Reviews

The Passionate Tudor: A Novel of Queen Mary I by Alison Weir

laileanah's review against another edition

informative lighthearted slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This wasn't half bad. I honestly wish Weir would stray further from what she believes the facts to be. Twisting history is where the tension lies. This is a biography with imagined feelings added🤷🏾‍♀️
Is Elizabeth I next?

bucolicbookshelf's review

5.0

Henry VIII’s roving eye and desire to have everything so that it best benefitted him destroyed much and  many, not least of all, his eldest surviving child, Mary I.

Reading Mary’s descent from hopeful and loving daughter to religious zealot and a queen who would stop at nothing to put right what she felt was wrong was highly interesting, as most books I’ve read about the Tudors, Mary is often but a bloody footnote in between Henry and Elizabeth I. 

Combine Ms Weir’s research and writing, with her sensitivity to her subject matter and the result is highly engaging, very well written historical fiction based on a woman who went through much, and caused much cruel chaos and havoc. 

Alison Weir is an auto-buy author for me, and this is one I definitely recommend. 

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for the DRC 

andrea_author's review

5.0

Born a princess but later declared a royal bastard, Mary Tudor claws her way back to court after Anne Boleyn’s downfall. Ascending as Britain’s first reigning queen, she launches a ruthless campaign to restore Catholicism. This searing exploration reveals the vulnerable woman behind the brutality, shaped by childhood trauma and a hunger for power that twists faith into vengeance.

This novel does a good job of humanizing Mary I. It’s impossible not to feel sympathy for her precarious position, from the fall of her mother until the death of Edward VI. As queen, she remains a tragic figure—but her certainty that she’s performing the will of God blinds her to the claims of political expediency and human compassion.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.

emmasthingstoread's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

fenwench's review against another edition

emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

alittlemixofvix's review against another edition

slow-paced

4.5

Book 3 in the Tudor Rose Trilogy, but the first of Alison's I've read - and it won't be the last. Plus the end papers are beautiful!

It's so interesting learning more about those times, with Alison's role as a historian, you know the core facts are true and she brings it to life with the added fiction element. I loved how my opinion of Mary changed over her life as I really did feel sorry for her until she became queen, then it was like she became her father - only her way was right.

My only quibble was I found the middle section dragged a bit, considering it's a chunk of a book I thought some could have been cut without losing anything.

Overall, Alison has a wonderful way of writing, making the characters come to life again - I can't wait to dive into her previous books. I'm especially keen to read Anne Boleyn: A King's Obsession and Anna of Kleve: Queen of Secrets.

*I received a complementary copy of the book from RandomThingsTours and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

ameliajasmine24's review against another edition

hopeful informative reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

bibliotreasures's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

A DESTINY REWRITTEN. A ROYAL HEART DIVIDED.

I’m a huge history buff and have always been a fan of the Tudor era so I was very excited when the SquadPod were offered the chance to read this as one of our featured books. 

The book opens in 1525 when Mary is nine-years-old and follows her life all the way up until her death in 1588. Known infamously as ‘Bloody Mary’, Mary is a controversial figure among historians, but the last few years has seen a surge of research into her life and there has been an effort to rehabilitate her reputation. This prompted Alison Weir to revisit her past research and write a new book about one of England’s most famous queens. 

Before reading this book I thought I knew a lot about Queen Mary I and this period of history. But I soon realised there were things I didn’t know such as the close bond that she and Elizabeth shared for many years, the health issues that plagued her most of her life, or that she was the first woman to rule England. And I realised that what I did know about her was so much more complex under the surface. Most interesting for me was learning why she turned to religion so ardently. Mary’s life was not a happy one. She was embroiled in royal politics from an early age, separated from her mother at 15, declared illegitimate at 17, and made lady-in-waiting to her infant half-sister, Elizabeth, that same year. Among all of this turmoil, heartache and uncertainty, Mary found solace in her Catholic faith. She was horrified when her father broke with Rome and declared Britain a Protestant country and became increasingly zealous, even risking martyrdom to attend mass when it was illegal. But the biggest reminder of her zealousness is her religious persecution of the Protestants when she was Queen. She lives on in infamy as the monarch who sent 280 people to the stake during her short, five year reign and it earned her the nickname ‘Bloody Mary’. 

Compelling, powerful and riveting, this novel is a reminder that fact is so much more interesting than fiction. It also reminded me that one of the reasons I love history so much is that it is made up of the most spectacular and fascinating stories. Meticulously researched and expertly written, Ms. Weir brings history to life, transporting me back 600 years. I felt like I was in the room with them and could see it all vividly unfolding in front of me like I was watching it on a TV screen. Ms. Weir has been careful to write a balanced account of Mary’s life that highlights her accomplishments as well as her failures. But, for me, the good doesn’t outweigh the bad, and I didn’t find her to be a sympathetic character, even though she was fascinating, I am glad to understand her a little more. 

Mary I Queen of Sorrows is a gripping and unmissable novel that history fans won’t want to miss. 

missajackman's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

cakt1991's review against another edition

3.0

 I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own. 

The Passionate Tudor is Alison Weir’s latest Tudor novel, chronicling the life of Mary I. It’s truly an epic story, and in some ways, she did it justice. It doesn’t break new ground, nor did I expect it to, but while it’s not my favorite book I’ve read from her, I enjoyed the choices she made overall. 

Mary herself has always been a polarizing figure, and Weir acknowledges this in her author’s note, although she also challenges it by pointing out that both Henry VIII and Elizabeth were also just as “bloody,” if not more so, and had longer reigns which skew the numbers more in their favor. But even those who condemn Mary’s actions as Queen admit that her upbringing is a reaction to the intense trauma she suffered as a child, which I feel Weir depicts the most strongly. Mary is depicted as the apple of her father’s eye and close to both her father and mother, until Henry grew disillusioned with his marriage and fell into his passion for Anne Boleyn. And even as an Anne Boleyn sympathizer (Weir is notably anti-Anne in other books), I can’t help but understand Mary’s ire toward Anne, especially when Anne responded with equal venom. While it’s hard to see Mary so easily absolve her father of his abuse of her, blaming it all on Anne, this is very accurate to Mary’s mindset, especially as she thought Anne’s execution would magically change things, and it actually wasn’t until Mary submitted to Henry’s demand that she acknowledge her parents’ marriage as invalid that he would acknowledge her again. 

In addition to exploring the impact of those early years, I found the first part the strongest for how it focused on her relationships with each of her father’s subsequent wives, especially highlighting the close relationship she had with Jane Seymour, serving as chief mourner at her funeral. And despite the fact that religion would divide them, I liked seeing the bond between her and Katharine Parr, and how that also brought Mary into contact with Catherine Willoughby, whose mother, Maria de Salinas, was Katherine of Aragon’s lady-in-waiting, and they had a brief exchange about this. 

I also enjoyed seeing how Mary’s relationships with Elizabeth and Edward played out. I was particularly intrigued by how Mary’s suspicions regarding Elizabeth’s paternity were established early on, and while it did not impact Mary treating her as a sister overall, there was a sense of doubt there. And with Edward and Mary’s religious clashes being documented, I love how the origins of this were depicted. 

Pacing wise, I feel like this was where the book lagged. While all of Weir’s fiction at this point more or less deals with information that avid Tudor fans know, most usually are engaging. And the first two parts were the most interesting due to the tenuous position Mary was in as the King’s obstinate daughter, in and out of favor, and then the King’s heretic sister. But part three, chronicling her time as Queen, was dull, in spite of it being the part that most shaped her legacy. The early chapters of part three, with her fight for the throne, were engaging, and a bit with Wyatt’s Rebellion as well, but after that, I started skimming. Reading about her phantom pregnancy and declining health, while accurate to the timeline, were particularly mood-killing.

While I didn’t enjoy this as much as I’d hoped, it’s possibly a “me” thing, as I’ve often struggled with biographical fiction that covers long periods of a person’s life. And I’d still recommend it to readers of historical fiction, whether you’re looking for a solid introduction to Mary or if you’re a Tudor fan like me.