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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Though Margaret Beaufort is despicable as always, this story is gripping as ever.
First off, Margaret Beaufort was BAT-SHIT CRAZY!! And for her to be such "HOLY" she sure was maliciously ambitious and often green with envy. But considering she was married off at 12 years old (Gawd, she was 13 when she gave birth to King Henry VII) and had no more education . . . Maybe she didn't mature mentally . . . I don't know! But even though I am able to get a version of her story that helps me to sympathize with her . . . I still don't like her.
Props to Philippa Gregory. This was well written (of course it was) and I loved it.
Props to Philippa Gregory. This was well written (of course it was) and I loved it.
adventurous
informative
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
2nd read: this wasn’t as boring as I remember. Know the woman this is based on is heavily religious and it is annoying how she thinks she is blessed by god and how she forces her son to rebel. Not my favourite book in the series but I think I just don’t like her.
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I liked this book just as much as "The White Queen" despite the fact that Margaret Beufort was impossible to like as a character.
I didn’t enjoy this novel at all, it was easy enough to get through but most of it was her complaining about everything. Margret is the worst heroine I’ve seen in the Gregory novels that I’ve read so far. She claims to be pious, free of vanity, and sent to impart God’s will, but she is the most self-centered, self-righteous character I’ve read in a very long time. Says she’s not vain but needs a new husband and she’s mad she can’t have the king, and obviously his wife’s a witch because she did get the king. There’s a level of softness or kindness missing from either Margret or the book that’s necessary to make a reader sympathize with a difficult character. I kind of felt bad for her when her son was taken from her, but maybe it was better because she was awful and jealous.
It felt like one chapter after another was half copied dialogue from the previous. I’m so glad it finally ended. I think the ending was a weird conclusion to this novel but, so much of this book was off. She may have been a horrible person in real life but there should be some humanizing quality in there somewhere. Gregory could have played up many angles- childhood abandonment, feelings of being unloved, being used as a pawn, etc… but she chose to go with maniacal religion for, in my opinion, the weak reasoning of it was God’s will. In fact is was vanity and a crusade for power were her motivators and it didn’t play out well in the novel.
It felt like one chapter after another was half copied dialogue from the previous. I’m so glad it finally ended. I think the ending was a weird conclusion to this novel but, so much of this book was off. She may have been a horrible person in real life but there should be some humanizing quality in there somewhere. Gregory could have played up many angles- childhood abandonment, feelings of being unloved, being used as a pawn, etc… but she chose to go with maniacal religion for, in my opinion, the weak reasoning of it was God’s will. In fact is was vanity and a crusade for power were her motivators and it didn’t play out well in the novel.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was a bit harder for me to read compared to The White Queen but I accredit that to Margaret’s character as a whole. It was easier to get through with audiobook for the beginning!