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FORMAT: Book
TITLE: The Boleyn Inheritance
AUTHOR: Philippa Gregory
01. This was by far the best book I've ever read by Philippa Gregory. A lot of her other works have been relatively dull, even if she has an interesting story to tell, but this one was far more fast-paced and to the point. We didn't have page-long descriptions of fountains (*cough*The Constant Princess*cough*), book-long descriptions of flowers (*cough*Earthly Joys*cough*), and she kept the action moving at a reasonable pace.
02. I loved the way Katherine Howard was portrayed. You couldn't help but smile at her naivete. It was a little sad, though, how she never imagined that she would be sent to the executioner's block, and when she realized this she wanted to practice so that she would have everything just perfect.
03. Man, I was pretty sympathetic with Lady Jane Rochford up until the end of her days, when she was revealed to be completely and totally mad. As much as I loved George in The Other Boleyn Girl and hated Jane for being the one to testify against him, I was ready to believe that the Duke of Norfolk had come up with a plan to save him and Anne that would have worked had the two of them pled guilty. But then there was the twist at the end where Jane realized that, deep down, she just did it to get revenge on them, and then I lost all of my appreciation for her and was somewhat glad to see her get the axe.
04. That was another thing that was off about this book--the completely reversal of good guys vs. bad. In The Other Boleyn Girl, which was told through Mary Boleyn's point of view, Jane was seen as the cold-hearted bitch who was jealous of George spending so much time with Anne. In The Boleyn Inheritance, which was told partly through Jane Rochford's point of view, we saw Mary as a self-centered woman who unreasonably hated Jane for her brother's death, even though she had done nothing to stop it. That kept throwing me off, even though I should have expected that because of their bias.
05. Anne was a good character to read about. Finally, one of Henry's wives who wasn't killed. I'd like to learn more about her brother, though, and whether he was as domineering as Gregory suggests.
06. The Duke of Norfolk--ugh! I was really hoping he'd get the block, but unfortunately he didn't in The Boleyn Inheritance and, according to Wikipedia, he was only once under suspicion and any accusations against him were quelled with Henry's death. >_< He really is a loathsome character.
07. Although this would have made the book long, I wouldn't have minded if she had continued to write about Katherine Parr. She wasn't even in the picture when Katherine Howard was executed; this may have been because she wasn't at court, but I would have liked some mention of her other than Anne's summary of events five years after Katherine Howard's death.
08. Overall, I found this book to be excellent. The constant change of P.O.V's (from Anne of Cleves, to Lady Jane Rochford, to Katherine Howard) was a bit confusing at times, but it kept the pages turning and the book definitely didn't drag on like most of Gregory's other novels. I also thought it more well-written than several of her works, especially with the idea of the Boleyn inheritance circulating amongst the characters. Hopefully, if she decides to continue with this series, the sequels will be as good as this one was.
TITLE: The Boleyn Inheritance
AUTHOR: Philippa Gregory
01. This was by far the best book I've ever read by Philippa Gregory. A lot of her other works have been relatively dull, even if she has an interesting story to tell, but this one was far more fast-paced and to the point. We didn't have page-long descriptions of fountains (*cough*The Constant Princess*cough*), book-long descriptions of flowers (*cough*Earthly Joys*cough*), and she kept the action moving at a reasonable pace.
02. I loved the way Katherine Howard was portrayed. You couldn't help but smile at her naivete. It was a little sad, though, how she never imagined that she would be sent to the executioner's block, and when she realized this she wanted to practice so that she would have everything just perfect.
03. Man, I was pretty sympathetic with Lady Jane Rochford up until the end of her days, when she was revealed to be completely and totally mad. As much as I loved George in The Other Boleyn Girl and hated Jane for being the one to testify against him, I was ready to believe that the Duke of Norfolk had come up with a plan to save him and Anne that would have worked had the two of them pled guilty. But then there was the twist at the end where Jane realized that, deep down, she just did it to get revenge on them, and then I lost all of my appreciation for her and was somewhat glad to see her get the axe.
04. That was another thing that was off about this book--the completely reversal of good guys vs. bad. In The Other Boleyn Girl, which was told through Mary Boleyn's point of view, Jane was seen as the cold-hearted bitch who was jealous of George spending so much time with Anne. In The Boleyn Inheritance, which was told partly through Jane Rochford's point of view, we saw Mary as a self-centered woman who unreasonably hated Jane for her brother's death, even though she had done nothing to stop it. That kept throwing me off, even though I should have expected that because of their bias.
05. Anne was a good character to read about. Finally, one of Henry's wives who wasn't killed. I'd like to learn more about her brother, though, and whether he was as domineering as Gregory suggests.
06. The Duke of Norfolk--ugh! I was really hoping he'd get the block, but unfortunately he didn't in The Boleyn Inheritance and, according to Wikipedia, he was only once under suspicion and any accusations against him were quelled with Henry's death. >_< He really is a loathsome character.
07. Although this would have made the book long, I wouldn't have minded if she had continued to write about Katherine Parr. She wasn't even in the picture when Katherine Howard was executed; this may have been because she wasn't at court, but I would have liked some mention of her other than Anne's summary of events five years after Katherine Howard's death.
08. Overall, I found this book to be excellent. The constant change of P.O.V's (from Anne of Cleves, to Lady Jane Rochford, to Katherine Howard) was a bit confusing at times, but it kept the pages turning and the book definitely didn't drag on like most of Gregory's other novels. I also thought it more well-written than several of her works, especially with the idea of the Boleyn inheritance circulating amongst the characters. Hopefully, if she decides to continue with this series, the sequels will be as good as this one was.
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