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 Portugal’s first reigning female monarch, Queen Maria I, was plagued with a poor family history that led to extreme mental instability and unhappiness in her later life. In this new biography, Jenifer Roberts explores the queen’s youth, dominated by a powerful member of the aristocracy, her reign, and her unhappy death in exile in Brazil. The author gives voice to Maria’s struggles and provides an illuminating picture of an absolute monarchy on the brink of destruction as discontent reached a fever pitch throughout Europe.
Queen Maria is a surprisingly interesting figure. It’s always refreshing to find a woman in history who is not controlled by men. While Maria’s childhood was dominated by her grandfather, father, and prime minister Pombal, when she came to the throne she genuinely took control. Though she was advised by men, she embarked on her own journey to restore religion, undo the wrongs she believed her forebears had done, and appointed her own advisors with the help of her mother. Before she lost her senses due to hereditary mental illness, seemingly brought on by six deaths in her family in a very short period of time, Maria actually seemed a good queen and one that her people liked.
Many of the quotes in this book are from the perspective of British ambassadors at the time, which made the book that much more interesting for me. I have a generally good grasp of British history at this period and it was very illuminating to see the comparisons made. The same physician who successfully (for the time) treated George III was called in to treat Maria’s madness but failed. Maria is a part of the world stage, so we also hear about the monarchies of France and Spain as well as the revolution in France and how it affects the political situation in Portugal. As a result the book, while short, is a complete picture of this period in history, so volatile and prone to change as we with hindsight can see and consider.
The back cover copy says that the book reads like a novel and I would certainly agree with that. It’s very readable and unfolds as a story should, particularly before Maria’s madness strikes. From the prologue, we know how that happens, and the rest of the book reveals the history of her life. The shortest period covers Maria’s madness, but given that she was in a convent for much of this time, there probably was not much to say. Endnotes are used throughout the text for references, which appears to be the trend in popular history. The author has also included an extremely useful introduction and several appendices, including the original account of the royal family’s visit to Marinha Grande, the home of an Englishman in charge of the glass factory, which inspired this work. There is also a list of all the personalities mentioned, an explanation of the Portuguese words and other unfamiliar terms, and more. There is no point at which any reader could be confused and it was easy to find that I was learning quite a bit more about Portugal than just on the queen herself.
Overall, this is a very well done, comprehensive account of a fascinating queen. I very much enjoyed reading it and felt that I learned a lot, particularly given how ignorant I am about Portugal. I highly recommend The Madness of Queen Maria.
This book was sent to me by the author for review. I am an Amazon Associate.
 This companion novel to Oryx and Crake takes the reader into the pleeblands, exploring the effect that Crake’s super virus had on the ordinary people. Toby and Ren both spent a time as God’s Gardeners, a religion devoted to worshipping God through plants and science, but later leave the group through events out of their control. Toby, an older woman, is working at a spa when the catastrophe happens, and manages to stay alive through eating the edible treatments. Ren is a young woman working as a trapeze dancer in a sex club, thankfully locked into a controlled room and saved from the virus. As these women attempt to survive, they wonder if their friends have survived, and reflect on the paths their lives took before they ended up here.
Whereas it was difficult to relate to any of the characters in Oryx and Crake, it’s amazingly easy here, and I feel comfortable saying that Ren and Toby put a human face on this dystopian world. They are the marginalized members of society, but they are still real women forced to confront women’s issues. Toby is driven to the Gardeners after her boss basically rapes her and then decides that she is his, probably intending to kill her. When Ren joins the Gardeners, she is just a young girl at the mercy of her mother’s mercurial temperament, and later suffers from unrequited love with a man who really does not deserve her. In a totally alien, if well-described, world, Ren and Toby are easy to relate to and bring the suffering home in a way that Oryx and Crake fails to do. Ren was actually my favorite, if only because we watch her grow up. Even though she eventually ends up in one of the elite high schools, she’s still dealing with issues every teenager understands:
I saw the temptation. I saw it clearly. I would come up with more bizarre details about my cultish life, and then I would pretend that I thought all these things were as warped as the HelthWyzer kids did. That would be popular. But also I saw myself the way the Adams and Eves would see me: with sadness, with disappointment. Adam One, and Toby, and Rebecca. And Pilar, even though she was dead. And even Zeb.
How easy it is, treachery. You just slide into it. But I knew that already, because of Bernice.
– p. 195
This is truly a wonderful novel. I felt the dystopian world was a bit less clear here, perhaps more ridiculous without the inside view, but because I’d read Oryx and Crake, I didn’t have many questions. Rather, the novels worked in tandem, and I really think it helped to read one right after the other. I don’t think it’s necessary, but it provides a complete and intriguing picture. Some of the same characters appear, and actually had bigger parts than I’d expected, plus some bigger issues are clarified. If I had to choose, though, I’d choose this one. I’m all about great characters, and Ren and Toby win the day for me. I must admit, however, that I generally skipped over the God’s Gardener homilies and songs, but I didn’t find it deterred from the plot.
I loved The Year of the Flood* and I highly recommend it.
*I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book from the publisher for review.
 After emerging the victorious king of Britain in the first book of the trilogy, Arthur now seeks peace with the many tribes and factions below him. His enemies have not vanished and he often is required to fight them, but he always offers agreeable terms, often allowing the belligerents to keep the land they’d contested for but under his rule. Some of Arthur’s Artoriani don’t understand this policy, and neither does Arthur’s wife, Gwenhwyfar, leading to conflict at home in addition to conflict throughout the country. Arthur’s most determined enemies have not vanished, however, and it is these whom he must face down if he intends to keep his kingdom intact.
I like this trilogy. There is really very little of the associated myths around Arthur, but it’s still easy to see how Hollick has worked with the evidence available to her to make a story that is both familiar and surprising at the same time. Characters who were introduced by the French in the high middle ages have vanished, for example, but Arthur is still plagued by Morgause, still sleeps with his half-sister and bears a child by her, and so on. This world is very rough, portraying a Britain caught between native Britons, Romans, and invading Germans, and gives a wonderful backdrop and feel to the story.
Nothing is easy for Arthur. He is portrayed as quite a brilliant warlord and wins his fair share of uphill battles, but when it comes to emotional matters, he tends to fall apart. Since he is both powerful and attractive, he appeals to many women, but he only loves his wife, Gwenhwyfar. Their marriage is fraught with trouble, just like a real marriage, which is a very nice touch. It’s obvious that they love each other, but some hardships are almost impossible to overcome. Arthur doesn’t hesitate to sleep around but is incredibly jealous whenever he thinks Gwenhwyfar might be attracted to another man, which is uncomfortable for the modern reader but is probably more suited to the time than fidelity on both sides.
I really liked the character of Gwenhwyfar; I believe she’s my favorite in the series. She is a strong, independent woman, but she also loves her husband and sons and makes space for everyone in her life. She makes mistakes, mostly driven by emotion, but they only make her more human. I definitely preferred her viewpoint and I am looking forward to more with the final book in the trilogy, Shadow of the King.
Pendragon’s Banner is an excellent continuation to a series about King Arthur that has an authentic feel to it, with great characters and a plot that will have its readers turning pages rapidly. Definitely recommended for fans of historical fiction and Arthurian legend.
Interested to hear more? Visit these other great sites on this blog tour:
The Tome Travellers Weblog (10/12)
A Reader’s Respite (10/12)
Carla Nayland’s Historical Fiction (10/13)
Enchanted by Josephine (10/14)
Fumbling with Fiction (10/14)
Found Not Lost (10/15)
Nan Hawthorne’s Booking the Middle Ages (10/15)
Jenny Loves to Read (10/16)
The Review From Here (10/17)
The Courtier’s Book (10/18)
Chick Loves Lit (10/19)
Love Romance Passion (10/20)
He Followed Me Home… Can I Keep Him? (10/20)
The Impasse Strikes Back (10/21)
S. Krishna’s Books (10/22)
Books Like Breathing (10/23)
Passages to the Past (10/24)
Virginie Says (10/25)
Readaholic (10/25)
Reading with Monie (10/26)
Rundpinne (10/26)
Books & Needlepoint (10/27)
Capricious Reader (10/27)
Books are my Only Friends (10/27)
A Sea of Books (10/28)
Bloody Bad (10/28)
Revenge of the Book Nerds! (10/28)
Booksie’s Blog (10/28)
Devourer of Books (10/29)
Peeking Between the Pages (10/29)
Starting Fresh (10/29)
Historical Tapestry (10/30)
Book Soulmates (10/30)
Susan’s Art & Words (10/30)
Steven Till (10/31)
Café of Dreams (10/31)
I am an Amazon Associate. I received this book from the publisher for review.
 Batuk is a fifteen-year-old Indian prostitute. She was sold into prostitution by her father at only nine years old, after a less than idyllic, but still relatively happy childhood. Batuk’s path to prostitution is devastating, more so what she has to endure each and every day at the hands of strange men, but writing is her salvation. She writes about her life, makes up stories, and in general endures far beyond what any child should ever have to.
It’s incredibly hard to write about this book. Child prostitution is a difficult and horrible subject. Obviously, it should never happen and it is completely wrong. But it does happen, and James Levine has tried to imagine what that life would be like for a little girl. Batuk has been betrayed by everyone and endures the worst kind of humiliation each day of her life, yet she is portrayed as a hopeful child, still vivacious, making the best of a bad situation whenever she can. The story is even more moving because the reader knows that there are girls like this out there, and Batuk feels real.
It is Batuk herself that is the novel’s greatest triumph. It’s difficult to believe that this girl was written by a man because she does feel genuine in every way. She tries not to think about what is happening to her even as her words give it devastating clarity. She puts up a facade and retains hope even though the reader can sense her unhappiness in nearly every line. She does what she must to make the experience bearable while using the rest of her scarce free time to write stories and remember her past. It would be impossible not to feel for her and wish she could escape this life and go back to the countryside where she was at least an innocent.
It’s difficult to say that I liked this book, because it’s so difficult to read. It’s short, but it’s so moving and heartrending. I think it’s important to read, however, if only so we’re forced to confront ourselves with the horrid reality of what might be for real young girls. The author interviewed child prostitutes and based his book on their stories. It’s fiction like this that inspires us to make a difference, and for that reason I do recommend The Blue Notebook.*
*I received this from the publisher for review. This is an Amazon Associates link.
 Catherine Howard has grown up in the country, a relatively insignificant member of an incredibly powerful family. After the death of her cousin Anne Boleyn, the Howard family fortunes fell to some extent, but in 1540, things are about to change. Catherine’s uncle, the duke of Norfolk, brings her to court at age seventeen, when she is at her most beautiful, white-washing her reputation and placing her before the king. Catherine is no innocent but King Henry VIII falls in love with her, convinced that she is his rose without a thorn. When the members of her past come to court intent on blackmail, Catherine’s road to tragedy is assured.
This story is a familiar one for many Tudor enthusiasts, and clearly I’m no exception. I was looking forward to reading Haeger’s portrayal of this young queen. Considering Catherine probably slept with a variety of men, I would think it would be difficult for her to be a sympathetic character, but Haeger makes it look easy. She creates a Catherine that readers will wish had a different ending. Despite her sexual experience, Catherine does seem innocent and naive at times, completely a pawn for her powerful uncle and the Howard family strategy to gain favor. Once she’s gained the eye of the king, there is no looking back for this girl. Her downfall is indeed tragic because Haeger’s Catherine wishes in every instance for something different. When she finally settles into her role as queen and begins to hope she can be good for Henry and for the country, that hope is snatched away from her by her past.
While most of the third person narrative is focused on Catherine, we do occasionally get glimpses into the other characters’ heads, particularly that of Thomas Culpeper. The other characters are not quite so well-defined, but each of them feel intriguing and real, and this is a Tudor world that feels largely authentic and familiar. I enjoyed the rich descriptions, especially of Catherine’s dresses, and felt I could picture all of the players moving about the court, ambitions intact. The plot unfolds in a sensible way; virtually everyone who is interested in Tudor history will know that Catherine was beheaded by Henry VIII, so the book opens on the night before the execution. It then returns to the time when everything began to change for Catherine and the author can explain how she got to that point in her own way. It’s very well done and the book is a pleasure to read. Perhaps my only qualm with it is that Catherine never seems bothered by the fact that she sleeps with every man who looks at her twice. She does it out of boredom, but surely she must worry about pregnancy at the very least. No one seems to lament the loss of her virginity except as it pertains to the king, which did seem strange to me since surely any other nobleman would like his wife to be a virgin, but it’s only a minor part of the story.
Overall, I would recommend The Queen’s Mistake to Tudor enthusiasts and other fans of historical fiction. It’s a well-written peek into the past, with sympathetic characters and an engaging sense of history.
Do you want a copy of your own? Leave a comment here saying you’d like to enter and you can win one of two trade paperback copies from the publisher. This contest is only open to those with a US address and will be open until November 11th. Good luck!
I received this book from the publisher for review. I’m an Amazon Associate.
 During one of the Marquis of Raceworth’s house parties, he is startled to learn that a dowager duchess is waiting for him to attend her. Uncertain what an older woman would want from him, he doesn’t expect to discover that the duchess is young, beautiful, and convinced that he has a set of famous pearls which belong to her mother. Race does own the pearls but is convinced they belonged to his grandmother and are now his. His conviction doesn’t stop him from becoming extremely attracted to Susannah, and the more they search for the pearls, the more he realizes that they are not what matters most to him.
This is such a fun, sweet book. Since I’d read A Duke to Die For, I already really liked the hero and I was pleased to see many of the secondary characters appear again. The central couple, Race and Susannah, served as a wonderful pairing. Susannah is slightly older than the average romance heroine at thirty, and she is a widow. Better yet, she was forced to marry after being caught in a scandal with a man she believed she loved. So not only is she interesting, but so is her background, and makes a lot of her actions in the book more believable. She doesn’t have much to lose by getting involved with Race, unlike your conventional romance heroine, so the romance’s quick pace feels slightly more realistic. She’s also very independent, which I appreciated; we never feel like she needs Race to do anything, she’s fully capable of doing it all on her own.
I really liked the side plot with Gibby. I almost hope he finds someone in the third book of the series, he’s such a sweet older man and it seems a shame that he only loved Race’s grandmother. I also liked the frame story with the pearls, I thought it was a clever way to bring the main couple together and then cause conflict between them. I loved that Race sent Susannah little improper notes; he’s not at all in denial over the way he feels and he wants her to know it.
Overall, I really enjoyed A Marquis to Marry*. I liked both the main characters, I liked their journey to love, and I’m looking forward to Morgan’s story in the next book!
*I am an Amazon Associate. I received both books mentioned in this post from the publisher for review.
 As a child, Alexandra Solarin’s father is shot in front of her eyes at a chess tournament in Russia. The mysteries surrounding his death don’t begin to explain themselves until Alexandra is much older. As an apprentice chef, she has now given up on chess, but the game hasn’t abandoned her. Her mother, Cat Velis, throws a birthday party and invites not only Alexandra but several of her irritating neighbors, Alexandra’s aunt Lily Rad, her best friend Nokomis Key, and her last chess opponent, Vartan Azov. The truth behind her parents’ past is revealed to Alexandra bit by bit as the next stage in the game plays itself out against elaborate backdrops with hugely prominent characters holding pivotal roles in the search for the purpose of the Montglane Service.
Unfortunately, I was not a fan of The Eight, the first book in this duology. I knew I wasn’t going to like The Fire and I continued to put it off, but I did agree to review it, so I had to read it eventually. Waiting did not help me to like it any better. My biggest problem with it was that the book was very difficult to follow, particularly for me, since I don’t really like puzzles. The story alternates between two time periods and I had some difficulty figuring out just why. It’s hard to maintain the threads of the story across time and there seems to be little to no purpose for all the famous name dropping. It does give background as to why the chess pieces are where they are, but I’m not sure that was entirely necessary for the story.
I already mentioned it, but I don’t like books that involve puzzles or riddles. It’s always irritating when the characters solve a riddle and say, “Of course!” and proceed to explain the meaning behind it; I’d have never had a clue, so I was happy that they were explaining, but the entire book seemed like a huge complicated mess to me. I dislike puzzles that are impossible for me to solve. (This isn’t confined to books; I also dislike video games with excessive use of puzzles, although somehow straight puzzle games are fine). I think it would have been even worse if I hadn’t read The Eight. I would not recommend starting with this book, it would be too confusing. It’s hard to care about the characters; even Alexandra wasn’t particularly appealing and fell totally flat, which is never good with a main character.
In short, I felt like this book was a disaster for me. I don’t like this type of book and even the historical sections didn’t appeal. They just felt tacked on, especially with the historical characters that are included purely for name dropping, and took away from the more suspenseful plot with Alexandra and her many friends. I have no interest in reading books of this kind. Overall I would say that if you enjoyed The Eight or The Da Vinci Code, give this a shot. If you didn’t, don’t.
 On September 24, 2010, a plane lands at JFK airport in New York City. Immediately on landing, the plane goes dark, all of the window blinds pulled down, and the doors completely locked. Ephraim Goodweather has been spending time with his son, Zack, in the lead-up to a custody battle, but he is called away from his weekend off work to investigate the plane. On arrival, he and his partner Nora realize that it is full of dead people, bar four very ill exceptions. The dead people are unusual, though, in that they appear to be full of a strange white liquid, not blood, and their bodies haven’t deteriorated at all. Eph is mystified until an old man, Abraham Setrakian, approaches him with an extraordinary tale and an urgent mission.
At times, The Strain reads like a movie on paper. Everything is very visual, from the descriptions of the scenes to the alteration between chapters to the way it cuts across the perspectives of the characters. It’s easy to imagine this on a big screen, a difficult feat for someone like me. I rarely envision what I’m reading as I go along, but I couldn’t avoid imagine these pictures. While that’s not necessarily a fault, the book had a startling amount of gory descriptions and action scenes, so I don’t think this book is for the squeamish. It had my stomach rolling at times because I could for once picture all the nastiness associated with the vampires.
What does work without a doubt is the intense, ceaseless suspense and quick pace of the novel. It only takes place over a few days, but so much happens in those days as the mystery is established, solved, and the characters set out to save the world. The timescale never feels unrealistic, especially because we don’t stay with the few main characters all the time. We’re also given viewpoint perspective for a few of the victims and their families, which really drives the emotional impact of the entire situation. The authors are very good at establishing sympathetic characters in a very small number of words, which definitely impressed me. Of course, the main characters, especially Eph, are easy to care about as well. Eph in particular virtually lives for his son, but his chances of winning custody are slimmed even further when he has to save the human race. His priorities break his heart, and they break ours too.
While The Strain is not for the faint hearted, it is certainly an exciting ride, and is meant to be the first in the trilogy. I know I will be looking forward to seeing what happens next!
 Lizzie Brown discovered she was a demon slayer by accident, and now she’s discovered that she needs to take a test to get her license. The problem is that her Uncle Phil, the fairy godfather she never knew she had, has fallen in love with a succubus, and she needs to rescue him without incurring a huge fine. Getting her demon slaying license is the easiest of all of Lizzie’s problems once she learns that Las Vegas is now full of succubi and she is the only one who can kill them all. With her griffin boyfriend, crazy grandma, and a flock of witches in tow, Lizzie and her switch stars set off to save the world.
This is urban fantasy ultra light style, and in that respect, it works. The cast of characters is so varied and whacky that much of the book is hilarious. My personal favorite was Lizzie’s dog Pirate. When she became a demon slayer, she learned she could talk to dogs, and Pirate is almost too funny. He’s concerned with all specifically dog things, like sticking his head in the breeze on the motorcycle and smelling various objects on the ground. Lizzie and Dimitri, her boyfriend, also have a fairly nice dynamic going on; the main romance happened in the first book apparently and in this one they’re learning more about each other and how they feel. I wasn’t quite as fond of Lizzie’s grandma, who doesn’t seem particularly helpful most of the time, but I was intrigued by the mystery that is Max and I found myself cheering for Lizzie to succeed and vanquish the demons. I also liked the way Lizzie’s character developed over the novel, in that she took more responsibility for herself rather than relying on other people.
On the other hand, if it’s possible for a book to have too much humor, this one does. Even the more serious moments don’t take on all that much weight. There are some parts that are very moving, but for the majority of the book it’s hard to believe any of the characters are in danger. It was exactly what I needed at the time, but don’t expect any gravity from this one. As a comedy, though, it succeeds brilliantly, and I’ve heard that the first book in the series is even more entertaining. If you are looking for a light and fun read, look no further than The Dangerous Book for Demon Slayers.
 Thomas wakes up in a lift with no memory of anything regarding his previous life. He knows his name and how to speak, but virtually nothing else. He’s stranded, until the lift doors open and he’s greeted by a group of boys who have similarly lost their memory. All of these kids eke out a life in a place called the Glade, farming, cooking, and doing their best to solve the ever-changing maze that lurks just outside, without getting killed by the Grievers, machines designed to kill kids. The gates open in the morning and close at sunset; any kid left outside at night is guaranteed to die in the morning. The day after Thomas’s arrival, the first girl is found in the box, and she is suspiciously familiar. Can Thomas solve the maze as the end game engages?
This book is a great read. It’s going to be hard for me to back up and explain why, but I’ll give it a shot. Perhaps the foremost reason is how amazingly suspenseful it is. There is a sense of dread lurking over the entire book. Thomas is tossed into this strange world with no knowledge of it at all, and as we learn what the boys know, we also learn that nothing is as it seems. This is even more pronounced when things start to go wrong. I had no idea what was going to happen next or how the boys (and girl) were going to solve the maze, or even if they were going to be able to do so. There was no way I was going to stop reading this book. Besides that, I adore dystopias, and while this is another variant of the fight-for-your-life scenario, it has plenty of individualism to spice it up. The wiped memories, the larger picture that is only available at the end of the book, and the maze itself and the reasons behind it were all fascinating.
Of course, such a book wouldn’t be so great if it didn’t have characters to care about. We have to care whether or not these kids die, and luckily Dashner pulls this off just beautifully. Thomas is a great kid. He’s perplexed, he’s unhappy, but he’s smart as a whip and determined to succeed. He’s not a perfect wonder boy, but he’s loyal, tenacious, and a true friend. I also thought his role in the greater plot was excellently planned and made his position a lot shakier than I’d expected. The other kids, while not center stage, are also characters to cheer for.
This is a YA book, but I had very few moments when I was aware that its projected audience was younger than me. I did take a while to get used to the fact that the boys are frequently called “kids”. I haven’t referred to anyone as a kid in quite some time, and somehow I don’t remember coming across this in other YA. Saying that I’m not sure how else to refer to the group, so I suppose it is more natural. That was really the only strange moment; otherwise I was as absorbed in this novel as a thirteen-year-old would be. There is similarly the fact that this book is totally clean; it’s as though these boys have no sexual urges whatsoever, and even when a girl arrives their reactions are subdued. To be honest, I don’t think a romantic entanglement would have been out of place, but the story works extremely well just as it is, so this is more of an observation than a criticism.
I highly, highly recommend this YA dystopia. The Maze Runner is a breathtaking work of truly addictive fiction and I am waiting with huge amounts of anticipation for the next book.
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