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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
This book turned out a little better than I thought. It really took me a while to get into it and the writing style, but eventually it won me over. This is really some interesting history. I recommend it to history lovers that don't mind some sappy romance.
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
dark
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
My full review is here on my personal website. I'll post a few excerpts here, though:
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
The very worst thing about this book is the historical inaccuracies. There are some things that are iffy and others that make very little sense based on the time they were living. If you think you know every detail about this point in history, then I would advise you to not read this. For everyone else, it’s a historical romance with political intrigue and based on real people you’ve already heard about.
The very best thing about this book is the story. If the mistakes in history don’t bother you (they didn’t bug me too much) then this story is fantastic! I loved it! Reading through the way Katherine felt as she was shuffled around, ignored, mistreated, cheated on, lied to, and everything else is fascinating!
4.0 out of 5.0 stars
The very worst thing about this book is the historical inaccuracies. There are some things that are iffy and others that make very little sense based on the time they were living. If you think you know every detail about this point in history, then I would advise you to not read this. For everyone else, it’s a historical romance with political intrigue and based on real people you’ve already heard about.
The very best thing about this book is the story. If the mistakes in history don’t bother you (they didn’t bug me too much) then this story is fantastic! I loved it! Reading through the way Katherine felt as she was shuffled around, ignored, mistreated, cheated on, lied to, and everything else is fascinating!
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The TV show was definitely more dramatic, lol. However, I really am interested in this time period and it's nice to read about people that aren't just Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII. Obviously both of those people were in this book, but it wasn't focused on them. The amount of deceit and normalcy of affairs was truly sickening. And the wealth gap between the royals and regulars is also sickening. Sell your jewels and stop taking money from the poor okay? (That goes for all the kings/queens in history) One thing I really liked was Catalina's mindset change from hatred of people of other religions in the beginning to understanding and peace later in life.
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Absolutely loved this book! Before reading this I didn't really think much of Katherine of Aragon, but I really loved Philippa Gregory's interpretation of her. Thoroughly enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and the Tudors in particular.
This is the story of Catherine of Aragon, the Queen of England. She arrives in England to become a wife to Prince Arthur, the heir to the throne. But things don't go as they were planned, so Catherine has to face a lot of ordeals to get what she wants.
I like history, and English history especially. Maybe that's because they have preserved monarchy till our days. And it is very unusual to me and therefore very interesting.
I enjoyed this novel a lot. The writer created a very true-to-life portrait of Catherine. She seemed real to me and it made me like her. The title of the story fits really well too. When I started reading it, I thought of "constant" as loyal, but Philippa Gregory described so many more cases to apply that word to Catherine. And I found it really clever.
The only thing I regret doing is starting the series from this book. I saw that it is the first book in the Tudor Court series, so I thought it was not compulsory to read Cousin's War before that. And while it really isn't, I felt that I would have enjoyed this novel more if I knew the stories of the other characters better.
I like history, and English history especially. Maybe that's because they have preserved monarchy till our days. And it is very unusual to me and therefore very interesting.
I enjoyed this novel a lot. The writer created a very true-to-life portrait of Catherine. She seemed real to me and it made me like her. The title of the story fits really well too. When I started reading it, I thought of "constant" as loyal, but Philippa Gregory described so many more cases to apply that word to Catherine. And I found it really clever.
The only thing I regret doing is starting the series from this book. I saw that it is the first book in the Tudor Court series, so I thought it was not compulsory to read Cousin's War before that. And while it really isn't, I felt that I would have enjoyed this novel more if I knew the stories of the other characters better.