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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
Another well written book by [a:Philippa Gregory|9987|Philippa Gregory|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351685194p2/9987.jpg]. In this book, she takes you on a journey of three women who were just pawns in the lives of powerful men who surrounded them and dominated their lives, she writes with so much insight into the lives of Henry VIII's fourth and fifth wives. It makes me grateful that I no longer live in a work where marriages were political affairs, and had little to do with love, especially when it came to court life. It was all about the prestige, the money, the politics and how you could advance your own family at whatever cost.
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The saga of the Tudor court and the life of Henry the VIII through the eyes of his wives continues. Following the rise and fall of Anne of Cleves and Katherine Howard, this third installment is just as good as the others.
I liked the book but didn't love it. If you are new to Philippa Gregory the Other Boleyn Girl and the Constant Princess are must reads. If you are currently reading this and are unsure of whether to read another of her works absolutely try the Other Boleyn Girl. I may not have liked the book because I just am not a fan of Lady Rocheford. For those of you who liked Queen Anne you will understand.
Anne and Katherine's perspectives were both well-written and enjoyable; the characters were likable - yes, even Kitty - and you couldn't help but root for them against Henry. (God, what an asshole.)
That said, Jane Boleyn's POV chapters were awful. First of all, she spends 90% of the book talking about how much she loved Anne and George Boleyn, and how she did her best to save them while their sister Mary didn't so much as lift a finger to help them... which completely goes against everything in The Other Boleyn Girl. Only towards the very, very end does someone call Jane out on this alternate history, but until then the reader is left wondering if Philippa Gregory actually forgot what had happened in her own book. I can only assume she was trying to make Jane sound insane from the beginning, but it would have been less confusing if other characters had brought it up. Instead, since Anne and Katherine were the only other POVs, and they liked Jane well enough, it wasn't at all clear what Gregory was trying to accomplish.
That said, Jane Boleyn's POV chapters were awful. First of all, she spends 90% of the book talking about how much she loved Anne and George Boleyn, and how she did her best to save them while their sister Mary didn't so much as lift a finger to help them... which completely goes against everything in The Other Boleyn Girl. Only towards the very, very end does someone call Jane out on this alternate history, but until then the reader is left wondering if Philippa Gregory actually forgot what had happened in her own book. I can only assume she was trying to make Jane sound insane from the beginning, but it would have been less confusing if other characters had brought it up. Instead, since Anne and Katherine were the only other POVs, and they liked Jane well enough, it wasn't at all clear what Gregory was trying to accomplish.
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really wish there was a half star system on here as I would give this book 3.5 stars. It was better than your average novel, but not quite as riveting as it's predecessor [b:The Other Boleyn Girl|37470|The Other Boleyn Girl|Philippa Gregory|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1277607929s/37470.jpg|3248536]. I love the Gregory blends historically accurate facts with fiction. It gives an excellence sense of time and place. She does a great job at putting you into the minds of her various characters. I will continue to read to series and watch as life unfolds in the Tudor period.
emotional
tense
medium-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
The Boleyn Inheritance gets five stars, partly for being well-paced, interesting and educational, and partly for getting me out of my reading slump, which has seen me dnf or put on hold four books. Maybe if I hadn't been so desperate to throw myself into a book I would have given it four stars instead - but this is the situation we are in, and I am so thankful that I'm reading again. Gregory's writing is so easy to follow, and she brings the characters to life in a way that makes it impossible to not be engaged. I'm desperate to know what happens next and have just bought the rest of the books in the series (and am now ignoring my bank balance). Definitely worth a read if you like historical fiction, or are interested in getting into the genre.
[One thing I am upset about is that Gregory has changed the series. Namely, instead of having two separate book series (this one, The Tudor Court series, and another, The Cousins War Series) she has combined the two into one, calling it the Plantagenet and Tudor Novels. I know its her right as it is her intellectual property, but as a reader who has been making her way through the Tudor novels and preparing to start the Plantagenet novels, it's really confusing, as suddenly everything has been renamed and it is really hard to find out which books were originally in the Tudor series. To me it would have made more sense to do a Terry Pratchett, and combine all the books into one series whilst also keeping them in their original, separate series. This isn't a complaint that will affect my opinion of the book, but I did struggle to find what books were next.]
[One thing I am upset about is that Gregory has changed the series. Namely, instead of having two separate book series (this one, The Tudor Court series, and another, The Cousins War Series) she has combined the two into one, calling it the Plantagenet and Tudor Novels. I know its her right as it is her intellectual property, but as a reader who has been making her way through the Tudor novels and preparing to start the Plantagenet novels, it's really confusing, as suddenly everything has been renamed and it is really hard to find out which books were originally in the Tudor series. To me it would have made more sense to do a Terry Pratchett, and combine all the books into one series whilst also keeping them in their original, separate series. This isn't a complaint that will affect my opinion of the book, but I did struggle to find what books were next.]