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lisamshardlow's review against another edition
3.0
This is a fictional biography of Anna of Kleve - the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. The King is in love with a portrait, but the real Anna does not enchant him. She must win him over. Everyone knows that Henry won't stand for a problem queen. But rumours of Anna's past are rife at court - dangerous talk that could mark her downfall. Can this clever, spirited young woman reach out in friendship to the King and gain his love forever?
I really enjoyed the previous books in this series, and even though I liked this one, I felt that it was lacking and that the author took too many liberties. There was something quite shocking that happened at the beginning and kept making its way back into the story throughout, which I struggled with.
I like my historical fiction that is based on true events to be just that - to stick as closely to the historical records as possible. I’m not sure that this did. I really love Alison Weir, and I’m sure she had her reasons for portraying Anna as she did, but I just couldn’t get past it. There were some parts that I enjoyed, like how Anna did all she could to stay on Henry’s good side throughout their divorce and beyond, but I didn’t find the rest of it very realistic. It went against everything we know about Anne of Cleves from history.
I don’t think enough is known about Anne of Cleves to be able to put together a novel of this size and to make it interesting and believable. But something kept me reading until the end. Therefore, I give Six Tudor Queens - Anna of Kleve: Queen of Secrets 3 out of 5 stars.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and is interested in Tudor history and strong, resilient women.
I really enjoyed the previous books in this series, and even though I liked this one, I felt that it was lacking and that the author took too many liberties. There was something quite shocking that happened at the beginning and kept making its way back into the story throughout, which I struggled with.
I like my historical fiction that is based on true events to be just that - to stick as closely to the historical records as possible. I’m not sure that this did. I really love Alison Weir, and I’m sure she had her reasons for portraying Anna as she did, but I just couldn’t get past it. There were some parts that I enjoyed, like how Anna did all she could to stay on Henry’s good side throughout their divorce and beyond, but I didn’t find the rest of it very realistic. It went against everything we know about Anne of Cleves from history.
I don’t think enough is known about Anne of Cleves to be able to put together a novel of this size and to make it interesting and believable. But something kept me reading until the end. Therefore, I give Six Tudor Queens - Anna of Kleve: Queen of Secrets 3 out of 5 stars.
I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys historical fiction and is interested in Tudor history and strong, resilient women.
magbb's review against another edition
informative
sad
slow-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
4.0
ali2444's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
katrin_loves_books's review against another edition
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
juliadefaveri's review against another edition
3.0
It’s upsetting that Anna isn’t as popular as Henry‘s other wives. She seems like a genuinely nice person and that ending was so sad. It was a good book, but some parts in the middle were a tad hard to get through.
readingfar's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
ifyouhappentoremember's review
2.0
Anne of Cleaves, or should I say Anna of Kleve, seems to be the wife with a reasonably happy ending. I didn’t know much about her aside from the famous story about her portrait and the relatively friendly relationship she maintained with Henry VIII after the divorce.
Well it turns out, Anna’s relative ease and comfort after the divorce lead to a very boring story. We just read about Anna traveling to different places, wearing different gowns and jewels, hearing major historical events through second hand sources since Anna isn’t at court and, the internal squabbling within her household. If this sounds like riveting storytelling to you then this book is for you. I myself was bored stiff. I started skimming the final 100 pages and I can safely say I did not miss anything important.
I have to say, in the first couple of chapters, Weir takes a major historical liberty (she explains her reasoning for this in the authors note at the end of the book) and at first I was shocked. But then it turned out to be the interesting part of the story which was not the way I thought it was going to go. I guess ever Weir knew Anna’s story wasn’t very exciting.
I am open to reading other books in the series. The other Queens of Henry VIII were not as boring lmao.
Well it turns out, Anna’s relative ease and comfort after the divorce lead to a very boring story. We just read about Anna traveling to different places, wearing different gowns and jewels, hearing major historical events through second hand sources since Anna isn’t at court and, the internal squabbling within her household. If this sounds like riveting storytelling to you then this book is for you. I myself was bored stiff. I started skimming the final 100 pages and I can safely say I did not miss anything important.
I have to say, in the first couple of chapters, Weir takes a major historical liberty (she explains her reasoning for this in the authors note at the end of the book) and at first I was shocked. But then it turned out to be the interesting part of the story which was not the way I thought it was going to go. I guess ever Weir knew Anna’s story wasn’t very exciting.
I am open to reading other books in the series. The other Queens of Henry VIII were not as boring lmao.
ninjafangirl721's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
manorclassics's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I loved this installment, in fact I think it was my favourite so far. I knew very little about Anna's life especially after her marriage to Henry VIII, and I really enjoyed what Weir does with her. There is a big fictional storyline that you have to get on board with, but personally I liked it and although I didn't find all of it totally plausible I had a lot of fun along the way. Anna was a sympathetic character and it was refreshing to read a book with totally new material, as the last three books in the series necessarily had a lot of overlap. I definitely recommend this one.
suzemo's review against another edition
3.0
Anne of Cleves (or Anna of Kleve) has always been my favorite Henry VIII queen.
I mean, he shows up, makes some excuse not to want to marry her (I know there are is a lot of speculation on why - whether it's because she wasn't a virgin, smelled bad, whether she rebuffed him because he was an ass at their first meeting, or she wasn't nice enough to him because he was a smelly, obese, sociopath - I vote it's because she's the only wife he didn't 'choose' from personal acquaintance) and she comes out of the whole thing rich and independent.
In a time when she was the property of her strict and authoritarian brother, she is transferred to a murdering tyrant, and all she had to do was say "sure, divorce - fine with me!" and she gets property, money, independence, and freedom. She outlived all of the other wives, and while she had some bumps in her proverbial road (like Mary suspecting her to be part of Wyatt's Rebellion), I admire it.
This book is a historical fiction, though the author takes pains at the end of the book with notes on why she chose the path she did. Why she thought that Anne might not have been a virgin, why she thinks Henry didn't 'like' her, and why/how she chose the path she did. I thought it was an interesting and entertaining take on Anne.
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I mean, he shows up, makes some excuse not to want to marry her (I know there are is a lot of speculation on why - whether it's because she wasn't a virgin, smelled bad, whether she rebuffed him because he was an ass at their first meeting, or she wasn't nice enough to him because he was a smelly, obese, sociopath - I vote it's because she's the only wife he didn't 'choose' from personal acquaintance) and she comes out of the whole thing rich and independent.
In a time when she was the property of her strict and authoritarian brother, she is transferred to a murdering tyrant, and all she had to do was say "sure, divorce - fine with me!" and she gets property, money, independence, and freedom. She outlived all of the other wives, and while she had some bumps in her proverbial road (like Mary suspecting her to be part of Wyatt's Rebellion), I admire it.
This book is a historical fiction, though the author takes pains at the end of the book with notes on why she chose the path she did. Why she thought that Anne might not have been a virgin, why she thinks Henry didn't 'like' her, and why/how she chose the path she did. I thought it was an interesting and entertaining take on Anne.
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