Book Review: The Lady of the Rivers by Philippa Gregory

Author: Philippa Gregory
Title: The Lady of the Rivers (The Plantagenet and Tudor Novels #1)
Genre: Historical Fiction, Romance, and Fantasy
Pages: 502
First Published: September 2011
Where I Got It: Borrow from library

Jacquetta, daughter of the Count of Luxembourg and kinswoman to half the royalty of Europe, was married to the great Englishman John, Duke of Bedford, uncle to Henry VI. Widowed at the age of 19, she took the extraordinary risk of marrying a gentleman of her household for love, and then carved out a new life for herself. 


I truly have a love-hate relationship with this author. I either like her books or I hate them. There are a couple that fall in between. Sometimes the authors bends the historical facts too much and sometimes she does a good job. I think she does have a bias against some characters and she bends them too much for my liking. 

Now, this story follows Jacquetta who is very underrated as a historical figure. She really intrigues me whenever she pops up. I find her story interesting. She is forced to marry an older man who dies. She gets his title and all that. Instead of marrying within in station, she marries a man who use to work for her late hubbie. Which this man is WAYYYYYYYYYYYY below her station. Very interesting for the times. What is even more interesting is that the king at the time quickly forgives her and her husband. Too quickly, but the king was a a decent man in some aspects.

In this version of the story, the author plays on the fact that Jacquetta was accused of being a witch and does make her have some supernatural powers like telling the future. Very interesting take to actually have her have visions and whatnot. I liked it, but I didn't really care for her first hubbie approving of these powers and trying to use them for his gain. At the time, I don't think he would have approved of her powers and would have screamed witch. 

This was a fun book to read, because I liked the characters. However, there were SO MANY LULLS and nothing happening that I legit fell asleep a couple of times. I feel that there should have been some POV changes when Jacquetta was at home giving birth to her millionth child. Yes, the woman was a freakin' rabbit! xI But yes, sooooo many lulls that I did a lot of skimming.  

The ending dragged on and on and on. The ending was cliff-hangerish if you do not know your history. And I get why she did that, because the story is not over yet. 

In the end, I liked this. However, it was slow moving and the ending never ended. I am curious in reading the next book. This wasn't great, but it was okay. Out of five stars, I shall stamp this with 3. 

Book Review: The Red Queen

Author: Philipa Gregory
Title: The Red Queen (Cousin's War #2)
Genre: Historical Fiction, War,
Pages: 382
First Published: 2010
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Krogers)


"The second book in Philippa's stunning new trilogy, The Cousins War, brings to life the story of Margaret Beaufort, a shadowy and mysterious character in the first book of the series - The White Queen - but who now takes centre stage in the bitter struggle of The War of the Roses. The Red Queen tells the story of the child-bride of Edmund Tudor, who, although widowed in her early teens, uses her determination of character and wily plotting to infiltrate the house of York under the guise of loyal friend and servant, undermine the support for Richard III and ultimately ensure that her only son, Henry Tudor, triumphs as King of England. Through collaboration with the dowager Queen Elizabeth Woodville, Margaret agrees a betrothal between Henry and Elizabeth's daughter, thereby uniting the families and resolving the Cousins War once and for all by founding of the Tudor dynasty"


This is the second installment of the Cousin's War series by Philippa Gregory. However, it can stand alone perfectly fine. Each book has a different heroine, so reading out of order is okay. I'm glad for this, because I have NOT read 'The White Queen' yet. I plan too, but this cover drew me to it and I couldn't resist it. Also, it was on sale at Krogers. Oh well. Even though I'm not a huge fan of Ms. Gregory's viewpoint of Anne Boleyn or Elizabeth I, I'll give her a chance in other areas of history; just like I did for this one. However, when I picked up this novel, I was a little worried I would be confused, because I'm not that knowledgeable about the War of the Roses (aka Cousin's war).  


Firstly, I give a nod to Philippa Gregory because she didn't assume that every reader is a historian on that war. Secondly, she wrote this series, so you could read all the novels out of order and NOT get confused. I love when series are like that. ^.^ Just these points made me like the novel! 


I loved how Philippa Gregory presents each character. She presents them with real human flaws and she even shows their positive points too. Even the main characters show their flaws AND this "heroine" of novel is very, very flawed! I couldn't stand the woman! If I had known her, I would have probably smacked her in the face. She was so annoying BUT I give Ms. Gregory major creds for presenting this lady as she was. She showed her as selfish, arrogant, self-conceded, independent, cold-heart, destiny-driven, holy, and proud. She would have given ANYTHING for her son the throne of England. 


I have not read one review that stated that they "loved" this character. No one likes her, but many love the book. How is that possible? Well, because the book was fantastic! I couldn't get enough of it either! It took a little bit to get into though, but after a certain point I could barely put it down. 


The only thing I didn't like about this book, was Lady Beaufort. That woman got on my nerves. In my head I called her "The Bitch". She did have some positive points, but she kept comparing herself to Joan of Arch and she thought that she was God's "chosen" and everyone should bow down and kiss her feet (well, she never really stated that, but she probably secretly wanted that). I think I would have preferred the story to narrated by someone else, but it was interesting to hear Henry VII's mother's view point.   


All-in-all, I really liked this book. It makes me want to check out the rest of the series. Maybe I'll even read more books set during the War of the Roses time period. This has become my second favorite of Philippa Gregory's novels, even though I hated the main character. Out of five stars I grant this one 5 stars. Yayy!


Favorite Character(s): Jasper Tudor and Lord Stanley (why? I don't know, but I loved that guy for some odd reason.)
Not-so Favorite Character(s): LADY MARGARET and Richard III

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<3CaroleRae