The Other Queen: A Novel

I couldn't even be bothered to finish this one. Between the lack of action and the cardboard characters, I wanted to stop at page 60 but kept chugging along thinking this is Philippa Gregory. It's going to get better any time now. Unfortunately, it didn't.

I have read all of Gregory's books and with one major exception, ('Wideacre", the only book I have ever thrown in the trash after reading) I have really enjoyed her books. I was excited because historical fiction seemed to be her best. "The Other Queen" was work to read. Long, choppy, repetitive chapters that went nowhere. And I paid for the full price hard copy! I will trust other reviewers in the future.

This book is no where near as well written as "The Other Boyelyn Girl" or "Queen's Fool" - read the first few chapters and then jumped to the last -

Philippa Gregory is a masterful author, and I really did enjoy reading The Other Queen because of Gregory's style. However, it is not in the same league as the very exciting and event-filled The Other Bolyn Sister, which I have read half a dozen times and can never seem to put down. I had been looking forward to reading The Other Queen, largely due to the fact that so much less has been written about Mary and I wanted to see how Gregory handled the subject. Sadly, the book becomes quite tedious. Very little action occurs, just the same perspectives voiced over and over. Perhaps Gregory chose too narrow of a time frame. I was disappointed by the way she handled Mary, Queen of Scots.

I had really enjoyed Ms. Gregory's other books, but really a story told from three different people? It was difficult to follow and keep track of when event's were actually taking place and the story line seemed to drag on forever with no real destination. I was really disappointed. I would recommend reviewing the book at your local library before buying it.