Book Five, "The Other Boleyn Girl"

The Other Boleyn Girl

Philippa Gregory

Book Count: Five
Title: The Other Boleyn Girl
Author: Philippa Gregory
Genre: Historical Fiction
Pages: 661

Synopsis: When Mary Boleyn comes to court as an innocent girl of fourteen, she catches the eye of 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 kings interest begins to wane and she is forced to step aside for her best friend and rival: her sister, Anne. Then Mary knows that she must defy her family and her king, and take her fate into her own hands. A rich and compelling tale of love, sex, ambition, and intrigue, The Other Boleyn Girl introduces a woman of extraordinary determination and desire who lived at the heart of the most exciting and glamorous court in Europe and survived by following her own heart.

Thoughts so far: 110 pages into this book and I'm finding it to be a very easy read. I don't know what I was expecting, because if everyone and their mother has read this, then that means it must be easy. I was told by a bookseller that there was too much history in the book but I'm finding the opposite. Perhaps 1/6th of the way through is not enough to judge, but as of now I'm not choking on the historical atmospheres as much as others I've read. I have to admit though that the story is not dazzling me. If I wasn't determined to finish every book I read (especially books made to movies) I could put this down and not pick it up again. But again - I'm only 1/6th of the way through :) My goal is to finish this before the end of the month and be one book ahead of my monthly goal. However, this book is twice as long as the others I've read so far so I don't know if I can make that time frame. I'm going to try though!