Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by sage01
The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory
3.0
This was an engaging and fairly well-balanced read. I get bored by courtly intrigue and don't really have much patience for historical romances, but I liked the main character a lot. I would've preferred a bit more historical detail and a more vividly drawn setting -- since most of the point of historical fiction is to show the historical setting.
I did also like Mary as an interesting and fallible unreliable narrator. I also liked how understandably fearful and confused her reactions to her brother falling in love with a man were. It felt as complicated as it should be.
I knew the basics of Boleyn story before I started reading, and the deviations from the textbook version were a little jarring (and the foreshadowing of the end a bit heavy-handed). I wish I were more sure of the historical accuracy of the novel -- wondering about it distracted me (quite a lot) from the reading experience.
I did also like Mary as an interesting and fallible unreliable narrator. I also liked how understandably fearful and confused her reactions to her brother falling in love with a man were. It felt as complicated as it should be.
I knew the basics of Boleyn story before I started reading, and the deviations from the textbook version were a little jarring (and the foreshadowing of the end a bit heavy-handed). I wish I were more sure of the historical accuracy of the novel -- wondering about it distracted me (quite a lot) from the reading experience.