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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
I typically love PG's books but I had a hard time with this one. It was interesting to see the other side of the same time period as TWQ, but Margaret Beaufort is so utterly unlikeable! It made me want to root against her, although the reader already knows the course of history.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
i feel like this could’ve been 100 pages shorter, but i found myself wanting to read more beyond the last few pages. i guess because i’d been waiting for that ending the entire book?
I've read that Gregory loves Elizabeth Woodville (the protagonist of The White Queen) and it's easy to see that she had that opinion while writing this. Self-absorbed and dull Margaret Tudor is beyond bland after reading TWQ, stopped halfway through twice before actually finishing it the third time.
The Cousins War in the 1400’s. Margaret Beaufort, a religious fanatic who has saint’s knees at a young age, comes from the royal lineage and has a son Henry Tudor whose destiny is to become the King of England. I was intrigued by this book from the first chapter. Historical fiction about the royals always interests me. I now understand why Gregory is an acclaimed author. Her writing style is engaging, dramatic and a page turner. My only faults is at times I was lost by all the different character’s names and which house they where loyal too. I also really did not like the main character who believed all her actions even murder, was God’s will. I was frustrated by how naive she was even in her older age.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and will continue with books in the series. The great thing is that the books in the series can be read as stand alones:)
All in all, I really enjoyed this book and will continue with books in the series. The great thing is that the books in the series can be read as stand alones:)
An interesting enough read. Highly annoying, poorly developed, and unbelievable main character, but it's done well enough that at least you still care about what happens to her and feel sympathy for her. Even so, I definitely prefer The White Queen.
As I've covered in other (more recent) reviews of Gregory's Cousins' War books, I've given up any pretense of resisting these schlocky books and I'm just having fun (while working on projects or as a white noise to fall asleep to).
Again, the writing isn't great, there's a lot of repetitions, and Gregory plays fast and loose (with an occasional "fuck it" with regards to actual dates/timeline progressions) to tell a story about 15th century England through the first person view of a woman.
In this case, it's Margaret Beaufort, and to be honest, she's my favorite main character so far, because even though she's a person I'd hate in real life (pushy religious nut), she's a cut throat bitch who manages to marry two entertaining characters. Her second husband, Stafford, is nicely world-weary and just tired of everyone's shit, and Stanley is a great counterpart to Margaret's scheming.
So it was fun, barring Margaret's religious nonsense (earning her a "fantasy" category in my GR shelves) with the Joan of Arc and self-righteousness, but I did get a few good actual chuckles while listening.
Again, the writing isn't great, there's a lot of repetitions, and Gregory plays fast and loose (with an occasional "fuck it" with regards to actual dates/timeline progressions) to tell a story about 15th century England through the first person view of a woman.
In this case, it's Margaret Beaufort, and to be honest, she's my favorite main character so far, because even though she's a person I'd hate in real life (pushy religious nut), she's a cut throat bitch who manages to marry two entertaining characters. Her second husband, Stafford, is nicely world-weary and just tired of everyone's shit, and Stanley is a great counterpart to Margaret's scheming.
So it was fun, barring Margaret's religious nonsense (earning her a "fantasy" category in my GR shelves) with the Joan of Arc and self-righteousness, but I did get a few good actual chuckles while listening.
While I liked this one better than The White Queen, I felt throughout the whole book that Margaret was just entirely unlikeable. It is one thing to have a young girl obsess over writing her name Margaret R. (or Margaret Regina), and believe that her cause is also God's, it's entirely different to have an adult act in this way. I was also perplexed by the shifts in POV. It makes sense that Margaret would not be on the battlefield, but why have most of the book in her POV and then change to third-person for SOME of the battles? Why not have her talking to somebody about it? It just felt jarring and unpleasant. Would not recommend.