#Audiobook Review: Three Sisters, Three Queens by Philippa Gregory #historicalfiction #excerpt #BibPleaseReview

Title: Three Sisters, Three Queens (The Tudor Court #2)
Author: Philippa Gregory
Publisher: Touchstone (Simon & Schuster)
Release Date: August 9, 2016
Acquired Via: Personal Collection
“There is only one bond that I trust: between a woman and her sisters. We never take our eyes off each other. In love and in rivalry, we always think of each other.”

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author behind the upcoming Starz original series The White Princess, a gripping new Tudor story featuring King Henry VIII’s sisters Mary and Margaret, along with Katherine of Aragon, vividly revealing the pivotal roles the three queens played in Henry VIII’s kingdom.

When Katherine of Aragon is brought to the Tudor court as a young bride, the oldest princess, Margaret, takes her measure. With one look, each knows the other for a rival, an ally, a pawn, destined—with Margaret’s younger sister Mary—to a sisterhood unique in all the world. The three sisters will become the queens of England, Scotland, and France.

United by family loyalties and affections, the three queens find themselves set against each other. Katherine commands an army against Margaret and kills her husband James IV of Scotland. But Margaret’s boy becomes heir to the Tudor throne when Katherine loses her son. Mary steals the widowed Margaret’s proposed husband, but when Mary is widowed it is her secret marriage for love that is the envy of the others. As they experience betrayals, dangers, loss, and passion, the three sisters find that the only constant in their perilous lives is their special bond, more powerful than any man, even a king.

Audio Excerpt


My Review

Philippa Gregory's books have been - and will continue to be - some of my favorite guilty pleasures. I'm behind on her War of the Roses series, but there was no way that I could pass up one of her Tudor novels. Three Sisters, Three Queens follows the life of Henry the VIII's oldest sister, Margaret Tudor, and it is quite unlike any other Gregory book that I've read.

In most of Gregory's books, the protagonist is extremely likable, and there's a healthy dose of sexytimes. In Three Sisters, Three Queens, Margaret is quite disagreeable, and there are only a few, very brief, sex scenes. Margaret spends the majority of the book obsessed with how her sisters - Katherine of Aragon and Mary Tudor, and their lot in the world. She only seemed to be happy and loving whenever she was better off than them or if they were showering her in gifts. Her love/hate sentiment toward Katherine is one of the biggest recurring themes in the book. It did make the book drag sometimes, but I'm always interested in experiencing a different sort of character - in this case rather unpleasant woman.

Margaret's multiple husbands is also a big deal in Three Sisters, Three Queens. As a Tudor princess early in a new ruling dynasty, she was expected to only marry whomever would be most advantageous to her family. Her first marriage to James IV of Scotland was just that. However, he subsequent marriages were both scandalous because she married for love both times, but divorced Husband #2 (Archibald Douglas) to marry Husband #3 (Henry Stewart). Margaret seeking a divorce coincided with Henry VIII's increasing disinterest in being married to Katherine, and the world was watching to see how everything worked out for her. It is interesting to see that Margaret was able to get her divorce, yet Henry was unable to get the Pope to issue his.

I enjoyed the narration of Three Sisters, Three Queens. Bianca Amato did a great job reading the various parts, and each of the three sisters was distinct from the others. Her depictions of the men did not stand out to me, but they didn't sound goofy. (Believe me when I say that happens all the time.) Honestly, I always looked forward to Margaret receiving a letter from or visiting with Katherine because I loved Amato's accent for her. I would definitely listen to more books that Amato narrates.

Overall, Three Sisters, Three Queens was a fun fictional read, and it led me to read quite a few articles online about Margaret Tudor and her two husbands. I cannot wait until Gregory's next book is released.

- 3/5 Stars -

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Audiobook Review: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley #BibPleaseReview #audiobook #historicalfiction

Title: The Watchmaker of Filigree Street
Author: Natasha Pulley
Narrator: Thomas Judd
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Audio Publisher: Audible
Release Date: July 14, 2015
Acquired Via: Audible
1883. Thaniel Steepleton returns home to his tiny London apartment to find a gold pocket watch on his pillow. Six months later, the mysterious timepiece saves his life, drawing him away from a blast that destroys Scotland Yard. At last, he goes in search of its maker, Keita Mori, a kind, lonely immigrant from Japan. Although Mori seems harmless, a chain of unexplainable events soon suggests he must be hiding something. When Grace Carrow, an Oxford physicist, unwittingly interferes, Thaniel is torn between opposing loyalties.

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is a sweeping, atmospheric narrative that takes the reader on an unexpected journey through Victorian London, Japan as its civil war crumbles long-standing traditions, and beyond. Blending historical events with dazzling flights of fancy, it opens doors to a strange and magical past.

Excerpt


My Review

I have been putting off this review for over a month because reviews of mediocre to blah books are the most difficult for me to write. The Watchmaker of Filigree Street would have been put aside if it had started thus, but the "meh" came gradually.

As you probably realize, The Watchmaker of Filigree Street is historical fiction that had quite interesting premise - Thaniel, who can see the color of sounds, gets a watch, finds a bomb threat, and then tries to figure out how the watch had been programmed to save his life. Running parallel to his story is Grace, who wants to be a scientist but is being met with the issue of her lacking a penis in Victorian England. As these two story lines come together, we meet a variety of characters: Mori, the titular watchmaker of Filigree Street; Katsu, Mori's clockwork and kleptomaniacal octopus; and Matsumoto, Grace's Japanese buddy whose wardrobe is often the victim of her cross-dressing adventures. It should all work, but Katsu was the only character I remotely liked by the end, and I detested Mori.

Review: Spider's Trap by Jennifer Estep (ARC) @Pocket_Books #UrbanFantasy

Title: Spider's Trap (Elemental Assassin #13)
Author: Jennifer Estep
Publisher: Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster)
Release Date: July 28, 2015
Acquired Via: Publisher
Keep your friends close but your enemies within stabbing distance.

One important lesson I’ve learned in the assassination business is that to be the best you have to roll with the punches. Now that I’m queen of Ashland’s underworld—by default, not by choice—a lot more punches are being thrown my way. But I suppose that’s the price of victory for taking down some of the underworld’s top dogs. Good thing I have my Ice and Stone magic to help me survive my volatile new position. Just when I think things are finally settling down, someone tries to murder me during a hush-hush underworld meeting. But the real surprise is how strangely familiar my shadowy assailant seems to be.

My job is to maintain order among killers, crooks, and thieves, and soon I’m embroiled in a bloody game where the ability to keep secrets could be the greatest superpower of all. My enemies have all sharpened their knives and laid their traps, waiting for me to fall. But this Spider weaves her own webs of death…

Audio Excerpt


My Review

Spider’s Trap is the thirteenth book in Jennifer Estep's Elemental Assassin series. Being lucky number 13, I was hoping it would be spectacular, but that wasn't the case. Don’t get me wrong, it was a good book, but it didn't have the pop that some of the past books in this series did.