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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.
I look forwad
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.
I look forwad
rosannelortz's review against another edition
2.0
After the death of Henry's beloved third wife, Jane Seymour, the aging and ponderous monarch searches for a new bride who can increase his count of heirs. Anna of Kleve, a young woman from one of the small German principalities becomes the chosen one, and what follows is the story of a woman who was rejected almost as soon as she was married.
I struggled to maintain interest in this book (spoilers ahead). The author's choice to have Anne birth an illegitimate child while in her teens was highly speculative and somewhat offputting. This was coupled with a historical writing style that was highly literal and had little symbolism and foreshadowing. Many times, the narrative contained specific and lengthy descriptions of items and clothing, and though doubtless designed to create an atmosphere, it often felt like an info dump.
While the first person narrator (Anna) felt fully fleshed out as a character, the speculative nature of the initial events shed doubt on whether the character shown in the book was anything like the original wife of Henry VIII. Henry himself is adequately repulsive, alternating between kindness and cruelty. Cromwell was interesting, but fairly flat. Anne's retainers from Kleve were my favorite characters in the book.
Fans of Alison Weir's earlier books in the Six Tudor Queens series will enjoy seeing the story of Henry's fourth wife as well as the introduction of young Katheryn Howard (soon to be the fifth).
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I struggled to maintain interest in this book (spoilers ahead). The author's choice to have Anne birth an illegitimate child while in her teens was highly speculative and somewhat offputting. This was coupled with a historical writing style that was highly literal and had little symbolism and foreshadowing. Many times, the narrative contained specific and lengthy descriptions of items and clothing, and though doubtless designed to create an atmosphere, it often felt like an info dump.
While the first person narrator (Anna) felt fully fleshed out as a character, the speculative nature of the initial events shed doubt on whether the character shown in the book was anything like the original wife of Henry VIII. Henry himself is adequately repulsive, alternating between kindness and cruelty. Cromwell was interesting, but fairly flat. Anne's retainers from Kleve were my favorite characters in the book.
Fans of Alison Weir's earlier books in the Six Tudor Queens series will enjoy seeing the story of Henry's fourth wife as well as the introduction of young Katheryn Howard (soon to be the fifth).
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
jennie_cole's review against another edition
3.0
While I was familiar with Henry the VIII's six wives on a general level I did not know much about Anna of Kleve. Obviously a huge part of this book is fiction and comes from the imagination of Alison Weir but what was interesting was how she lived after her annulment. Not much of the book takes place during her marriage because it only lasted 6 months but her life as a "beloved sister" to the king lasted 17 years so most of the story takes place during that time.
Alison Weir did a great job of taking historical rumor and spinning that into a story. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in the Tudor courts where so much about your life is dependent on someone else's ability to influence and convince. This book does a good job of portraying that through Anna's relationship/interactions with Sir Thomas.
This was a very enjoyable book to read and read very quickly. I was concerned that it might be dry since it is fairly long but it was not and if you are a fan of historical fiction in England or royal historical fiction give this one a read.
Alison Weir did a great job of taking historical rumor and spinning that into a story. I cannot imagine what it would be like to live in the Tudor courts where so much about your life is dependent on someone else's ability to influence and convince. This book does a good job of portraying that through Anna's relationship/interactions with Sir Thomas.
This was a very enjoyable book to read and read very quickly. I was concerned that it might be dry since it is fairly long but it was not and if you are a fan of historical fiction in England or royal historical fiction give this one a read.