Reviews

Lady Hotspur by Tessa Gratton

gwhg's review against another edition

adventurous emotional slow-paced

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

3.0

Sapphic longing, everyone is queer, so much built-in sad, Henry IV and V Shakespeare retelling. 

The audiobook is read spectacularly by Jessica Hayles, get this actor their flowers.

rodeorocks13's review against another edition

1.0

I had to mark this one as a DNF. I tried to get farther into this story a few times but I just couldn't get into it. It feels like there were other books before it which I did not realize when I requested it . I really wish I could have gotten into it but its not for me

someonetookit's review against another edition

I had such high hopes for this book. I loved Strange Grace, I liked Queens of Innis Lear (for the most part). But this was so convoluted and hard to follow that after spending almost 2 hours reading, I was literally 11% of the way through. It has taken me almost 7 months of picking it up and putting it down to get to almost half way...

So, I think that the three main POVs are supposed to be friends but most of the time, it felt like there was zero love between them. Also Hal seems like a complete twit.

While I so badly wanted to finish this, I just can't. My husband has been telling me for months to just DNF it but I was determined to try. I would usually make sure to blog about anything I have received from the publisher but it would just be 1000 words of me saying this book is extremely confusing and at times very frustrating to comprehend.

Im sure there is an audience out there for this one. Alas I am simply not it

marymoth's review against another edition

3.0

OMG I HAD NO IDEA THIS BOOK WAS ABOUT TO EXIST BUT OMG IM SO HAPPY ITS HAPPENING CUZ LETS BE REAL, THE QUEENS OF INNIS LEAR IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE BOOKS AND AHHHHH

biblio_popins's review

adventurous lighthearted tense slow-paced

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

3.5

Al final si que l'he acabat 🥲 hi ha coses del llibre que no s'aguanten per enlloc i estan molt tretes de la màniga, però en general m'ha molat la màgia i la naturalesa que surt, molt de bruixa.

docpacey's review against another edition

5.0

I wasn't sure about this adaptation at first, but the more the characters and their relationships developed and the more tension mounted the more I came to trust Gratton's ability to deliver. Great story, great ending.

Q: 4
E: 5
I: 5

qxe + I = 25

juls0899's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

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

2.0

I *technically* finished this book but only because I skimmed through the last 300 pages. I got through half the book by reading paragraphs and just dialogue because I couldn’t stand how much description and unnecessary flashback and thrown-in lore there was. But I really did enjoy the characters, especially Hal and Hotspur. Banna Mora’s motivations didn’t make as much sense to me but I wanted to get to the end of the book, I just couldn’t take how brutally long the story was. 

cupiscent's review against another edition

My struggle with this book has been strange; it's beautifully written, on just about every level, as rich and evocative and tangled as Queens of Innis Lear, which makes longer and slower, and occasionally occludes the thrust of the story. Through the first half of the book, the balance was comfortably tipped in favour of the joy of reading, but in the middle - perhaps with the introduction of new viewpoints, perhaps the harkening back to elements from Queens that weren't my favourite, perhaps just Hal's inertia weighing upon me - I found it dragging the other way. I do enjoy the characters, and the style is just delightful, but I think if I'm continue I'm going to get irritated with all of it, so I'm leaving it here.

Beautiful, lush, excellent; not for me, right now. 

alyram4's review against another edition

2.0

I have seriously major issues with this book, and I can't in my right mind recommend it as of now. I felt nothing for these characters. Absolutely nothing. The writing was very off and just seemed to have trouble with tone and setting all throughout. It's a loose retelling, so I didn't expect it to be very similar. There is genderswapping that I was excited about, and that in itself was pretty well done so props. There's a lot of saying and not showing in the book though. Extensive dialogue and descriptions about people, places, history etc. It all seems overwhelming and it never truly comes together into a cohesive piece. It just felt like something to make the book even longer than it should be. In the end, if I don't like the characters or even get to SEE them interact as they're described, well it just sort of makes me feel like I wasted my time. I rely a lot on characters to make a book enjoyable for me, and this one just didn't do that for me. Others may absolutely love this book, but I wasn't a fan unfortunately.

megancherry's review against another edition

adventurous challenging slow-paced

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

2.75