A review by bohemienne
The Red Queen's Daughter by Jacqueline Kolosov

3.0

THE RED QUEEN'S DAUGHTER was a satisfying enough blend of history, fantasy, romance, and intrigue, though light on all counts. The fictional projection of Mary Seymour is strong-willed, and seeing Elizabeth I's court through her eyes was the real treat of this book. The story simultaneously dispelled our magical notions of the romantic renaissance with details of how the body odor of hundreds of people stank up the palace so bad they had to rotate palaces, and yet still showed us the glamorous, aristocratic life of bygone days. The magical system was interesting, but the spells were infrequent and seemed way too situational to be of any real use. Edmund was the most interesting character, and the denouement offered more interesting continuation of the tale than what was explicated in the book--I think I'd more enjoy a view of the black magicians' side of life in this historical fantasy.