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wordsofclover 's review for:
The Lady of the Ravens
by Joanna Hickson
3.5 stars
I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Joan Guildford was one of the lady-in-waitings in Queen Elizabeth's court during King Henry VII's reign, and helped her friend the Queen throughout numerous challenges including her marriage, the births and deaths of children and a lot of political upheaval in between - including the emergence of a boy claiming to be Elizabeth's brother Richard - and heir to the throne.
This was a nice historical fiction which I enjoyed reading. I knew nothing about Joan Guildford, and I liked her voice (though at times she was a little bit of a Plain Jane), and the events she encountered. I know a good bit about this time in history through other fiction and non-fiction books I've read, so I wasn't completely excited in different parts of this book and I felt some exciting things were generally happening off page due to Joan obviously not being involved in action due to her gender, and also sometimes being away from court as well and at home with her children.
One of the interesting parts of this book was Joan's life living in the Tower of London due to her husband's position and it was just cool to hear about what that was like. While I feel Joan's obsession with the ravens was never really explained, and sometimes the way she would always bring back everything to the ravens could be tedious, I still liked learning about the bird's history and connection to the Tower of London.
Some storylines felt a bit flat for me - such as the weird antagonistic relationship between Joan and Henry Wyatt. The fact it went on so long, and things only happened between them two or three times in the span of over 10 years, it felt like a storyline that didn't really need to be included.
I did enjoy this writing, and would read more of Joanna's books. I would love another book about Joan's later life as we only got a bit here, and I think her time with Princess Mary in France, and during King Henry's reign would be very interesting to read about.
I received this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Joan Guildford was one of the lady-in-waitings in Queen Elizabeth's court during King Henry VII's reign, and helped her friend the Queen throughout numerous challenges including her marriage, the births and deaths of children and a lot of political upheaval in between - including the emergence of a boy claiming to be Elizabeth's brother Richard - and heir to the throne.
This was a nice historical fiction which I enjoyed reading. I knew nothing about Joan Guildford, and I liked her voice (though at times she was a little bit of a Plain Jane), and the events she encountered. I know a good bit about this time in history through other fiction and non-fiction books I've read, so I wasn't completely excited in different parts of this book and I felt some exciting things were generally happening off page due to Joan obviously not being involved in action due to her gender, and also sometimes being away from court as well and at home with her children.
One of the interesting parts of this book was Joan's life living in the Tower of London due to her husband's position and it was just cool to hear about what that was like. While I feel Joan's obsession with the ravens was never really explained, and sometimes the way she would always bring back everything to the ravens could be tedious, I still liked learning about the bird's history and connection to the Tower of London.
Some storylines felt a bit flat for me - such as the weird antagonistic relationship between Joan and Henry Wyatt. The fact it went on so long, and things only happened between them two or three times in the span of over 10 years, it felt like a storyline that didn't really need to be included.
I did enjoy this writing, and would read more of Joanna's books. I would love another book about Joan's later life as we only got a bit here, and I think her time with Princess Mary in France, and during King Henry's reign would be very interesting to read about.