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anagraphy's review against another edition
2.0
For a creative writing professor I really expected more.
The premise of Catherine Parr having a daughter with Thomas Seymour is a good one... it opens up all kinds of possibilities for historical fiction set in the Elizabethan period. However, when said daughter turns out to be a wizard...
I guess it could have been really fun had it not been written so poorly. It's a shame, too. Period stuff, even if it has magic added, really gets kids interested in the historical time period.
The premise of Catherine Parr having a daughter with Thomas Seymour is a good one... it opens up all kinds of possibilities for historical fiction set in the Elizabethan period. However, when said daughter turns out to be a wizard...
I guess it could have been really fun had it not been written so poorly. It's a shame, too. Period stuff, even if it has magic added, really gets kids interested in the historical time period.
melissachristene's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was very interesting. However, I wish it would have went on longer and not have spent as much time on some of the stuff it did. Nonetheless, I still very much enjoyed it.
oliviadaily's review against another edition
4.0
Not bad. Definitely got into this one. I enjoyed the romantic interest in this story, very intriguing.
bailey_lynn12's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
txpeach's review against another edition
I read the first chapter and prologue and found myself quite bored.
The details were so meticulous to the point of being tedious.
The details were so meticulous to the point of being tedious.
amberinpieces's review against another edition
4.0
Wow, there’s so much to say…I just hope I can remember all of the thoughts that were swirling around my head as I read this book.
I will begin that I was very skeptical once I started this book. It takes place during the early part of Elizabeth I’s reign in the sixteenth century and the main character is Mary Seymour - the daughter of Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife and queen (the one who “survived”) and Thomas Seymour, the younger brother of Lord Protector Somerset (Edward Seymour) and uncle to Edward VI through Henry’s third wife, Jane. The circumstances of Mary’s life (and more importantly, her death) are veiled in a thick fog.
Katherine Parr died of puerperal fever (child-bed fever) six days after giving birth to Mary. After this unfortunate event, Thomas Seymour’s ambitions completely consumed him and he eventually paid for them with his life.
Afterwards, Mary Seymour was lost to history. As was noted in the author’s note at the end of The Queen’s Governess and alluded to in the author’s note at the end of The Red Queen’s Daughter, many accounts say that Mary Seymour died in her second year while in the Duchess of Suffolk’s care while some hint that the Duchess fled to France with Mary during Mary I’s short reign.
This is one of history’s great mysteries which can be maddening for us and our desire to know, but which is exciting fodder for our imaginations.
Enter the fantastical.
Jacqueline Kolosov’s Mary Seymour did not die at age two. She survived childhood in the Duchess of Suffolk’s care and then was given over to Lady Strange, a guardian who has much to teach young Mary, starting with the basics of reading and writing. Soon, Lady Strange tells Mary that she has a calling as a white magician and will serve the Virgin Queen when the time is right. In the mean time, she is taught to reason and deduce the meaning of what seem the most obvious things: birds, trees, herbs, flowers, stones…jewels.
Throughout the book, Lady Strange (and later, Mary herself) stresses that as a white magician, Mary will serve Elizabeth I and greatly help her reign. This story, however, focuses on Mary growing into her capabilities and the firsts tests of her power - not only her magic, but her inner strength and will.
Back to my skepticism:
My first warning bell went off when I realized this book was about Mary Seymour and she lived past the age of two. Her death at this young age is the most popular view out there as far as I have seen. My second warning bell went off when I was introduced to Lady Strange. I don’t know the historical woman’s history, but for the time period, I found some of her mannerisms and actions anachronistic. My third warning bell clanged loudly when I learned that magic was involved. I have nothing against magic but for me, this was unbelievable. The overall speech and in particular, Elizabeth I’s speech, rang my fourth and final warning bell. The speech is pretty but not quite sixteenth century. And Elizabeth, like all other reigning queens and kings used the royal prerogative plural in real life: i.e. We are not amused rather than I am not amused. In this book she was all first person in her speech.
I admit that, after the incessant clanging of bells in my mind, I was ready to rip into this book when I finished reading.
Then I remembered a very important thing.
The genre of this book is young adult. Not historical fiction.
I am in no way against young adult reading material - in fact, it’s the first section I hit up in the bookstore (how can you resist those sparkly, shiny, beautiful covers?! I am their prey).
But after all of my recent historical non-fiction and historical fiction reading, I lost sight of what a young adult novel is allowed to do that those other two genres are not allowed to do -use MAGIC! Insert inspired/awed hush sound.
So I kept reading. Once I separated young adult and historical fiction, I found my reading very much enjoyable (much like how I find the Harry Potter movies enjoyable once I decide to banish all knowledge of the books from my mind while viewing them;) ).
I really started liking it. I never hated it, oh goodness no. But I was liking it more and more and allowed myself to be sucked further into the story. Then somewhere in between pages 200 and 300 (I won’t spoil anything here but I am giving you a vague hint with page numbers), I was hooked. One character revealed some information about herself and a huge grin spread across my face. If you read this book and get to that part and know anything about English literature, you will feel super intelligent and praise your high school teachers and college professors. It is a very small reference but so cool for a dork like me. :)
I really enjoyed this book. If you like young adult and magic, read it. If you like young adult and historical fiction, read it. I would not mind owning this book someday.
You can read the original review/thoughts here.
I will begin that I was very skeptical once I started this book. It takes place during the early part of Elizabeth I’s reign in the sixteenth century and the main character is Mary Seymour - the daughter of Katherine Parr, Henry VIII’s last wife and queen (the one who “survived”) and Thomas Seymour, the younger brother of Lord Protector Somerset (Edward Seymour) and uncle to Edward VI through Henry’s third wife, Jane. The circumstances of Mary’s life (and more importantly, her death) are veiled in a thick fog.
Katherine Parr died of puerperal fever (child-bed fever) six days after giving birth to Mary. After this unfortunate event, Thomas Seymour’s ambitions completely consumed him and he eventually paid for them with his life.
Afterwards, Mary Seymour was lost to history. As was noted in the author’s note at the end of The Queen’s Governess and alluded to in the author’s note at the end of The Red Queen’s Daughter, many accounts say that Mary Seymour died in her second year while in the Duchess of Suffolk’s care while some hint that the Duchess fled to France with Mary during Mary I’s short reign.
This is one of history’s great mysteries which can be maddening for us and our desire to know, but which is exciting fodder for our imaginations.
Enter the fantastical.
Jacqueline Kolosov’s Mary Seymour did not die at age two. She survived childhood in the Duchess of Suffolk’s care and then was given over to Lady Strange, a guardian who has much to teach young Mary, starting with the basics of reading and writing. Soon, Lady Strange tells Mary that she has a calling as a white magician and will serve the Virgin Queen when the time is right. In the mean time, she is taught to reason and deduce the meaning of what seem the most obvious things: birds, trees, herbs, flowers, stones…jewels.
Throughout the book, Lady Strange (and later, Mary herself) stresses that as a white magician, Mary will serve Elizabeth I and greatly help her reign. This story, however, focuses on Mary growing into her capabilities and the firsts tests of her power - not only her magic, but her inner strength and will.
Back to my skepticism:
My first warning bell went off when I realized this book was about Mary Seymour and she lived past the age of two. Her death at this young age is the most popular view out there as far as I have seen. My second warning bell went off when I was introduced to Lady Strange. I don’t know the historical woman’s history, but for the time period, I found some of her mannerisms and actions anachronistic. My third warning bell clanged loudly when I learned that magic was involved. I have nothing against magic but for me, this was unbelievable. The overall speech and in particular, Elizabeth I’s speech, rang my fourth and final warning bell. The speech is pretty but not quite sixteenth century. And Elizabeth, like all other reigning queens and kings used the royal prerogative plural in real life: i.e. We are not amused rather than I am not amused. In this book she was all first person in her speech.
I admit that, after the incessant clanging of bells in my mind, I was ready to rip into this book when I finished reading.
Then I remembered a very important thing.
The genre of this book is young adult. Not historical fiction.
I am in no way against young adult reading material - in fact, it’s the first section I hit up in the bookstore (how can you resist those sparkly, shiny, beautiful covers?! I am their prey).
But after all of my recent historical non-fiction and historical fiction reading, I lost sight of what a young adult novel is allowed to do that those other two genres are not allowed to do -use MAGIC! Insert inspired/awed hush sound.
So I kept reading. Once I separated young adult and historical fiction, I found my reading very much enjoyable (much like how I find the Harry Potter movies enjoyable once I decide to banish all knowledge of the books from my mind while viewing them;) ).
I really started liking it. I never hated it, oh goodness no. But I was liking it more and more and allowed myself to be sucked further into the story. Then somewhere in between pages 200 and 300 (I won’t spoil anything here but I am giving you a vague hint with page numbers), I was hooked. One character revealed some information about herself and a huge grin spread across my face. If you read this book and get to that part and know anything about English literature, you will feel super intelligent and praise your high school teachers and college professors. It is a very small reference but so cool for a dork like me. :)
I really enjoyed this book. If you like young adult and magic, read it. If you like young adult and historical fiction, read it. I would not mind owning this book someday.
You can read the original review/thoughts here.
hezann73's review against another edition
3.0
I love a good courtly historical fiction, but this one took quite a while to capture my attention. It's certainly a different spin on the historical fiction books I usually read, but I'm not sure it was 100% successful.
teghan's review against another edition
4.0
While predictable, I found this story incredibly enjoyable. Mary is a smart, sassy young heroine, one who I was sad to let go of at the end. The portrayal of Queen Elizabeth is beautiful as is Kolosov's writing in general. The novel is infused with a fantastic feminist thread and social commentary about the male/female double standards of the Elizabethan era as well as today. Definately recommend it to people who are fond of this genre