shivvyslibrary's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
kirragerrish's review against another edition
1.0
1.5 stars. Although I am fascinated by the time period the book was set in, I found this extremely hard to follow. Don't know wether it was extremely high expectations or writing style, I'm not sure. But I just couldn't get into it but I would have been disappointed if I didn't finish it
doodling's review against another edition
1.0
Werd op t einde iets beter, maar... Tja,vond dit niet een goed boek.
bibliopage's review against another edition
4.0
I love any book that Philippa Gregory writes but the writing style of this one was a little tedious to read and at times, I almost wanted to stop reading it because it was slightly boring.
houseofjules's review against another edition
2.0
When I first picked up this book, it was because I loved "The Other Boleyn Girl" so much and wanted to read the prequel. Upon reading such a scandalous, juicy rivalry story of how Anne Boleyn swept the King away, made an unlikely marriage for herself with an unfortunate end on the executioner's block, you tend to have certain expectations. And that's exactly what I think people do when they pick up this book, they expect the same level of excitement and courtly rivalry to take place.
Unfortunately for them, this book unravels at a much slower, (and often repetitively boring) pace.
In other words, the word "Constant" should be enough of a hit as to what kind of ride you're embarking on.
In Gregory's defense, there isn't much excitement in the life of Catherine of Aragon to fill 390 pages without being boring, or repetitive or a combination of both. Especially when confined to the time period while Henry and Catherine's marriage is going fairly well and their main focus is on securing the borders and strategizing for war with either the Scots or the French.
With that said, I cant help to wonder why even bother writing this book, or prolonging it to almost 400 pages for that matter. Yes, its interesting the learn the early life of Catherine, her marriage to Arthur and the quick and devastating death that plunged her into such a state of despair, not knowing what's to happen to her now that she's left without a husband.
But the entire time I was reading this book, I kept thinking "Is this necessary ?". Is it necessary to constantly remind us that Catherine is doing her mothers bidding, that she believes shes doing god's work, that she claims she needs to be constant, yada yada yada. Every other page the same thought and feeling and reoccurring themes. Every time we're reading Catherine's thought, her POV, she's saying the same thing.
Many times I wanted to stop reading, because it seemed that for every 50 pages we get a little bit of new information, but the whole time we have to sit through this repetitive speech. Something like listening to your mom lecture you the same speech over and over again. I just dont want to sit through it.
However, I somehow managed to finish this book, and can successfully say I could have gone without reading it. Its not something I recommend for those who are still riding on the excitement of "The Other Boleyn Girl" because you will be plunged into boredom from page 1.
On the other hand, if you're genuinely interested in the history of that time period, what Catherine might have been feeling at the time and you're are interested in knowing her feeling and attitudes, then by all means this book is the one for you.
Sadly, it was not for me.
Unfortunately for them, this book unravels at a much slower, (and often repetitively boring) pace.
In other words, the word "Constant" should be enough of a hit as to what kind of ride you're embarking on.
In Gregory's defense, there isn't much excitement in the life of Catherine of Aragon to fill 390 pages without being boring, or repetitive or a combination of both. Especially when confined to the time period while Henry and Catherine's marriage is going fairly well and their main focus is on securing the borders and strategizing for war with either the Scots or the French.
With that said, I cant help to wonder why even bother writing this book, or prolonging it to almost 400 pages for that matter. Yes, its interesting the learn the early life of Catherine, her marriage to Arthur and the quick and devastating death that plunged her into such a state of despair, not knowing what's to happen to her now that she's left without a husband.
But the entire time I was reading this book, I kept thinking "Is this necessary ?". Is it necessary to constantly remind us that Catherine is doing her mothers bidding, that she believes shes doing god's work, that she claims she needs to be constant, yada yada yada. Every other page the same thought and feeling and reoccurring themes. Every time we're reading Catherine's thought, her POV, she's saying the same thing.
Many times I wanted to stop reading, because it seemed that for every 50 pages we get a little bit of new information, but the whole time we have to sit through this repetitive speech. Something like listening to your mom lecture you the same speech over and over again. I just dont want to sit through it.
However, I somehow managed to finish this book, and can successfully say I could have gone without reading it. Its not something I recommend for those who are still riding on the excitement of "The Other Boleyn Girl" because you will be plunged into boredom from page 1.
On the other hand, if you're genuinely interested in the history of that time period, what Catherine might have been feeling at the time and you're are interested in knowing her feeling and attitudes, then by all means this book is the one for you.
Sadly, it was not for me.
wildwolverine's review against another edition
3.0
Everyone knows who Katherine of Aragon is. She's the first "Divorced" in the Tudor rhyme. I knew a lot about her life while she was Queen of England but very little before that. We're introduced to Katherine in Gregory's book The King's Curse, but here, we get up close and personal with the princess, her poverty, and her supposed passion for the first Tudor prince, Arthur.
I LIKED this book. I tried to like more of it because Katherine is such a fascinating woman, and I'm genuinely curious about what happened between her and Arthur historically. She's driven, cunning, and resourceful but also vulnerable with her own needs and disappointments. Gregory showed us this woman, but this woman was sometimes lost in the noise of Katherine's whining about how much she loves Arthur. Girl, you were with him for 5 months tops. You're trying to tell me he was the greatest love of her life? That everything she did was because of a deathbed promise to him?
It cheapened her. I fully support women falling in love and going after the men they want (Three Sisters, Three Queens does this fabulously), but Katherine was stripped of all personality except for Arthur. There were a couple throwaway lines near the end about how this was secretly her ambition all along, but I don't buy it. Too busy getting hammered over the head with Arthur. It's such a shame because there was so much rich, material here.
Regardless of this fault, the story was still well-written, and you can sympathize with Katherine of the pages she isn't talking about Arthur. When she resists Henry VII, survives poverty, starts to fall for Henry, and becomes regent and fights the Scots you see a brilliant woman and the descendant of Isabella of Castile. You just have to go looking for her sometimes.
I LIKED this book. I tried to like more of it because Katherine is such a fascinating woman, and I'm genuinely curious about what happened between her and Arthur historically. She's driven, cunning, and resourceful but also vulnerable with her own needs and disappointments. Gregory showed us this woman, but this woman was sometimes lost in the noise of Katherine's whining about how much she loves Arthur. Girl, you were with him for 5 months tops. You're trying to tell me he was the greatest love of her life? That everything she did was because of a deathbed promise to him?
It cheapened her. I fully support women falling in love and going after the men they want (Three Sisters, Three Queens does this fabulously), but Katherine was stripped of all personality except for Arthur. There were a couple throwaway lines near the end about how this was secretly her ambition all along, but I don't buy it. Too busy getting hammered over the head with Arthur. It's such a shame because there was so much rich, material here.
Regardless of this fault, the story was still well-written, and you can sympathize with Katherine of the pages she isn't talking about Arthur. When she resists Henry VII, survives poverty, starts to fall for Henry, and becomes regent and fights the Scots you see a brilliant woman and the descendant of Isabella of Castile. You just have to go looking for her sometimes.
gjv's review against another edition
2.0
The constant point-of-view switching was very distracting, and I felt like the first 2/3 of the book moved extremely slowly in comparison to the last third. Catalina's arrogance about her home country was also aggravating at times -- every chance she got, she would go on these paragraph-long rants about how much better Spain was than England. It's not a bad read; I just would recommend the Other Boleyn Girl or the Boleyn Inheritance (in the latter, she is much more successful with the POV-switching) first.
laurenjpegler's review against another edition
4.0
not my favourite and often found the language/imagery quite insensitive but still such an enjoyable series
katreadsalot's review against another edition
3.0
The structure of this book threw me somewhat. I didn’t always love the shifting in POV between first person and third person. Catalina was an interesting enough character, but this moved a little too slow for me.