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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I felt the same about this one as I did about The of the Rivers. It was an enjoyable traipse through the War of Cousins from the perspective of the women involved and I will definitely be reading the next one. I liked that it seemed less redundant than the first as you don’t constantly have Margaret of Angou going to war and losing (again, an issue with history and not the author). I also really enjoyed the more in-depth magical aspects (creating storms, curses, etc.) of Elizabeth’s and Jacquetta’s family inherited powers. It gave the story a “witchy women getting revenge” vibe without being unbelievable in the historical setting. However, I will say Elizabeth really annoyed me and I liked Jaquettas POV much better — I felt she was a bit smarter and less rash than Elizabeth. I found myself agreeing with Elizabeth II that her mother, Elizabeth I, was mostly just power hungry instead of just leaving to make her family safe.
slow-paced
'All the York family are a bloodthirsty lot, born and raised on the battlefield.'
That quotation might lead you to believe that this will be a fun book, but it's actually very long and very dull. The biggest problem is the main character.
In this telling, Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort of Edward IV, dresses beautifully, sits in rooms doing embroidery, and waits for her husband to come back from war. (During the first half of The White Queen, there are an interminable number of scenes of the King saying 'Goodbye my love, I must go off to battle again.') Unfortunately, most of the time, Elizabeth is the point-of-view character. She doesn't experience anything interesting herself, so all the exciting events take place off-screen. She is so passive that Philippa Gregory has to bring in witchcraft in order for Elizabeth to have a glimmer of agency through casting spells.
When the author occasionally leaves Elizabeth and goes off with Edward, the novel comes alive: Gregory can write the hell out of a battle scene.
Elizabeth comes more into her own in the second half of the novel. She starts playing a more active role in shaping events. But now, the problem is that she's unlikeable. Her motivations are power, greed, spite and vengeance. (Again, this makes the novel sound more fun than it is. The pacing is super slow.)
In the last section, Gregory explores several possible explanations for the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, and once again this slows down the story terribly. She should have picked a theory that explains Elizabeth's very odd behaviour better than the others, and run with it. This is fiction, not a history book.
Ending the novel before the Battle of Bosworth is also a poor narrative choice. Of course it sets up the next book in the series, but it renders this first instalment incomplete and unsatisfying.
That quotation might lead you to believe that this will be a fun book, but it's actually very long and very dull. The biggest problem is the main character.
In this telling, Elizabeth Woodville, queen consort of Edward IV, dresses beautifully, sits in rooms doing embroidery, and waits for her husband to come back from war. (During the first half of The White Queen, there are an interminable number of scenes of the King saying 'Goodbye my love, I must go off to battle again.') Unfortunately, most of the time, Elizabeth is the point-of-view character. She doesn't experience anything interesting herself, so all the exciting events take place off-screen. She is so passive that Philippa Gregory has to bring in witchcraft in order for Elizabeth to have a glimmer of agency through casting spells.
When the author occasionally leaves Elizabeth and goes off with Edward, the novel comes alive: Gregory can write the hell out of a battle scene.
Elizabeth comes more into her own in the second half of the novel. She starts playing a more active role in shaping events. But now, the problem is that she's unlikeable. Her motivations are power, greed, spite and vengeance. (Again, this makes the novel sound more fun than it is. The pacing is super slow.)
In the last section, Gregory explores several possible explanations for the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower, and once again this slows down the story terribly. She should have picked a theory that explains Elizabeth's very odd behaviour better than the others, and run with it. This is fiction, not a history book.
Ending the novel before the Battle of Bosworth is also a poor narrative choice. Of course it sets up the next book in the series, but it renders this first instalment incomplete and unsatisfying.
dark
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked The Other Boleyn Girl better- this seemed to spend too much time on warring and mystical elements. But it was still a fun read.
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This book was about Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England and married to King Edward IV. Elisabeth believed she was descended from Melusina, a water goddess and occasionally used magic to help her husband's cause in battle. She represented the house of York, represented by the white rose. I liked Elizabeth much much more than Margaret Beaufort, Henry Tudor's mother and the subject of Gregory's other novel, The Red Queen. Elizabeth truly loved her children and the mistakes she made were made because she lived in a time of constant war and trusted no one.
It was a quick and entertaining read and I love reading history through the voice of the women present. What I especially like was reading about the same bit of history as described in The Red Queen, but from the opposing side.
It was a quick and entertaining read and I love reading history through the voice of the women present. What I especially like was reading about the same bit of history as described in The Red Queen, but from the opposing side.
I’ve read several of Philippa Gregory’s books about the Tudors. I saw this one at the library and thought I’d give this one a try.
The book is about Elizabeth Woodville, who married Edward IV, and is the mother of the Princes in the Tower. I liked the idea of the book a lot better than the actual book.
I didn’t like the parts about Melusina at all. It was mentioned a lot, and I got really tired of all the references to the water and witchcraft. It was interesting the first couple times, but after that, I wish she had been more subtle- or even left it out completely, because it didn’t really add anything to the plot, or helped move it along in any way. It didn’t bother me, and I would have enjoyed it if it weren’t so darned repetitive.
It started off interesting, but then went downhill from there. I was bored reading it, and had to force myself to finish it, which is really rare for me. Part of it was the writing, which was worse than the writing in her Tudor series. At times, I couldn’t believe that it was the same author who wrote The Other Boleyn Girl.
The story didn’t seem coherent, the 1st person narrative didn’t work for the story very well, and the characters weren’t likeable. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s a library book, I would have thrown it at a wall or something. And it wasn’t just the Melusina bit that was repetitive. Overall, several things were mentioned so many times that it was like she used the same few pages and wrote it in as many different ways as humanly possible. One other example would be Elizabeth’s need for vengeance. I get that there were several people she didn’t like, but her constant need for vengeance and revenge made her seem like she didn’t care about anything else. And when you add that to the fact that she constantly tried to further her family above everyone else made her seem selfish and greedy. I get it to a certain extent, because it seems like that’s what people did back then, but Gregory took it to a completely different level.
The author’s note at the end is a completely different story. Since I’m so annoyed with it, it’ll probably end up as a blog post, because I have quite a few criticisms of it.
Rating: 2 out of 5 because I liked the plot and thought it could have been better with a little more editing.
The book is about Elizabeth Woodville, who married Edward IV, and is the mother of the Princes in the Tower. I liked the idea of the book a lot better than the actual book.
I didn’t like the parts about Melusina at all. It was mentioned a lot, and I got really tired of all the references to the water and witchcraft. It was interesting the first couple times, but after that, I wish she had been more subtle- or even left it out completely, because it didn’t really add anything to the plot, or helped move it along in any way. It didn’t bother me, and I would have enjoyed it if it weren’t so darned repetitive.
It started off interesting, but then went downhill from there. I was bored reading it, and had to force myself to finish it, which is really rare for me. Part of it was the writing, which was worse than the writing in her Tudor series. At times, I couldn’t believe that it was the same author who wrote The Other Boleyn Girl.
The story didn’t seem coherent, the 1st person narrative didn’t work for the story very well, and the characters weren’t likeable. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s a library book, I would have thrown it at a wall or something. And it wasn’t just the Melusina bit that was repetitive. Overall, several things were mentioned so many times that it was like she used the same few pages and wrote it in as many different ways as humanly possible. One other example would be Elizabeth’s need for vengeance. I get that there were several people she didn’t like, but her constant need for vengeance and revenge made her seem like she didn’t care about anything else. And when you add that to the fact that she constantly tried to further her family above everyone else made her seem selfish and greedy. I get it to a certain extent, because it seems like that’s what people did back then, but Gregory took it to a completely different level.
The author’s note at the end is a completely different story. Since I’m so annoyed with it, it’ll probably end up as a blog post, because I have quite a few criticisms of it.
Rating: 2 out of 5 because I liked the plot and thought it could have been better with a little more editing.
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated