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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
I found this book super interesting. I love the fact mixed with fiction aspect. After finishing the book I researched the queen and princes and was amazed at the story. I am left disappointed that we don't know more about the princes.
I finally got around to listening to the next audiobook in this series!
I enjoyed this one just as much as I enjoyed The Lady of the Rivers, and in a lot of ways I think this book was an improvement over the first book in the series. Philippa Gregory is not the best historical fiction writer I have read, but I think she does have a talent for bringing the time period and the historical figures to life in her stories. Once again I found myself being swept up in the story as I listened to this book. My main criticism of the first book was that Jacquetta Woodville was a bland protagonist. In this story her daughter Elizabeth Woodville was the protagonist and I found her to be a more compelling and self-possessed character and enjoyed her as the protagonist. (Oddly enough, Jacquetta Woodville was a prominent character in this book and I found that she was much more interesting and intriguing in this book than she was as the main character of her own book.) Magic played an even more prominent role in this story than it did in the first story - which is still something I would prefer that these books left out entirely - but at least in this installment the magical elements were better integrated into the plot so they were more tolerable to me.
I am reading these books via audiobook and I went through quite a bit of trouble trying to find an unabridged audiobook edition of this book from my library. After reading it, I can honestly see the appeal of an abridged version and I am normally someone who swears by unabridged books. I think this book was in desperate need of a better editor as there were parts that were unnecessarily repetitve. For example, it felt like we were told the story of Melusina the Water Goddess a hundred times in this book. It wasn't necessary to repeat the entire legend every time Gregory wanted to invoke the Melusina motif (which was often). Another example was in a part of the story when one character puts a curse on another. The step by-step-procedure of them setting the curse was repeated verbatim several times in a single chapter, and then repeated again in any subsequent chapters that mentioned the cursed character. It took was could have been a cool moment of magic usage and turned it into a chapter that was frankly annoying to listen to. I can only hope that the abridged versions of the book leave these repetitions out.
I absolutely loved the transition between the first book and this book; how the previous book ends on a scene from Jacquetta's perspective and this book begins in that exact same scene from Elizabeth's perspective. I found that to be very satisfying. However, I felt that the ending point of this book was not satisfying and that it apruptly ended at an awkward stopping point. I suppose I'll have to keep reading the series to see if Gregory finds a way to cleverly transition this ending into the start of the next story.
I enjoyed this one just as much as I enjoyed The Lady of the Rivers, and in a lot of ways I think this book was an improvement over the first book in the series. Philippa Gregory is not the best historical fiction writer I have read, but I think she does have a talent for bringing the time period and the historical figures to life in her stories. Once again I found myself being swept up in the story as I listened to this book. My main criticism of the first book was that Jacquetta Woodville was a bland protagonist. In this story her daughter Elizabeth Woodville was the protagonist and I found her to be a more compelling and self-possessed character and enjoyed her as the protagonist. (Oddly enough, Jacquetta Woodville was a prominent character in this book and I found that she was much more interesting and intriguing in this book than she was as the main character of her own book.) Magic played an even more prominent role in this story than it did in the first story - which is still something I would prefer that these books left out entirely - but at least in this installment the magical elements were better integrated into the plot so they were more tolerable to me.
I am reading these books via audiobook and I went through quite a bit of trouble trying to find an unabridged audiobook edition of this book from my library. After reading it, I can honestly see the appeal of an abridged version and I am normally someone who swears by unabridged books. I think this book was in desperate need of a better editor as there were parts that were unnecessarily repetitve. For example, it felt like we were told the story of Melusina the Water Goddess a hundred times in this book. It wasn't necessary to repeat the entire legend every time Gregory wanted to invoke the Melusina motif (which was often). Another example was in a part of the story when one character puts a curse on another. The step by-step-procedure of them setting the curse was repeated verbatim several times in a single chapter, and then repeated again in any subsequent chapters that mentioned the cursed character. It took was could have been a cool moment of magic usage and turned it into a chapter that was frankly annoying to listen to. I can only hope that the abridged versions of the book leave these repetitions out.
I absolutely loved the transition between the first book and this book; how the previous book ends on a scene from Jacquetta's perspective and this book begins in that exact same scene from Elizabeth's perspective. I found that to be very satisfying. However, I felt that the ending point of this book was not satisfying and that it apruptly ended at an awkward stopping point. I suppose I'll have to keep reading the series to see if Gregory finds a way to cleverly transition this ending into the start of the next story.
i mean, i had a blast reading this. i devoured this. i ate it up! but thats largely due to the engrossing story that history itself provided for the author- unfortunately, i had some significant issues with the writing and the execution of the book. Mainly, I felt that the simplistic writing, combined with the inconsistent time jumps resulted in a total lack of character development. even though one would think that the choice of 1st person narration would allow us to delve into elizabeths psyche more, we often get no information about how shes feeling about whats happening to her. there was almost a detached quality to the way that the events were being portrayed. There was also an egregious amount of telling instead of showing.
Nevertheless, even though I wasn’t impressed with the writing or structure of the book, I still appreciate the idea to tell history from the POV of the women who lived it. I also thought that the fantasy elements were weaved in naturally and fit the theme and tone of the novel well. This is definitely a nice starting point for anyone who wants an entertaining read and wants to familiarise themselves with this period of history. It should merely be a starting point for research though, as is the case with the vast majority of historical fiction.
Nevertheless, even though I wasn’t impressed with the writing or structure of the book, I still appreciate the idea to tell history from the POV of the women who lived it. I also thought that the fantasy elements were weaved in naturally and fit the theme and tone of the novel well. This is definitely a nice starting point for anyone who wants an entertaining read and wants to familiarise themselves with this period of history. It should merely be a starting point for research though, as is the case with the vast majority of historical fiction.
3.5 stars: I enjoy reading about the contention that was the cousin's war. People are so greedy and it shocks me what people were willing to do to gain power. Phillipa's writing style is kind of dry, but the story itself is intriguing and mysterious.
Very good storytelling, plot & characters. But sometimes it felt a bit stilted and stop-and-starty
This one is much better than The Lady of the Rivers. Although I didn't really like Elizabeth Woodville much, it was still very good. I was unaware of the War of the Roses (then known as the Cousins' War) and I found that very interesting too. Overall, a good read!
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I think this "descendant of Melusina" is rather stupid.