Philippa Gregory

The Other Boleyn Girl

The #1 New York Times bestseller from “the queen of royal fiction” (USA TODAY) Philippa Gregory is a rich, compelling novel of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue surrounding the Tudor court of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn, and the infamous Boleyn family. When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of the handsome and charming Henry VIII. Dazzled by the king, Mary falls in love with both her golden prince and her growing role as unofficial queen. However, she soon realizes just how much she is a pawn in her family’s ambitious plots as the king’s interest begins to wane, and soon she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. With her own destiny suddenly unknown, Mary realizes that she must defy her family and take fate into her own hands. With more than one million copies in print and adapted for the big screen, The Other Boleyn Girl is a riveting historical drama. It brings to light a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe, and survived a treacherous political landscape by following her heart.

Briar's Reviews

** spoiler alert **
           Title: The Other Boleyn Girl
Author: Philippa Gregory
Date Read: February-September 2016
Date Reviewed: September 11th, 2016
Spoilers Ahead?: Yes

Introduction: A long time ago I wanted to watch the movie adaption (with Natalie Portman) of this book, but once I rented it and noticed there was a book I decided to not watch the film and try to find the novel. That was way back when the film came out, so it's been a long time trying to find the book (and forgetting about the book the minute I got to the book store...whoops!). When I finally got to reading it, the book took me months (literally months, look at the date read...) to finish this book. Why? Because it starts off slow and explains every detail you can imagine! But overall, it was a good book and I want to read the rest of them!

A lot of my criticism is based on the historical accuracy, but it is also in how the writer displayed these characters. For example, Anne is said to have been a strong and not evil woman in real life, yet she seemed to be quite spineless and conniving in the novel. I would have loved to see a stronger character, since the one we got doesn't appear to be as fleshed out as Philippa might have liked.

Quick Summary: Mary and Anne Boleyn are sisters during Henry the VIII's reign. Mary falls in love with Henry, and begins to enjoy the life of royalty. But what happens when Anne decides to take her place? With both the girls being pawns in their family's game, drama sorts to ensue on all levels. 

This book was (loosely) based on historical facts - Henry VIII did reign, and both of the women were his lovers. But (obviously) the conversations and exact events that happen in the novel did not happen in real life. 

Evaluations: I enjoyed this book once I got closer to the end. I won't lie and say it was all sunshine and roses all the way through, in fact it started off rather boring for me. All the explaining and slow introduction of the characters made me want to put the book down. But, I was determined to finish this book because I want to watch the movie. Once I got through the first 3/4s of the book, I became totally obsessed. The drama, love triangles, the arguments, the sex scenes, all of it combined made the book suddenly pick up speed and become almost like a historical soap opera. 

I did enjoy learning a bit about history through this book. While not all the history is accurate and I fact checked after I read, it gave me an interesting insight (despite the fictional aspects of the story). After reading this, it made me want to research Henry the VIII and all of his wives and children. 

Overall, while it was a slow starter, it was very insightful. Philippa Gregory did an incredible job of getting me interested in history!

Plot: The plot was a slow start, as I've said numerous times already. It takes a while to get into the book, but once you do you don't regret it (well, you might. It's a long book). The plot follows Mary and Anne Boleyn, with Mary being the first courting the King. This part was not as interesting as Anne's courting which occurs later in the book. I would have loved Philippa to expand on Mary's relationship with the King to give the reader a bit more passion and love towards their relationship. Even later in the novel the King acts as if almost nothing happened with Mary, and that left me feeling cheated. The King really threw his women away like that? He never treated his wife Katherine like Mary, just treating her like some commoner. He at least talked to her...
Anne's courting was far more interesting, and dramatic. The involvement of her brother George also made the reader question what was going on (did they actually sleep together? Was this just comments?). 
I found I did not totally like the ending. Suddenly the entire court thought George and Anne had slept together, but the reader never really saw these rumors flying around. I understand that Philippa probably had to finish her book at a certain word count, but the sudden change in plot to the sad ending made me feel cheated as well. 

Characters: There were many characters within in novel, but I'm only going to focus on a few.
Mary Boleyn - I liked her better than Anne, but she was definitely not my favourite character in literature. She wasn't relatable in any sense, even if I was cheering for her over her sister. She reminded me of a "Bella Swan" sort of character (with more emotion and depth). She was there, and you rooted for her, but she could have been a lot better. Throughout the story I felt bad for her constantly - the loss of her relationship with her lover Henry, then the King Henry, then her first husband William, and up until her final marriage to William Stafford, I just felt like the entire story was stacked against her. It was like we were made to feel bad for her, and it wasn't exactly a choice. 

Anne Boleyn - Philippa Gregory must hate Anne Boleyn, because she was the main character and the villain in this novel. She was constantly trying to one up Mary. The woman was conniving, mischievous, she stabbed anyone and everyone in the back to get what she wanted, and it was impossible to like her. After researching, I discovered that most historians say Anne was quite sweet, much like Mary was for the novel. It was disappointing to see a character who I wanted to like to be so evil, but there needed to be a villain in this book. I also found that the book described Anne as being cheerful and witty, yet she never portrayed that. She was often very nasty to her sister and was always expecting to get everything she wanted. Her seduction of the King also seemed very lame in the long run. She had never known a man that she loved like the King? Never even a school girl's crush? And suddenly she was asking everyone and their Mother how to woo, and seemed to be totally innocent. I doubt the total ignorance on her part. This also made her seem like an odd character - so manipulative and nasty, but a sweet and innocent girl? That didn't connect well with me.
When you read up about Anne and how she gave birth to the Queen of England (Queen Elizabeth the First) you see how strong she actually was. I would have loved to see her be a stronger character. Her daughter became the Queen! This woman must have an incredible back story, and she does. This book doesn't show this, and that lets my English heritage down.

Henry VIII - I felt like Henry was a total throwaway character. He was essentially just a means to an end, and not the character he could have been. He was some toy for both the women to sleep with to gain power and he seemed to have less strength than the women. I was always under the impression that the King's ruled over all and were very strong, but Henry seemed very wimpy. His wife Katherine seemed to have more strength than he did, and that made him quite pathetic.

Themes/Creativity: 
Witchcraft was a part of this novel, and it appears out of nowhere (like a lot of things in this novel). It appears to be a way to get rid of George and Anne since they die in real life, so they obviously have to die in the fictional novelization of their lives as well. If this would have been introduced earlier in the novel, even if just in stories and tales told to children, I would have liked this aspect of the book more. It seemed like a cop out.
The incest was also very strange. I understand it was a theory in their live's made in historical books, but George and Anne suddenly becoming incestuous also seemed weird. It was hinted at, with a bit of foreshadowing earlier in the novel, but it could have been portrayed so much better. 
The family issues also could have been made so much better. Anne and Mary constantly fight and try to one up each other, yet Mary does what Anne says and Anne still wants Mary's help. Two sisters who hate each other as much as these women do wouldn't help each other out, in my opinion. If they had little spats here and there it would be understandable, but the loyalty and changed in personalities when they need to like each other was incredibly strange.

Uniqueness: Compared to more historical accurate novels, this book is unique! Anne is evil, Mary isn't strong, there's incest and witchcraft and drama! It's unique! It gives a very different spin on this story, which makes Philippa a great novelist. If so many people read this, despite the historical inaccuracy and enjoyed it, she has done a great job! I applaud her for this novel despite it's troubles. It truly is a beautiful read! Don't discount the issues I found within it anything other than constructive criticism! Philippa Gregory did a fantastic job making this novel and I want to read more of her books to see how she grew (since this was the first book written in the series).

Strengths: The love stories were a great strength. Philippa should write Harlequin romance novels! This book is almost like a historical Pretty Little Liars or Desperate Housewives! Which seems fitting, since there is a Tudors series on television....

Weaknesses: Character growth. I found these characters stale and their descriptions in accurate. A conniving, evil woman is sweet and virginal? That's definitely two sets of traits I wouldn't necessarily put together. A witty and caring woman suddenly becomes wicked towards her sister every time she sees her? Hmm, that doesn't make much sense either...

Score: 3 out of 5 stars.
I enjoyed this book and I will read the rest of the series (it will probably take me a decade, but I'll get there), but it had it's issues.

Recommendations:

The Other Boleyn Girl is a unique and wonderful piece of historical fiction that tells the story of Mary Boleyn, real-life lover to King Henry VIII before her sister, the notorious Anne Boleyn, becomes queen. I know not everything in this book was factual, but a lot of real characters and events are included, giving it the feel of being realistic. The best historical fiction makes you believe the history could have actually happened the way it was presented in the book. I had never heard of Mary Boleyn before watching the movie adaptation of this book, leading me to read this novel. The book is, of course, better than the movie. 

It didn't take long for me to really get into this story, but some parts of the book were repetitive in the beginning. It's almost a constant theme that Mary has no choice in her life and she's questioning everything she is forced to do by her greedy and ambitious family. And then she's constantly reminded that she has to have a son. Finally, Anne and Queen Katharine are in a constant battle to see who will come out on top. One is in favor one minute, and the next, the other appears to be winning. 

That being said, I absolutely loved the romance between Mary and William Stafford. It's what really redeemed this book for me. Once Anne finally becomes queen and Mary and William find each other, it's where this book really got good for me. It was an incredibly compelling story.

This book has it all, and if you can get past the first 100/200 pages or so (it's always compelling, if a little repetitive), the rest of the book will fly by. My copy was a little more than 700 pages, for reference. I love lengthy historical novels if they're done right, and I think this one was. It did take a bit to set up, leading to the repetitiveness I mentioned earlier, but if the author had chosen to start the narrative at a later historical date, the book probably would have felt like it was missing something. 

Each character is complex, and I found Mary very relatable and likeable as a narrator. I like that she was chosen to be the narrator instead of Anne. Romance, history, court intrigue, royalty, treason; these are all elements that this great piece of historical fiction has. Highly recommend! Very entertaining read. No spoilers, but I also loved the parallels from the first scene to the last scene. The story really came full circle. I now have a major book hangover. 

Amanda

The Other Boleyn Girl is a unique and wonderful piece of historical fiction that tells the story of Mary Boleyn, real-life lover to King Henry VIII before her sister, the notorious Anne Boleyn, becomes queen. I know not everything in this book was factual, but a lot of real characters and events are included, giving it the feel of being realistic. The best historical fiction makes you believe the history could have actually happened the way it was presented in the book. I had never heard of Mary Boleyn before watching the movie adaptation of this book, leading me to read this novel. The book is, of course, better than the movie. 

It didn't take long for me to really get into this story, but some parts of the book were repetitive in the beginning. It's almost a constant theme that Mary has no choice in her life and she's questioning everything she is forced to do by her greedy and ambitious family. And then she's constantly reminded that she has to have a son. Finally, Anne and Queen Katharine are in a constant battle to see who will come out on top. One is in favor one minute, and the next, the other appears to be winning. 

That being said, I absolutely loved the romance between Mary and William Stafford. It's what really redeemed this book for me. Once Anne finally becomes queen and Mary and William find each other, it's where this book really got good for me. It was an incredibly compelling story.

This book has it all, and if you can get past the first 100/200 pages or so (it's always compelling, if a little repetitive), the rest of the book will fly by. My copy was a little more than 700 pages, for reference. I love lengthy historical novels if they're done right, and I think this one was. It did take a bit to set up, leading to the repetitiveness I mentioned earlier, but if the author had chosen to start the narrative at a later historical date, the book probably would have felt like it was missing something. 

Each character is complex, and I found Mary very relatable and likeable as a narrator. I like that she was chosen to be the narrator instead of Anne. Romance, history, court intrigue, royalty, treason; these are all elements that this great piece of historical fiction has. Highly recommend! Very entertaining read. No spoilers, but I also loved the parallels from the first scene to the last scene. The story really came full circle. I now have a major book hangover. 

Jayme Bosio

Even though I know how things end for Anne Boleyn, Philippa Gregory still manages to make this a suspenseful tale.

Missy Zuber 

The story of Mary Cary and Anne Boleyn and their relationship with Henry VIII.
This was the first book where I read about Mary where she was more then just someone in the background of the story.

Ley Stanton

Upon re-reading this, I found that I cared for it a good deal less. Since I first read this series, I have read a number of non-fiction books about the Tudor dynasty and the Boleyns. Now, I find this book to be filled with gossip turned fact. Philippa Gregory decided to make the things Anne Boleyn was accused of mostly truth. This skewed the story in the favor of her enemies and showed that Philippa Gregory likely had a dislike of Anne Boleyn herself. Anyone who takes a look at the historical records knows that most of these charges were fabricated when Henry VIII wanted to be rid of Anne and move onto a new wife. She was accused of adultery because of her flirtatious nature not because there was any actual evidence of her cheating. 
The aspect that I enjoyed about this was the fact that it was narrated from Mary's perspective from the time that she was the mistress of the king until the death of her sister. I found that she offered a different voice to what was going on and showed the changes Anne went through over the years, all to keep the king's attention. However, it did exclude us from seeing Anne's own thoughts on the whole matter. 
The biggest thing I can take-away from reading this book is that I have learned so much about this era and the wives of Henry VIII since first encountering it. I may continue reading the Tudor novels from Philippa Gregory just out of curiosity for how she presents the other women who have the misfortune of catching Henry VIII's attention.

Ale ♡

Jaymie Lemke

WOW! This book started my interest in historical fiction.

Maria Banning

Sarah Escorsa

What a fantastic read! It had been a long time since I enjoyed reading a historical so much and once I started reading the book I simply couldn't put it down:) I loved the way all the characters came alive and felt like I was actually living the story with them (but I'm so glad I didn't!).

Danielle Silverman

A creative and fascinating story that brings a different take to historical events. I found myself researching the history of the time period for additional context which made the experience more fun and engaging. I truly love the main character.

Molly Witt

Melody Izard

Too many book group books. I'm ready to read something of my own choosing. "Trite and full of repetitive clichés" is my opinion so far. 

Oh PLEASE won't it end? If anyone else "prays god" or snaps their dark eyes or tumbles anywhere with or without golden hair I think I'm going to behead someone.

Well finally it did end - but it went on and on and on and on. And the author treated us like utter fools by repeating points over and over and over again either just simply to take up space or to make sure that we understood what she was trying to tell us. 

This book is basically the Wikipedia article supplemented with Baptist porn. The only reason I am not giving it one star is because it did have enough of partially accurate historic information stuffed down amongst the titillating trash that it caused me to be curious and read more about Henry VIII and the events represented. But I pray God that you simply read the Wikipedia article and skip this book.

Ratri Adityarani

Kisah roman sejarah mengenai raja Henry VIII dari Inggris dan Anne Boleyn mungkin sudah banyak diketahui oleh para pemerhati sejarah. Raja Henry pada masa itu adalah raja pertama yang menceraikan ratunya, yaitu Katherine of Aragon, dan menikahi Anne Boleyn, gadis bangsawan yang dulunya adalah dayang sang ratu. Sejak itu, Inggris menganut aliran Kristen Anglikan yang berlawanan dengan aturan gereja Katolik (Vatikan) yang melarang umatnya untuk bercerai dan menikah lagi.

Dalam buku The Other Boleyn Girl, Philippa Gregory mengangkat kisah dua bersaudara Boleyn, yaitu Mary dan Anne, dua gadis yang sama-sama menjadi selir Raja Henry VIII. Dikisahkan dari sudut pandang Mary Boleyn, bagaimana kedua gadis ini baru saja kembali dari Prancis di mana keduanya menjadi dayang untuk Ratu Claude. Mary sendiri pernah menjadi selir bagi Raja Francis I dari Prancis, lalu menjadi selir raja Henry VIII di Inggris. Namun kedudukan Mary sebagai selir lambat laun diambil alih oleh Anne, yang kemudian berhasil merebut hati sang Raja sehingga Raja pun akhirnya memperjuangkan keinginannya untuk menceraikan sang Ratu Katherine, dan menikahi Anne.

Kisah cinta antara Mary, sang Raja, dan Anne, diceritakan dalam alur yang begitu sempurna dengan berbagai detil yang menarik seperti konflik-konflik keluarga Boleyn dengan keluarga saingannya, Seymour. beberapa tokoh lain seperti George, kakak Mary juga berperan penting dalam buku ini, termasuk pada akhirnya nanti ketika Anne dituduh melakukan perselingkuhan dengan kakaknya sendiri sehingga dijatuhi hukuman mati oleh sang Raja.

Walaupun mengangkat kisah sejarah, namun Philippa Gregory berhasil menciptakan kisah yang tidak membosankan, namun justru cukup ringan dan mudah dimengerti. Dengan latar belakang sejarah yang dibumbui drama fiksi, kisah The Other Boleyn Girl memang bukan suatu acuan yang akurat, namun sangat menghibur sebagai sebuah novel.
Buku ini sangat populer sejak pertama kali diterbitkan, dan bahkan sudah diadaptasikan menjadi film layar lebar yang dibintangi oleh Natalie Portman dan Scarlett Johansson. Untuk kamu yang menyukai kisah roman klasik, buku ini sangat pas untuk menjadi teman bacaan di saat senggang. 

-chibs-

Jelke Lenaerts

This book has content warnings for incest and homophobia.

This was so boring. The book just dragged out too long and I just wasn't capitavated by the story at all. It started of promising, court intrigues is interesting to me, but this book got VERY repetitive very quickly. The main character was also just so irratating. She felt so superiour over her sister. At first because she was the family's favourite and fucking the king but as the tables turned she felt superior because she married for love. Dude, you can't feel superior to your sister because she is doing what you used to do (and better, may I add) when you used to feel superior because you were doing that. It's just so annoying and hypocritical. Those are the two perfect words to describe the main character in this book. Besides the repetiveness there was another factor that made this book so flipping boring. It was the fact that past the halfway mark our main character is so far removed from the action and honestly only comes in at the boring points in that action, besides the end but then she is so far removed again that we don't really get to see much. I don't care about Anne having miscarriage after miscarriage. I care more about how they managed to start the Church of Engeland and how Henry's politics tactics changed after that. You know, the actual historical bits. The incest plot line was also so cringey and it just felt trown in to create a shock factor. This book was just so infuriating.

Christina M Masters

No matter how many times I read about the Boleyns, nonfiction or fiction, their tale always endlessly fascinates me. Philippa Gregory has done a wonderful job of taking a tale told over and over again and making it exciting and gripping. At first I was skeptical that she could make the enjoyment last for over 600 pages, but I found that I really couldn't put this book down, and, for all of its many pages, it was actually a very quick read.

Tanya Sutton

Philipa Gregory is one of my favorite authors, and this is easily my favorite Gregory novel. It tells the story of Mary Boleyn, Anne's older sister, and Henry VIII's mistress, and of life in the English court. The characters are well-developed and the books pacing make this a great read.

Angelique Cather

I listened to the Audible version of this book narrated by Vanessa Kirby. She did a great job with the narration. The book itself was very well written and seemed to be pretty historically accurate as far as I know. Gregory did a good job of drawing the reader in and keeping them captivated by the story. I appreciated that the story was told from a woman's perspective. I will be reading more books by Philippa Gregory in the future.

Jessica Coleman

There are some books that make you want to read all the way through and yet some that make you want to just watch the movie (if there is one, mind you) and that's it. This book is better than the movie. There were some different elements in the movie that were not in the book. However, I still love the movie, which is surprising as I am not one for movies set in past centuries.
I actually saw the movie before I even knew that there was a book.
I highly recommend "The Other Boleyn Girl" in movie and book format to anyone.

Roos Kuijper 

Het verhaal van Anne Boleyn is algemeen bekend. Koning Hendrik VIII van Engeland werd verliefd op haar en wilde met haar trouwen. Klein probleempje, hij was op dat moment al getrouwd met Katherina van Aragon. De strijd om van haar te scheiden duurde langer dan gepland, een paar jaar. Deze scheiding betekende uiteindelijk ook het einde de Katholieke kerk in Engeland. Over het leven van Anne is veel geschreven, zowel romans als biografieën. Wat veel minder bekend is, is dat haar zus Mary (waarschijnlijk) ook de minnares van de koning is geweest en zelfs kinderen van hem heeft gekregen. Gregory vertelt het verhaal vanuit Mary’s perspectief.

Voor mijn volledige review zie:
http://sterrenboek.wordpress.com/2015...

Janet Doré

Loved this book...historical fiction that sucks you in and keeps you enthralled. Haven't seen the movie yet...I'm afraid I'll just be disappointed and I don't want it to change my mind about this book.