Allison Pataki

For readers of Philippa Gregory, Paula McLain, and Daisy Goodwin comes a sweeping and powerful novel byNew York Times bestselling author Allison Pataki. Sisi tells the little-known story of Empress Elisabeth of Austria-Hungary, the Princess Diana of her time, in an enthralling work of historical fiction that is also a gripping page-turner.

Empress on Her Own : a Novel

Sisi

Lacy W

Where do I begin with this fantastic book? So many feels. Many happy feels.  internally screams 

So anyway, this book continues on from  The Accidental Empress  written by the same author. You will want to read that book first. Because this books starts with Sisi in Hungary with her household, enjoying her freedom after she gets sick from Franz due to his infidelity. 

The book continues on and describes her life and the important people in her life until Sisi's assassination. You will learn about all her feelings toward Franz, her love for Andrassy, her immense love toward her daughter Valerie, how she deals with the press who don't seem to like her at all and so much more.

Even though this book is historical fiction, I felt like I learned so much about Sisi. I am anxious to find a biography about her so I can really learn about Sisi and compare these two books. I'm hoping to find one by Robert K Massie because he is my favorite biographer. Because of this book, I'm going to read up on the Austrian-Hungarian empire as well. It seems like such a fascinating empire. 

I am just so happy after reading this book. I will be having a book hangover for sure. Sisi really came to life for me. I could see her, in all her beauty, gliding along the halls of the Habsburg castle. I could see her racing along the British lands with her horse. I will definitely being reading more books by Allison Pataki.

If I had any complaints, it's that the book ended too fast. Of course, I am one of those people that could read details upon details and love it. After the Crown Prince Rudolph died, the book just zipped by, not giving very many details. I feel like what happened about this would be very important because it was such a turning point in the empire. But really, that is such a minor complaint. It didn't taint to terribly what I thought about the book.

Rachel

This book will break your heart, mend it, and break it again. This book is the sequel to Pataki's book The Accidental Princess. Sisi's life is anything but a fairytale, and this book shows just how much pressure leaders of a country have put on them. I loved that this book also gave context as to how strong of a woman Sisi was. While many people doubted her abilities, she was sure of herself even in the moments she was nervous. This book made me cry, laugh, and hold my breath until the next thing was revealed.

Anyaconda

I loved the first book. Grown up in Bavaria and close to Austria I was always a sucker for Sissi stories and movies. So obviously I had to get my hands on both books.
I gave it 3.5 stars because I personally felt that about halfway through the book the topics got very repetitive e.g. her guilt about not raising her first two children properly, her failing marriage, her love interests and LOTS of riding in the wilderness. Then the whole inner conflict starts from the beginning... circling back to the exact same feelings she's fighting inside.
She was a very conflicted woman and her character wasn't meant to develop through the story, but for me that part was too long and got boring.
Positive note: I loved that "Mad King Ludwig" was part of the story. I'd love to read a historical fiction book about him!

Sisi Empress on Her Own : a Novel

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