A review by rachel_kw
Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI by Lauren Johnson
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, even if it took me a while to read cause I gave other books priority over it. On that topic, this book did drag in places for me, I saw other reviews where people said they completely powered through it but I only did that in a couple of places. I think cause there was just so much groundwork to lay for understanding every single conflict and where the War of The Roses came from. The book's timeline is roughly 1415 to 1471 which is a lot of groundwork to cover. However, besides how long it took me to read it, I really enjoyed this book!
This book gave me everything I wanted and more! A lot of the problems I had with The War of The Roses by Dan Jones were completely remedied in this book!
I liked Johnson's writing style, I think she effectively used direct quotes from primary sources well.
I like how she has extremely descriptive beginnings to her chapters, it really sucks you in and it sounds pretty.
Richard of York is extremely interesting in how arrogant he was while still being on the "right" side. Like that part when York returns to London in triumph and strides all the way up to the empty chair of the king in front of parliament and stands right in front of it(which is a big no-no, nobody goes on the dais unless you're king). The only way I describe my feelings towards that scene is OHOHOHO
I really enjoyed how Johnson tackled Henry's character and personality. She made him a real 3-dimensional person instead of "the shadow on the wall." It's quite tragic how devoted to peace Henry was and how much bloodshed happened for/because of him.
This book is really interesting to me in that it's basically a case study of how the lessons and principles you learn in your formative years define your entire life. Henry's actions make sense with how he was raised and what he saw as a child that told him how the world worked.
I REALLY enjoyed how Johnson wrote about Margaret of Anjou because unlike some other authors *cough* Dan Jones *cough*, Margaret of Anjou was not tyrannical, she was an extremely driven woman in a world that despised her for this. And like Henry, Johnson portrays Margaret as an actual real person with extremely clear motivations.
Johnson uses the perfect word in the prologue to describe Margaret, indefatigable. She was indefatigable, she never gave up(until Tewkesbury). And all I gotta say about Johnson's portrayal of Margaret is that THAT'S WHAT YOU GET WHEN A WOMEN WRITES ABOUT ANOTHER WOMAN.
Anyways, if Margaret was a man a lot more people would like her and be a lot more sympathetic to her........
I suppose one of the main takeaways from this is that Johnson knows how to effectively portray historical figures as real people like her writing might get me to read her book about Henry VIII and i fucking hate that guy.
This book was really good! Johnson's writing is captivating and the character study is really good.
This book gave me everything I wanted and more! A lot of the problems I had with The War of The Roses by Dan Jones were completely remedied in this book!
I liked Johnson's writing style, I think she effectively used direct quotes from primary sources well.
I like how she has extremely descriptive beginnings to her chapters, it really sucks you in and it sounds pretty.
Richard of York is extremely interesting in how arrogant he was while still being on the "right" side. Like that part when York returns to London in triumph and strides all the way up to the empty chair of the king in front of parliament and stands right in front of it(which is a big no-no, nobody goes on the dais unless you're king). The only way I describe my feelings towards that scene is OHOHOHO
I really enjoyed how Johnson tackled Henry's character and personality. She made him a real 3-dimensional person instead of "the shadow on the wall." It's quite tragic how devoted to peace Henry was and how much bloodshed happened for/because of him.
This book is really interesting to me in that it's basically a case study of how the lessons and principles you learn in your formative years define your entire life. Henry's actions make sense with how he was raised and what he saw as a child that told him how the world worked.
I REALLY enjoyed how Johnson wrote about Margaret of Anjou because unlike some other authors *cough* Dan Jones *cough*, Margaret of Anjou was not tyrannical, she was an extremely driven woman in a world that despised her for this. And like Henry, Johnson portrays Margaret as an actual real person with extremely clear motivations.
Johnson uses the perfect word in the prologue to describe Margaret, indefatigable. She was indefatigable, she never gave up(until Tewkesbury). And all I gotta say about Johnson's portrayal of Margaret is that THAT'S WHAT YOU GET WHEN A WOMEN WRITES ABOUT ANOTHER WOMAN.
Anyways, if Margaret was a man a lot more people would like her and be a lot more sympathetic to her........
I suppose one of the main takeaways from this is that Johnson knows how to effectively portray historical figures as real people like her writing might get me to read her book about Henry VIII and i fucking hate that guy.
This book was really good! Johnson's writing is captivating and the character study is really good.