I wish that Henry and Adelia had more interaction in this book. Franklin makes a good attempt at a mother's love vs. a professional and personal obsession in a murder investigation, though I wasn't particularly moved by it.

Using the foreshadowing in the prologue made it fairly simple to figure out who the assassin was, but I enjoyed the ride nonetheless.

One of the defining series of my childhood. A female positive fantasy series full of adventure! It's still fantastic years later.

Alice Perrers is almost wholly reviled by historians, but many of her "choices" were not hers to make. Think of the time period. What woman could have refused the king and walked away unscathed? A common one, at that.

However, Campion's version of her character was just a tad on the sickeningly naive side for me. Time and time again she was shown through other people, through warnings, through experiences at court that she could trust only a handful, but it was rare that she actually took this to heart. It's frustrating to read about that kind of character.

These books were my Babysitter's Club - they defined my early childhood. My mother bought the entire set for me at one go and I devoured them before I even got to junior high myself. They are full of ridiculous stereotypes of teenagers, but I loved them all the same.