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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I went into this novel realizing it was historical fiction and not fact, so I didn't mind the inaccuracies at all. It actually made a story I knew interesting to read and full of surprises. It's a large book, but it held my interest completely throughout. The main character, Mary, seems to grow as a person through her narration from naive girl to jaded courtier and mother. My biggest gripe, aside from wishing Mary would have been the one to actually chop off her bitchy sister's head, was the ambition of the Howards being so severe if came off of flat and unrealistic. Taking this book as what it is (a historical romance) I loved it.
challenging
informative
mysterious
tense
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:
Complicated
i read about half of this book and couldn’t continue. the beginning was okay but the plot progresses SO slowly that it gets boring and there’s only one storyline to follow (atleast up to where i read) and i just couldn’t force myself to read anymore. very meh book
this was such a good book!! I couldn't put it down, and read it in 4 days. don;t listen to the movie reviews when deciding to read this.
Full length audio edition. Needs a bit of editing as lots of sentences are repeated as the reader redoes them. It’s a classic historical fiction novel and was a familiar re-listen whilst I travelled vast international distances. Light and enjoyable.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i had read The Other Boleyn Girl maybe 20 years ago, and remembered really loving it, but couldn't quite recall the story in detail, so i thought it would be fun to revisit - still love it! while the page numbers on this one are long, the recounting of the boleyn world was done with such skilled storytelling and a beautiful cadence that Gregory keeps the pages quickly turning. i also really enjoy that as a technical period/historical piece, it still has elements of modern-day romantic elements - love triangles galore, scandalous behind-the-scenes debauchery, and delicious dramatic twists and turns. the characters, while not particularly loveable, pull you in to their scheming and trickery, and it really is quite a fun (albeit tragic) little ride.
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Other Boleyn girl is told from the viewpoint of Mary Boleyn – the “other” Boleyn sister, sister to Anne the future Queen of England. There is a focus on the life of the relatively little known Mary as well as the tale of Anne’s ascendency and fall. Mary is initially chosen as mistress to Henry VIII – a role that she is pushed into by her family. When the star seems to be shining on Anne – the family throws Mary aside in favor of Anne. Even though Mary is not the star of the family anymore, they still seek to control her every move – when she marries someone that is not approved of they lash out at her. Even though Anne constantly mistreats her sister, she still comes back to her.
The story of Anne Boleyn is a much told story – but seeing it from the eyes of her sister puts her story into a very different perspective – sort of how I felt about reading about Anne from the eyes of her daughter Elizabeth in The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell. I loved the compassion and general down-to-earthness of Mary, even when the world was spinning out of control. She was a constant character that you could connect with and anchor to in a turbulent world.
Gregory DOES change many events in the book from what is known to have really happened as well as embellished the real story in favor of the best told story. The good thing about this though, is that this is Historical Fiction and that is what I expect. If you are looking for true facts, check out a non-fiction book, but for a good story, try this on for size.
I couldn’t put this book down and as soon as I finished it I picked up The Boleyn Inheritance, the next in the series.
5 out of 5 stars
Genre: Historical Fiction
The Other Boleyn girl is told from the viewpoint of Mary Boleyn – the “other” Boleyn sister, sister to Anne the future Queen of England. There is a focus on the life of the relatively little known Mary as well as the tale of Anne’s ascendency and fall. Mary is initially chosen as mistress to Henry VIII – a role that she is pushed into by her family. When the star seems to be shining on Anne – the family throws Mary aside in favor of Anne. Even though Mary is not the star of the family anymore, they still seek to control her every move – when she marries someone that is not approved of they lash out at her. Even though Anne constantly mistreats her sister, she still comes back to her.
The story of Anne Boleyn is a much told story – but seeing it from the eyes of her sister puts her story into a very different perspective – sort of how I felt about reading about Anne from the eyes of her daughter Elizabeth in The Secret Diary of Anne Boleyn by Robin Maxwell. I loved the compassion and general down-to-earthness of Mary, even when the world was spinning out of control. She was a constant character that you could connect with and anchor to in a turbulent world.
Gregory DOES change many events in the book from what is known to have really happened as well as embellished the real story in favor of the best told story. The good thing about this though, is that this is Historical Fiction and that is what I expect. If you are looking for true facts, check out a non-fiction book, but for a good story, try this on for size.
I couldn’t put this book down and as soon as I finished it I picked up The Boleyn Inheritance, the next in the series.
5 out of 5 stars