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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
I always enjoy reading about the Tudor reign but this book could have been about 200 pages shorter as it was quite repetative.
I'm a sucker for all of Phillipa's books...can't say they are great literature, but fun and interesting, and I like to think I learn a tiny bit about the Tudor history by reading them.
Overall I was able to give The Boleyn Inheritance 4 stars!!! The Tudors have been my favorite dynasty/family/period of history to learn and read about for over 10 years (which is a long time considering I am only 22), so discovering Philippa Gregory's books felt like fate. I was obsessed with how the book was formatted so that each chapter was narrated by one of the 3 main characters, but by the end, I was always looking forward to the next Katherine chapter. This book just really brought into perspective how young and naive Henry VIII's fifth wife was and brought a side to the well told story that I do not think has been accurately displayed until now. What kept the book from being a 5 star rating was Anne's chapters :( which makes me said because I love Anne of Cleves. I just felt like once her marriage to Henry was annuled her chapters became repeptitive and there was no extra information gained from reading them overall.
This has so far been my favourite of Gregory's books! I loved the way the three different characters were juxtaposed with each other and how distinctly each of their personalities came through (MY GOD KATHERINE HOWARD YOU ARE ANNOYING). love love love.
if i took out all the references to what happened in the first book, this 500+ pager would have been a novella.
on another note anne of cleves was the most interesting and least annoying.
on another note anne of cleves was the most interesting and least annoying.
I thought the narration was great, and I really had sympathy for all three main characters.
This book was better written than its predecessor, The Other Boleyn Girl. Told from the perspectives of three women--Jane Boleyn, Katherine Howard and Anne of Cleves-- it gives all the characters a chance to have more depth, because they are seen from multiple angles. Also, Gregory learned how to use semicolons, which is a vast stylistic improvement over her rampant abuse of the comma in her previous book.
Unfortunately, the story wasn't as good in the previous book. This was no real fault of Gregory's; Henry's fourth and fifth marriages were both too brief to develop the drama of the first two. But Gregory's focus on, as she calls it, the "Boleyn inheritance" really makes this book merely a coda to the last one. Jane Boleyn is haunted by what happened to her husband and his sister, and her parts constantly recall the events of The Other Boleyn Girl. Katherine Howard is portrayed as a vainer, dumber Anne Boleyn, while Anne of Cleves plays the virtuous wronged woman, the role originated by Katherine of Aragon.
Unfortunately, the story wasn't as good in the previous book. This was no real fault of Gregory's; Henry's fourth and fifth marriages were both too brief to develop the drama of the first two. But Gregory's focus on, as she calls it, the "Boleyn inheritance" really makes this book merely a coda to the last one. Jane Boleyn is haunted by what happened to her husband and his sister, and her parts constantly recall the events of The Other Boleyn Girl. Katherine Howard is portrayed as a vainer, dumber Anne Boleyn, while Anne of Cleves plays the virtuous wronged woman, the role originated by Katherine of Aragon.
This is a sequel to The Other Boleyn Girl. I found the history interesting, but in both books, Gregory's writing was lacking. She's very big on stating the obvious--that women have no control over their lives and are pawns in their families' schemes. Where The Other Boleyn Girl kept me engaged with a single narrator I didn't find annoying, The Boleyn Inheritance's three narrators didn't pull me in in the same way.
I was not really a fan of studying history until I got to seminary and took my History of Christianity classes and then I started to love it. I was fascinated with certain time periods, and the time of Henry VIII was one of my favorites to study. And I've been intrigued since then with all the TV shows, movies and books that cover that time period-even when it's turned into fiction, like this novel.
It was easy for me to get into this book. I love the short chapters and alternating view points of the 3 women. I love the character development of Anne of Cleves-the only character of the book that I really liked. I love that in parts the writer was able to make me like Jane Boleyn and feel sorry for her, when in truth she was a horrible woman. I hated Katherine from the first of her chapters until the end, but did feel a little bit of pity for her at times. I was incredibly frustrated throughout most of this book with how it is that a country allowed Henry, when he was clearly insane, to continue to reign, and to accept as "God's will" the thousands of people he displaced or killed to suit his own desires.
Basically I really enjoyed this book, and it makes me want to pull out my old notebooks from school and look back over my notes on all of these people.
It was easy for me to get into this book. I love the short chapters and alternating view points of the 3 women. I love the character development of Anne of Cleves-the only character of the book that I really liked. I love that in parts the writer was able to make me like Jane Boleyn and feel sorry for her, when in truth she was a horrible woman. I hated Katherine from the first of her chapters until the end, but did feel a little bit of pity for her at times. I was incredibly frustrated throughout most of this book with how it is that a country allowed Henry, when he was clearly insane, to continue to reign, and to accept as "God's will" the thousands of people he displaced or killed to suit his own desires.
Basically I really enjoyed this book, and it makes me want to pull out my old notebooks from school and look back over my notes on all of these people.