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broraruth's review against another edition
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
starryeyesali's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
jessrozy's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
andrewgvnn's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bexwat's review against another edition
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review against another edition
4.0
No matter how novels written about them, Alison Weir shows there are still more engrossing tales of Henry VIII and his queens to be told. She takes on Jane Seymour this time, one of the queens about whom very little is actually known: as a historian, Weir is able to build a story around her that rings true and captures the reader from the start. The "Haunted Queen" aspect is what's shaky--Jane does not seem like the sort of person to see apparitions and considering the company she keeps, she probably has the least blood on her hands.
I'm really looking forward to Weir's novel about Anne of Cleves, the other queen about whom little is known. We do know that she was the only one of Henry's wives to be rejected and live to tell the tale. How did she pull that off?
Alison Weir is best known as a historian, and her handling of dialogue can be stiff (characters growl, opine, and mutter). Get past that and "Haunted Queen" is good going, with an informative afterward that examines what might have caused Jane's death. All good enough to have me back on a Tudor toot!
I'm really looking forward to Weir's novel about Anne of Cleves, the other queen about whom little is known. We do know that she was the only one of Henry's wives to be rejected and live to tell the tale. How did she pull that off?
Alison Weir is best known as a historian, and her handling of dialogue can be stiff (characters growl, opine, and mutter). Get past that and "Haunted Queen" is good going, with an informative afterward that examines what might have caused Jane's death. All good enough to have me back on a Tudor toot!
siraels's review against another edition
4.0
4 or 4,5 stars (I'm not sure)
When I read Six wives of Henry VIII by the same author few months back, I fell in live with it. Even before I was interested in this time period but I feel like only finally reading this book made me finally fall in love with it and I should probably thank my mum for buying it with me having no idea about it. And she did it again now, with Jane Seymour, I wanted a completely different book but she bought me this one instead after the end of the school year and I'm glad she did. Both books made me want to get to know more about this whole thing, read more books and watch more documentaries, films and TV series. (Not really something like Tudors or Reign but feel free to recommend anything. )
With this book it's really hard to tell what is fiction and what are facts. But I still enjoyed the story. Yeah, they were parts what I enjoyed more like the beginning and her childhood and her life before she came to court, when she was lady in waiting for Catherine of Aragon or the parts with the important events of Anne Boleyn's life and her death ( I don't like Anne Boleyn but it was really interesting).
The parts I didn't like was probably mainly the romance between Jane and Henry, like don't get me wrong, I like romance, but there was not much special about it. It reminded me some regular nowadays romance with Tudor clothes and one character being the king of England and the other a girl who's not a royal. But it was still pretty important for the story and I liked how they cared for each other.
It told the story of the important events during the reign of Henry VIII how we thought Jane Seymour would see them and I liked it. Like, of course, it's not 100% true but we can't know anything from that time period for sure if we don't own a time machine. (When I'll meet the Doctor I'll let you know.)
Jane was a likeable character and I liked her. I know some may think that she was a boring queen but I like her because she didn't thought she was important and didn't cause so much drama as Anne or Kathryn. I know many people like these two queen but I won't be hesitant to say that I despise them and how they act. But on the other hand, yeah, I agree with the fact that they deserved better ending than the one they got. No one should be killed just because of some small mistakes. But it's true that Henry needed to get rid of them and there wasn't really another way at that time.
Overall I really enjoyed it. There were parts where I couldn't stop reading and read around fifty to eighty pages in one sitting, which is lot for me. The characters were also kinda realistic and felt pretty believable. I didn't even plan on reading any book from the series but now I'll surely continue with it. I want to read Catherine of Aragon because she truly was the true queen, Anne of Cleves because she's such an interesting person and Katherine Parr really badly because she's my favourite queen.
When I read Six wives of Henry VIII by the same author few months back, I fell in live with it. Even before I was interested in this time period but I feel like only finally reading this book made me finally fall in love with it and I should probably thank my mum for buying it with me having no idea about it. And she did it again now, with Jane Seymour, I wanted a completely different book but she bought me this one instead after the end of the school year and I'm glad she did. Both books made me want to get to know more about this whole thing, read more books and watch more documentaries, films and TV series. (Not really something like Tudors or Reign but feel free to recommend anything. )
With this book it's really hard to tell what is fiction and what are facts. But I still enjoyed the story. Yeah, they were parts what I enjoyed more like the beginning and her childhood and her life before she came to court, when she was lady in waiting for Catherine of Aragon or the parts with the important events of Anne Boleyn's life and her death ( I don't like Anne Boleyn but it was really interesting).
The parts I didn't like was probably mainly the romance between Jane and Henry, like don't get me wrong, I like romance, but there was not much special about it. It reminded me some regular nowadays romance with Tudor clothes and one character being the king of England and the other a girl who's not a royal. But it was still pretty important for the story and I liked how they cared for each other.
It told the story of the important events during the reign of Henry VIII how we thought Jane Seymour would see them and I liked it. Like, of course, it's not 100% true but we can't know anything from that time period for sure if we don't own a time machine. (When I'll meet the Doctor I'll let you know.)
Jane was a likeable character and I liked her. I know some may think that she was a boring queen but I like her because she didn't thought she was important and didn't cause so much drama as Anne or Kathryn. I know many people like these two queen but I won't be hesitant to say that I despise them and how they act. But on the other hand, yeah, I agree with the fact that they deserved better ending than the one they got. No one should be killed just because of some small mistakes. But it's true that Henry needed to get rid of them and there wasn't really another way at that time.
Overall I really enjoyed it. There were parts where I couldn't stop reading and read around fifty to eighty pages in one sitting, which is lot for me. The characters were also kinda realistic and felt pretty believable. I didn't even plan on reading any book from the series but now I'll surely continue with it. I want to read Catherine of Aragon because she truly was the true queen, Anne of Cleves because she's such an interesting person and Katherine Parr really badly because she's my favourite queen.
jmmoore2003's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5