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The Lady of the Ravens
The Lady of the Ravens
Joanna Hickson | 2020 | Fiction & Poetry, History & Politics
6
7.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
191 of 230
Book
The Lady of the Ravens ( Queens of the Tower book 1)
By Joanna Hickson
⭐️⭐️⭐️

Elizabeth of York, her life already tainted by dishonour and tragedy, now queen to the first Tudor king, Henry the VII.

Joan Vaux, servant of the court, straining against marriage and motherhood and privy to the deepest and darkest secrets of her queen. Like the ravens, Joan must use her eyes and her senses, as conspiracy whispers through the dark corridors of the Tower.

Through Joan’s eyes, The Lady of the Ravens inhabits the squalid streets of Tudor London, the imposing walls of its most fearsome fortress and the glamorous court of a kingdom in crisis.

It was good. I enjoyed it but got slightly bored towards the end. I’m a huge fan of the Tudors and liked reading this adaptation of the start of their reign. It was a decent read.
  
I try to make a point of posting a review of everything I read, even cheesy Harlequin romances. Unfortunately, I do not have a whole lot to say about this one. The romance was sweet, and at times sexy, but it was predictable that the two main characters would end up together, since that is the focus of the book. My favorite character was actually the owner of the diner, simply because she seemed to be the one really running the town. I found the doctor to be melodramatic and behave at times as if he had a split personality, which was kind of a turn-off for me. I felt sorry for the baby, since he rarely seemed to see much of his mom at all, what with her passing him off to the baby-sitters so she could go fool around with the doctor. Tina could have planned the motherhood vs. dating aspects better by having Dan come to her place instead, and then Dan could have spent some time with the baby, too.
  
40x40

Awix (3310 KP) rated Woman at War (2018) in Movies

May 8, 2019 (Updated May 8, 2019)  
Woman at War (2018)
Woman at War (2018)
2018 | Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Oh, yawn: yet another movie about a middle-aged choir mistress with a secret identity as a longbow-toting eco-terrorist (Green Arrow, if you will). Various exploits and close shaves with the heroine being pursued across country by helicopters, drones and dogs ensue, until the prospect of motherhood gives her pause.

How much of this film you can take probably depends on your capacity for self-conscious quirkiness. Quite apart from the main thrust of the plot, the film includes an identical twin, a comedy subplot about a hapless tourist who keeps getting nicked by the cops (through a series of weird coincidences he's always in the area when our heroine strikes), and, oddest of all, a device where the people providing the soundtrack (a three-piece band and a Ukrainian choir) keep appearing in shot and occasionally interacting with the story. The results are certainly memorable, but the plot becomes increasingly preposterous and what point it's all supposed to be making is a little unclear. Certainly diverting, and rather entertaining, though.