Why I Picked ItThis book was another one of my great finds from my favorite bookstore (Goodwill). The cover caught my eye, and it was in really good shape. When I read the synopsis and found out it was a historical fiction based in the era of King Henry and the Lutheran movement, I was intrigued. As a student who studied music history, I learned a lot about Luther and the effect he had on Christianity and how that affected the music development. So I already knew a bit about the 1500's in England, which made this a fun find for me (especially because it isn't often that I have an idea of what is going on in historical fiction books…History has always been a weak subject for me…). SummaryThis book follows Honor Larke throughout her life, from watching a Bishop take her father's most prized possession on his deathbed to watching that Bishop tear apart much of the good things in her life. She became a lady for the queen, helping her to build a case against the King's quest to nullify their marriage so he could be with Anne Boleyn. She learns a lot about the Church, politics, and herself and her own beliefs. She finds love without searching for it and goes through the struggles that come with loving someone. She travels, looking for sanctuary. The whole time, she is just doing what she thinks is best and the right thing to do, even if that means keeping secrets and going behind her loved ones' backs sometimes. (I have to be vague, because so many things that happen are reliant on other things throughout the book. Everything is connected, and it's hard not to give too much away!) What I LikedI could tell a lot of research went into this book. I learned a lot more than what I already knew about the times and the strife happening throughout the era. I also really liked the journey that I went through with Honor. She truly went through a long journey of self-discovery. She listened to the different teachings (sometimes more openly than others), and finally discovered for herself what she believed. Overall, Honor always tried to do what was right. She wanted to help others. She hated the violence and punishments that happened all around her at almost every turn, so she did what she could to save others from the pain some of her friends had to endure. I also loved the romance that happened throughout the book. I kind of wish there was a bit more of it, especially earlier on, because I felt like I only got to see tiny glimpses into her life with her love (I won't say who, because it takes a while for the relationship to blossom), and I would love to have seen so much more. Barbara Kyle also kept me on my toes throughout a majority of the book. Once in a while there were these really simple turns that I just knew where the story was going, but there were a lot of other ones where it changed course so quickly that I was legitimately surprised (in a good way) What I Didn't LikeThe book is 558 pages long (my copy at least), and I feel like it could very well have been cut down. There were a lot of storylines to follow. A majority of the time we followed Honor, but once in a while we'd go to King Henry VIII's view or that of Thomas More, or other smaller characters in the story. Sometimes that was difficult to follow because there wasn't always a clear change in character right away, so when the view changed from one paragraph to the next I had to go back and do a double take, re-reading to make sure I understood what was happening. I also thought there were some things that didn't need to be explained in as much detail. I read most of the book in the last 2-3 days (I think I was on page 100 or so by New Year's Eve), and yet I still only remember the huge turning points of the book. A lot of the detail items, though interesting, didn't always add a ton to the story lines. I think that maybe it could have been a little less wordy at some points and still been able to get the point across just fine. I also feel like Honor said "This is the last risk I will take" or "I know what I'm doing. I can trust this" A LOT in the last 150 pages. I understood why she continued doing what she was doing, but at the same time, I feel like she should have learned after trusting the wrong people a few times that she needed to be more careful where she put her trust. Overall Impression 🌟🌟🌟I truly did enjoy this book, but it wasn't my favorite. I may be biased because I'm not as big of a fan of historical fiction pieces, but this was a very average read. Like I said above, sometimes it drug on and I just wanted more action to happen and move the story forward. As much as a lot of the political or religious banter was important for the time, I was in the book to see what was going to happen next in Honor's life, not get a lecture on why Lutheranism or Catholicism was better. But I still very much enjoyed the book. I may go on to read Kyle's The King's Daughter about Queen Mary or The Queen's Gamble about Queen Elizabeth I, but I think I will have to read some other books in between I could not go from one to the next very quickly.
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AuthorJust sharing my passion of reading through my passion of writing. Archives
May 2020
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