Thursday, January 26, 2012
Life in the court of King Henry VIII is a complex game. When fifteen-year-old Catherine Howard catches the king's eye, she quickly transforms from pawn to queen. But even luxury beyond imagination loses its luster as young Catherine finds her life - and her heart - threatened by the needs of an aging king and a family hungry for power. Will their agendas deliver Catherine to the same fate as her infamous cousin, Anne Boleyn - sacrificed at the altar of family ambition?
Ahh, my first book read for 2012! It's such a stunning start since the main setting of this book is in England (ha ha)
This book is all about Catherine Howard, how she rose to be the queen of England (the fifth wife of Henry VIII) and her eventual death by beheading. Although the book is also targetted at a YA market, I don't really think it is super YA given some of the scenes that were described in the novel - sex, adultery, killing, and so forth. But it does give a good background to us about how it was like 400 years ago.
If you are an avid The Tudors fan, you'll find that this book seems to describe one of the few episodes in the TV Series! It was so easy for me to read because well, it was just like a novelization, in fact. Although, I do hate the fact that Thomas Culpepper didn't appear much in this book. It therefore lacks some of love story I had been expecting between the two of them.
On some parts of the novel, I really felt for Catherine - being too young, used by her relatives just to get ahead in politics which is really really sad. I think she was just used for their own political gain (and got her head chopped off for it).
There's lack of originality in the book, but it is quite a good read for those wanting to know more about the Tudor times.
Rating: 2.5/5
Published: 2009.
There's lack of originality in the book, but it is quite a good read for those wanting to know more about the Tudor times.
Rating: 2.5/5
Published: 2009.
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