(I received this book for free as part of Goodreads First Reads giveaways).
(This review may contain spoilers).
I’d ideally give this book 3.5 stars, but I’ll leave it as 3 on here.
I’m not always one for reading historical books. That is, I probably wouldn’t choose to buy one to read. I did, however, read a historical fantasy book by Victoria Lamb, which I quite enjoyed.
The character of Elizabeth in this book contrasted sharply with that of her in Witchstruck and I felt that was done particularly well. Although the books were written by the same author, I couldn’t mistake one for the other.
I’ve long been a reader of the Horrible Histories books (and also been watching the television series). I have some passing knowledge of Tudor history and of Queen Elizabeth.
It was interesting to see how the various historical figures in this book were portrayed. I did get a bit confused at times, but the author’s spin on Shakespeare’s sexuality was kind of unique and the other historical figures came to life pretty well, even though some of them weren’t very nice. Goodluck was an interesting character, as was Lucy Morgan. It was an interesting twist to have her be Shakespeare’s ‘Dark Lady’ – something that I have no knowledge about, but which I’m sure readers with historical knowledge will appreciate.
Elizabeth was portrayed in, I felt, quite a realistic way. In some ways, I could feel for her. She came across as quite lonely at times and although she did things that were morally wrong (and hypocritical), I imagine it must have been quite lonely at times.
For the most part, the book was well-written, with only some minor confusion about whether a physician suspected a character had a broken back or neck. (I was left very confused when a message said the former and another character then started worrying that the physician had said the latter…)
I liked the ending of this book, although it wasn’t quite how one might expect. I’m not sure I’d read the previous two books in this trilogy, but I currently have the next book in the Tudor witch trilogy added to my basket on Amazon.
In my opinion, this author is worth reading and stays fairly true to the historical figures. If you like historical fiction, I do recommend her books.
Ink of Blood 