This Advance Reader Copy of the book is courtesy of NetGalley and the book’s publishers. I am not receiving any financial or additional benefit for posting this review other than the opportunity to read this book before it’s released publicly.
tl;dr Review:
Couldn’t even finish the book.
Full Review:
I generally hate talking poorly about any book because as a writer, I know how much it sucks when someone critiques your baby. And it wasn’t the writing really that made this book unbearable to me, but either way, I couldn’t even finish it.
Sometimes we don’t connect with books and that’s ok (who am I trying to convince here? hahaha). I really did give it the old college try, but ultimately I felt like this book never got off the ground.
The Queen’s Mary tells the story of Mary Seton, a lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots. I was initially intrigued by the description of the book, including “Torn between her own desires and her duty to serve her mistress, she is ultimately drawn into her Queen’s web of passion and royal treachery – and must play her part in the game of thrones between Mary and Elizabeth I.”
Don’t get me wrong, I’m usually all about some Tudor era drama and I love fantastic historical fiction.
Sadly though, this book just did not do it for me.
I think part of my problem is that the book starts when Mary and the ladies in waiting are very young (think like 5 or so). I struggle relating to stories when the main characters are children.
I know others love to read the entire arc of these characters lives, but unless they progress in age very quickly, I generally don’t.
For those who love a winding historical fiction where you follow your protagonist from a young age all the way through, you may enjoy this book. It was rich in historical detail and it captured the era well.
As much as I tried though, I just could not get through it and ultimately ended up not even finishing the book.
That’s why I’ve decided to give it a rating of 1.5 thumbs up out of 5.
