet Elisabeth, aka Sisi the younger sister of Helene who was meant to be The Empress but The Emperor actually falls for Elisabeth. Elisabeth and Franz have a few chance meetings and I feel that he is enchanted by Elisabeth's character rather than the trained for the position Helene. Unfortunately for Helene, the attraction between Elisabeth and Franz is quite strong and they end up wedded. Elisabeth is wild, carefree and such a warming character to read about.

Elisabeth starts her reign as The Empress but obviously finds it hard to live a life with such restrictions and her carefree days are no longer that.

I adored this by author Gigi Griffiths and I hope to read any follow ups as I adored these characters. Very easy to follow, set in beautiful, vivid backgrounds this is such a warm, heart wrenching but exciting novel.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and Gigi Griffiths for allowing me to have an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Helene and Elisabeth are sisters but have such a difficult view of life. One in rebelling against her destiny whilst the other can't wait to follow her chosen path. Needless to say things don't quite work out for either of them. Highly entertaining and I loved the audio book narration.

I hadn't realized this was a novelized version of a Netflix show but it definitely reads like it. It's just... hollow. Just descriptions of people and what they look like and what they are doing but no depth. Which is sad because I do like the characters they just feel sort of shallow. Elisabeth is rebellious. Franz has PTSD. Helene has been scared into proper behavior. They just feel lacking because there doesn't seem to be anything else to them. And the plot is thin and too simple. There are no plot threads weaving together. It also doesn't feel particularly historically accurate. The history is just trappings for the simple romance. And it is simple. Maybe because it was written for TV? Everything moves very fast and nothing has any depth or weight.

The narrator voicing Elisabeth's POV does a good job and is pleasant to listen to. The narrator voicing Franz's POV is decent but definitely not my favorite to listen to. They both spoke slowly enough that I bumped the speed up quite a bit.

*Thanks to NetGalley and Bolinda Audio for providing an early audio copy for review.

I understand that this is more of a tie in with an existing Netflix show. There were so many kernels of a good plot that were woefully underdeveloped, Themes of sibling rivalry, repressed trauma and duty, touched upon but never fleshed out. Sweet, but not satiating. It needed to be a quarter as long again to really feel complete in my opinion.

I have just enjoyed listening to this audiobook read beautifully by Ellie Rise Boswell and Dominic Burgess.

Based on Elisabeth of Bavaria in 1853. At 16 she falls in love with Emperor Franz of Austria who is expected to marry her older sister.

We are given an insight into the requirements of duty and obedience. The ‘establishment’ expects and demands so much but Elisabeth may not be compliant. She is full of life and fun.

Great characters and storyline. It is a great novel to listen to and I highly recommend it.

I don't know much about this period of history so was intrigued by the premise of this story. Wow! I was kept on the edge of my seat and felt breathless waiting to get to the end to find out how this love story resolved itself.

Excellent characterisation - I loved getting to know everyone in this book. The narration was shared and I thought that worked really well so that I always knew which character was 'speaking.'

Strangely enough, not a lot happens in the story in terms of plot, but the development of relationships, and slow revelation of back story to develop characterisation was masterful.

This book feels like it might have a follow up title - I really hope so! Off to see if Netflix do the book justice now - it will be a hard act to follow!

This audiobook came to life from the first words. There are two narrators, Ellie Rose Boswell and Dominic Burgess, who are fantastic in this book. They bring such expression to the characters they represent, you will be hooked!!.
Elisabeth is a feisty young lady who doesn't comply to her mother's wishes to marry someone who's chosen for her! She wants to fall in love and then marry, not be matched to a stranger!. Meanwhile her sister Helene, is ready to marry and will marry well. She will marry Franz, the emperor. They're going to visit so that Franz can propose.
The whole premise is a great plot for a romance story. A young couple connect and fall for each other even though they're not meant to!!. Oh what will happen!! Well I think we know!!
I received this free audiobook for an honest review.
#Netgalley, #bolindaaudio, #gigigriffis

I did enjoy this, but it was a lot lighter on the drama front than I expected. I felt it was more character perspectives than any of the twists or historical details in the series. Not much happened and that was slightly disappointing. Thank you to the publisher for the chance to read and review the ARC.

I enjoyed listening to this audio book, It was well narrated and easy to listen to. The novel itself was interesting and thought provoking, with rich historical context.

I listened to the audiobook and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought the narrater did a fantastic job with this book. It was an engaging listen and I was rooting for Sisi and Franz’ love to win, regardless of it being initially disapproved of. I think love should always win and I felt their love as real, romantic, warm and intense. I’d be very happy to relive this book via paperback.

The book describes an inertia of some of the characters lives, seeking what’s missing and being desperate to fill that empty void with some rebellious callings. Even though their conscience is aware of what they’re supposed to be adhering to, they are determined to honour their true selves and calling. The dissatisfaction that resided on their hearts guided them, to pushing through and seeking a life with their true love.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and all involved in allowing me to listen to this wonderful audiobook.

This is my first time encountering The Empress, I’ve never seen any of the movie or some such so I went into it with zero expectations and not knowing anything. It made for compelling reading (listening in my case. The audiobook was fab, narrated my two different actors to show the perspective from Sisi and Franz) and it was super easy to get into to.

I loved the sisters Helene and Elisabeth, and was so intrigued to follow their stories and how it would end. Sisi is a wild child, one who will not bow to an arranged marriage and instead focuses on her quest for True Love. But Helene is willing to do her duty and begins her training to become the empress with a marriage to Franz. It is somewhat foiled when Sisi catches his eye instead…

It was a very relationship led story, so if you’re expecting a deep historical fiction it perhaps isn’t for you. It was more romance centred story with some sweet and spice. There wasn’t much too it plot wise but the romance element had you intrigued to see how it would develop. It was a good book in all and I really enjoyed the audio, it was easy to listen to and I finished it before I knew it.