Reviews - The Pretender | The StoryGraph

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346 reviews for:

The Pretender

Jo Harkin

4.15 AVERAGE

leibei10110's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous emotional funny sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

lamergirl's review against another edition

4.0

emotional funny tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Joan deserved better! 💔 A bit too long, second half slows considerably. But my love of John/Lambert kept me going.

planetschmanet's review against another edition

4.75

emotional funny informative sad 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: N/A

jaymeee's review

2.75

dark slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

xosammibeth's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous emotional sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

shepsterminator's review against another edition

4.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

abbottrabbit's review against another edition

5.0

An inspired imagined biography of Lambert Simnel, one of the Yorkist “pretenders” (scare quotes because who knows?) during the reign of Henry VII. Harkin creates a plausible backstory for the historical Simnel — one which conveniently never fully affirms or refutes his claim to the throne — and invents a life story for him that doubles as a reflection on the nature of identity.

I … love this book.

Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy, and to Jo Harkin for the world that unfolds in it.