charlottereadshistory's reviews
353 reviews

Hera by Jennifer Saint

adventurous challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 I loved this raw retelling of Hera’s story. Queen of the gods, vengeful stepmother and spiteful wife - but also so much more. This is very much an ‘origin story’ as we learn more about Hera’s ‘childhood’ as much as any god has one, but also those defining moments in her life that seek to explain (rather than condone) her behaviour. 

In Greek mythology Hera is often vilified due to her jealousy and vindictiveness towards Zeus’s mistresses/victims and their children, who bear the brunt of her anger rather than Zeus himself. 

Hera’s tale seems to be a reaction to injustice after injustice piled upon her – as the daughter of Cronus and Zeus’s sister she is a hugely powerful goddess, but when the Olympian gods defeat the Titans and set up their home on Olympus, Zeus claims primacy and Hera is passed over when the other gods and goddesses are given their thrones and their realms of influence. 

Note before we continue: This book and therefore the review contains trigger warnings of rape & sexism/misogyny. 

On top of Hera’s ill treatment as a member of Olympus, Zeus forces Hera to become his wife and rapes her. Her inner pain at being betrayed and violated in this way is then compounded with the humiliation of being made goddess of marriage by Zeus whilst he constantly undermines her by forsaking his vows and creating a myriad of offspring (usually by force). 

I thought this story was a thoughtful retelling of Hera’s life, as well as being a scathing look at the patriarchy and the different ways that anger and grief can show themselves. I must also mention the hot of side characters which could have gotten confusing, but Saint’s careful character and world building meant even myself as someone fairly new to Greek mythology was fine, and learnt so much context that will bring new insights to new stories I read in the future. 

Thank you to Headline for gifting me an advanced copy of this book in return for an honest review. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Rape, and Violence

The History Lessons by Shalina Patel

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

 

The History Lessons by Shalina Patel is a whistlestop tour of history in bite-size chunks, but with an overarching theme of reclaiming untold stories and voices beyond the usual narratives. 

Patel whisks us through ancient to modern British history, adding extra context exploring the rest of the world, and with a specific emphasis on shining a light on the lives and contributions of diverse people throughout time. We learn about real people like Licoricia of Winchester, an anglo-Jewish, highly educated woman in medieval England who was imprisoned in the tower of London, or Sophia Dulip Singh, Indian princess and goddaughter to Queen Victoria, who also happened to be a prominent suffragette who put herself in harm’s way to protect other women.  

No history book can be all encompassing, and I enjoyed the premise of learning more about those topics that would have been touched on in school, and those that weren’t but should have been, like the impact of empire, the forgotten allies of WWI and WWII and the British civil rights movement. The ability to revisit something we know a little about, and have our understanding broadened to include those who are often written out of history was really appealing to me. 

I think one of the best things about this book is the storytelling. Overviews of vast swathes of history tend to focus on dry headline facts, but Patel weaves the personal into every topic – focusing on small details as well as large events, understanding that so many different people’s contributions helped shape the world we live in today. What stayed with me was how cavalier leaders of Britain have often been with the lives of others – structural racism on the grandest scale – and how brave and tireless and pivotal so many people have been in the face of that oppression to make change for the better. 

The History Lessons is out now – thank you so much to Icon Books for gifting me a copy in return for an honest review. 

Ne'er Duke Well by Alexandra Vasti

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am a big fan of Alexandra Vasti’s writing and there is no exception needed for her first full-length novel. 

Vasti’s passion and care for the historical romance genre shines through in this book set in the Regency era. 

Lady Selina is determined to find the newly inherited Duke of Stanhope a wife so that he is more likely to obtain guardianship of his younger half-siblings. The problems begin when she starts to realise that she might want to marry him instead! 

I really enjoyed the exploration of the importance of both found and blood family in this book. The Ravenscroft’s fierce loyalty to each other was so satisfying, and I loved how determined Peter and Selina were to rescue his chaotic yet vulnerable siblings. 

Selina Ravenscroft’s character was developed and interesting - she was independent and clever but also stubborn and prone to catastrophising. I loved the proud feminist thread throughout the book and the side-plot of the Venus lending library. 

I really enjoyed that the two protagonists needed the best of each other to solve their problems - there was no shining knight because it was the love and support of friends and family that saved the day. 

I would say that the host of supporting characters are screaming out to be main protagonists in their own books within a series so fingers crossed there! 

The Tower by Flora Carr

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Visceral, compelling and claustrophobic - I loved this novel based on Mary Queen of Scot’s imprisonment in Lochleven Castle. 

Carr’s talent in this novel is how vividly and intensely described Mary’s confinement was, supported by her two maids and eventually her companion Lady Seton. I found myself so easily able to immerse myself in the intensity of feeling and the smells, sounds and experiences of the women forced to spend every waking moment in such close quarters. 

Instead of being a straight-up, plot-driven historical fiction, this novel explores the interiority, relationships and power dynamics of the characters through prose that almost reads like stream of consciousness. 

It makes perfect sense to me that the characters would turned inward to process their captivity and to cope day to day, and how they use their past experiences and each other to find the resilience and determination to survive. 

I’d thoroughly recommend this book to anyone with a passing interest in Mary Queen of Scots who is ready for a different, immersive dive into such an interesting time in her life. 

Mask of Duplicity by Julia Brannan

adventurous emotional lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I had downloaded Mask of Duplicity during a trial of Kindle Unlimited and then totally forgotten about it for about a year, but I’m really glad I revisited it in my library. 

Mask of Duplicity is a fast-paced novel set in the run up to the Jacobite rising - and is one of six books in the series. Diana Gabaldon herself lends praise to the book but I found so far the parallels to the Outlander series are mostly just the setting. 

The book from its cover looks like a stereotypical historical romance but there’s definitely more to it as readers will not get their ‘happy ever after’ so soon in a six book series. Brannan takes care with the historical setting, the political intrigue between the Royalists and the Jacobites as well as familial struggles between Beth and her half-brother Richard, who is a satisfyingly awful baddie. 

The storyline has echoes of the Scarlet Pimpernel - given the name of the book this would hardly be surprising to most readers however I must have been feeling particularly dense that week as I was totally taken in and wasn’t expecting the twist for most of the book! 

I must point out a content warning of a one-off SA that was graphic. 

Brannan is not creating new ground with this book, but it’s a ripping yarn told well and I whizzed through it happily and bought the second book straight away as I had to know what happened next. If you are a Kindle Unlimited user, I am pretty sure the whole series is included

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

The Time Traveller's Guide to Regency Britain by Ian Mortimer

adventurous emotional funny informative medium-paced

5.0

I absolutely love Ian Mortimer’s Time Traveller’s Guides. I already owned his Medieval and Elizabethan guides and had read them several times, so when I spotted the Regency version in a bookshop recently I couldn’t resist!

It’s the minutiae of everyday life that has always fascinated me about the past - comparing the current day with how other, ordinary people went about their lives. This is Mortimer’s specialty - the book is an immersive, whirlwind tour of everything you could possibly think of if you were to find yourself plonked into the Regency period. 

As Mortimer says himself:

“The soul of history does not lie in separating the past and the present and examining the former in isolation, as if it were the fossil record of an extinct species, but in connecting the two and discovering they are equally full of life.”

If you’re interested in learning more about the real lives behind the characters of Austen or Bridgerton, this Guide would be a fabulous place to start. I’d recommend the paperback version for the beautiful illustrations that really add to Mortimer’s descriptions of fashion, industry and even bookshops!

Queen of None by Natania Barron

adventurous challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was intrigued by this re-release of a story from the world of Arthurian legend, focusing on the less written sister of Arthur, Anna. 

When she was born, Merlin prophesied she would be forgotten about, and when Arthur marries her off to the much older Lot of Orkney, it seems to have already come true. 

The plot thickens when she finally returns to court, hoping to be with her childhood sweetheart when Arthur (under Merlin’s influence) marries her off again, this time to the mysterious knight Lanceloch. 

Barron perfectly highlights how women’s agency was often stifled in the medieval period, but women’s magic was a powerful force to be reckoned with, especially when women could work together. Various women characters in Carelon utilise magic to try and divert their destinies and fight back against Merlin, including Anna. 

As I don’t have a huge amount of Arthurian knowledge, a few scenes slipped past me without a lot of context - two babies got swapped at birth without resolution and an eminent lady of the court disappears without explanation - I don’t know if that’s because a certain amount of knowledge if the myths is assumed, or their stories will get picked up in the remaining two books of the trilogy.  

Throughout the book I really felt for Anna - her struggle with her prophecy became self fulfilling and she failed to see her own importance to those who cared about her, a flaw that clearly impacted her children and the course of history as she almost lost her sense of self. I’d definitely be interested to see how the story unfolds! 

Thank you to Rebellion Publishing and the author for an advanced reader copy of this book in return for an honest review. 

The Ladies Rewrite the Rules by Suzanne Allain

hopeful lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I was looking forward to reading this book as I’d read and enjoyed Mr Malcom’s List, also by Allain. The story follows Diana Boyle, a wealthy young widow who is enraged to find herself listed in a directory of rich eligible women. Diana decides to take matters into her own hands with the help of other women who also made the Bachelor’s Directory. 

The book was a fun and charming closed door Regency romance. I liked that it was set outside of the inner circle of the Ton, and I enjoyed the themes of supportive friendship and found family, as well as lots of jabs at the patriarchal shackles that constricted women and men of the period. 

I enjoyed the enemy to lovers trope of the main characters and the turnaround of character of the worrisome love interest is believable and wholesome. The second chance romance of another of the characters is also very sweet. 

I read this in between other books that were much heavier going and it was light, swoony and good fun. 

The Emperor's Babe by Bernardine Evaristo

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 Zuleika is a restless teenage bride of a rich, much older Roman businessman in 3rd century Londinium who is left in neglectful luxury as he travels the empire, until one day the Roman Emperor Severus visits Londinium and she catches his eye.

This was such a find of a book. I had never read a book written in verse before, and I was lucky enough to listen to the audiobook narrated by Sheila Atim. It was a treat for the ears and the energy and lyricality of the novel really created almost a neon-vibrancy of the characters. Zu is 17, her friend Alba is a similar age and their mutual friend Venus is a non-binary bar & brothel owner and I really enjoyed the mix of London slang mixed with Latin as it suited them all so well.

I also loved the depictions of the class system, sexuality, the complexity of women’s friendship and the history of Black women and their experiences. This book is a daring, fun, tragic whirlwind and the complete opposite of your usual academic historical fiction. 

The Nightingale's Castle: A Novel of Erzabeth Báthory by Sonia Velton

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The story tells the early seventeenth century tale of Hungarian Countess Erzsébet Báthory, the infamous "Blood Countess" who according to legend killed hundreds of her young female servants. 

The story is retold and explored from the viewpoint of the Countess herself and several of her servants, and offers a different explanation of the myths that have been told for hundreds of years. 

Velton spins several threads of the story to start with, the transitions of which could be a little confusing - I found myself wondering what was going on a few times, but it was satisfying when those threads were all brought together.

I enjoyed the omniscient narration and the ability to hear the thoughts and feelings of so many of the women involved, especially exploring the complexities and actions of broken people who had suffered trauma and pain in their pasts. I especially enjoyed the explorations of power in a patriarchal society and how women were used and abused by this imbalance across society and across generations. 

A content warning - I didn’t know about the Blood Countess beforehand so went into the story blind - it is gruesome! There is death, torture and cruelty. I am squeamish and easily scared so keep that in mind if you are too. If you love horror and dark, gothic themes I am sure you’ll love the growing tension and macabre scenes. It will certainly keep you turning the pages to find out what happens!

Thank you to the publishers and the author for this advanced reader copy in return for my honest review - all opinions are my own. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Torture