This time around in my reading of The Royal Diaries series (one of my absolute favourite childhood series, though I never managed to read ALL of them This time around in my reading of The Royal Diaries series (one of my absolute favourite childhood series, though I never managed to read ALL of them when I was a kid), the focus is on Queen Victoria from England. I am really interested in Queen Victoria, but it’s hard to find historical fiction on her (I only know of two novels that are about Queen Victoria, including this one). There are lots of books that take place in the Victorian Era, but very few where Queen Victoria is the main character … sad!
This book is about Victoria when she was 9 to 10 years old. The book centers around her childhood and her relationships to the various people in her lives. In particular, she is fond of the king of her time, George IV, who she calls Uncle King. She doesn’t have the strongest relationship with her mother, but does love her; unfortunately she is under the influence of John Conroy, her mother’s comptroller, who also is hoping to rule over Victoria (through her mother). For unbeknownst to Victoria, Uncle King’s heir (his brother) is most likely unable to have children with his wife, making Victoria, their niece, very likely to become Queen of England one day.
One thing that stood out to me in this Royal Diaries installment is that the writing actually feels more authentic to its time period than others. I mean, I understand some of the Royal Diaries are going to have a difficult time making the writing seem authentic to the time period when the princess writing it isn’t even supposed to know English. But some of the other Royal Diaries do take place in European countries and none of them had writing that felt as “real” as this one.
Like most of the other Royal Diaries books, this book is also mainly concerned with the day to day life of little Victoria in 1800′s England. Maybe that would be more interesting to a child reading this book (which I realize is its intended age group); I thought it was just okay. I wouldn’t say I’m really knowledgeable in what life was like in 1800′s England, but I probably know more than a child reading this book, so probably the educational portion of this novel would be much more fascinating to a kid. This book has not much action, I’m afraid. Towards the end, it gets a little more exciting (though I use that word in the relative sense) when Victoria begins to piece together how the inheritance of the throne of England is going … and her shock when she realizes it could be her, though she tries to brush it off at first.
All in all, it was a solid read with both pros and cons. I’m just glad to read something on Queen Victoria, there should be more his-fics on her life!...more
For whatever reason, I have been coming across Neil Gaiman’s name a lot lately (probably read it in some articles dealing with Hachette and Amazon or For whatever reason, I have been coming across Neil Gaiman’s name a lot lately (probably read it in some articles dealing with Hachette and Amazon or whatever). When I saw this book at the bookstore, I recognized his name. It sounded like a fantasy-esque novel and I’m a big fan of fantasy … so that’s how I ended up reading this book.
As someone who has never read a Neil Gaiman book in my life, let me just say this wasn’t fantasy — well, not really. Definitely magical though. It’s kind of hard to describe the story. Okay, I admit, it’s sort of fantasy, but not it is also definitely not your usual flavor of fantasy. The story reminds me a lot of something that Studio Ghibli would create (Studio Ghibli is a Japanese animation studio that created such classics as My Neighbour Totoro, Spirited Away and Howl’s Moving Castle). If you’ve ever watched a Studio Ghibli film, then you’ll probably understand what I mean when I say the fantasy in this novel is a lot like a childhood story that is “darker” somehow, and very dream like, like you’re not sure where the line between real and not-real is.
The story centers around a nameless seven year old boy. The time is the 1970′s (I think). The boy lives with his mom, his dad and his sister, in a large house that is sometimes rented out to passersby and other miscellaneous people. The boy has no real friends and spends much of his time engrossed reading books. One day, he makes friends with an 11 year old girl named Lettie Hempstock who lives at the farmhouse at the end of the lane. She says she’s 11 but shies away from answering the boy’s question of how long she has been 11. Lettie also insists the pond at their farmhouse is an ocean, and that she and her mother and grandmother sailed across this ocean from the old country to where they are now a long, long time ago. So, some things are already not what they seem to be.
Some strange things and dreams have been happening to the boy and Lettie lets him know she knows what is happening. She takes him across the farm to what seems to be a completely different world. There, they encounter (in the boy’s opinion) some frightening things. During their trip, the boy lets go of Lettie’s hand, which she explicitly told him not to do. When the boy returns home, back in his own world, his mother introduces him to the new babysitter/nanny, and the boy knows that there is something terribly off about this woman, something scary and demon-like about her. The rest of the story primarily dealt with banishing this babysitter/nanny, back to where she came from.
I know I just made it seem like the plot is crystal clear, but believe me when I say the story isn’t that clear-cut and there aren’t straight forward motives. I admit, sometimes I got confused with what was going on, especially since there is such a dream-like quality with this story. However, I found myself rather enjoying this book despite that, staying up till the wee hours of the day to read just one more chapter. I think what I liked about this book is one of the messages of the story, which was packaged together nicely in a quote that I can’t find right now, but basically, that there is really no difference between adults and children. Adults may act like they are in control all the time and know what they’re doing, but inside, they are the same as they always have been, the same as when they were children. And it made me miss being a child.
Another great quote I fell in love with was, “Did I pass?” …. “You don’t pass or fail at being a person, dear.” Like every person on the planet, we have all had our own difficulties and challenges to embrace while growing up, transitioning from child to ‘adult’, and this quote made me feel … relieved. Like, despite it all, no one can truly judge you and decide your worthiness as a person.
My only ‘complaint’ about this novel was that it was so short, and yet the hardcover price is ridiculously high. I mean, I know hardcover books are expensive but come on, this book doesn’t even break 200 pages and yet costs just as much as my hardcover books that are 300-400 pages. (No, this is not the reason why I am giving this 4/5 stars). Anyway, I’m interested in reading more of Neil Gaiman’s books in the future. I didn’t realize he wrote Stardust and Coraline (which are movies, I believe?) so maybe I will start with those, who knows?...more
Ahh, so this is actually my very first Nicholas Sparks novel. I’ve never read any of his books before this, never even seen any of the movies his bookAhh, so this is actually my very first Nicholas Sparks novel. I’ve never read any of his books before this, never even seen any of the movies his books got turned into (yes, I know, this means I never watched The Notebook before …!) The reason I picked this novel up was because I won a contest at Chapters a long time ago (maybe last year?) The prize was a bag full of merchandise, so I got tea, a mug, candles, a throw blanket … and this one hardcover book, which was a signed copy of The Longest Ride. I was pretty excited that it was autographed, even though I never read his books before, haha.
Anyway, The Longest Ride actually consists of two stories that will overlap at the end of the novel. The first story is about 91 year old Ira Levinson, a war veteran whose wife, Ruth, died 9 years ago. He ends up driving his car into a ditch and is stuck there for several days. Until rescue arrives, he hallucinates seeing his beloved wife, Ruth, in the seat next to him. The vision of Ruth reminisces about their life together, in order to help keep Ira awake and alert.
The second story is about Sophia and Luke, two young 20-somethings in a small town. Sophia is a college student studying art history, who recently broke things off with her three-time cheating boyfriend Brian. Luke is a professional bull rider and helps run and maintains his family ranch nearby. The two meet by chance at a country-themed party, and begin to fall in love with one another.
This was a sweet story and I enjoyed reading this book. I found Ira and Ruth’s love story more romantic than Sophia and Luke’s, but maybe that’s just because there’s something charming about finding love in the 1930′s, compared to the present day story of Sophia and Luke. When it comes to the two couples, I found it easier to immerse myself and believe that Ira and Ruth were very much in love. The hardships they experienced like getting permission from each other’s parents to date, the world wars, infertility, etc. all made their relationship seem so romantic. With Sophia and Luke, I had a slightly harder time, maybe because of stereotypes or something. You know, beautiful college girl meets drop-dead-gorgeous cowboy at a raving party and they fall in love … I guess it just didn’t start off very romantic, at least to me.
Funny enough, even though I think Ira and Ruth’s relationship was the more genuine of the two, I like Sophia and Luke’s story better, for some reason. It was the story that took up more parts of the novel, for one. Sometimes, I wished this novel focused solely on Sophia and Luke instead of bouncing back and forth between the two narratives. Sophia and Luke’s relationship may have some stereotypical stuff happening in it that kind of made me groan (the vengeful ex-boyfriend, the perky best friend sidekick, Sophia never really fitting in at her school, you know, things like that), but it was actually a sweet relationship. Romantic? That’s a strong word for them, and one I’d reserve for Ira and Ruth, but sweet? It definitely was.
My only major complaint is the tie bringing the two stories together was kind of weak and didn’t happen until the very end of the novel. This is another reason why I would have liked it if the book just focused on Sophia and Luke.
The novel, overall, was charming pleasant to read. It was no roller-coaster ride, but it was like taking a nice drive around the countryside. Relaxing and satisfying at the end....more
(Rated 3.5 stars on my blog, decided to round up, rather than down, for Goodreads).
I’ve been seeing this book in a lot of shops lately and decided to (Rated 3.5 stars on my blog, decided to round up, rather than down, for Goodreads).
I’ve been seeing this book in a lot of shops lately and decided to pick it up as it piqued my interest (what with my never ending fascination with royalty and all — and look, the word king is right in the title!). I didn’t know much when I dove in. What I did know about this book: I knew the author also wrote The 100 Year Old Man Who Climbed Out Of The Window And Disappeared, though I have not read that book yet; I knew the book was originally published in Swedish; and I knew the book had a South African girl as the main character. Oh, and based on the title, that said girl was probably going to somehow save the King of Sweden.
This book is a comedy that is mainly about the life of one young girl named Nombeko and how she becomes mixed up with international politics despite being of very low birth. She starts off with not much in the beginning of her life, having been born to a poor family in a shack in South Africa, during the apartheid time period. Nombeko works at the sanitization department for the City of Johannesburg, basically dealing with people’s shit, literally. Cleverly, Nombeko manages to become the boss of said department at the mere age of 14, as well as secretly obtain a fortune in diamonds. Unfortunately, she gets hit by a car, gets sued and winds up working as a cleaning lady for an incredibly lazy and stupid engineer.
From there, Nombeko’s life takes all sorts of twists and turns that I won’t delve too much into because that will just spoil the fun of the story, and she eventually winds up stuck with an atomic bomb in Sweden. Now she, and her new friends (though ‘friends’ is a term being used loosely here, haha) are desperately trying to contact either the Prime Minister of Sweden or the King of Sweden to let them know that, uh, hey, your nuclear-weapon-free country isn’t so nuclear-weapon-free, actually.
When I started this book, I really loved it. I didn’t know it was a humorous book, and it was actually a pleasant surprise after reading so many serious stories. The entire story is kind of like watching an old school cartoon show on television. A lot of improbable events and situations happen, some are downright silly, and the characters are one dimensional as well — which I think is absolutely fine in a comical story such as this. They were memorable and hilarious characters.
I went along for a fast paced and ridiculously fun ride, and before I was even at the halfway point of the book, I was already recommending this novel to my sisters to read. Sadly, around the halfway point was where my feelings towards the book started to change a little bit.
The fast paced plot slowed down — a lot. There were several years in the story’s timeline where Nombeko basically did nothing. She settled down for a while, so to speak, and the story really felt like it was paused or put on hold. As I kept reading, the plot just seemed to drag on and on. I found myself wondering when Nombeko is actually going to do something about that damn atomic bomb to move the story forward.
And you know the whole thing about the girl saving the king of Sweden? That was such a small, tiny part of the story. And I feel as if the title should have been The Girl Who Saved The King and Prime Minister of Sweden, really. Actually, the original Swedish title makes more sense to me — The Illiterate Who Could Count (or translated to something along those lines). Because this book is really about Nombeko’s life, and less so about that small part where she meets the Swedish king.
I still think this book is hilarious till the end, even though the plot kind of got lost or something after a while. Overall, I had a good time reading it and it’s a memorable, farfetched, silly, fun story. I would still recommend it, despite my lack of enthusiasm for the pacing of the latter half of the novel, and I think I have become very interested in this author’s works....more
The Enchanted is about a prison. You’re never too sure about the exact time or place this prison is located in, but it’s clear that it is a rundown anThe Enchanted is about a prison. You’re never too sure about the exact time or place this prison is located in, but it’s clear that it is a rundown and old prison, the kind that’s still using old fashioned keys and locks rather than electronic swipe cards. Our narrator, an inmate, calls this prison an enchanted place.
However, it’s clear that this prison is anything but enchanting, in the traditional sense of the word. This prison is full of tortured souls, and it’s not just the prisoners. We have a woman known as The Lady who is an investigator for attorneys in trying to get men who are sentenced to die off death row. We have a priest who feels he has fallen and cannot help himself, much less these helpless prisoners. We have York, a man who is eagerly awaiting for his death day and does not want The Lady to save his life. And we also have the narrator, who is unnamed until the end of the book.
This book is written beautifully and the entire time I am reading it, I can’t help but feel that this book, this story, is like a poem. However, with the ambiguity of where this prison is located, or what year we are in, and even most of the characters’ names, I felt like an observer of the story; I never really felt like I was IN the story because of this. It was as if I was offered to look at a new world, but was not invited to come in.
This book emphasizes how the prison tortures and corrupts the souls of everyone involved, not just the prisoners, but the priest, the warden, the lady, the guards, etc. The book makes you feel very sad, as you only ever get to know the sad things about all the characters. It certainly sets a grim mood and atmosphere for the book, and it does a very good job of it. At the same time, I just felt so distant from the characters, like I could never connect with them and their eternal sadness.
Perhaps my feeling of distance from the story and the characters is intended. But that seems less pleasurable of a read to me.
I had trouble understanding some of the more “magical” elements of this book. I was not sure if the narrator hallucinates or what, with the description of little men in the walls and golden horses running underground through the prison. I thought it was him just imagining these things, but later, it became apparent to me that the golden horses, at least, really do have an effect on the prison. I thought maybe the golden horses running underground means earthquake … ? I don’t know. These magical elements really threw me off, to be honest.
I think this book is beautifully written and it reads like a tragic poem (I mean that in a good way!) The grim atmosphere in the book is artfully created. Most people on Goodreads seem to really love this book, but I guess it just wasn’t for me. I really did want to like it, but I just couldn’t feel connected....more
I purchased this book out of spontaneity, as it was on sale at Wal Mart; as well, the adorable Golden Retriever on the cover caught my attention. The I purchased this book out of spontaneity, as it was on sale at Wal Mart; as well, the adorable Golden Retriever on the cover caught my attention. The synopsis on the back cover also sounded like something I would be interested in reading. Sad to say, but this was a regretful purchase. It was underwhelming, and the story felt like it lacked heart.
The book is about a woman named Lila Elliot, an aspiring artist who works an ordinary office job. One day, at work, an ex-colleague came in and shoots up the place, killing some and injuring many. Lila is one such injured victim. Her best friend Cristina takes Lila in at her home to take care of her after the incident, at the same time she is fostering a previously abused dog, a Golden Retriever, named Grace. Lila hates dogs but puts up with Grace to be thankful for Cristina’s generosity and care.
Not too long afterwards, Cristina has to leave with her husband and children for six months (for a business trip of her husband’s). She asks Lila to continue staying at her home, rent-free, and insisting she pick up her artistry again. Her only request is that Lila also take care of Grace, with her ulterior motive being that maybe Lila will like Grace and adopt her. Lila is extremely hesitant to do this, but in the end agrees. Over time, Lila and Grace bond, helping one another let go of their respective pasts and moving forward in life.
Having finished this book in its entirety, my first feeling was one of relief — that this book is over. It just … wasn’t very good. My biggest complaint is the character of Lila. There was absolutely nothing to like about Lila, and she was kind of creepy as well. I get it, she was a victim and was suffering from some undiagnosed PTSD, but the way she was written just made me want to shake her shoulders and tell her to, “Let it go!!!” Examples: she began to make wide sweeping generalizations about men being evil, she began to stalk the family members of her shooter to find “closure”, she moaned and complained at home about being helpless to do anything, she was rude and mean to the people who wanted to help her … and more. What’s more, a big part of the book was centered on Lila finding closure with the shooting. Yet, in the end, she anti-climatically decides that, whatever, he was just a psycho.
Her relationship with Grace, the Golden Retriever, was eye roll worthy. First of all, it was established that Lila hates dogs (due to her idiocy in childhood of approaching a stray dog that ended up biting her hand, but she’s convinced herself that all dogs are just people killers now, whatever). So, her best friend Cristina thinks it’s a good idea to have Lila, who is in recovery and can barely care for herself, take care of a dog, alone, while she is away …? That was the first thing that made me questioned the common sense of all these characters. So naturally, Lila hates Grace the whole time, thinking Grace is going to chew her up to bits, even though Grace has done NOTHING to make her think she is aggressive. Then one day, Lila decides to give Grace away, only to have second thoughts and claim Grace back. All of a sudden, Lila is in love with Grace and can’t live without her. Talk about a 180 degree turn! There was no building of a relationship at all, Lila just went from hating Grace to being best friends with Grace in less than a day. I craved an explanation as to how a person who hated dogs most of her life can become a fervent dog lover after attempting to give the dog away, but there was no explanation.
Then for the next several chapters, Lila and Grace’s relationship took a backseat to Lila’s relationship with male character, Adam. Adam is a neighbour and the one who brought Grace to Cristina’s home initially looking for a home for her. Lila disliked Adam from the beginning and was quite rude to him. Adam was actually the only character I thought that had any sense in this story, and actually told Lila off a couple times for being overly negative and irresponsible. Suddenly one day, after Adam helps Lila give Grace a dog bath, Lila finds Adam super attractive and goes on dates with him and yeah, they are together. I have no idea what they saw in one another all of a sudden, because every interaction between them prior was rather negative.
I also think this story has some minor illogical plot hole stuff going on. I couldn’t stop questioning why Cristina and Adam insisted Grace had to be kept at Cristina’s home while they found a new home for her. The story is that Adam stole the dog from his neighbour who had been abusing the dog, and put her at Cristina’s house temporarily while they found a new home. Adam even said they had to keep it a bit hush hush since he didn’t want the neighbour to know he stole Grace. However, they put up posters around town with Grace’s picture (a photo that INCLUDES Adam!) to try to find her a home. Are they not worried that the neighbour will see the posters?!
I’m wholly unimpressed with this novel. The lack of proper relationship building between characters was my biggest issue. I don’t even really see how Grace helped Lila heal at all, or vice versa. I expected a warm, touching story between human and dog and instead, got a very lackluster story about the world’s most annoying gunshot victim ever....more
This is the second book of Maurice Druon’s The Accursed Kings series, titled The Strangled Queen. I was a little disappointed in the title as it is a This is the second book of Maurice Druon’s The Accursed Kings series, titled The Strangled Queen. I was a little disappointed in the title as it is a big fat spoiler … okay, I suppose actual history is not really a “spoiler”, but I am not familiar with French history so it was a spoiler to me. So, the entire time I was reading this, I kind of expected that the queen was going to be, well, strangled. This, of course, removed some element of surprise from this novel. Still, it was an enjoyable read and I am excited to continue on with this series.
This second book picks up almost immediately after the events of the first book: King Philip IV, known as Philip the Fair, is dead, and his son, Louis X, ascends the throne. However, the son is not like the father at all. Louis X has trouble asserting his authority and is rather unsure of himself. He will be a weak king, those close to him can see this, and they try to take advantage of this. His uncle, Charles, Count of Valois, and the Rector-General of the kingdom, Enguerrand Marigny, become involved in an intense rivalry. Both the Count of Valois and Marigny bitterly fight with one another to try to become King Louis X’s most important advisor, and with Louis X being so inexperienced with authority, whoever rules Louis X will certainly be the most powerful man in France.
Besides the rivalry between the Count and Marigny, there is also the matter of Louis X’s wife to consider. In book one, his wife, Marguerite, was imprisoned (presumbly for life) for adultery; their daughter was declared a bastard. This would mean that Louis has no heirs, and would need to remarry in order to produce heirs. His attempts at getting Marguerite to admit that their daughter is a bastard and that they never consummated their marriage (which is pretty much the only legitimate reason they could get an annulment for) prove to be futile, as Marguerite refuses to admit to such lies. Well, I’m sure you can see how that plotline ended for Marguerite, based on the title.
Marguerite’s storyline is the most interesting part of this book for me. It’s kind of weird how in book one, I thought that Marguerite (and her cousin, Blanche) kind of got what they deserved, with the context of history kept in mind (I would never advocate for imprisoning adulterers for life in today’s society, hahaha). In book two, suddenly, I felt very sorry for Marguerite and Blanche. I suppose the book does this on purpose to make Marguerite’s inevitable death have more of a sorrowful effect on the reader. Though I never found the two ladies particularly likeable, I did feel bad for them, especially given the fact that they could have survived and lived their rest of their days out in a convent or something, if not due to a streak of stubbornness. I couldn’t help but think, “Take their offer! Save yourself!” I wanted her to live! Imagine finding out that you are now technically the Queen of France suddenly, the ultimate promotion in rank for a female in that time, but not having any power whatsoever. I suppose her refusal to admit to the lies is her only way of asserting any power at all, no matter how little. And then there was Blanche, who was growing loopier and loopier every day with imprisonment. All in all, I just felt really bad for these two ladies. Even though they were immature and tactless girls to end up where they were, I was hoping they would manage to survive the ordeal, despite the foreshadowing of the title.
As for the rivalry between the Count and Marigny, I must admit, I didn’t understand a lot of the political-ness of their rivarly. I don’t even really know what a Rector-General of the kingdom does, I just assumed it was a super important role since he got his own statue in the hall of kings (or whatever that room is called). I wouldn’t say the rivalry, which was a large portion of the story, was boring or anything like that. I just liked other parts of the book better.
Overall, book two certainly lived up to my expectations of the series. I liked it a teensy bit less than book one, but still, a great read. I am excited to read book three, The Poisoned Crown. Which, again, is a kind of spoiler-y title … But even with such obvious hints given in the titles of the books, the drama of the historical French royals is worth reading....more
My sister spotted the “This is the original Game of Thrones” — George R. R. Martin tagline thingy at the top of this book and immediately thought of mMy sister spotted the “This is the original Game of Thrones” — George R. R. Martin tagline thingy at the top of this book and immediately thought of me, because I am obsessed with Martin’s A Song of Ice & Fire series (lalalala I won’t hear anyone say anything bad about it!). She thoughts I might like this book so she picked it up for me. (I also want to add that such a random act of generosity is rather out of character for my sister, haha). I had never heard of this book previously — and small wonder, it was published in French in 1955 and only now is being published in English for the first time. However, like the mindless ASOIAF fan I am, I made up my mind that I must read this book because Mr. Martin has recommended it (heh).
While this book certainly shares the same themes as ASOIAF such as secret intrigues, backstabbing, medieval warfare, and so on, this is not a fantasy novel at all. It is actually a historical novel, which is perfect for me because if you follow my blog or Goodreads account, you will see that I am a big historical novel fan as well, particularly European royalty, particularly England and France …. which is exactly what The Iron King is about! What made this novel doubly fun for me was that I knew it was based on history but I actually have no idea what is going to happen because I’m pretty ignorant about France during this time period. This is my first time reading about Philip the Fair at all … There’s just something really exciting, for me, to read a story about something that once really happened, and not know how it all goes down (sadly, I cannot derive this same pleasure from reading a history textbook :(
The Iron King is about King Philip IV of France, also known as Philip the Fair, during the late 1200′s to 1300′s. His kingdom of France and his family are in a good position at the beginning of the story. France is powerful, he has three sons to succeed him, his daughter is Queen of England, and he has a grandson by his daughter, who will one day be King of England, thus ensuring peace between the two kingdoms. Life’s pretty good for King Philip. However, his decision to destroy the Knights Templar (believing they had too much money and power), was the beginning of the end for Philip. Grand Master Jacques de Molay is a templar and thanks to the royal torturers, has admitted everything the King needs him to admit to destroy the order and kill the templars (even though nothing he admits is true — torture does that to a person). As Grand Master Jacques de Molay burns at the stake, de Molay loudly curses the king and his family to the 13th generation. After de Molay’s death, a series of events begin to spell his downfall, including scandals that bring shame to the family and deaths of close advisors. Coincidence? Or the curse working?
I can certainly see where George R. R. Martin drew some of his inspirations from this novel/history. Well, it’s pretty well known by now that Mr. Martin has drawn a lot of inspiration from real European history, and The Iron King shows how fascinating and intriguing the past can be. Sometimes real life events are stranger than fiction. While I can see the sources of inspiration, I don’t think The Iron King is much like ASOIAF at all. With that said, that doesn’t mean I didn’t like it. On the contrary, I really loved The Iron King. Even though there is no fantasy, the curse that Jacques de Molay screams and the ‘coincidental’ (?) tragedies that befall King Philip can sometimes seem a little mystical. As well, I’ve personally love it when scandalous secrets are revealed to the other characters and read about the huge fallout that happens afterwards.
There’s a huge cast of characters, a lot of them are royalty, but I loved how there are non-royalty characters mixed in as well, people who you wouldn’t really expect to affect much, but actually cause ripple effects to the story. King Philip in particular is pretty complex and well developed character, in my opinion. To outsiders, he is unreadable, but when you get into his mind, you find he is constantly trying to balance justice and fairness, hoping that his son will be a good king after him but also being realistic and realizing he probably won’t (he laments that his daughter Isabella would have been the most suitable to be king, but alas, she was born a girl). Near the end, he wonders what good he has done as a king and has all sorts of epiphanies and realizations. He’s a pretty deep character and definitely a favourite.
My second favourite was Isabella, even though she was only in the beginning of the story but kind of faded out afterwards. (I do hope she will make a return, especially given that the second book is titled The Strangled Queen). Pardon my cliche, but she is a strong and independent woman, who cares about her family and is kind of depressed being away from them in England. Also, her husband the king is rumored to be a homosexual and rarely spends time with her, which I bet will make her loneliness worse. She only has her darling son, and it’s hinted that she has big plans for him, more than just being the future king of England.
So, a historical fiction fan, I really enjoyed this book and am certainly going to seek out book two. I think people who like ASOIAF will enjoy this book as well as it has the same elements of mystery and scandal and uneasy alliances that make ASOIAF so fun to read....more
I got this book for Christmas 2013 from my sister. I never saw the movie before (though I want to now!) so I didn’t really know what to expect going iI got this book for Christmas 2013 from my sister. I never saw the movie before (though I want to now!) so I didn’t really know what to expect going in. All I have heard about Marley & Me is that it is quite sad at the end.
This book is a memoir/autobiography so it’s actually a non fiction book; however, if you didn’t know that, it reads like fiction as well. I didn’t realize it was a memoir until halfway through the book. The book is about the author, his family and their “crazy”, disobedient, but wonderfully affectionate Labrador retriever. John has fond memories of his childhood dog Shaun, and so he and his wife Jenny decide to go looking at some puppies, eventually deciding to bring home a Labrador retriever puppy. They name him Marley. Right away, they realize how completely rambunctious and difficult to train this new puppy is. They struggle to raise Marley and teach him to be an obedient, well behaved dog as they also embark on their live adventure as a couple, eventually starting a family with three children. Even though Marley makes life difficult at times — well, a lot of times — Marley’s love of life and loyalty binds the entire Grogan family together.
Since this is a memoir, there isn’t a traditional plot per se. It is more like a collection of memories, and it is obvious that Marley has left a lasting impact on John and this family. Even though I, obviously, have never known or met Marley, I felt quite attached to him as well and was very upset with the inevitable but predictable end. I rarely ever cry from reading a book (the only book I have cried over is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak), but this book’s last few chapters definitely had me in tears. I think anyone who owns a dog will find this book very easy to relate to, and the inevitable ending of the book is something that every dog owner will probably have to experience at one point or another.
While I think most dog lovers/owners would enjoy this book, as a person who frequents dog forums, I can also totally see the opposite happening too. There are some types of dog owners who would roll their eyes at an untrained dog, thinking, “Geez, these people didn’t even try to train their dog at all. Hire a professional!” I also read some reviews where dog owners, instead of just enjoying the book, spend the whole time judging Marley’s owners, saying they would have done certain things differently. So, I suppose, it depends what kind of dog owner you are … Personally, I think that is the wrong approach to reading this book. It’s an owner’s memories of his time with his dog, not a dog training journal.
Anyway, I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was lots of fun and like I mentioned earlier, I was really touched as well....more
So, I got a dog pretty recently, about 5 months ago, which is like, one of the best things to ever happen to me. I'm completely in love with my dog inSo, I got a dog pretty recently, about 5 months ago, which is like, one of the best things to ever happen to me. I'm completely in love with my dog in every way. As a result, I found my taste in books have now shifted to books that include dogs ... Which is how I found this book, The Art of Racing in the Rain. I saw a dog on the cover and bought it, that was pretty much it. Easily persuaded.
This book is narrated by a dog named Enzo, who is now near the end of his dog days and reflects back on his life with his humans. Enzo believes that when dogs die, they become reincarnated as people; thus, he thinks back to how his humans have lived over the years and reflects on human nature. He lives with his primary owner, Denny, an aspiring racecar driver; Denny's wife Eve, who Enzo had a bit of an ambiguous relationship with; and their daughter Zoe, a spirited young girl who Enzo has vowed to protect.
I really enjoyed this book. I love dogs, so it was funny reading some of the scenes with Enzo doing doggy things but trying to eloquently explain why he did (such as why he decided to take a massive diarrhea dump on the porch even though he knew the humans wouldn't like it, or why he tore up Zoe's stuffed animal). Enzo has a philosopher-like approach to life and it was interesting to read about everything from his perspective, knowing that he is, in fact, a dog. This book is pretty "chill" and "relaxing" if that makes any sense at all. I was eagerly turning pages, wanting to know what happens next, but this book is by no means some sort of action or mystery page turner. It's the kind of book you can lazily read while sipping some tea on a rainy day ... or a sunny day too, of course, haha. And while you lazily read this book, you wonder along with Enzo, why humans do the things they do to one another.
As usual, not everyone is going to like this book (well, you can't expect everyone to like a book). It is not a plot oriented book, definitely more geared towards characters, and I know for some people, they aren't interested in introspective, self-discovering characters as the main point of the story. And to be honest, the only character that is really fleshed out in my opinion is Enzo, and perhaps Denny. Everyone else was kind of secondary and one-dimensional. But that was okay to me because Enzo was closest with Denny and interacted the most with Denny, so it made sense to me.
Maybe because of the fact that I have now joined the ranks of dog owning people, the ending particularly got me feeling all emotional. It seems to happen with all dog books ... the dog eventually dies (this is not a spoiler in my opinion because you know about this in the first couple pages of this book). Ugh, it just gets me thinking about my own dog's lifespan, which I do not want to because she's only 7 months old right now! But anyway, the ending got me. It was cheesy, I admit. Very cheesy. But I loved it all the same....more
I’m sad to say that I was rather disappointed by this book on Mary, Queen of Scots. I normally love Philippa Gregory’s books, and I happen to be a fanI’m sad to say that I was rather disappointed by this book on Mary, Queen of Scots. I normally love Philippa Gregory’s books, and I happen to be a fan of Mary Queen of Scots as well. Whenever there is a story on Elizabeth vs. Mary, I’ve always been on Mary’s side. I felt let down by this book. It almost doesn’t feel like Philippa Gregory wrote it. I don’t know. Obviously, it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t finish it, but I feel like it’s the weakest Philippa Gregory book I’ve read so far.
This book is about Queen Mary of Scotland’s years as a captive of Queen Elizabeth of England. How did one queen end up as captive of another? There’s a few reasons, mainly that Mary sought Elizabeth’s help when she was ousted out of Scotland, but instead, Elizabeth had Mary imprisoned and investigated for the various scandals that Mary has been involved in. One such scandal was that she murdered her previous husband. Another reason she was held captive was because Elizabeth was led to believe that Mary wanted the throne of England and was plotting to take it. Mary and Elizabeth are cousins and thus, both have a claim to the throne — however, Elizabeth’s father, Henry VIII, had Elizabeth declared a bastard and that was never revoked. Therefore, Mary has the truest claim, being Henry’s sister’s granddaughter.
The book is told from the perspectives of three characters — Queen Mary, George Shrewsbury and Elizabeth “Bess” Shrewsbury, the latter two being the earl and his wife who were ordered by Queen Elizabeth to hold Queen Mary in their home as their “honored guest”. I didn’t really like the way the story was told because 1) the chapters were very, very short and when they rotate between three first person speakers, it gets a bit confusing and abrupt. 2) None of the characters were likeable. Mary is portrayed as a beautiful but cunning and sly queen, who will do whatever needs to be done to free herself from Elizabeth’s captivity and go back to Scotland. George is, in Bess’ words, a fool. And Bess is portrayed as a gold digger who cared more about her house and money than anything else in the world. It was hard to feel sympathetic for any of them.
I also hoped to have an Elizabeth perspective in the story, since this book is part of Gregory’s Tudor series (and Mary is technically a Stuart), but Elizabeth was barely in it.
The ending was also really anti-climatic for me. If you know history, this shouldn’t be a spoiler, but hey, spoiler alert — Queen Mary dies. Specifically, she is ordered to be executed by her own cousin, Queen Elizabeth. Having been with this characterization of an arrogant Mary for 400 pages, I was rather let down when her death came around and I didn’t get to read anything about her thoughts on the issue! She’s said so many times throughout the book that there is no way she can be harmed, she is an ordained queen, and Elizabeth would never harm a fellow queen no matter what she did. I was eagerly looking forward to what Mary would say when the news was broke to her that Elizabeth was going to have her beheaded! But no, it was all through Bess’ perspective, and Bess never liked Mary much so she was just like, “Good riddance, she’s dead.” I felt kind of cheated!
On that note, the biggest issue I had with this book was that it was so, so, so repetitive. All Mary would talk about, over and over again, was how she was a queen, she was always meant to be queen, and Elizabeth can’t touch her. All George talked about was how he was so honorable and how beautiful Mary was. And gods, all Bess would talk about was how she was poor and now she’s rich. I am not joking, sometimes they would say the exact same thing three times in a paragraph, and again, in the next paragraph. Then, in the next chapter, they will remind you yet again. And on, and on.
Did I like anything at all? I did, actually. I liked how this book was about Queen Mary’s captive years because it’s something I hardly ever read about in novels about her. At first I inwardly groaned because in every book so far, it has been glazed over so I assumed it must be a horribly boring period compared to the rest of her life. This book showed me, however, that Mary’s captive years were still interesting and full of surprises and secret plots. So I did like that about it. However, I would not recommend this book to anyone unless you are like me, a Philippa Gregory fan, who is determined to read as many of her books as possible. She’s such a great storyteller, I am really surprised at how weak this novel turned out to be. ...more
Ahh, I would have read this sooner but I wanted to buy it and I didn’t want to buy it in hardcover ’cause I’m cheap. Well, finally, it’s out in paperbAhh, I would have read this sooner but I wanted to buy it and I didn’t want to buy it in hardcover ’cause I’m cheap. Well, finally, it’s out in paperback and I finished reading it — so glad it lives up to my expectations of Gregory’s Cousins’ War series, especially since the last one on Jacquetta was okay, but a bit duller than what I expected. Also, I had little idea who Jacquetta was and frankly, just didn’t care about her. This one, The Kingmaker’s Daughter, is on Anne Neville (the wife of the infamous King Richard III), which to me, is considerably more interesting. By the way, I do talk about the story points rather freely — I don’t consider them spoilers because it’s, well, historical. But if you haven’t a clue as to what happens to Anne and Richard and all these historical figures, perhaps skip this review :)
In this book, it describes Anne’s life from a young girl to adulthood. She is the daughter of Richard Neville, who is known as the Kingmaker because whoever he supports becomes king. The fact that he is a strategist and that he only has 2 daughters and no sons means Anne and her sister Isabel find themselves becoming pawns in their father’s grand plans. One way or another, he vows to make one of his daughters queen and hopefully, a grandson will follow, eventually putting a king with Neville blood in his veins on the throne.
Anne is the younger sister and finds herself in a sort of rivalry with her sister, both wanting to be their father’s favourite daughter, both wanting to be Queen of England. However, the current Queen of England, Elizabeth Woodville, hates the Neville family with all her heart and Anne fears her greatly. She believes Elizabeth Woodville to be a witch, and is afraid of her wrath and powers. Fortune’s wheel rises and fall, and all the players in this story find themselves rising high and falling very low as well.
I really enjoyed this book a lot! I’ve never really noticed Anne Neville before this book, to be honest. Anne Neville is a character that is usually just brushed over in novels (granted, not much is known about her) and her perspective, as well as Richard’s, is a refreshing one. Often they are portrayed as villains because it’s all too easy to do so. In this book, Anne and Richard are devoted to the previous king, King Edward V, and are shown to be loyal to him to the very end. Everything they did was for the sake of Edward’s legacy and the country of England. Elizabeth Woodville is portrayed as a villainous witch; Anne trembles with fright just thinking of her. Many people think Elizabeth Woodville is a witch in this story, but there is no proof that she actually is one, by the way. Anyway, I love this flip of portrayals! Especially since I remember reading The White Queen by the same author, and loving Elizabeth Woodville and thinking, “Oh god, everyone is so mean to her, what a hard life this poor woman is living!” And then, in this book, I think, “That Elizabeth Woodville, she is so malicious and vindictive, sheesh! Poor Anne, none of this is her fault at all!”
I’ve seen some one-line reviews that call this book a sister story, but I don’t really think it is. Not that that’s a problem or anything, just something I noticed. While Anne and her sister Isabel’s rivalry figure prominently in the beginning of the story and explains Anne’s desire to become Queen, after Isabel dies, the rivalry dies off too and it’s all about Anne. I did enjoy reading about their relationship though, and it did bring back positive memories of Philippa Gregory’s other book on sisters, The Other Boleyn Girl.
I wasn’t too crazy about what I considered the climax of the story — when Anne finally became queen. I kind of expected more pomp and excitement from Anne when it happened, but it was so low-key. Anne talks about how she was born to be queen, and how she has fulfilled her father’s ambitions, but there wasn’t anything more than that. It was a little disappointing to be honest. I thought I would feel happy for our protagonist when she finally succeeds over Elizabeth Woodville, her lifelong enemy, but when Anne became Queen, I didn’t feel much of anything at all.
But the lack of excitement at the climax hardly puts a damper to the rest of the story. I feel like I learned so much more about the War of the Roses by reading this book from another character’s perspective, and a minor character at that too. It had everything I wanted — lots of historical details, creativity without straying too far from history, great plotting and pacing. I look forward to her fifth book on Elizabeth of York very much!...more
So, I have this sister who is a huge, die hard Stephen King fan. She loves all his books, owns all of them and has read nearly all of them. For years So, I have this sister who is a huge, die hard Stephen King fan. She loves all his books, owns all of them and has read nearly all of them. For years she has tried to get me to read one of this books, but I kept turning her down because I know Stephen King writes a lot of horror and I’m not a horror fan at all. Not just with books, I don’t watch horror films either and I don’t go in haunted houses, or do anything scary really. I don’t like being scared or grossed out or anything like that! :( Anyway, she finally got me to read The Long Walk because it’s not horror and I finally decided to try it.
The Long Walk is about a fictional event where 100 young teenage boys walk along a road through several states, in a sort of race. The last one to survive wins and the prize is that they can have anything they desire. What I mean by surviving is, there are a set of rules that the participants must obey or else they will be shot. The most obvious rule is that you must keep walking at a certain pace, forwards, no matter what. You get three warnings, and after that, there are no warnings.
It’s a fascinating and morbid idea, and it kind of reminded me a little teeny bit of The Hunger Games or Battle Royale since only one survivor is allowed. Unlike those two though, this isn’t an actual battle to the death, and also, I never really figured out what the purpose of The Long Walk is. In the previous two titles I mentioned, the battle game is a sort of means to control the population through fear. I imagine The Walk is based on a similar premise, though the participants are strictly voluntary and are actually allowed a certain time period to back out. So … I don’t know why anyone would sign up for this, even if the prize is super tempting. Maybe that’s the point though? Only the most desperate will join for the prize?
This was definitely more of a psychological book than a plot orientated/action type of story. The long and short of the plot is exactly what it sounds like — 100 boys walking and one by one, they are eliminated. I found it an interesting story idea, but I wasn’t over the moon about the book like my sister is. I think that is partly due to the fact that I just orient myself more to action/plot books to begin with, as opposed to character-driven stories.
My sister and I had a conversation about the book after that pretty much amounted me saying, “It was okay, but they just walked the entire story” and my sister saying, “Yeah, but it’s so good! The characters are so interesting!” So, there you have it — two different opinions on the book. I did like it, but I just wasn’t able to see what was so crazy thrilling about it. She’s convinced that this book is amazing, I’m of the opinion it’s just okay.
Anyway, hooray, I read my first Stephen King book! And I liked it, overall! This doesn’t mean I will be jumping into all his books now because I’m pretty sure I’m still going to stay far away from anything horror related; but I know Mr. King writes non-horror books too so maybe I will give those a shot in the future....more
I’m not sure what it was with this second book, but it didn’t quite catch my interest like the first book did. Maybe it’s because it’s the second bookI’m not sure what it was with this second book, but it didn’t quite catch my interest like the first book did. Maybe it’s because it’s the second book in the series, or maybe it’s because I’m reading this one a year after I read the first, or maaaybe it’s because book two was published almost twenty years after the first. I don’t know. I thought The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy was funny, witty and creative. I thought book two was immature, aimless and nonsensical. And I’m not sure why! Because, if you have read this series, you would know that being silly is kind of the whole point of the books. Yet I found the silliness in book one to be more understandable than book two! Strange …
I am not even too sure how to describe the plot of this book because it was kind of all over the place. Our main characters decide they need to eat some food after what happened in the last book, so they are looking for a place to eat when they end up at the restaurant at the end of the universe, Milliway’s. Of course, during their journey the gang ends up going through a series of wacky adventures, including meeting the man who runs the entire universe.
So from what I understand, a lot of people like book two and think it’s just as good, if not better, than the first. Apparently, I have a dissenting opinion, haha. Maybe I just don’t “get” this one, but I wasn’t very engaged with the story at all. It was all just very bizarre. And I know it’s supposed to be bizarre. I can’t really pinpoint why this book felt different from book one’s silliness. And to top it all off, I can’t even really remember what I just read, because the plot felt like it went all over the place. It was all kind of a blur, especially since the book is so short.
This is going to be one of my shorter reviews since I don’t really know what else to say about this book. It was “okay”. I will continue the series because I own all five in a box set so I’ll get around to it eventually. Book two hasn’t exactly made me excited for book three, though....more
I was so eager to read the second book in this series, but — if I may be perfectly honest — I feel really disappointed. I guess I shouldn’t have been I was so eager to read the second book in this series, but — if I may be perfectly honest — I feel really disappointed. I guess I shouldn’t have been too surprised since the second book in a trilogy is usually lackluster compared to the first or the final book. Setting up for the grand finale and all. Still, I didn’t think I would have been this … bored.
After Karou finds out that Akiva was responsible for the genocide of her chimera people, she breaks off all contact with him and finds the remaining surviving chimera. She is their only hope now, their only resurrectionist, who can continue pumping out soldiers for the war against the angels. Despite her true intentions to help her own people, the chimera don’t trust her. They still see her as a traitor, and Karou can’t ever be sure that she is safe with them. Meanwhile, Akiva mourns the loss of Karou and deeply regrets what he has done. He is more determined than ever to end the brutal conflicts between chimeras and angels once and for all, but he is not sure how to begin such a venture, especially when he is hailed as the Beast’s Bane, a hero amongst his own angelic race.
I think my biggest problem with this book was that it simply felt like nothing much was happening. By the end of the novel, it’s clear that much of what happened in the story (which, to me, was not much) was a set-up for book three. Days of Blood & Starlight just doesn’t feel like much of a story on its own. While I can remember several memorable and series-defining events from the first book, there was only one or two significant events that occurred in this book. To put it plainly, I was simply bored by this book. When I was reading book one, I found it hard to put the book down (or rather, my tablet, heh). I had no troubles putting book two down at all.
There were also some chapters from the point-of-view of really random characters. For example, the Dama centaur chimera sisters Sveva and Sarazal and their escape story. There were a handful of chapters from them and then you didn’t hear anything from them again for the rest of the book. I found that quite odd …
A love triangle begins to emerge in this book, which I would not have minded so much if there was a hint of it in the first book. Karou and Akiva are more or less separated (for the time being, anyway), and we are introduced to Ziri, a chimera of the same race that Madrigal/Karou was. Cue intimate moments scenes. Insert a vague history between the two of them. See, all this was brand new information in book two, Ziri was never mentioned in book one, and it made it feel like this love triangle thing was an afterthought or something.
I also have to agree with my friend Paola that Zuzana had become super annoying in this book and I really hope she would be turned down a notch or two. I don’t know if she and Mik were supposed to be comic relief in an otherwise bleak and depressing environment, but they were not funny. They were irritating. Especially Zuzana, who came off as self-centered to me. A clashing of worlds is about to occur, your best friend’s life is going to be in danger, the entire WORLD is going to be in danger, and the only thing she seemed to care about was that she was in a dinky hotel room, away from all the action. Sigh.
I was happy with the direction of character development though. I feel Karou has grown up and matured a lot, enduring her trials and tribulations (unlike her best friend who seemed to have done the reverse of maturing), and Akiva also has gone through some serious self reflection. I like how they are not like two lovesick teenagers hell-bent on being together no matter the costs. They are level headed and realize there are greater stakes — worlds to save — and if they cannot be together because of this, then so be it, because it will be for the greater good. I do hope Karou and Akiva will resolve their issues with one another, but I feel it would be appropriate if they didn’t either. I guess either way, I will be content with their relationship.
Here’s hoping book three will be much better!...more
Before I talk about what I thought about this book, there’s two things that you might like to know. The first is that this book was originally publishBefore I talk about what I thought about this book, there’s two things that you might like to know. The first is that this book was originally published under a completely different title – The Secret Lion — in 2004. As far as I know, that is the exact same book as The Tudor Secret. Secondly, the last page of the story (excluding author’s notes, reading group discussion questions and that stuff) is approximately 324 pages. HOWEVER, if you go to page 280 of this edition, you will notice the page jumps from 280 to 313! The story flows normally, just the page numbers are messed up! This doesn’t really have any impact on the novel, I just wanted to point out this book is not as long as it seems.
This book was a gift given to me by my sister. She knows I like reading royal fiction which is why she got me this. However, I usually am not that interested in reading royal fiction with a fictional main character … if that makes any sense. I like my historical fiction to have all the real historical figures and the real story in a fictionalized format.
Anyway, I bring this up because this book has a fictional main character — Brendan Prescott. He is a foundling, or an orphan, found and reared by the powerful Dudley household, during the reign of King Edward VI of England. Brendan, now 20, is sent to court to squire for Robert Dudley. As soon as he arrives, Brendan finds himself whisked deep into the secrets of the court. He finds himself working as a secret spy for William Cecil, who in turn appears to work for the Lady Elizabeth. As Brendan attempts to play double agent, his own life is at risk: someone wants him out of the picture because they know who he really is and how his birth is related to the Tudors.
I actually really liked the book even though initially I was a little put off by the completely fictional character. With totally fictional characters come totally fictional events, and there were lots in this book, but you know what? After reading so many Tudor novels, it was actually a breath of fresh air to read about the Tudors (yet again) in a new light. Brendan’s character highlighted the secrets of the court and how the court operated. Brendan is an outsider to everything, and not brought up as a noble, which brings a different perspective to the oh-so-familiar story of Edward’s death and Elizabeth and Mary’s ascensions to the throne. I surprised myself — I actually ended up really enjoying the creativity and exciting new drama that a fictional character can bring to an accustomed story.
Also compared to other Tudor novels I have read, this one focuses a lot more on spying and counter-spying. Fast paced espionage! This is probably the first Tudor novel I’ve read which can be described as action-packed. It is thrilling and hard to put down at times.
My only complaints is that some of the fictional events in this book begged my imagination to stretch a little further than I was okay with. These fictional events definitely felt more “Hollywood” than historical. However, this is a much more fictionalized story than usual, so I tried to frame my mind differently while reading this book. My other complaint is that the characterization was a bit lackluster. I think some of the character could have been given more depth. Brendan was okay though, in my opinion, if only because he was presented in first-person so I got to know all his thoughts.
I’m happy I read this book. Even though it is different from what I am used to regarding Tudor novels, it was a refreshing new take! I look forward to reading more about Brendan in book two!...more
I’m a fan of Philippa Gregory so no surprise that I’d eventually read this book of her’s. I still remember being very excited seeing a brand new lookiI’m a fan of Philippa Gregory so no surprise that I’d eventually read this book of her’s. I still remember being very excited seeing a brand new looking copy of this book, in hardcover, at the thrift store and paid only a few dollars for it :D (I swear, it looks like it was never read … guess someone got it as a gift or something but didn’t want it? Mine now, haha). I’m slowly catching up with the Cousins’ War series, I’m hoping I’ll be able to read the 4th book — The Kingmaker’s Daughter — before book 5 comes out!
The Lady Of The Rivers takes place, chronologically, before books #1 and #2. So if you want to read the books in order of events rather than publication, this is the one to start with (at the time of this writing). This novel is about Jacquetta, the mother of Elizabeth Woodville, who was Queen Consort of King Edward IV of England. The novel starts with Jacquetta as a young lady, witnessing the end of the Hundred Years War between England and France and watching how Joan of Arc was burned at the stake for supposed witchcraft. This event shapes Jacquetta’s attitude towards “magic” from an early age — Jacquetta’s family has a legendary linage tracing back to a water goddess named Melusina. The women of her family line are rumored to be able to have the Sight and foretell the future. Of course, such things are declared to be witchcraft in medieval England and after watching Joan of Arc die, Jacquetta learns caution.
Despite always trying to hide her visions, the Duke of Bedford marries her specifically for her skills and abilities. I want to clarify that nothing in the novel suggests Jacquetta knows any “real magic”, but rather, everyone, including herself, thinks she can foretells the future (this is compounded by the fact that she has visions that coincidentally come true; whether you believe it is magic or not is another story!) Jacquetta respects her husband, who has raised her up to be the Duchess of Bedford and a very important lady of the realm. However, when he dies, Jacquetta decides to follow her heart and marries her husband’s squire, a nobody named Richard Woodville.
Even though she is looked down upon and punished for marrying so far beneath her, Jacquetta and Richard have a wonderful, loving relationship which produces a whooping 14 children. Jacquetta can’t be any happier but perilous times draw close and her new husband is sent out to battle over and over again as England embroils itself in a civil war. Jacquetta unwillingly finds herself in the middle of it all, as Queen Margaret’s closest friend and advisor. All the while, Jacquetta wonders what the future of her many children will be like, in a time when everyone’s future — even the king and queen’s — is so uncertain.
Comparing this novel to Gregory’s first two in this series, I found The Lady of the Rivers to be a tad weaker than its predecessors. For one, I wasn’t particularly interested in Jacquetta prior to reading this novel. Really, I read this book because I love Philippa Gregory’s stories. As I read this book, I did find a new appreciation for this little-known character, but her story just didn’t seem to have the same excitement or fast pace as the first two books. She was in the middle of the action, but she never really participated, not in my eyes at least. I know it sounds like I didn’t like this book, but I assure you, I really did! I just didn’t like it as much as the first two books.
In this book we have the same magical elements that are present in The White Queen, the book that was about Jacquetta’s daughter. I don’t actually remember what I said about the magical elements in The White Queen (I think I liked it). Anyway, I liked it in this book too. I am pretty sure some readers may not like it because, hey, what is magic doing in a historical fiction novel?! But I think it fit really well. People really did believe that witchcraft and alchemy and all that stuff really existed back then, and it was reflected in this novel. Jacquetta may or may not actually have had any supernatural powers, but she (and many others) believed she did, moreso when her visions and foretellings came true. Also, it was pleasantly different angle to write a historical novel in, to make the story a little larger than life.
I just read The Queen of Last Hopes by Susan Higginbotham before this book, so I naturally noticed a huge difference in the depictions of the Lancasters and Yorks. This book and the Higginbotham book are both from the Lancaster perspective, but they each depict the Lancasters in very, very different lights. In The Lady of the Rivers, the Lancaster king and queen are shown to be completely inept, immature and hell-bent on revenge. In The Queen of Last Hopes, the Lancaster king and queen were much more mature, and a loving couple unfortunately swept up in a civil war due to a cousin’s ambition and greed. There’s nothing good or bad about the huge difference in depictions, it was just something that I found interesting since I read these two books consecutively. Just wanted to mention it!
I liked reading about Jacquetta. I never would have thought of her as an interesting character before this novel, and I did, indeed, find her interesting. I liked the storyline (which some say was overly simplified, but that works for me) though the characters were a bit “bleh” — they didn’t feel very real, though maybe that’s just me. I think it’s worth a read, though I would not say anything to anyone who wants to skip it over....more
Many people know about the tragic story of Anne Boleyn. King Henry VIII was hopelessly infatuated by her, and gave up his wife, his daughter and his rMany people know about the tragic story of Anne Boleyn. King Henry VIII was hopelessly infatuated by her, and gave up his wife, his daughter and his religion to marry her and make her his queen. But the infatuation slowly waned when Anne couldn’t give Henry his much needed heir to the throne, a son. After Anne miscarried a fetus that was confirmed to be male, Henry began setting his eyes on other women, and not too long after, she was beheaded when Henry found someone he felt was more suitable. That was the end of Anne Boleyn.
But what if Anne never miscarried during her second pregnancy? What if she gave birth to a healthy young boy? Then she wouldn’t have been beheaded and her son would have been king one day. That’s what this book is all about.
When I discovered this book and what it was about, I just knew I had to read it. I love the Tudor time period, and this “what if?” question is definitely an interesting one, one that I have wondered at myself. This book turned out to be different from my expectations — that is, I thought it was going to have a lot more Anne Boleyn in it, as I would have loved to read about her feelings and emotions — but it was overall it was still an okay read.
This book takes place when Henry and Anne’s son, William, is 17, nearing 18. Henry died when William was 10, and ever since then, the kingdom has been ran by William’s regent, Lord Rochford (also known as Anne Boleyn’s brother, George Boleyn). When William turns 18, he will be a king in his own right and he is eager to prove to everyone that he will make a great king. With the battles going on with the French, the Catholics still trying to rally around Mary Tudor, and a conspiracy brewing, William has his hands full already.
Standing by William are his three closest friends: Dominic, Minuette and William’s sister, Elizabeth. The four are near inseparable and they know everything about William. However, their relationships are about to become a lot more tangled, when William and Dominic both begin to realize they have fallen in love with Minuette. As for Minuette, she has fallen in love with Dominic, but hasn’t the heart to tell William …
As I stated earlier, I went into this expecting Anne Boleyn to have a larger role in the story. To my dismay, she was a very minor character. Her brother, Lord Rochford, was actually a major character, as regent to the king. Yeah, I don’t know … it was kind of disappointing. I would have loved a fiery Anne to be more involved with her son’s regency, than her brother. But hey, I do realize having my expectations dashed is no one’s fault but my own. Still, it did dampen my enthusiasm for the book a bit, once a realized that, no, Anne wasn’t going to be a major character. I just feel like, if you’re going to write a “what if” book like this, how can you not include Anne more? Otherwise, it’s just her last name attached to a random fictional character ….
Next is the quartet of William, Dominic, Minuette and Elizabeth. They are all young teenagers by modern standards, and they definitely had a youthful camaraderie going on that brought a smile to my face. I am also a fan of love triangle stories (pathetic? Probably), so I loved that aspect of their relationship as well. However, I didn’t really like each individual character. I know, I know, it’s hard to understand how one can love a relationship but not the individuals. I didn’t hate them. They were just … kind of boring. Dominic always seemed depressed. Minuette was your standard goody-goody who everyone loves for some reason you can’t figure out. Elizabeth is nowhere as fiery as her historical self, and spent a lot of time pining over Robert Dudley. And William, the main character of this book, was kind of like a toned down version of his father. Individually, the characters were dull and uninspiring. Put together, they made a ‘cute’ team and their friendship with one another was charming.
As to the actual story, I felt the rest of the plot was too much, all over the place. We have William trying to suppress the French and the Catholics. There’s a conspiracy going on where some people want to overthrow William as they believe he’s not Henry’s trueborn son. Minuette has her own subplot of trying to find out what really happened with her friend Alyce’s death. Elizabeth has to deal with her increasing affectionate feelings towards the married Robert Dudley. And then there’s the love triangle. While I enjoyed the book overall, I do feel the book spread itself a bit thin. There were a few times where I thought, “I don’t really see the point of this” towards a particular subplot or two. And while in the end, I felt the relationship between the four is the main focal point, sometimes, I wasn’t sure.
So, yes, I do have several complaints about this book, but in the end, it was an alright read. Perhaps I went into it too focused on expecting certain things of the characters, but I do feel some of my complaints are legitimate. However, this book is, for all intents and purposes, very creative, and I know no matter how the author (or any author) tackles an alternate history book, there will always be complaints that it isn’t as “true” to history as a fake history could be … if that even makes sense. As of right now, I am not sure if I will continue with this series, but never say never :)...more
If you read my blog/reviews, it’s apparent that I really love historical fiction about English royalty. Most of the time it’s Tudors or War of the RosIf you read my blog/reviews, it’s apparent that I really love historical fiction about English royalty. Most of the time it’s Tudors or War of the Roses stuff I read, because that’s the easiest stuff to find. I was extremely excited to discover the existence of this book, Shadow on the Crown, which is about English royalty … from 1001! Whoaaa, no one ever writes about that period of the English throne! I just knew I had to have this book and read it.
Shadow on the Crown is about Emma of Normandy. She is the sister of Duke Richard of Normandy, and she is wed to King Æethelred of England quite quickly after the King’s first wife dies. However, Emma is not marrying the King to merely be his wife and consort. In exchange for Duke Richard’s cooperation in keeping the Danish Vikings away from English shores, Emma is to be crowned a queen in her own right, Queen of England.
But being Queen is not a glorious role and a thankless task. With Emma as Queen, King Æethelred’s sons by his first wife worry that if Emma and the King have their own sons, they will supplant them in the succession of the crown. After all, the sons of a consecrated queen surely have precedence over the sons of a mere consort. Though Emma has no such plan, her marriage to the King has already made enemies of the sons. To make matters more complicated, she begins to fall in love with one of her new stepsons, a man close to her in age, but a person she can never have.
There is also the Lady Elgiva, a beautiful young lady from the northern part of England who was a candidate for being the King’s new wife. Petty and jealous, Elgiva is furious that she lost an opportunity to become Queen and what’s more, now she has to serve in the Queen’s household. Elgiva is a viper waiting to strike and she is more than willing to sabotage Emma in any way that she can.
Lastly, Emma is isolated in this new country, with few of her own Normans for company. She is not sure if her brother, Duke Richard, will actually hold up his end of the bargain. If he does not, Emma is sure to be in danger from the wrath of the King. And there is the constant threat of the Danish Vikings invading England …
This book totally lived up to my expectations, I am so happy to have discovered this book and the story within. I will admit though, that my enthusiasm for this book may be kind of biased since I loooove English royalty historical fiction. The fact that this is the kind of book I salivate over definitely colours my opinion somewhat, but moving on … Though the author has taken many liberties with historical facts, as she outlines in the author’s notes in the back of the book, I feel what she has added or altered worked very well for the sake of the story. I know not everyone is cool with the idea of historical fiction based on real people being, well, fiction, but I think the author does a great job of it here. It is not too farfetched, and it all adds to the story, rather than changes it.
The characters aren’t paragons of characterization. Most of them are pretty black and white; good or evil, etc. However, this hasn’t stopped me from liking them and enjoying the story. Definitely my favourite character is Emma herself. I’m not super familiar with her so I don’t know how (in)accurate this portrayal is of her; everything I know about her is from Wikipedia. Emma in this novel is like a goody-goody, and I say that endearingly. Sent away from her home at the age of 15 to marry someone way older than her, she handled her situation much more maturely than I could have, if thrown in the same scenario. Though Emma did not want to become Queen and indeed, saw it as a great burden, she took on the role as if she was destined for it. Even the King (who held no love for her) and the sons had to begrudgingly admit that Emma was regal. It was like she was born for this. She looked and acted the part. Sure, she had some diplomatic blunders when she was navigating her way in the English court, but hey, she’s new, everyone makes mistakes.
I loved the contrast between her and Elgiva. As far as I know, Elgiva was a real person but I don’t think she and Queen Emma actually had a rivalry of sorts. Anyway, Elgiva is the complete opposite of Emma. She wants and craves power, and she can (usually) manipulate people to get what she wants. She’s easily jealous, and quite petty. The kind of person who can hold a grudge for a decade or two. Emma is light whereas Elgiva is darkness, which is fitting given that Elgiva has a great fear of cramped, dark spaces, heh. The contrast is kind of cliche, yes, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I really loved this book, and it is so, so refreshing to read about medieval England. The author’s note at the end says she intends for this to be a trilogy, which I figured as much as I was reading because I was near the end of the book and I knew there was so much more of Emma’s life story left to tell. Looking forward to book two immensely!...more
This is a novel about Barbara Palmer, the Countess of Castlemaine, who was one of the main mistresses of King Charles II, during the period of RestoraThis is a novel about Barbara Palmer, the Countess of Castlemaine, who was one of the main mistresses of King Charles II, during the period of Restoration England. Historically, she was known to have been a great influence on King Charles, so much so that people would call her the Uncrowned Queen. She was known to be promiscuous and extravagant, leading her to have left a rather negative view of herself throughout the centuries.
Royal Harlot is not a novel that seeks to bring “another side” to the story of Barbara Palmer (at least, I did not get that impression). She is presented just as negatively, I think, in this novel as in history. It is a straightforward story about Barbara’s life as King Charles II’s mistress, beginning from when Oliver Cromwell’s government was still in power. 15 year old Barbara is stunningly gorgeous, but is not the “proper lady” that her mother would have liked her to be. Barbara is spirited and cheerful, but also self centered, calculating and very good at stringing men along by their noses. She’s terribly unfaithful to her husband, Roger, and has all sorts of sexual relations with men. Her biggest catch of all is, of course, the king himself.
Barbara and Charles begin a not-so-secret relationship. Barbara is pleased to be the center of Charles’ life and enjoys being at court, throwing parties, showing off, and accepting lavish gifts from all sorts of people hoping she can wave some of her influence over the king. Barbara has the most power over Charles and she knows it. She is perfectly happy to use her relationship with Charles to her advantage.
If liking the main character, who is in a first person voice, is very important to you, then you may struggle a bit with Royal Harlot. Barbara is not easily likeable in this book. As mentioned earlier, she is self centered and enjoys playing the role of a poor little victimized woman. She remembers all the slights and insults people have done to her and is perfectly willing to wait patiently, even for years, to get her revenge. Even her moments of generosity seemed fake to me; to me, every time she was nice, she did it just to look nice. Barbara was every bit the vixen in this novel. I don’t even think she truly loved the king — certainly she liked him and thought he was attractive and had a great personality. However, from what I can tell from this book, Barbara was more attracted to the fact that he was king and had all this wealth and power. She also didn’t seem to care that he had other mistresses as long as she didn’t have to run into them, and she wasn’t above taking other lovers as well.
Normally such a petty character would annoy me, but I think because Barbara was the first person narrator, it was tolerable. She explained her rationale and reasoning for why she did certain things, so that it made some sort of sense, rather than leaving the reader to conclude that she’s being a bitch “just because she can”. No, I didn’t agree with everything she did, sometimes it was downright childish. For example, there was a scene where she decided to basically brag to Charles’ queen how Charles always visits her in the night and they have all these lovely children, while the queen hasn’t been able to give Charles a single baby. I remember thinking, “Oh come on … she’s the queen and Charles’ wife! Stop being so immature!” (Though I do have to admit, one could argue that the queen is the “other woman” since Charles and Barbara met and hooked up way before he even married his queen).
Even though Barbara is not a very nice character in this book and all that, I was still engrossed in the story. Partly, this has to do with the fact that I haven’t read very many (if any … can’t remember) books having to do with the Stuarts of Britain, so all these stories regarding this part of British royalty history is new to me. With a character like Barbara, you can surely expect lots of court drama. I never felt a dull moment in this book! So yes, I did actually enjoy reading this book a lot, even if I wasn’t particularly crazy about Barbara, heh. The strange thing is, this book made me feel incredible pity for Charles’ queen, Catherine, even though she was mostly a peripheral character, and now I want to read more about her!...more
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