maartje_volder's Reviews (578)

Well, let me start with what I did not like about this book. IT ENDED 20 YEARS TOO SOON!
I wanted it to end at the end of Jasper Tudors life, I expected it would be so until i realised that I was 400 pages in and a whole lot of history was to take place before his nephew would take the throne.
I loved the historically accurate tale, given a hint of romance by Jane her presence. The way the story is told (a common girl and a lord) by two people makes you give a very good view of the world at that time. Loved it from start to finish.

Spoiler

The fact that the story starts and ends with Jasper his sister is also a lovely way to close.

This was a lovely light slapstick on paper read. Would recommend it to anybody looking for a good time with a book.

I liked the idea of the book and the way so many deaths come can be surprising, boring, soothing, flabbergasting and so on. It is what makes the book relatable, the what ifs in a life.

I was not happy with the ending or setting. It's almost like the author needed an exciting time in history to dig into and make the story more intersting than the average life. Still, she chooses to make most of Ursula's lifes a bit dull and average. For me, it felt like the WW setting was a cheap choice.

If you ever consider reading this: Skip the first chapter. I was reading for an hour and mainly thinking "why am I doing this, why am I doing this?" Most useles introduction to a book, ever.

So I choose to read this classic because the idea intrigued me. I have seen some form of a movie on tv once upon a time about a high school student doing a piece on this book. So passion, adultery, awesome, let's do this. Well, it's just a nope. There is no passion, there is no love for most of the book. Mainly a child born from infedelity and thus bad. I do believe in selffurfilling prophecies and thus if you believe the child is bad she will turn out bad, but the way this kid is portrait is impossible.

I did not like the writing, I did not like the story, it came together towards the end which made it acceptable because it did give closure.

This book is made up of 2 stories; the murder and the man who did it. Although the second story caught me off guard (it felt like a New story, unrelated for most of it) but they came together so well in the end. Beautifully written crime

It is a wonderful tale, especially for its age. For me it lacked dept, something that in later years would have been given to a story like this. I feel I would have absolutely loved this if it was a thousand page book.

This book is just great fun. The stories are short and clear, with Mowgli as a reoccuring storyline. You can see how both Disney movies were inspired by this/these book(s).
I regret not reading it sooner, because the thing that held me back most was the general opinion of my surroundings: the book was supposed to be much darker then the movie. It certainly isnt a cheery fun and dance book, but I believed that darker would be an awful miserable unfulfilling life for Mowgli. The main part that was less pleasent is that in the Jungle, animals get killed by man or beast. All in all, it was a good fun read.

First off, I loved the layers of the story. I felt a bit tossed around in the first chapters, but once I got used to it, it was fun. It made the story a bit of a puzzle you really want to solve.

I read this book because I adore the Handmaids Tale. If it was possible to list it as a 6 out of 5 stars book I would have. The writing style is clearly Atwood, but this story was less capturing than the Handmaids Tale for me. Still, was a very good read.