Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
This book kind of holds up with time, which is impressive. STILL AS TRASHY AND DELIGHTFUL AS IT WAS!
Loved this book! The story was fast paced and kept me interested throughout, I couldn't put it down! Can't say much for the historical accuracy, but it is a great story nonetheless.
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I know that parts of this book are historical inaccurate. I know the writing isn't that great. I know it is brain candy. However, I couldn't stop reading it. A nice quick read.
This book was just too long and took repetitive. I know it's a historical retelling, but I just got tired. If William Stafford wouldn't have shown up, I would have not finished it. I was rooting for Mary's happiness the whole time and it was satisfying when she saw King Henry as undesirable and she didn't want anything to do with court life. He just sucks. I think I should have just watched the movie.
What an excellent novel! I had a limited knowledge of King Henry and Anne Boleyn and I found this book very good and hard to put down. The way it was written made me want to keep reading to find out what happened next. This is the first Philippa Gregory novel I've read but it won't be the last.
I loved this book. I wasn't sure that I would like it at first, but I easily became invested in the characters. This book was amazing and interesting and I could not put it down. The characters are well developed and I love Mary and William Stafford. George is a great character as well, and I felt bad that he was beheaded. Anne, however, was a character that I did not like. I did not feel bad for her, and she got what she deserved. Words cannot describe how amazing this book was. I definitely recommend this for anyone interested in historical fiction.
This is pretty much what one would would expect it to be.
Focused around Mary Boleyn, a young girl of the court, forced into the eyes of the volatile King Henry, his mistress of many years, who bore him two children, then was forced to step aside for the infamous Anne, when Henry's attention wandered (unsurprisingly) during her second pregnancy, and then traces her thoughts and her more privatized life during the downfall of her sister and her family afterwards.
There's a lot going on - politically, personally - so there's never a dull moment as far as the plot goes. There's always scheming and planning, even if the characters aren't doing much else. Because of that, it's rather hard to put down (indeed, I read about 400 pages of it in the past day).
Mary is a far more interesting character than I would have originally thought, and the reader is able to feel for her and connect with her pretty easily. My one complaint, though, is that her ambition and love for the king seemed to have switched off immediately the moment she had children, and that wasn't especially believable. It's not that I wouldn't expect her to care more about her children, but I would anticipate that she would have moved from being fully invested to being indifferent more gradually, and the book makes her seem like an on-off switch.
It also ends, I dare say, a little too lightly. There's all this build up and anticipation - even though we all know the end - and then... I would imagine there would have been much to do with Mary's feelings after her sister's death, conflict over her love for her sister yet her annoyance at her sister's relentless ambition and competing, and she really only taps into that for one page. I'm not sure how she should've ended it otherwise, but it felt a bit abrupt and boring as an end to such an enticing and break-neck-pace story.
Oh, and for something I expected to be rather trashy, it wasn't trashy enough! She doesn't narrate the sex scenes AT ALL, which is kind of a bummer. I mean, C'MON.
Overall, a fun read if you're into historical fiction or this particular era of history, but unsurprisingly, it does take some liberties with history (one huge one, having Wolsey die naturally instead of being executed). There's really no new light it sheds on courtly life at the time that couldn't be gained from watching the movie (I assume) or watching something like The Tudors, but an amusing and quick read, good if you're in the mood for something light. A definite bargain for $1.
Focused around Mary Boleyn, a young girl of the court, forced into the eyes of the volatile King Henry, his mistress of many years, who bore him two children, then was forced to step aside for the infamous Anne, when Henry's attention wandered (unsurprisingly) during her second pregnancy, and then traces her thoughts and her more privatized life during the downfall of her sister and her family afterwards.
There's a lot going on - politically, personally - so there's never a dull moment as far as the plot goes. There's always scheming and planning, even if the characters aren't doing much else. Because of that, it's rather hard to put down (indeed, I read about 400 pages of it in the past day).
Mary is a far more interesting character than I would have originally thought, and the reader is able to feel for her and connect with her pretty easily. My one complaint, though, is that her ambition and love for the king seemed to have switched off immediately the moment she had children, and that wasn't especially believable. It's not that I wouldn't expect her to care more about her children, but I would anticipate that she would have moved from being fully invested to being indifferent more gradually, and the book makes her seem like an on-off switch.
It also ends, I dare say, a little too lightly. There's all this build up and anticipation - even though we all know the end - and then... I would imagine there would have been much to do with Mary's feelings after her sister's death, conflict over her love for her sister yet her annoyance at her sister's relentless ambition and competing, and she really only taps into that for one page. I'm not sure how she should've ended it otherwise, but it felt a bit abrupt and boring as an end to such an enticing and break-neck-pace story.
Oh, and for something I expected to be rather trashy, it wasn't trashy enough! She doesn't narrate the sex scenes AT ALL, which is kind of a bummer. I mean, C'MON.
Overall, a fun read if you're into historical fiction or this particular era of history, but unsurprisingly, it does take some liberties with history (one huge one, having Wolsey die naturally instead of being executed). There's really no new light it sheds on courtly life at the time that couldn't be gained from watching the movie (I assume) or watching something like The Tudors, but an amusing and quick read, good if you're in the mood for something light. A definite bargain for $1.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes