The Queen's DaughterAuthor: Susan Coventry
Series: ---
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
How Received: author
Joan’s mother is Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine, the most beautiful woman in the world. Her father is Henry II, the king of England. She loves them both—so what can she do when she’s forced to choose between them? As her parents’ arguments grow ever more vicious, Joan begins to feel like a political pawn.
When her parents marry her off to the king of Sicily, Joan finds herself with a man ten years her senior. She doesn’t love him, and she can’t quite forget her childhood crush, the handsome Lord Raymond.
As Joan grows up, she begins to understand that her parents’ worldview is warped by their political ambitions, and hers, in turn, has been warped by theirs. Is it too late to figure out whom to trust? And, more important, whom to love?
I was hoping for something ZOMG amazing, and it wasn't ZOMG amazing. But it WAS a pretty darn awesome historical novel.
I like watching characters develop and grow up, and Susan definitely delivered on that part. Joan grew smarter and wiser and, though not as manipulative as my favorite historical characters, was able to make her own way among the men.
One of my favorite parts of historical novels is watching the court dynamics play out. We didn't get as intimately into that as we would had if the book was about, say, Queen Elizabeth, but watching Joan being circled by sharks was a lot of fun to read about.
As for Joan as a character - I never really connected to her with the exception of a few moments, not like I have in other novels. (I constantly compare with historical fiction.) But an entire life happened in the span of the book, so the slightly fast pace was understandable. It managed to take too long and not enough time all at the same time...
Overall Rating & Final Comments: 7/10. I love historical fiction, and this is a pretty good representation of the genre.
Cover Notes: How pretty!
Oh, and refresh the page in a few hours. I'm hosting a giveaway of The Queen's Daughter - signed by the lovely Susan Coventry!
I find court dynamics fascinating too. May have to check this one out!
ReplyDeleteOne the ladies at Good Choice Reading (Loca Loca) is reading this now hehe.
ReplyDeleteGreat Review!
Historical fiction = LOVE
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I love historical fiction, but sometimes the dynamics of royalty are confusing to me.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds fun! I'm a history buff and love anythings in this genre! Plus, the cover is really pretty too.
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited. after looking on your site I have to go my library to get all these great books!! thanks so much
ReplyDeleteI've been getting more and more into historical fiction lately--this sounds good!
ReplyDeleteThe cover is amazing! I haven't read much historical fiction lately so I'd definitely love to read this one. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree the cover is fantastic! I added this to my to-read. :)
ReplyDeleteI love historical fiction. I may have to read this one; it sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteGotta love court dynamics! Nice review!
ReplyDeleteThis looks good - and that cover.. man, that's beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of historical fiction so will have to put this one on the list.
Sounds very interesting, I had not heard of this book yet, but I definitely want to read it.
ReplyDeleteHmm... I should look into this! In need a good historical fiction! Haha!
ReplyDeleteGreat review. I'm glad you liked it.
I have never read historical fiction but this one has my attention now.Thanks for the
ReplyDeletereview.
kjovus(@)gmail(dot)com
I love historical fiction and the cover for this book is very striking! It's disappointing that you didn't find it ZOMG amazing, but I think it must be hard for authors of historical fiction to craft a novel that is creative but also historically accurate.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover, and this does sound pretty awesome :)
ReplyDeleteI WANT THIS BOOK SOOOOO BAD!
ReplyDeleteI'm always very picky about historical fiction novels. A lot of them can get really racy. But this looks really good. :) And I've managed to find a lot of good historical fiction books so I will gladly add this to my to-read list. :)
ReplyDeleteThe cover is absolutely gorgeous.
-Amelia
This looks good! I LOVE THE COVER!!
ReplyDeleteI WANT THIS BOOK!!! You gave an awesome Review :)
ReplyDeleteWow, this book looks REALLY good! Thanks for the review
ReplyDelete-Elizabeth
Wow I want this book too and your SO lucky that the author isd giving you a SIGNED copy!!
ReplyDelete~Sara S
Sounds like a good read. I really like historical fiction. I think this one will be next on the list!
ReplyDeleteWow its great that you got this book :) Great review!!
ReplyDeleteThis looks like a great book. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDelete:) wooh comment. Yeah this looks gooodddd
ReplyDeleteI've been looking for good historical fiction for a while...this seems to be worth the read.
ReplyDeleteGreat review. It sounds really really good. ^^
ReplyDeleteHistorical fiction can be a little dicey at times, doesn't always work. Think I'll have to check this one out, tho!
ReplyDeleteI love Historical Fiction but sometimes things get changed and I don't like that all to much. I like this review and I think I'm going to give it a chance!
ReplyDeleteHistorical fiction is one of my favorite genres. I like when they write about lesser known figures as there is more room to play with their stories on a fictional basis.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a great review.
I simply LOVE historical ficton!! It makes me feel as though I am the character's best friend and when its a queen or just a girl I feel as though i know the even better.
ReplyDeleteI love historical fiction. Thanks for the review. This books looks good!
ReplyDeleteI'm going to read this asap now and I can't wait. I LOVE historical fiction and I can't wait to get started. Thanks for the great review that got me interested!
ReplyDeleteI love historical fiction, and I used to be obsessed with learning about Eleanor of Aquitaine (yes, I was a totally adorable nerd child). Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteI have a love-hate relationship with historical fiction. This one sounds good...and I LOVE the cover. If it has a pretty dress, I'll read it it. :)
ReplyDeleteI can't wait to read it, sounds like a great read!
ReplyDeleteWow im entering your goveaway, it sounds like a great book! I love historical fiction so much and am always looking for more of them to read!
ReplyDeleteSounds amazing! There's not enough stories about that era, we need more!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the review. I don't usually read historical books, but this one sounds really good. It's probably time I read something new and expand my tastes. Beautiful cover, too.
ReplyDeleteHistorical fiction is one of my favorite genres. The cover art is gorgeous, I would pick this book up based on that alone! I enjoyed your review, very thoughtful and interesting! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a really interesting read, and I'll have to pick it up. I lean more toward fantasy than historical, but I do love the medieval world, and I am a sucker for court dynamics.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the review!
Yay! A book from my favorite time in history! I love old-school European history with Kings and Queens. It gets so much like a soap opera with all the way politics make it weave. I will have to look into it. That period in history fascinates and amazes me.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love that cover! It is so pretty! :)
Great review, I was curious about this book!
ReplyDeleteLoving the cover as well!
Thanks for the review. I like to connect with a character, so thanks for letting us know you didn't connect as much with Joan. But I think this might change person to person of course. I love court dynamics, but am still curious enough to read this book even though you said the book doesn't present a lot of this.
ReplyDeleteThis book Sounds good I'm going to try to read it before school starts.
ReplyDeleteI like to read a good book. I acctually love to read altogether. I am going to haveta check this out at the library unless my step-mom has it on her shelves. either way I'll try to read it.
ReplyDeleteThis is a book I stumbled across through a "you may be interested in ..." via B&N, and I fell in love with the cover! Definitely want to read it -- it's a time period I've not read a lot of fiction about, but studied in several courses in college. :)
ReplyDeleteThis sounds awesome! The cover is really cool too.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover and have been reading lots of HF these days. Thanks for the review.
ReplyDeleteThe cover does scream ZOMG AMAZING! It still looks good even if it wasn't as good as you thought. :)
ReplyDeleteI wanna get into reading historical fiction, and this book sounds AWSOME!
ReplyDeleteI LOVE Historical Fiction it just seems so interesting to read about different time periods and events! and this book seems to be something I would greatly enjoy reading! CANT wait to get my hands on a copy of it!!
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that you didn't think it was an *amazing* book, but I'm still excited to read it! I've read a biography of Eleanor of Aquitaine before so I think it's a fun idea to take on a novel from the perspective of her daughter. Plus, the cover's gorgeous! I'm on the brink of drooling...
ReplyDeleteThis book sounds very interesting. Those Plantagenets were real characters.
ReplyDeleteGood review. It sounds like it might be a little slow (?), but still interesting. I don't get into historical fiction like some people, but I plan on giving this book a try since you gave it a 7/10! Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteAwesome review!
ReplyDeleteCan't wait to read it
ReplyDeleteSounds like a good book. The cover is beautiful!
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading this book and really like it. I would probably give it 8 or 9 /10 because it has become one of my favorite historical fiction novels. I don't find many that keep my interest.
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