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3.75 AVERAGE
3.75 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Not one of Philippa Gregory's best. Katherine Howard's narration was plain and repetitive, bordering on annoying the reader. Jane Boleyn was very much repetitive. The only redeeming quality this book had was Anne of Cleves' depiction Henry VIII.
Good book but not quite as good as The Other Boleyn Girl.
This book gets a bonus star because it features Anne of Cleves, my favorite (and the smartest) of Henry VIII's wives.
The story is told from the perspectives of Catherine Howard, Anne of Cleaves, and Jane Boleyn/Rochefort. The three narrators in the audiobook are all very fine voice actors (I have several books by each of them), and I think they were cast very well.
The story starts with Anne of Cleves getting pained by Holbein, the younger, and carries through Anne's marriage, subsequent divorce and life (to the point when Henry dies) and covers Jane and Catherine's lives from the time of Anne's marriage through their subsequent (spoiler alert!) executions.
I'm still loving the hate-portrayal of Henry, I thought the portrayal of all three of the women was very nice, and while I was confused by how Jane was written at first, I went with it, and appreciated that Gregory includes why she portrayed her like she did in the Author's Note at the end.
The only quibble I have, is that there are some inconsistencies between the books (probably what I get for listening to them one after the other), but I think that might be expected - I'm listening to them in internal-chronological order, not the order in which they were written/published. Who knows what the author was thinking, but between this and my watching of Reign on netflix, I'm getting plenty of historical trashy romance. Fun!
The story is told from the perspectives of Catherine Howard, Anne of Cleaves, and Jane Boleyn/Rochefort. The three narrators in the audiobook are all very fine voice actors (I have several books by each of them), and I think they were cast very well.
The story starts with Anne of Cleves getting pained by Holbein, the younger, and carries through Anne's marriage, subsequent divorce and life (to the point when Henry dies) and covers Jane and Catherine's lives from the time of Anne's marriage through their subsequent (spoiler alert!) executions.
I'm still loving the hate-portrayal of Henry, I thought the portrayal of all three of the women was very nice, and while I was confused by how Jane was written at first, I went with it, and appreciated that Gregory includes why she portrayed her like she did in the Author's Note at the end.
The only quibble I have, is that there are some inconsistencies between the books (probably what I get for listening to them one after the other), but I think that might be expected - I'm listening to them in internal-chronological order, not the order in which they were written/published. Who knows what the author was thinking, but between this and my watching of Reign on netflix, I'm getting plenty of historical trashy romance. Fun!
It's about the two of Henry VIII queens that lease is known about and Jane Boleyn. It was an interesting view of some of the most chilling events that happened in the court of Henry VIII.
The best thing about this book is the character development. First, you see what an awful position Katherine Howard was put in. She was a vain, silly girl who wasn't ready to be queen. Jane's guilt and delusional justification of her actions was very insightful and well done. Not my favorite Philippa Gregory book, but it ranks high.
this was a very fun and fascinating look at two of the six wives of henry xiii. even though it’s historical fiction, it felt like a good look at the women in this period.
medium-paced
Salacious. The book was a lot of fun and a real page turner. Gregory admits to not having much Historical information on Anne of Cleves or Katherine Howard, so much of the book is fiction. This being said, it didn't matter to me one bit. Gregory has a great imagination and really brings the characters to life. I can't wait to read her other novels!
I really enjoy Phillipa Gregory's Tudor period fiction, and this was no exception. This book weaves together the stories of three women: Jane Boleyn, sister-in-law of Anne Boleyn, who was banished from court after the downfall of her sistem; Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII's fourth wife; and Katherine Howard, his fifth wife, a child bride. The story progresses chronologically, from his betrothal to Anne and Jane's subsequent return to court to serve her, to his annulment of that marriage in order to marry Katherine Howard. It ends, of course, with the deaths of two of the women on the Tower Green. Each chapter reports on the action from the perspective of a different woman, which for me, really added some dimension to the stories. I highly recommend this to anyone who enjoys historial fiction.