The Favored Child : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: The Author Read Too Many Romance Novels
Review: I read the Wildacre trilogy and was very disturbed by the sexual content and discriptions. You NEVER see this in other books depicting this era - except in trashy romance novels. If you want to read classy historical novels try Taylor Caldwell.


Rating:
Summary: So-so
Review: I suppose that if you read this book by itself, it would be tolerable, but after reading Wideacre, it only seemed like a weak echo, the same story being played out yet again at Wideacre.

Rating:
Summary: STOP THIS AUTHOR BEFORE SHE WRITES AGAIN!
Review: I swear, I just can't stand it. I read "The Other Boleyn Girl" and really liked it a lot -- I was so pleased to find Philippa Gregory and looked forward to reading all her books.

But I just tried to read "The Little House: A Novel" (read 1/3 of it) and then THIS stinker (read the first 30 pages) and I have decided that P. Gregory just got lucky when she wrote her historical fiction about Anne Boleyn.

The plot of "The Favored Child" is unbelievably trite and ridiculous. The characters seem to have been kidnapped from a Victoria Holt novel (gag). The dialogue is stilted and goofy. My only wish is that I could give this zero stars.

Rating:
Summary: Tragic, but touching
Review: I was eager to read the second book in the Wideacre trilogy, and I found it just as well written and excellent as the first book. The heroine, Julia, is a tragic figure and any reader would easily feel sympathy for her and her life. In the wake of Beatrice's destructive path, Julia and her cousin/brother Richard grow up in the ruins of Wideacre. Both are determined that the estate should be restored to its former glory, but Julia is the 'favored child', the one with Beatrice's gift for healing the land. Being the favored child is a blessing and a curse. The people of the village love her, but Richard, her cousin/brother is consumed with jealousy and ruins their lives by destroying everything Julia loves. The ending is riddled with mystery as Julia gives her only daughter to the gypsy's so that she may grow up to escape the Wideacre curse. I cannot wait to read the third book!!

Rating:
Summary: The sequel to Wideacre lives up to its predecessor...
Review: The Favored Child - the second novel in Philippa Gregory's Wideacre trilogy - is just as good as its predecessor, if not better. The book opens when its narrator, Julia Lacey is twelve. Julia wants more than anything else to be an ordinary girl - yet she is haunted by shadows of the violent past that haunts her homeland, Wideacre. This novel reintroduces readers to the world of passionate and madness that is the Lacey homestead. Characters from the first novel come back (which will delight any reader of the first book) and the theme of history repeating itself is introduced more than once... and in more than one way... For any reader who loves compelling stories - especially historical fiction - this is the book for you! Impassioned, sensual, entracing... it will keep you hooked til the last page... and doubtless send you running to by the next book!

Rating:
Summary: Just Ok
Review: This book was better than the first. I don't hate either of the books and I dont regret reading them but the first ones sexual content is disturbing. The fact that in each book the charactes get more and more inbred and that the author tends to write hundreds of pages of nothing tends to bring the story down. The book is not horrible but I was disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting and I can't put this book down!
Review: This is my 2nd book in the trilogy and I am not a bit disappointed. When an author has its reader getting in very deeply into the characters , they are a very good writer.. I look forward to the last book of the trilogy and hope to enjoy it as much...