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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Not historically accurate and very slow. Poor writing
Book Club Selection. Even though the book is LONG, I couldn't put it down. I'm not a big fan of historical fiction, but this book was fascinating!
This book is totally addictive, once you get past the fact that the dialogue bounces back and forth between period English and modern day slang. It's a tale of treachery and scandal and gets pretty racy. Whatever you do, DON'T see the movie. Just read the book. It's worth it. I was really sad when it ended, so according to Karie's book scale, I must have enjoyed it quite a bit :)
I enjoyed this book. However as I knew the story already it wasn't very enticing. I would say read the book then watch the film if possible.
This book is historical fiction, with the emphasis on FICTION as opposed to historical. As someone who like Anne Boleyn and has studied the Tudors, I found the book filled with many factual errors, not to mention that the author took hearsay for truth when it came to Anne Boleyn. She was a woman ahead of her time, forced into a difficult situation that all women were placed in at that time: you are who you marry. She, for a time, tamed Henry VIII and brought about many changes, most beneficial, to England. I prefer the depictions of Anne in "Anne of a Thousand Days" or even "The Tudors" over this monstrosity.
Very long... but a good read. Author does a good job of keeping the story moving through all those pages, and giving you just enough detail to stay interested.
I decided that I simply must read the book before I saw the movie. It has been my experience movie versions are typically vastly inferior to the books themselves. With that in mind, let's move on to the book review.
When the book begins, Gregory introduces us to Mary Boleyn, the younger sister of the much more famous Anne Boleyn, or Queen Anne of England and second wife of Henry VIII. Mary was married at the tender age of twelve to William Carey, yet another courtier. As a member of the powerful Boleyn family, Mary's marriage to William Carey was arranged and in reality was not much of a marriage at all. By the age of fourteen, Mary was King Henry's lover and confidante. We learn that she went on to (supposedly) bear him two children: a boy and a girl.
Mary's favor in Henry's court, however, burns out quickly after the birth of her son. She discovers that dancing to the Boleyn family's tune is not what she wants and her disinterest in Henry rapidly turns his interest toward Anne. It is then that Mary becomes the other Boleyn girl.
Anne spends six long years courting Henry, and her efforts clearly exhaust her. Mary is expected to answer her sister's every whim, her every beck and call. She is of no import to her family other than what she can do for Anne.
Anne is not someone you'd wish to know in your daily life. She's scheming, backstabbing, temperamental, witty, charming, clever, and too confident for her own good. All of those traits are what ultimately lead her to her fall from grace. But Mary has a love-hate relationship with her sister. They are each other's best friend but worst enemy as well.
George, Mary and Anne's brother, throws another wrench into the equation. It's clear that he has homosexual desires, which was a deadly sin in those days when the Catholic Church ruled the western European world. Yet he also has a disturbingly close relationship with Anne, and the book implies that it could have been an incestuous one.
Gregory managed to throw so many twists and turns into her historically based novel that I never really knew what was coming next. I knew the Anne Boleyn story from history classes in high school and college, but I actually find her sister Mary's story more intriguing. After all, Mary was the only Boleyn sibling who managed to survive during the period of Anne and George's trials. Was it a survival instinct on her part? Or was it wisdom? Perhaps it was self-preservation?
We'll never know.
Gregory certainly has a gripping writing style, and for most of the book, I felt as if I were reading Mary's intimate diary and not a historically based fictionalized account of her life. Kudos to Gregory. I can't wait to read the second book in the series.
When the book begins, Gregory introduces us to Mary Boleyn, the younger sister of the much more famous Anne Boleyn, or Queen Anne of England and second wife of Henry VIII. Mary was married at the tender age of twelve to William Carey, yet another courtier. As a member of the powerful Boleyn family, Mary's marriage to William Carey was arranged and in reality was not much of a marriage at all. By the age of fourteen, Mary was King Henry's lover and confidante. We learn that she went on to (supposedly) bear him two children: a boy and a girl.
Mary's favor in Henry's court, however, burns out quickly after the birth of her son. She discovers that dancing to the Boleyn family's tune is not what she wants and her disinterest in Henry rapidly turns his interest toward Anne. It is then that Mary becomes the other Boleyn girl.
Anne spends six long years courting Henry, and her efforts clearly exhaust her. Mary is expected to answer her sister's every whim, her every beck and call. She is of no import to her family other than what she can do for Anne.
Anne is not someone you'd wish to know in your daily life. She's scheming, backstabbing, temperamental, witty, charming, clever, and too confident for her own good. All of those traits are what ultimately lead her to her fall from grace. But Mary has a love-hate relationship with her sister. They are each other's best friend but worst enemy as well.
George, Mary and Anne's brother, throws another wrench into the equation. It's clear that he has homosexual desires, which was a deadly sin in those days when the Catholic Church ruled the western European world. Yet he also has a disturbingly close relationship with Anne, and the book implies that it could have been an incestuous one.
Gregory managed to throw so many twists and turns into her historically based novel that I never really knew what was coming next. I knew the Anne Boleyn story from history classes in high school and college, but I actually find her sister Mary's story more intriguing. After all, Mary was the only Boleyn sibling who managed to survive during the period of Anne and George's trials. Was it a survival instinct on her part? Or was it wisdom? Perhaps it was self-preservation?
We'll never know.
Gregory certainly has a gripping writing style, and for most of the book, I felt as if I were reading Mary's intimate diary and not a historically based fictionalized account of her life. Kudos to Gregory. I can't wait to read the second book in the series.