Mary, Bloody Mary : Young Royals #1 by Carolyn Meyer - Book Review (No spoilers)

"The story of Mary Tudor's childhood is a classic fairy tale: A princess who is to inherit the throne of England is separated from her mother; abused by an evil stepmother who has enchanted her father; stripped of her title; and forced to care for her baby stepsister, who inherits Mary's rights to the throne. Believe it or not, it's all true. 

Told in the voice of the young Mary, this novel explores the history and intrigue of the dramatic rule of Henry VIII, his outrageous affair with and marriage to the bewitching Anne Boleyn, and the consequences of that relationship for his firstborn daughter. Carolyn Meyer has written a compassionate historical novel about love and loss, jealousy and fear - and a girl's struggle with forces far beyond her control."

3 stars ⭐⭐⭐

I liked this book more than I'd thought. The writing was simple and plain, but it presented the story in a straightforward way. The historical events were written clearly, and though the characters were filtered through the likes and dislikes of Mary, overall the story felt unbiased.

I'd wanted to read this book when I'd come across it a few years ago. I picked it up now out of pure interest, and though I do not read historical fiction much, I enjoyed this one and might get into the genre more.

The phrasing felt lacking in certain places. Some sentences were altogether too ordinary, and it felt more like an article or an essay than a book. The author did not do anything very special with the facts and only built a chronological story out of them. The world through Mary's eyes was imagined decently, albeit childishly. Her opinions did not change much as she grew older, and I thought some maturing could have been shown.

The writing was also confusing, because though narrated in the first person, it lacked emotions. Mary speaks as though recounting her childhood, but we do not get the sense that she has experienced all of it first-hand. Her opinions of everyone were very detached, and she felt barely anything in both happiness and grief.

The author skipped years in between because nothing historically important happened in Mary's life during that time. I liked that we did not have to read any extra content, but sometimes I was confused as to exactly how much time had passed. Perhaps the information is not available as to what happened during that time, and the author did not want to make up fictional events to fill the gaps.

The ending was very abrupt. We are told about Mary's reign in the Historical Facts given as the Epilogue of the book, but the narration from Mary's point of view came to an end quite suddenly. The story felt past-paced, but at the same time, nothing much was happening. I wasn't bored, though, and the book was short and enjoyable to read.

It is a good book for children to learn about the history of Mary Tudor.