Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer

Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer

For this book review, I will be extolling the merit of the book Mary, Bloody Mary by author Carolyn Meyer. The book’s genre is, of course, historical fiction. It takes place in Medieval England, during the reign of King Henry VIII.

            Carolyn Meyer is a seventy-eight year old author born in Pennsylvania. She’s best known for writing books about historically famous people, with titles such as Mary, Bloody Mary, Cleopatra Confesses, and In Mozart’s Shadow: His sisters story. Since she writes primarily in the genre historical fiction, she obviously doesn’t have any unique experiences that make her especially qualified to write about historical figures, but she’s had so much practice over the years that she’s become quite good at it. She can really get inside the minds of people from the past and make it seem convincing that the story is really happening

            This story is all about princess Mary’s fall from power, then long and hard rise back to it. The story starts out during Mary’s early life, while her things are easy for her. The first half of the book tells of her growing up, not knowing of the growing tension between her father, King Henry, and her mother, Catherine.

            The second half of the story has Catherine’s marriage with the King accused of being invalid, which makes Mary a bastard. Anne Boyln takes the place of Mary’s mom as Queen, and Mary is forced from her nice home to a small manor. However, in the final half of the book, Mary risks death many times and eventually claims her place as Queen of England.

            The pace in the book was just right. It didn’t bore you, but it was relatively easy to put it down unless there was an especially tense situation was going on. I definitely wanted to finish it. It was also written in a way that even if you had to put to book down in the middle of a conflict, the events stuck with you so you could pick it up next time you got a chance. Also, it didn’t go so fast that it was hard to keep up.

            The characters are incredibly engaging. You can easily relate to them, and you really root for the good ones and hate the bad ones. Mary, the main character, is one of the most 3d characters I’ve seen in a book in a long time. You physically feel pain when she is expelled from her place as princess to the title of a bastard, and you fear for her life as though it was her own when King Henry yells at her. Carolyn did a great job in this aspect.

            Carolyn’s writing style is great. Although the book is long, the typical subjects and the writing style of Carolyn is perfect for kids and adults alike. For a college level reader, it may be too elementary, but for anyone in high school and maybe late middle, it’s perfect. It’s not cumbersome at all, and gets the message out in a fun and just complex enough way. It’s quite effective.

            The thing that’s great about this book is that it teaches you about a historical event without boring you at all. The pace goes just fast enough to get the point across without confusing the reader, and it doesn’t go slow enough to bore the reader. Another good thing about this book is how personal the author gets you to the characters. You really can understand what they’re thinking and how they feel.

            Finally, I’d give this book four out of five stars. The story itself is amazing, and told with the expertise of only someone who is dedicated to what she writes about. The reason I’m not giving it a full five stars is because I’m not a big fan of the genre. However, someone who is a big fan of history would without a doubt give this book a full five. In conclusion, I enjoyed this book because it was short and fun, but it taught me a lot about Medieval England and Queen Mary.

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Reviewed by:  Ethan Candelario

Teacher:  Mara Pufko