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heather667's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Grief, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Child death, Confinement, Pandemic/Epidemic, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, and Murder
Moderate: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Torture, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: War, Pedophilia, Blood, Genocide, Slavery, and Violence
georgie_mb's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
*phew* I’ve finally finished this!
I started off reading this as a buddy read with someone else, but unfortunately my friend didn’t make it past the 1/4 mark but I decided to persevere.
It had been truly fascinating to read about Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power, and there are some brilliant moments to humour and clever speech. However, the main problem I found with this is the flow of the writing. It took me at least 200 pages to get into this (normally I DNF but I kept going because of the buddy read) and then after that, it would be on and off. I would find myself sucked into the story, with pages flying by, only to be chucked out again and left feeling a little lost. She does mention in the notes at the end that it’s hard to please both historian and reader, but I think she could have made it a little easier for the reader to follow, especially as she uses pronouns so much that you never know who’s talking!
I am glad I read this, as it’s definitely not your everyday novel, but it will be a while before I decide whether to pick up the next book.
I started off reading this as a buddy read with someone else, but unfortunately my friend didn’t make it past the 1/4 mark but I decided to persevere.
It had been truly fascinating to read about Thomas Cromwell’s rise to power, and there are some brilliant moments to humour and clever speech. However, the main problem I found with this is the flow of the writing. It took me at least 200 pages to get into this (normally I DNF but I kept going because of the buddy read) and then after that, it would be on and off. I would find myself sucked into the story, with pages flying by, only to be chucked out again and left feeling a little lost. She does mention in the notes at the end that it’s hard to please both historian and reader, but I think she could have made it a little easier for the reader to follow, especially as she uses pronouns so much that you never know who’s talking!
I am glad I read this, as it’s definitely not your everyday novel, but it will be a while before I decide whether to pick up the next book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Blood, Pandemic/Epidemic, Torture, Child death, Classism, and Grief
laurajeangrace's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Blood, Child death, Death of parent, Infidelity, War, Grief, Infertility, Sexism, and Violence
Minor: Torture
jhbandcats's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This is probably the fourth time I've read Wolf Hall. I love the writing - it's immediate and it’s subversively funny, and I find myself rereading parts just because I enjoy them so much. The novel opens with a riveting scene of a teenaged Cromwell being beaten almost to death by his father, dazed on the paving stones, crawling away as best he can, wondering if this is the day he dies.
Told in the present tense, it feels as though you're right there with Cromwell as he tries to escape his father's next kick. The attention to detail - the knot in the twine of his father's boot ripping his forehead open - also brings every scene to life.
This obviously doesn't sound like the opening to a funny book, but the sardonic humor makes the corner of your mouth twitch in a smile, and it's so, so clever. There are secret nicknames that are both insulting and fitting - the Princess Mary is a shrimp. When Cromwell leaves home in the morning he pats his wife, kisses the dog. Cromwell's perspective is askew from everyone else's. and it's that difference that results in much of the humor.
I will gladly reread this again in a couple of years. It brings me so much joy.
Told in the present tense, it feels as though you're right there with Cromwell as he tries to escape his father's next kick. The attention to detail - the knot in the twine of his father's boot ripping his forehead open - also brings every scene to life.
This obviously doesn't sound like the opening to a funny book, but the sardonic humor makes the corner of your mouth twitch in a smile, and it's so, so clever. There are secret nicknames that are both insulting and fitting - the Princess Mary is a shrimp. When Cromwell leaves home in the morning he pats his wife, kisses the dog. Cromwell's perspective is askew from everyone else's. and it's that difference that results in much of the humor.
I will gladly reread this again in a couple of years. It brings me so much joy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Grief, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Vomit, War, Child abuse, Infidelity, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, Bullying, Death, Gore, Infertility, Blood, Torture, and Violence
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, and Grief
Moderate: Child abuse, Blood, and Miscarriage
Minor: Infidelity and Rape
mmic's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
This is a gorgeously written historical novel that goes hard on the history.
The prose is phenomenonal. The only qualm I have with the language is the excessive use of "he." It's sometimes difficult to understand which "he" is being referred to.
Unfortunately (for me), there isn't much plot to speak of. Mantel faithfully (I assume, I'm not a historian so I can't say for certain) follows the life path of Thomas Cromwell. That doesn't leave room for the usual beats we except from fiction story and as a result this book feels more like a biography than a novel.
The lack of a plot made the story drag in places, though the nature of the historical events was enough to keep me engaged to the end.
If you like historical novels, especially if they go hard on the history, this is a must read.
If you're not too keen on biographies or history, probably give it a pass.
The prose is phenomenonal. The only qualm I have with the language is the excessive use of "he." It's sometimes difficult to understand which "he" is being referred to.
Unfortunately (for me), there isn't much plot to speak of. Mantel faithfully (I assume, I'm not a historian so I can't say for certain) follows the life path of Thomas Cromwell. That doesn't leave room for the usual beats we except from fiction story and as a result this book feels more like a biography than a novel.
The lack of a plot made the story drag in places, though the nature of the historical events was enough to keep me engaged to the end.
If you like historical novels, especially if they go hard on the history, this is a must read.
If you're not too keen on biographies or history, probably give it a pass.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse
Moderate: Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, and Physical abuse
ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
“If England lies under God’s curse, or some evil spell, it has seemed for a time that the spell has been broken, by the golden king and his golden cardinal. But those golden years are over, and this winter the sea will freeze; the people who see it will remember it all their lives.”
I was *so* surprised by this book. First of all I can’t believe I was even talked in to reading an enormous historical fiction novel about a white man set in Tudor England. 😅 Never something I would be interested in and yet everything I’d heard about this book from a lot of readers whose opinion I trust made me decide to give it a chance and wow am I so glad I did.
First of all, I have definitely found a new favorite author. The uniqueness of the writing style took me a minute to get into a good reading rhythm, but once I got the hang of it, I absolutely loved it. Mantel did an amazing job of having the reader see everything that was happening as though we were Cromwell ourselves. At times I felt the action of the story so viscerally I thought I could have been in the actual room where it was all taking place, watching every character and their mannerisms and the way they were dressed and hearing their speech and witnessing their subtle interactions with everyone around them, every detail accounted for. It was truly just brilliantly executed. Maybe even the best-written book I’ve ever read, tbh.
I was also very impressed with the very complex, human characters she created. No one was stereotypical or a cliche at all (which is my number one complaint about most historical fiction). And Mantel was not dealing with highly sympathetic figures at all and yet she was able to demonstrate their humanity in spite of both their situation and my preconceived notions of who they were as historical figures.
“Some of these things are true and some of them lies. But they are all good stories.”
I was also struck by her depiction of the stark contrast between the very fragile mortality and transience of life in early modern England and that society’s beliefs in the immortality of souls and personal legend. The speed at which the sweating sickness killed its victims, the constant threat of plague, war, and famine, were clouds that often seemed to blot out any hope of finding joy in such a world—and yet, life, at least somewhere and for some, went on anyway. All of this arranged alongside the whim of one man dictating everyone else’s lives—a man whose legend is most guaranteed to live on—created such an impossibly unstable house of cards you can’t see how anyone could possibly succeed in such a volatile situation. Which, spoiler alert—well nevermind. Wait until the sequels. 😁
This book also presented (imo) a slightly different image of England and English history than I was familiar with—a country and culture that I feel like I’ve always been given such a specific one-sided narrative about. There’s obviously *such* a huge difference between the extremely white-washed and even often sugar-coated “history textbook” narrative and the “reality” of history and since we are so often aggressively fed the former version, it is shocking sometimes to see an alternative proffered that makes the past seem not only more real, but more relatable, which is what I think Mantel accomplishes with this book.
I’m really looking forward to finishing this series (as soon as I can order the edition I want from the UK 😂) as well as exploring more of Mantel’s work.
“They could tell Boccaccio a tale, those sinners at Wolf Hall.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Grief, Physical abuse, and Torture
Minor: Incest, Infidelity, Medical content, and Miscarriage
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