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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
The history was super interesting; I found myself googling a lot while reading this one. Some bits were super slow and others felt rushed. The dialogue was the human “spice” added to the history but felt a little disingenuous sometimes — just a little forced
I really enjoyed this book, although (spoiler alert) I wish Gregory had focused more on the relationship between Catalina and Arthur. I know they were only together for a short period of time, but the relationship they had and the bond that was formed clearly played a major role in everything she accomplished in her life afterwards. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of Gregory's books.
I did not enjoy this one. Gregory says everything three times, as if trying to fill space on the page. "I am going to be the Queen of England, I was born to it. Since the time of my birth, I've been raised to be the Queen of England. It is my destiny to be the Queen of England" and so on, throughout a plodding storyline that left me annoyed with everyone. The back and forth third person to first person narrative shifts did not work and felt jarring rather than helpful. I've enjoyed Gregory's other books, but I was glad to finish this one.
I listened to this on audiobook and really enjoyed it. I own it if anyone wants to borrow it. Philippa Gregory is AWESOME if you like historical fiction.
Found it hard to get to the end to be honest. I hated the parts with Catalina's POVs (I skipped several of them). Although I do admire her patience, hopes and will, and character development over time.
I really wanted to write this book and therefore like this series. However, I was bitterly disappointed with it. Firstly: because of how it was written. Third person-first person-third person etc. And it was also used at times to create suspense with in the book-but it didn't work. In fact I found it quite boring and oftentimes confusing. There may be some of you out there who enjoy this writing style-and that's fine-but because of this simply finishing the book was a struggle for me.
However, I thought the book had good foundations-the story itself is interesting-but I think more could have been put into it to make it-more intense-and more believable.
The first half of the book was about Katherine's marriage to Arthur and emphasis is placed on this throughout the book. However-for me their love story wasn't convincing. This is because-from the start they hate each other and...it makes me think of the Batman v Superman movie (probably a poor comparison) bur there is this moment where Katherine is crying and Arthur wipes away her tears and almost all of a sudden she falls in love with him. There is a supplementary scene-but the whole thing just felt poorly executed for me.
However, I thought the book had good foundations-the story itself is interesting-but I think more could have been put into it to make it-more intense-and more believable.
The first half of the book was about Katherine's marriage to Arthur and emphasis is placed on this throughout the book. However-for me their love story wasn't convincing. This is because-from the start they hate each other and...it makes me think of the Batman v Superman movie (probably a poor comparison) bur there is this moment where Katherine is crying and Arthur wipes away her tears and almost all of a sudden she falls in love with him. There is a supplementary scene-but the whole thing just felt poorly executed for me.
informative
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Turns Katherine of Aragon into a truly hateful person...
DNF
DNF
I dunno, this didn't really do anything for me. It was kind of bland and the characters were lackluster and dull.
Long, tedious, and full of wasted opportunity to tell an interesting story. The second star is for the narrator, because she does an excellent job.