A review by alexisdpatt
Katharine Parr: The Sixth Wife by Alison Weir

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

4.0

“Katherine Parr: The Sixth Wife” by Alison Weir ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Katherine Parr” is the sixth and final book in Weir’s Six Wives series and follows Katherine through her life before her marriage to the king, her queenship and then her life as Dowager Queen of England. 

For the final time, Weir’s writing is brilliant and easily digestible for readers who are both new and familiar to this time period. When it comes to Katherine Parr, it’s been refreshing to see how she out of all of the queens led a pretty normal and full life before her marriage to Henry VIII. 

The English reformation is in full swing in this book. Throughout the rest of the series, it’s been a small factor but with Katherine being a true Reformer and covertly trying to persuade the king of reformed ideals was interesting to watch because it really hones in on the fact that Henry VIII wasn’t a Protestant. He was a Catholic and only broke with Rome so he could get what he wanted. He never really left the “true faith.” Here, Katherine thinks she can sway him as Anne Boleyn did, but unfortunately for her, Henry has nothing to gain by doing this. Really makes me wish “Firebrand” was a better film though. 

I was really enjoying this book until I wasn’t which was the last fourth and it’s for incredibly personal reasons; I hate Thomas Seymour. I’ve already ranted about how boring his sister Jane was (I basically can’t stand any member of that family) but Thomas is a piece of shit and I hate him. I’m truly annoyed that Katherine had to go and die in childbed six months before Thomas’s execution just so I could feel something other than rage in these last few chapters. 

All in all I really enjoyed this series! It was a lot to get though but well worth the wait. Final rating: 4.08