The Other Boleyn Girl

Author: Philippa Gregory

Back-of-the-Book Description: Before Henry VIII ever considered making Anne Boleyn his wife, her older sister, Mary, was his mistress. Historical novelist Gregory (Virgin Earth) uses the perspective of this "other Boleyn girl" to reveal the rivalries and intrigues swirling through England. The sisters and their brother George were raised with one goal: to advance the Howard family's interests, especially against the Seymours. So when Mary catches the king's fancy, her family orders her to abandon the husband they had chosen. She bears Henry two children, including a son, but Anne's desire to be queen drives her with ruthless intensity, alienating family and foes. As Henry grows more desperate for a legitimate son and Anne strives to replace Catherine as queen, the social fabric weakens. Mary abandons court life to live with a new husband and her children in the countryside, but love and duty bring her back to Anne time and again.

My Description: Before I start my review I would like to mention that I am going to completely (with the exception of Anne's last words) ignore history in this review. All I say will be in relation to this book, so there will be no confusion in the matter.

I picked this book up because I'm tired of reading books and hearing about movies where Anne Boleyn is practically evil, and I am thinking of writing my own book... unfortunately, I didn't know much about her history, so I thought I'd read a story around the same time period and see how that was presented, so hopefully I could find something useful in the writing to help me write my own. I had a hunch this book would be for older readers (a hunch that was confirmed), but I really wanted to see how it would be presented...

Now, for the actual review...

Mary seems nice enough, though it's a little odd that she would be as virtuous as the book depicts when she is from such a cruel and heartless family, but oh well, I can live with that. I liked that I could sympathise with her falling in love with King Henry, since she had been stuck in a marriage that she had no say in, and she was only fourteen and being pushed to become the King's mistress by her ambitious family, though she should have felt more guilty about what it was doing to Catherine of Aragon (whose character I adored) than she was.

When Mary has her children, she has a complete change of morals and all she wants is to be with them. That I liked and could believe, but I found it odd how little her parents cared for her and Anne. On that same note, Anne seemed to have no feelings for Elizabeth, and though she was desperately wanting a boy, I still think that she should have had a bit more feeling for her. I guess Ms. Gregory was just trying to get us to hate her even more.

I also felt that Mary should have been more sympathetic to her husband at that point, as it was obvious he really cared for her. Also, there were several things in this book that just made me really uncomfortable.

I did, however, like the parts about Anne falling in love with Henry Percy (no, not the King, a different Henry) simply because it was sweet and it showed a less than evil picture of her, the parts with William Stafford, and the parts with Mary and her babies.

I was quite disappointed in the execution scene. There was no feeling written into that part of the book. NONE. It was if Mary were any old spectator. Not a tear was shed from her face, and Ms. Gregory didn't do Anne's last words, which really meant a lot to me. Of course, Anne's last words in real life didn't fit the character of Anne that was in the book, so I guess that's why she made Mary "unable to hear them". It was cool how that last scene was a mirror as to how the book began, but it didn't do it for me.

I was also really looking forwards to Anne and Mary coming together at the end of it all, but no, Anne stays as merciless and cruel as she was at the beginning. I was really disappointed.

All in all, highly interesting, but not something I really care about.

Reading Time: Four days

Pages: 672

Recommendations: To late teens and up who like 'risque' historical fiction.

Writing Rating: 6

Story Rating: 7

Overall Rating: 5

Book #45 of '08

The Thief Queen's Daughter

Author: Elizabeth Haydon

Back-of-the-Book Description: In the sequel to The Floating Island (2006), the king sends Ven to the amazing Gated City in Kingston, which is ruled by the Thief Queen, and where "some of the most magical and exotic goods in the world are sold." His mission: to solve the riddle of a mysterious light stone. He is accompanied by four good friends, one of whom is kidnapped, and the search for her is fraught with peril, though they find some individuals willing to help. One of them turns out to be the Thief Queen's runaway daughter, who orchestrates their escape from her mother's evil clutches.

My Description: I didn't realize that this book was part of a series, so I got it expecting something quite different than what I got. Still, once I realized what the book was, I was able to enjoy the story a lot more. Some of the things in the book, such as Saeli getting captured, didn't impact me as much as it would have if I had read the first, but when I put the book down, I decided it was a good one. It's a humorous little story with action and characters you can care about, though I did get Nicholas and Char confused a bit here and there, just because of my lack of experience in this series.

Still, I think you should give The Lost Journals of Ven Polypheme series a try--just read the first book first!

Pages: 320

Recommendations: To both boys and girls anywhere from 8-14, or a family (with younger children) reading together.

Writing Rating: 6 1/2

Story Rating: 7

Overall Rating: 7

Book #44 of '08

My Book List

I've decided I'll make a post dedicated to books I want to read, but have yet to, and put a link on the side-bar. That way, I won't forget the ones I'm waiting for.

1. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian, by Rick Riordan
2. The Good Neighbors, Kith, by Holly Black
3. I'm uncertain to the title, but I want to find the audio version I heard with Dear Sister when I was little. On the second half of the tape there was some songs from a musical of that book, and I'm hoping to get it again, if only for memories.
4. Inheritance, book four, (title unknown) by Christopher Paolini
5. Master of the Books, by James Moloney
6. A Perry Mason book, by Erle Stanley Gardner
7. The 10th Kingdom, by Kathryn Wesley
8. Song of the Unicorn, an audio CD.
9. The Singing Neanderthals, (MOST LIKELY NON FICTION ALERT!!!) by Steven Mithen
10. The Next Generation: Ghost Ship, by Diane Carey
    

If you have any suggestions for me, that would be awesome!!!

Galaxy

The Good Neighbors

Author: Holly Black

Back-of-the-Book Description: Rue Silver's mother has disappeared . . . and her father has been arrested, suspected of killing her. But it's not as straightforward as that. Because Rue is a faerie, like her mother was. And her father didn't kill her mother -- instead, he broke a promise to Rue's faerie king grandfather, which caused Rue's mother to be flung back to the faerie world. Now Rue must go to save her -- and must also defeat a dark faerie that threatens our very mortal world.

My Description: Mommy picked this book out for me, and I was excited since it's from on of the authors of The Spiderwick Chronicles. It was not what I expected, but in a good way.

The story is written like a comic strip, which is something I don't really read, but it's also dark and mysterious, and low key, another thing I don't often read. It was like swimming in cold water, refreshing, relaxing, and strange. It was a breath of fresh air, and though confusing here and there, I actually liked it, just because it was so different from what I usually read, and I finished the story needing more. I'll definitely be looking for the next in Kin.

Pages: 117 (it's mostly pictures, so it isn't as long as it seems)

Reading Time: An hour or so.

Recommendations: To older readers... Early to mid teens, I'd suppose. Maybe a few tweens.

Writing Rating: 7 3/4

Story Rating: 7 3/4

Overall Rating: 8

Book #44 of '08

Dragon Slippers

Author: Jessica Day George

My Description: I put off writing my review for this book for quite some time, so I might not cover all of the facts I wanted to, but I'll do my best.

I got this book expecting a highly lighthearted and hopefully not too much less than hysterical comedy... that's just what I got out of the cover and description. At first, it was pretty much what I wanted and expected, but the second half changed, and I wasn't too happy with it.

I liked Creel (the heroine) immediately, which helped me to like the book. It was really funny at first, so that helped too. One thing that Ms. George did that took away from her story was something fairly easy to do in writing, that I do myself sometimes, was that she scooby-dooed things. Sometimes, weeks passed in a book like this: "Weeks passed,", and I would have liked it if it had either had more written on those weeks, or that it had been less time, but it wasn't really that bad.

Also, the second half of the book got a little intense. It wasn't that light-hearted comedy it was at the beginning, and characters actually died, which really took me off guard. Normally, I wouldn't have minded such things, but in the comedy book that I was expecting, it just didn't fit. Also, they had two main characters who we really care about die, and then made it seem like they might be alive after a death that makes it impossible for them to be alive, and didn't explain how they survived, so that was a little weird too. Ms. George also had the main villain of the book die, when I rather would have had "Justice". The death of her just didn't please me, while if she had actually been brought to court I would have felt happy and smug.

I also would have liked it if Creel had been reunited with her brother. I'm really family oriented, so maybe that wouldn't bother other people, but it did me, and that's something I wanted to mention.

Besides all that, I rather enjoyed the story. The last part just didn't do it for me... Oh well.
P.S. (much, much later) It turns out that there is a sequel to this book, so I take back what I said about things not getting explained!

Back-of-the-Book Description: Creel, the heroine of Dragon Slippers is hardly a damsel-in-distress. After her aunt totes her out to the local dragon in desperation (with the hope that the local prince will rescue her from certain death and marry her), Creel refuses the haughty prince and finds friendship with the dragons, who set her on a journey to the center of the kingdom with a pretty pair of what only seem to be ordinary slippers. Along the way we discover Creel’s enormous talent at embroidery, and you can’t help but linger over the rich descriptions of her lovely tapestry-like gowns, which quickly make her the most sought-after dressmaker in the kingdom. But soon enough those mysterious slippers begin to wreak havoc, and it’s up to Creel to save the kingdom from disaster and defend the dragons from certain doom.

Pages: 352

Writing Rating: 7 1/2

Story Rating: 7 1/2

Overall Rating: 6 1/2

Book #43 of '08