интересно, но очевидно не е моята книга. Може би заради това, че повечето факти от живота на Катерина вече знаех и ми се струваше, че действието се разточва твърде дълго. Не бих казала, че стила на авторката е суховат, въпреки това. Вероятно просто съм я започнала в грешен момент.
Както се очаква от един кралски двор, все има интриги и политика. Тук беше включена и фентъзи нотка, която ми допадна. Образът на главната героиня обаче не ми се понрави усещах я прекалено наивна, прекалено нерешителна и пасивна, а това определено разрушаваше представата ми от сериала Reign, заради който исках да прочета книгата. Заради него знаех и поважните части от живота й, за другите беше лесно да се досетя. Книгата може и да представя поголяма достоверност в събитията от един сериал, но определено предпочитам Катерина от Reign много, много повече.
Книгата дори ми досади по едно време, карайки ме да я чета по "вентилаторната система" и накрая да мина направо на епилога.
Който харесва подобен тип исторически романи, разказани от името на главната героиня и проследяващи найвече любовните терзания и мъката по изгубените деца, клюките и машинациите в двора, би му допаднала. На мен ми дойде в повече.
“Madame, he said gently, “You and I understand each other well, I think better than the rest of the world understands us, You and I see things others do not, Too much for our comfort, ” The words of Monsieur de Nostredame to Madame la Reine Catherine de Medicis, Queen, Consort of Henry II, King of Franceto Catherine during one of his visits before being removed for an astrologer.
The Devils Queen was fond of astrology and much of her life, Catherine De Medici practiced the art whenever possible, Her childhood friend, Cosimo Ruggieri, was the son of Bernozzo a physician and psychic, His date of birth is unknown, but appears to be about the same as Catherine and both are from Florence, Cosimo, the magician, would play a deep and abiding role in Cathrines entire life, From amulets to spells, Cosimo watched over and loved Catherine from afar for most of his life,
This version of Catherines life is uniquely different from any other I could find, And the reviews, for the most part, failed to give Author Kalogridis credit for her unique approach to a much written subject,
Cosimo gave Catherine a black stone with a bit of greenery the Wing of Corvus Resing held the power of the ravens star and the wing would shelter her from harm.
Although she died before Cosimo, Catherine depended on Cosimo for comfort, guidance, and the necessary spells to provide heirs, escape harm, and keep her family in power, Was the Saint Bartholemew massacre fate, or a result of Catherines actions Read The Devils Queen and decide for yourself,
Another book fed to the hungry Kindle!
This novel covers Catherine de Medici's life from her girlhood until shortly after the St, Bartholomew's Day massacre. The occult plays a heavy role in it Catherine has visions from an early age, and at a desperate time in her life resorts to an act of black magic that will have terrible repercussions for her and her family.
On the whole, I enjoyed this novel, which was told in the first person, Kalogridis made Catherine sympathetic, for all of her flaws, and the writing is quite vivid, I also liked the portrait of her husband and of the bitchy little Mary, Queen of Scots,
Catherine's visions, with all of the foreshadowing they entailed, became tedious after a while as Catherine repeatedly learned that Something Really Bad was going to happen, I found myself muttering, "Well, let's get it over with, shall we" When Something Really Bad finally did happen, i.
e. , the massacre, it almost seemed anticlimatic, as if the author, who'd been quite descriptive up to then, suddenly ran out of steam,
That aside, this novel did keep my Kindle flipping, and I enjoyed getting yet another perspective on Catherine and the French court during this period, One of my alltime favorite historical novelists hits the mark perfectly with this thoughtful, passionate look at a woman historians love to hate, While never trying to excuse Catherine de Medici's actions, Kalogridis employs her creative vision backed up by meticulous research to reveal a woman of great strength and determination trapped within a web of political intrigue and imposed values.
The result is a riveting visit to a world toooften obscured by false assumptions, Get comfortable before you start reading this one because you truly will not want to put it down, Author Jeanne Kalogridis puts her own spin on the life of the infamous Catherine de Medici in The Devil's Queen, Left orphaned and extremely wealthy, Catherine's early life was marred by revolts among the Florentines against the de Medicis, Once the revolts are over her hopes to rule Florence are forever dashed when her uncle the
Pope marries her off to Henri, the second son of the French King.
Disenchanted with Catherine, Henri soon turns to the older Diane de Poitiers for comfort and the childless Catherine becomes increasingly desperate to conceive a child before she is cast aside and that includes resorting to charting the and casting spells.
Henri's older brother dies leaving him heir to the crown and Catherine destined to be Queen, although de Poitiers is the one who will remain the power behind the throne.
Despite success at finally conceiving thanks to the blackarts, the predictions of Nostradamus and Ruggieri of the fate that awaits Henri and her children continue to haunt her dreams and she will take any steps to protect them no matter what cost, and the story finally culminates with her daughter Margot's marriage to Henry of Navarre and the St.
Bartholomew's Day massacre.
Alrighty, that storyline should have enough meat on it's bones to keep a reader riveted don't you think Not, but then it's probably just me again it usually is.
My problems start with the use of the first person narrative, effectively hemming the author into a very limited point of view, To witness certain private events the author had to invent situations wherein Catherine could observe them and worse yet when Catherine is not involved in the action she is recounting history to the reader so that we're being told and not shown and I found myself nodding off on a few occasions.
A genealogy chart and/or cast of characters is sadly missing, how many average readers are truly familiar with the period and it's players Something to refer back to would have been very helpful and I thought it a bit presumptuous not to include it.
As for the sex, it's not over the top, but at times I felt it a bit too gratuitous and there were way too many instances of it being done from the back side.
Less is more.
Also and anyone correct me if I'm wrong but according to other books I've read and Wik, there were four sons who ruled where in the hell was Henri the third son Did I read a different book again For the most part Kalogridis appears to stick to known history, although there are two plot twists which I will not divulge that are rather far fetched IMHO, and unfortunately the author does not address them in her meager/page author notes as to what historical basis she has for including those in her story.
Get it from the library if you must, I'm glad I did, A very very generous three, Honestly I think you're better off with Dumas try The Two Dianas and La Reine Margot, .