I was given a copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley, in return for an honest review.
The Virgin's Daughter is another tale of 'what if' by Laura Andersen. The previous series she wrote, The Boleyn Trilogy, was a 'what if' Anne Boleyn had a live born after Elizabeth, thus stopping the other 4 wives from happening. This book picks up with that same background, but now follows the lives of the first series' children, including Elizabeth's daughter (another what if.)
There are a few minor things that bother me about this book. 1) I am not sure why this book was called "The Virgin's Daughter" as it is not really about her. Sure, she is a central character, and part the narration is told from her view point, but the book is really about Minuette's daughter Lucette. 2) There are too many viewpoints, and no way to tell who the narrator is. The last series by Andersen also had multiple viewpoints; however, I want to say that there were maybe 6 throughout the books. This book easily had more than 10, and I was maybe only 5 chapters in, more were added as we met new characters. It was too confusing. Maybe it is just the way the ARC e-book is set up, but there was no way to tell which character you were reading about until you were into the section. 3) This book is supposed to start a new series, The Tudor Legacy. I am not sure that it would have been easy to follow the plot if I had not read the previous series; it was very heavily dependent upon it. Especially when you take into account that history was rewritten for these books. There were times when I was confused and actually went to look up names/dates/places to make sure they were correct, but then I remembered that you can't look up a made up history. There are just enough real events and people in the book to make you have some idea of what is going on, but again, without having read the earlier books, I feel that you may be very confused.
Things that I loved: everything else! Lucette, or Lucie, is a very likable character, as are everyone else that we meet throughout the story. Even the bad characters, you like not liking them. To me, that is very good writing. I loved the way that the fake history was woven with real history, such as Philip marrying Elizabeth, and the Dudley family being executed. The main events of history still took place, just slightly altered to fit this new time line. Another sign of great writing.
Overall, I thought this was a really great book. With a few clarifications from the author/publisher (such as if this is a new series or continuation, or if the narration viewpoints will be tagged to the characters) I could easily give this book 4 or 4.5 stars. It is a great choice if you are looking for Historical Fiction surrounding the Tudors.
The Virgin's Daughter is another tale of 'what if' by Laura Andersen. The previous series she wrote, The Boleyn Trilogy, was a 'what if' Anne Boleyn had a live born after Elizabeth, thus stopping the other 4 wives from happening. This book picks up with that same background, but now follows the lives of the first series' children, including Elizabeth's daughter (another what if.)
There are a few minor things that bother me about this book. 1) I am not sure why this book was called "The Virgin's Daughter" as it is not really about her. Sure, she is a central character, and part the narration is told from her view point, but the book is really about Minuette's daughter Lucette. 2) There are too many viewpoints, and no way to tell who the narrator is. The last series by Andersen also had multiple viewpoints; however, I want to say that there were maybe 6 throughout the books. This book easily had more than 10, and I was maybe only 5 chapters in, more were added as we met new characters. It was too confusing. Maybe it is just the way the ARC e-book is set up, but there was no way to tell which character you were reading about until you were into the section. 3) This book is supposed to start a new series, The Tudor Legacy. I am not sure that it would have been easy to follow the plot if I had not read the previous series; it was very heavily dependent upon it. Especially when you take into account that history was rewritten for these books. There were times when I was confused and actually went to look up names/dates/places to make sure they were correct, but then I remembered that you can't look up a made up history. There are just enough real events and people in the book to make you have some idea of what is going on, but again, without having read the earlier books, I feel that you may be very confused.
Things that I loved: everything else! Lucette, or Lucie, is a very likable character, as are everyone else that we meet throughout the story. Even the bad characters, you like not liking them. To me, that is very good writing. I loved the way that the fake history was woven with real history, such as Philip marrying Elizabeth, and the Dudley family being executed. The main events of history still took place, just slightly altered to fit this new time line. Another sign of great writing.
Overall, I thought this was a really great book. With a few clarifications from the author/publisher (such as if this is a new series or continuation, or if the narration viewpoints will be tagged to the characters) I could easily give this book 4 or 4.5 stars. It is a great choice if you are looking for Historical Fiction surrounding the Tudors.
