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Summary: Curl up with a box of chocolates...
Review: ...and enjoy this engaging historical soap opera! A novel approach to the Henry VIII/Anne Boleyn love affair, told from the point of view of Anne's sister, Mary...largely ignored and unknown by history. The author paints a deliciously shrewish Anne...it's a medieval Melrose Place, rich with vivid detail!
Rating: 
Summary: lower your IQ
Review: The book reads like it was written for a fifth grade reading level. If this doesn't bother you, then maybe the immature character development will. The characters are all so wooden. Anne is the conniving, overly ambitious coquette and her sister Mary is the unwilling courtier who longs for the country. To the author: I get it already! How many more pages are you going to repeat this theme? Dialogue and plot are so repetitive and there is virtually no character development. I was just looking for an entertaining historical fiction piece written with some sophistication for adult readers. If you're really desperate, stuck in a hotel room on your vacation, then this book may do.
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Summary: Tis a wonderful read
Review: If you like Tudor history, you are in for a treat with The Other Boleyn Girl. It is obvious that Philippa Gregory did her homework, as with all of her novels.
As a British history buff, it was a delight to see a story about a woman who is rarely mentioned in popular history, but who had a major impact on the court of Henry the VIII. As Mary, sister to Anne tells her story, The Other Boylen Girl gives us a taste of the extreme difficulties, pressures and hardships even the most privileged encounterd in the Tudorian age. The story is enchanting, haunting and addictive. This is a very memorable read. Enjoy!
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Summary: Why does everyone describe Anne as a munipulative shrew?
Review: This book was ok. A good read if you are looking to fill up time, but not somewhere you want to go looking for valid historical information. However, once again Anne is portrayed as a spoiled gold/power-digger, as usual. I wish someone would say something nice about her!!!
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Summary: The Tudor soap opera
Review: I enjoyed this book tremendously and had a hard time putting it down! I didn't want it to end! I got a wonderful and informative history lesson as well as a delightfully narrated story. I can't wait to read more about the Tudor time period and Anne Boleyn. And I especially can't wait to read more books by Philippa Gregory! I definitely recommend this book: easy reading (the 600+ pages flew by) and a wonderful story!
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Summary: Powerful book
Review: This book has entranced me over and over. Even though I must have read it a hundred times by now, it never fails to wrap me up into it's world. As far as it's historical value, the Author admits that most of it is pure make believe, based on a loose timeline of obscure facts. Nevertheless, the book made me believe in Mary Boleyn and her struggle to be the famous Boleyn girl, and her pleasure in finding that the "Other Boleyn Girl" is just what she wanted to be all along. Read this book, you'll be happy you did.
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Summary: Historical Fiction at its Finest
Review: The Other Boleyn Girl is told in the first person narrative of Mary Boleyn. It is a fictional account of the life and times of the monarchy during the reign of Henry VIII. Anne is power hungry and beautiful but her true character, as revealed by Ms. Gregory, portrays a woman who is willing to do anything to be Queen, an ugly interior masked by a pretty face. As we all know, her quest for this power cost her everything in the end. Mary is the softer side of this family. She comes across as more or less innocent in the ways of the court and eventually decides to follow her own heart instead of the path intended for her by her incredibly controlling family. The rivalry between the sisters is felt continuously throughout the story. The parents and the girls uncle use the sisters for their own greed in their constant seeking of social stature and of course, political gain. The treatment and the role of women in this society is well written about here. The story telling and characterization are superb. Read this book, you will not be disappointed.
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Summary: Tudor bodice-ripper
Review: I am torn between love and hate of this work. On one hand, it is true that the court intrigue is rendered in fascinating detail. And characterizations are generally quite fulsome and believable. But in addition to the sometimes weak writing alluded to by other reviewers, Gregory seems to slip into full Jacqueline Susann gear from time to time. A Harlequin romance is still a Harlequin romance, even if it is set in Tudor England.
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Summary: Wonderful Historical Fiction
Review: "The Other Boleyn Girl" is a wonderful story about the power of siblings and what status and favor can do to a family. The Boleyn family is brought to the kings court when they are children. The three siblings, Mary, Anne and Gregory, grow up around the king's court while their uncle plots for the family to move up in favor.
Mary, the story's narrator, is chosen by the family to become the king's lover at barely 14 and produces a son and daughter for him even though she is already married to one of his courtiers. It is then decided that it is to be Anne that takes her place as the king's lover and the family's hope is for her to become queen in place of Katherine of Aragon.
Through lies and plotting Anne eventually marries Henry and strives to give him the son he always wanted. When after a few attempts, she fails to do so, she and Gregory commit the ultimate sin so the family stays in favor even though he is in love with another man. As history will tell, Anne is eventually executed and Henry marries four more women before his death.
The story is extremely engaging and the book kept my attention throughout. I was sorry for the story to end. I would definately recommend this book to anyone looking for a good story.
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Summary: Unbelievably engrossing...
Review: I have never, ever stayed up hours on end reading a book because I could not put it down...now, I have. This book is one of the most entertaining (while educating) works of historical fiction I have ever read. I just cannot say enough except to buy it and see for yourself.
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