The Accidental Empress

I've been meaning to pick this book up for years. I first heard of the book series when I discovered the musical about Elisabeth of Austria. I was particularly drawn to the summary of the second book, but I wanted to start at the beginning.    Set in the mid-1800s, teenage Elisabeth (Sisi) travels with her family to see her sister Helene married off to Emperor Franz Joseph. To everyone's surprise, Franz chooses Sisi over Helene to be his wife. Though initially interested in the Emperor, Sisi soon realizes the gravity of not only being royalty but also a wife. Making this more difficult is her overbearing mother-in-law who has her son wrapped around her little finger. Sisi laments as she loses her freedom, control of her children, and lively spirit.    Being familiar with the story as I was going in, I feel I didn't like it as much as I could have years back. I enjoyed the scenes between Sisi and Helene, particularly in the beginning, but I found myself waiting for the parts of Sisi's life I find the most intriguing, which I realized will be the focus of the next book. Fitting as it would make for a tediously long book in a single volume, but at the same time, I was feeling let down. I'm excited now that I can move on to Sisi.