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A review by alceria
The White Queen by Philippa Gregory
2.0
I decided to read this book after watching most of the tv miniseries on Starz. While there's a lot of fictional elements thrown in, I enjoyed the tv series. The costumes and the hairstyles alone are worth watching the series for. Overall, I was not as entranced by the book. The writing is dull and boring. The characters all feel cold and distant, and not very likable. I usually have a hard time putting a book down once I get sucked in, but this book had no grip on me whatsoever. I just kind of felt like I had to plug along and finish it.
One of the most disappointing aspects is that the book is obviously set in 1450's England and there's virtually no description of what daily life was like in that period. I think that's part of the reason it's hard to loose yourself in the narrative. It reads like a dry history book, only with a lot of fiction thrown in. The author should have used her license as a writer of historical fiction to add some humanizing scenes to make her audience care about the characters. The tv series is more successful at this just in little in-between scenes where you can see the affection between characters or the lack there of.
I'm kind of confused about the two novels that follow this one. My understanding is that the tv series incorporated The White Queen, The Red Queen, and The Kingmaker's Daughter, but the end of this book coincides with the end of the series. Are the other two books just re-tellings of the exact same span of years from other perspectives? I can't imagine the other two books being any more interesting after slogging through this one.
One of the most disappointing aspects is that the book is obviously set in 1450's England and there's virtually no description of what daily life was like in that period. I think that's part of the reason it's hard to loose yourself in the narrative. It reads like a dry history book, only with a lot of fiction thrown in. The author should have used her license as a writer of historical fiction to add some humanizing scenes to make her audience care about the characters. The tv series is more successful at this just in little in-between scenes where you can see the affection between characters or the lack there of.
I'm kind of confused about the two novels that follow this one. My understanding is that the tv series incorporated The White Queen, The Red Queen, and The Kingmaker's Daughter, but the end of this book coincides with the end of the series. Are the other two books just re-tellings of the exact same span of years from other perspectives? I can't imagine the other two books being any more interesting after slogging through this one.