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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
This is a fascinating and very intense book about the life of the two Boleyn sisters Mary and Anne and their family and Heinrich VIII.
I couldn't put it down and read through it on a whole day.
I read about the historical background of most of the persons that show up in the book and i do know that it is half fiction, half historical with all history novels but it still felt very alive for me.
I couldn't love the characters THAT much or could get into them, though. That was mostly because i disliked Anne and i think the author didn't do a good job of making her likeable. I didn't really understand why Mary would always help her with everything even though she clearly disliked her (and Anne seemed like a very mean, bitchy character, not someone with lots of knowledge). I did like how Mary and George were portrayed.
I couldn't put it down and read through it on a whole day.
I read about the historical background of most of the persons that show up in the book and i do know that it is half fiction, half historical with all history novels but it still felt very alive for me.
I couldn't love the characters THAT much or could get into them, though. That was mostly because i disliked Anne and i think the author didn't do a good job of making her likeable. I didn't really understand why Mary would always help her with everything even though she clearly disliked her (and Anne seemed like a very mean, bitchy character, not someone with lots of knowledge). I did like how Mary and George were portrayed.
emotional
informative
medium-paced
dark
emotional
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:
Yes
A fanciful take on historic events. This is a lovely story of Anne Boleyn's real sister, Mary, and what might have happened in the court of Henry VIII.
This was loonnnggg. I started it two years ago and couldn't make it far past page 100. I just wasn't interested in the drama of a sisterly rival. However, this time, I restarted and pushed through, and was glad I did. Mostly to learn more about the history of the Boleyns and see how things unraveled. It was good, but didn't blow me away!
There is something deeply comforting about an epic novel you can immerse yourself into such as this. This window into Henry VIII's court has been meticulously studied and rings very true. The Boleyn girls are particularly well drawn. This is history dramatized respectably, with its subjects given depth, life and credible motivations. It may not be the finest work of literature ever written, and the novel is somewhat dry at times, but its a perfectly enjoyable world to get lost in without too much intellectual challenge. Gregory's writing may lack poetry, but she certainly knows what she's taking about. Not bad.
I LOVED this book. Best thing I've read in a very long time. Plus I feel like I learned a few things. :)
While I know this is not the most historically accurate story of Henry VIII's court, I found I really could not put this 650 page book down at times. I found myself whooshing straight through hundreds of pages at a time, each time wondering what would happen, even though I already knew the outcome. The prose is not something that challenges the mind. Rather, it's just damn good entertainment. My only gripes were that I believed Anne Boleyn could have had a little more dimension (I felt she was just too mean at some points. Even she could have a heart, right?) and I wish the part we're all waiting for with Anne Bolelyn was a little rushed through. I wish Mary was at the trail to be able to hear what was happening. Even if this would have been another 200 pages, I would have been engrossed by it, I believe. All in all though, I was glad a read it and will read other books by Phillippa Gregory.