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gemimasheila's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kerenzavivyan's review against another edition
4.0
This is a historical fiction and I was pleasantly surprised about how much I enjoyed the novel. Throughout the book, I worried for the life of Mary, Queen of Scots and Lady Ginette also known as Jenny. Jenny is the main character and is written in first person to show her perspective on certain aspects of this book. This novel charts the life of the famous Queen of Scots.
My one fault with this book is that there was little about the uprising and rebellion against Mary and there was nothing of her life in England before her execution.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed the growing relationships between Jenny and Sir Duncan Alexander and Jenny and Sir Gavin. The twist at the end was something I really wasn't expecting and shocked me.
Overall, I felt this book was really enjoyable and really good. This book is well written and defiantly deserves to be an award winning book. I loved the fast pace of this book and the wittiness of Jenny and the fierceness of Mary. This book encourages me to go on and read more historical fiction and more books by the author Theresa Breslin. I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone who is look to learn something from a book. If I was able I would defiantly would give this book 4 1/2 stars.
My one fault with this book is that there was little about the uprising and rebellion against Mary and there was nothing of her life in England before her execution.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed the growing relationships between Jenny and Sir Duncan Alexander and Jenny and Sir Gavin. The twist at the end was something I really wasn't expecting and shocked me.
Overall, I felt this book was really enjoyable and really good. This book is well written and defiantly deserves to be an award winning book. I loved the fast pace of this book and the wittiness of Jenny and the fierceness of Mary. This book encourages me to go on and read more historical fiction and more books by the author Theresa Breslin. I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone who is look to learn something from a book. If I was able I would defiantly would give this book 4 1/2 stars.
vsb's review
5.0
I loved this book from beginig till end.
I dont normally like historical fiction but this book (and code name verity) really griped me.
the story line was excellent and it will really help me with my studies this year
I dont normally like historical fiction but this book (and code name verity) really griped me.
the story line was excellent and it will really help me with my studies this year
michellesbogsnak's review
4.0
I’ve always been fascinated by Mary, the last Queen of Scots so I was intrigued to read this historical fiction of most of her life. It’s divided into two parts, the first one takes place in her youth when she lives in France and the second part is her life in Scotland when she returns to take her throne after the death of her widowed mother. The first part was very interesting to me, because although I know to take everything in a historical fiction like this with a grain of salt, it was still super interesting to read about how her life was. Of course everything is seen from the point of view of Jenny, her maid in waiting, so some things are not told as directly as one would have hoped for. But Jenny is so close to Mary that it is almost as if it’s told by Mary. Wherever Mary goes, so does Jenny and they are almost joined at the hip for the most of the time. I supposed this was done deliberately to create a better effect for the story, and I honestly don’t mind because it works!
As far as Jenny goes to me, she started out rather weak as a character. Granted she starts out as a young teenager but as the story progresses so does her character and she grows a backbone and some serious loyalty to Mary, and it is because of this loyalty that the story gets as interesting as it does. It is close to being like a thriller story with all the political plotting and conspiracies that go on across the countries. On top of that, there’s the added tense romance between Jenny and Duncan Alexander, whenever he’s in the picture, because he does travel a lot. But those little bits where ones that I looked forward to some times because it brought something different to the story apart from the struggle for power among the many important names.
The second part of the book is Mary’s constant struggle to keep her throne back home in Scotland and this part becomes much more political and embedded with names that are easily forgotten than the first part. I often found myself skipping lightly over some of the many names simply because there were so many of them. Besides this I was still able to read on and follow the story, because with my little knowledge of Mary’s life I almost always knew what was about to happen. Yet I was still surprised in some cases and near excited to see how the ending of the book would be, because we know how Mary’s ending was.
Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Despite some of the many history books about Scotland and Mary, I sometimes feel like she is a forgotten person in history, so I enjoyed reading some more about her, although it was fiction for the most part.
The only reason I leave out one star is because of the confusion of some of the many names, but that has nothing to do with the author or the story, just the simple fact that sometimes history can become too confusion with all those names.
As far as Jenny goes to me, she started out rather weak as a character. Granted she starts out as a young teenager but as the story progresses so does her character and she grows a backbone and some serious loyalty to Mary, and it is because of this loyalty that the story gets as interesting as it does. It is close to being like a thriller story with all the political plotting and conspiracies that go on across the countries. On top of that, there’s the added tense romance between Jenny and Duncan Alexander, whenever he’s in the picture, because he does travel a lot. But those little bits where ones that I looked forward to some times because it brought something different to the story apart from the struggle for power among the many important names.
The second part of the book is Mary’s constant struggle to keep her throne back home in Scotland and this part becomes much more political and embedded with names that are easily forgotten than the first part. I often found myself skipping lightly over some of the many names simply because there were so many of them. Besides this I was still able to read on and follow the story, because with my little knowledge of Mary’s life I almost always knew what was about to happen. Yet I was still surprised in some cases and near excited to see how the ending of the book would be, because we know how Mary’s ending was.
Overall I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Despite some of the many history books about Scotland and Mary, I sometimes feel like she is a forgotten person in history, so I enjoyed reading some more about her, although it was fiction for the most part.
The only reason I leave out one star is because of the confusion of some of the many names, but that has nothing to do with the author or the story, just the simple fact that sometimes history can become too confusion with all those names.
bibliosini's review
4.0
OH MY GOD I'M IN LOVE WITH THIS BOOK!!!
When I got ahold of this book, I honestly didn't think I'll be a 100% into it, but surprise surprise, I was hooked from the beginning!
I loved the politics, scandals and scheming in this! The main thing I loved though, was the romance between Ginette and Duncan! I was rooting for them from the beginning and I'm ecstatic with how they ended up! My one disappointment though was that there wasn't much about what life was like for Ginette and Duncan once they got the chance to get together.
Anyway, I'm definitely picking up more of Breslin's books coz this one was fricking amazing!
When I got ahold of this book, I honestly didn't think I'll be a 100% into it, but surprise surprise, I was hooked from the beginning!
I loved the politics, scandals and scheming in this! The main thing I loved though, was the romance between Ginette and Duncan! I was rooting for them from the beginning and I'm ecstatic with how they ended up! My one disappointment though was that there wasn't much about what life was like for Ginette and Duncan once they got the chance to get together.
Anyway, I'm definitely picking up more of Breslin's books coz this one was fricking amazing!
sederle's review
We actually didn't finish this - neither of us loved it and sadly now that Elise is in high school, she reads her own books, on her own time, which is usually well past my bedtime! We do pass books back and forth, so we are still sharing books, just not reading them together.
kerenzavivyan's review
4.0
This is a historical fiction and I was pleasantly surprised about how much I enjoyed the novel. Throughout the book, I worried for the life of Mary, Queen of Scots and Lady Ginette also known as Jenny. Jenny is the main character and is written in first person to show her perspective on certain aspects of this book. This novel charts the life of the famous Queen of Scots.
My one fault with this book is that there was little about the uprising and rebellion against Mary and there was nothing of her life in England before her execution.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed the growing relationships between Jenny and Sir Duncan Alexander and Jenny and Sir Gavin. The twist at the end was something I really wasn't expecting and shocked me.
Overall, I felt this book was really enjoyable and really good. This book is well written and defiantly deserves to be an award winning book. I loved the fast pace of this book and the wittiness of Jenny and the fierceness of Mary. This book encourages me to go on and read more historical fiction and more books by the author Theresa Breslin. I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone who is look to learn something from a book. If I was able I would defiantly would give this book 4 1/2 stars.
My one fault with this book is that there was little about the uprising and rebellion against Mary and there was nothing of her life in England before her execution.
Apart from that, I really enjoyed the growing relationships between Jenny and Sir Duncan Alexander and Jenny and Sir Gavin. The twist at the end was something I really wasn't expecting and shocked me.
Overall, I felt this book was really enjoyable and really good. This book is well written and defiantly deserves to be an award winning book. I loved the fast pace of this book and the wittiness of Jenny and the fierceness of Mary. This book encourages me to go on and read more historical fiction and more books by the author Theresa Breslin. I would defiantly recommend this book to anyone who is look to learn something from a book. If I was able I would defiantly would give this book 4 1/2 stars.
abixx's review
4.0
The first genre that I ever really got into is historical fiction and that is a genre that I continue to go back to, even now. I’ve actually already read this book but, as I was suffering from severe Reign withdrawal, I decided to dive back into the world of Mary, Queen of Scots but with some different characters and something that was slightly more historically accurate. It was actually very interesting to read this book after watching Reign because now I can see all the links and connections between the two adaptations of Mary’s life. I also liked re-reading this book because now that I’m older I picked up a lot more of the smaller details, and also a lot more of the sexual innuendos that my 13 year old self definitely glossed over. I really loved the characters in this book because they were all complex and interesting and I’ve really come to see just what an amazing person Mary Stuart was. The writing style can sometimes get a little too descriptive for my liking but overall, it’s very engaging and informative. I’m really pleased that I decided to re-read this one and it was the perfect thing to stop me mourning over Reign.
As lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots, the beautiful Ginette—known as Jenny—is the young queen’s closest childhood friend. Growing up in the elegant but ruthless French court, surrounded by enemies and traitors—not least the jealous, manipulative Catherine de Medici, and Mary’s own scheming half-brother, James—Jenny has always been fiercely loyal to her mistress. But when she overhears a mysterious whispered plot, closely followed by several unexplained deaths at court, she puts her own life in danger and turns spy for Mary. Jenny quickly realises not a soul at court can be trusted, and when she and Mary return to their Scottish homeland for Mary to claim her throne, they face even greater peril. Desperate to protect her friend from those who would slit her throat to steal her crown, while battling her feelings for the charismatic nobleman Duncan Alexander, Jenny becomes embroiled in a dangerous web of secrets, betrayals and lies.
In some books, I can get very annoyed when authors say they are writing historical fiction but have blatantly added a character that never existed and never would have existed. And while there is no documentation of Mary ever having a lady in waiting called Ginette, there’s every possibility that she might have done. Jenny is a really engaging character to read about and she’s incredibly loyal and supportive and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or put her foot down – which for a woman in those days would have taken a lot of bravery. I also really liked the character of Duncan Alexander because he’s interesting and complex but brave and stubborn and trustworthy and I particularly like his relationship with Jenny. I had forgotten how funny this book was and it’s mainly Jenny and Duncan’s exchanges and their banter that adds to the humour. I also liked that the book had a good mix between fictional characters and real people because this cemented the fact that this book is historical fiction, but there is also room for imagination.
This book spans over quite a large time period, from when Jenny is 15 to well past Mary’s death date, and while I don’t think this added anything in particular to the story it allowed us to follow Mary throughout the most emotional and troubling times in her life, meaning that overall the plot was much more fast-paced and action-packed. There’s not one villain in this book – there are multiple characters with shady agendas and questionable intentions as well as characters who are just horrible human beings but the majority of those characters are justified – or at least, they think they’re justified – in their actions. That’s another thing I liked: everyone did what they thought was the best way forward and what applied to their specific beliefs. It’s just that some of those beliefs happened to be to overthrow the Queen of Scotland.
I’m really glad I re-read this book, not just because I got to live in the world of Mary Stuart for a little longer, but because it’s a very accurate piece of historical fiction. I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars and I know now that I really should check out more of Breslin’s works.
As lady-in-waiting to Mary, Queen of Scots, the beautiful Ginette—known as Jenny—is the young queen’s closest childhood friend. Growing up in the elegant but ruthless French court, surrounded by enemies and traitors—not least the jealous, manipulative Catherine de Medici, and Mary’s own scheming half-brother, James—Jenny has always been fiercely loyal to her mistress. But when she overhears a mysterious whispered plot, closely followed by several unexplained deaths at court, she puts her own life in danger and turns spy for Mary. Jenny quickly realises not a soul at court can be trusted, and when she and Mary return to their Scottish homeland for Mary to claim her throne, they face even greater peril. Desperate to protect her friend from those who would slit her throat to steal her crown, while battling her feelings for the charismatic nobleman Duncan Alexander, Jenny becomes embroiled in a dangerous web of secrets, betrayals and lies.
In some books, I can get very annoyed when authors say they are writing historical fiction but have blatantly added a character that never existed and never would have existed. And while there is no documentation of Mary ever having a lady in waiting called Ginette, there’s every possibility that she might have done. Jenny is a really engaging character to read about and she’s incredibly loyal and supportive and isn’t afraid to stand up for herself or put her foot down – which for a woman in those days would have taken a lot of bravery. I also really liked the character of Duncan Alexander because he’s interesting and complex but brave and stubborn and trustworthy and I particularly like his relationship with Jenny. I had forgotten how funny this book was and it’s mainly Jenny and Duncan’s exchanges and their banter that adds to the humour. I also liked that the book had a good mix between fictional characters and real people because this cemented the fact that this book is historical fiction, but there is also room for imagination.
This book spans over quite a large time period, from when Jenny is 15 to well past Mary’s death date, and while I don’t think this added anything in particular to the story it allowed us to follow Mary throughout the most emotional and troubling times in her life, meaning that overall the plot was much more fast-paced and action-packed. There’s not one villain in this book – there are multiple characters with shady agendas and questionable intentions as well as characters who are just horrible human beings but the majority of those characters are justified – or at least, they think they’re justified – in their actions. That’s another thing I liked: everyone did what they thought was the best way forward and what applied to their specific beliefs. It’s just that some of those beliefs happened to be to overthrow the Queen of Scotland.
I’m really glad I re-read this book, not just because I got to live in the world of Mary Stuart for a little longer, but because it’s a very accurate piece of historical fiction. I’d give it a 4 out of 5 stars and I know now that I really should check out more of Breslin’s works.
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