Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Margaret might be the most annoying main character I’ve ever read. She’s the biggest hypocrite in the world and she had this weird one sided beef with Elizabeth Woodville that got on my nerves.
Still it was more interesting than the first book.
Still it was more interesting than the first book.
3.75
Still enjoying the series. I appreciated the different POV to the same events as The White Queen, but nearing the end I was ready for the story to continue...
But I liked how Gregory showed the contrast (but also similarities) between Margaret (protagonist of this book) and Elizabeth (protagonist of the WQ) and their sources of power/influence/calling - God/Catholic religion vs witchcraft/the river goddess. Fascinating!
Still enjoying the series. I appreciated the different POV to the same events as The White Queen, but nearing the end I was ready for the story to continue...
But I liked how Gregory showed the contrast (but also similarities) between Margaret (protagonist of this book) and Elizabeth (protagonist of the WQ) and their sources of power/influence/calling - God/Catholic religion vs witchcraft/the river goddess. Fascinating!
I have yet to read a book by Philippa Gregory and not like it - until this one. The writing and story are exceptional as always, however what stopped me from truly liking this book was the main character herself. She was a vain and horrible woman and I found I was frustrated most of the time while reading this due to Margaret's actions or thoughts on her "holiness".
I preferred the previous book in this series (I'm reading chronologically, not by publication date). Margaret was a very hard character to like, and she was somewhat less involved in the Cousins' War than the other women - she was never queen, and only became a major part of court (okay, yes, she was lady-in-waiting to several other queens) once the war was over and her son was married to Elizabeth of York.
Still, you can't help but feel sorry for the poor 12-year-old girl married to a man twice her age, who gives birth to her only child at 13, with her husband dead on a battle field two months before.
Still, you can't help but feel sorry for the poor 12-year-old girl married to a man twice her age, who gives birth to her only child at 13, with her husband dead on a battle field two months before.
I liked this book reasonably well, but some of the history bothered me (e.g. I tend to side with Allison Weir and think Richard III is responsible for the Princes in the Tower) and the main character is pretty horrible. She essentially uses religion as a front to justify all manner of personal sin and ambition, and is not a particularly likable character. This is somewhat unfortunate as Margaret Beaufort was a highly educated woman of the time, and the author could have chosen to emphasize her education over her piety. That being said, Philippa Gregory is an engaging writer and thoroughly drew me in to the story.
The narrator was an unpleasant and un-self-aware, but I'll give the book 3 stars as part of the series. The author deserves props for the work she put into it. Some of the men-going-off-to-war speeches reminded me of Gone with the Wind. I'd rather not see one of my favorite novels "borrowed" like that.
Maybe it's because I know little of Mary Beaufort but I found this book to be quite boring. Possibly because it overlaps time wise with The White Queen so really I already knew what happens. This was just from another angle. I found it hard to sympathise with Mary as to me she came across as a devout religious woman who was really nothing more than a conniving, manipulative, harsh, very judgemental woman who hid behind her religion. Really she was no different to others from her time who used religion, backstabbing and power to climb the ranks. And ultimately she succeeded but at what cost; she ultimately lived a quite lonely life even though three times married. Maybe my opinion will change if I knew her better but something tells me she was a mother in law from hell.
The Red Queen follows Margaret Beaufort, starting as a young girl dreaming of being the next Joan of Arc. We watch her marry at the young age of 12 and shortly give birth to Henry Tudor. Her son fills her with purpose, and while she is separated from him for most of his life this never stops her from plotting to make him King of England.
Margaret Beaufort is one of Gregory's least likable characters. She is strong willed, but believes that all of her wants are the will of God. It's easy to how being shuffled from husband to husband has made her into the pious woman she thinks she is. My biggest annoyance with her is her unending hatred of Elizabeth Woodville. Especially since she interacts with and serves her for several years. Her petty jealousy is annoying to read, and made me long for the pages of The White Queen, with it's more accessible heroin. Even with her annoying characteristics she is a perfect love to hate character.
The Red Queen reads like any Gregory novel. It's very straightforward and easy to follow. It is especially interesting to read this having already read The White Queen. The stories completely intersect for the latter third of the novel, detailing the death of Edward Vi, the rise and fall of Richard III and yet another take on what happened to the Princes in the Tower.
Worth the read if your a Gregory fan, and are ready to put up with the typical historical inaccuracy's.
Margaret Beaufort is one of Gregory's least likable characters. She is strong willed, but believes that all of her wants are the will of God. It's easy to how being shuffled from husband to husband has made her into the pious woman she thinks she is. My biggest annoyance with her is her unending hatred of Elizabeth Woodville. Especially since she interacts with and serves her for several years. Her petty jealousy is annoying to read, and made me long for the pages of The White Queen, with it's more accessible heroin. Even with her annoying characteristics she is a perfect love to hate character.
The Red Queen reads like any Gregory novel. It's very straightforward and easy to follow. It is especially interesting to read this having already read The White Queen. The stories completely intersect for the latter third of the novel, detailing the death of Edward Vi, the rise and fall of Richard III and yet another take on what happened to the Princes in the Tower.
Worth the read if your a Gregory fan, and are ready to put up with the typical historical inaccuracy's.
After first aspiring to be a nun or a martyr in the vein of Joan of Arc, a young Margaret Beaufort has her plans changed when she is married to a much older Tudor cousin at 12 and has a young son who has a very strong claim for the throne. Her ambition - and God's will as she sees it - then becomes to put him on the throne, with the help of her brother-in-law Jasper Tudor. Taking place at the same time as the events in The White Queen, it was interesting to imagine from the other perspective. Enjoyable but I found Margaret a bit hard to relate to - too single minded and arrogant in her belief that her own ambitions were God's will, even when confronted by her husbands.