A Boy in Winter by Rachel Seiffert Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

Otto Pohl, an engineer overseeing construction of a German road in Ukraine, awakens to the unexpected sight of SS men herding hundreds of Jews into an old brick factory . . . 

Inside the factory, Ephraim anxiously scans the growing crowd, looking for his two sons. As anxious questions swirl around him "Where are they taking us? How long will we be gone?" he can't quell the suspicion that it would be just like his oldest son to hole up somewhere instead of lining up for the Germans, and just like his youngest to follow . . .

Yasia, a farmer's daughter who has come into town to sell produce, sees two young boys slinking through the shadows of the deserted streets and decides to offer them shelter . . . 


As these lives become more and more intertwined Rachel Seiffert's prose rich with a rare compassion, courage, and emotional depth, an unflinching story is told: of survival, of conflicting senses of duty, of the oppressive power of fear and the possibility of courage in the face of terror.

As proof of everything coming full circle, this is the kind of book I would have reviewed back in January or February. And I admit, that’s part of the reason why A Boy in Winter intrigued me. Also, we’ve been getting super cold weather lately, and we got our first snow of the year a few days ago, another reason why I felt compelled to pick this book up.

There's not much that’s particularly special or unique at A Boy in Winter. While I can’t specifically point to any books that have this exact or a similar story-line and characters, it’s more the feeling I got while reading. I didn’t really feel anything about any of the characters, because I felt like there wasn’t much they could do that would surprise me or make me actually feel something.

That being said, I did like the setting. As I’ve said before, I like books that take place in the Eastern Bloc because I find the history of those countries fascinating. It was interesting to read about the Ukraine countryside, even if I think Seiffert could have explained some things more, like what marsh people are and things like that.

And I also just like stories like this. While I am not necessarily a multi-perspective kind of person, I still like stories that follow multiple people and how they all interconnect, some of my favorite books ever do that.

And while I do think the historical parts were good, if I were Seiffert's editor I would have maybe cautioned her about the ending. It didn't bother me, personally, but I can see some of the more... sensitive mindset take issue with it.

This is a perfectly fine novel. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t particularly special and it’s definitely not a future favorite. But it’s no secret that I’ve been feeling a kind of ennui about recent releases in historical fiction, mostly of the WWII variety, but this was a perfectly passable one. It’s the kind of book that’s probably best read on a snow day, the best time to read historical fiction-y books.

8 out of 10

If you liked this book, you may also like:

City of Thieves by David Beniov

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

All That Is Solid Melts into Air by Darragh McKeon

The Zero and the One by Ryan Ruby Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“Death and Birth, Nothingness and Being, the Zero and the One. The same things . . . only different.”- The Zero and the One, Ryan Ruby

A shy, bookish scholarship student from a working-class family, Owen Whiting has high hopes of what awaits him at Oxford, only to find himself adrift and out of place among the university's dim aristocrats and posh radicals. But his life takes a dramatic turn when he is assigned to the same philosophy tutorial as Zachary Foedern, a visiting student from New York City. Rich, brilliant, and charismatic, Zach takes Owen under his wing, introducing him to a world of experiences Owen has only ever read about. 

From the quadrangles of Oxford to the seedy underbelly of Berlin, they practice what Zach preaches, daring each other to transgress the boundaries of convention and morality, until Zach proposes the greatest transgression of all: a suicide pact. But when Zach's plans go horribly awry, Owen is left to pick up the pieces in the sleek lofts and dingy dives of lower Manhattan. Now he must navigate the treacherous boundary between illusion and reality if he wants to understand his friend and preserve a hold on his once bright future.

Despite the fact that I don't really like intense female friendship stories, I do like intense male friendship stories because I see those less and, well, one of my favorite books of all time is one. But it wasn't just because of that I picked it, no, it was because last month, I read a little book called The Secret History and decided that it was one of my favorite books ever. I was enchanted by the story, the characters, the writing, and couldn't get enough of it. Happily, there are tons of books that are labelled as being "in the tradition of The Secret History" and this month will likely be peppered with such books. The Zero and the One is one of them.

In sharp contrast to Marlena, which I read right before this one, I was instantly glued to The Zero and the One. I couldn't stop thinking about it when I wasn't reading it, and actually had to pry myself away from it when I had to do other things. Even when I took a break to eat dinner (I kind of forced myself to do that, I wasn't too keen on what this book was doing to my brain) I still couldn't stop thinking of it. You know a book has a stern hold on you when not even Law and Order can distract you.

Really, this should be a slam dunk for me, The Secret History crossed with Brideshead Revisited. Still, I can't quite bring myself to wholly condone this novel. There's an overarching pretension about it that I disliked, and I had a hard time believing in Zach and Owen's friendship. There was no chemistry, for lack of a better word, between them, much to my annoyance. Likely, this was due to the short length, which is something I never say. I also felt the timeline was very sped up, and that's why I couldn't quite grasp what either of these two saw in each other.

Also, Tori and Claire are only around just so we don't think Zach and Owen are in love. That's probably why they have little personality.

But there's a lot of good in it, too. I liked the philosophical stuff. I liked Vera and Zach's relationship and how absolutely twisted it was. I liked the suicide pact stuff, and I loved the ending. The writing is very pretty once you can stomach the pretension. 

At the same time, though, the more I think about it the more I don't really like it. When I first finished it, I was blown away, now, I don't know. In that respect, it's like the opposite of Running, a book where I wasn't really sure I liked it while reading it but the more time I put between myself and the book the more I liked it. Both books had the same surreal hold on me, but one aged better in my head then the other. 

So, do I recommend The Zero and the One? I don't know. If you loved The Secret History and Brideshead Revisited and have a strong stomach for philosophy, go for it. If not, skip it. 

8 out of 10

If you liked this book, you may also like:

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

Marlena by Julie Buntin Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“When you grow up, who you were as a teenage either takes on a mythical importance or it's completely laughable. I wanted to be the kind of person who wiped those years away; instead, I feared, they defined me.”- Marlena by Julie Buntin

An electric debut novel about love, addiction, and loss; the story of two girls and the feral year that will cost one her life, and define the other’s for decades

Everything about fifteen-year-old Cat’s new town in rural Michigan is lonely and off-kilter, until she meets her neighbor, the manic, beautiful, pill-popping Marlena. Cat, inexperienced and desperate for connection, is quickly lured into Marlena’s orbit by little more than an arched eyebrow and a shake of white-blond hair. As the two girls turn the untamed landscape of their desolate small town into a kind of playground, Cat catalogues a litany of firsts—first drink, first cigarette, first kiss—while Marlena’s habits harden and calcify. Within the year, Marlena is dead, drowned in six inches of icy water in the woods nearby. Now, decades later, when a ghost from that pivotal year surfaces unexpectedly, Cat must try to forgive herself and move on, even as the memory of Marlena keeps her tangled in the past.

Alive with an urgent, unshakable tenderness, Julie Buntin’s Marlena is an unforgettable look at the people who shape us beyond reason and the ways it might be possible to pull oneself back from the brink.

In my review for The Burning Girl, I mentioned by general disinterest in stories about intense female friendships, mostly because there is rarely anything new or insightful said about it. And yet I still read Marlena because, well, I don't know, it seemed to have more teeth than the aforementioned The Burning Girl, given that it is about a poverty-stricken area in upstate Michigan, and deals with issues like meth addiction. 

Our main character, Cat, moves to upstate Michigan with her mother and brother after her parents divorce because, of course, her father has an affair with a much younger women. Sometimes I wonder if authors have heard of this thing called "no-fault divorce" because it seems like every broken home is because of the father having an affair. I don't think I've ever read a book where two people get divorced, but it's okay because they both love their children and want to share custody. Believe it or not, that happens, too.

Anyway, she then meets Marlena, a beautiful girl with a meth-addicted father, meth-dealing boyfriend, and much younger brother to take care of. The younger brother is technically the catalyst for Cat to start reminiscing about Marlena again after 15 or so years, but in the actual book he's really nothing more than a morality pet, which I disliked. There was enough meat to the story without his story line.

I also didn't really like the framing device, and the alternating points of view between Michigan and New York, the past and the present. I liked that it was from the point of view of an adult thinking back on her past, like History of Wolves, but at the same time I really did not give one iota of a damn about Cat's life in New York. It dragged down the story, and I would have preferred it if Buntin did what Fridlund did and made it apparent that this is Cat thinking back on her past, but not mention what she was up to in the present.

As a whole, though, I could not get into this book. I think this must be the most boring book about drug addicts ever because I have not encountered a book that has refused to stick with me as much as this book did in a long long time. Even though I finished it, I was really only half paying attention to it the whole time reading. Which annoyed me, because the story and the writing were better than they were in The Burning Girl, and yet that book stuck with me more. 

Perhaps that was because of my dislike of the main character. I causally disliked her, mostly because she seemed to be on her high horse as to what books she reads. Like when she causally brought up Jane Eyre but didn't actually name Jane Eyre, and seemed to assume that no one else had ever heard of that widely read, famous classic novel. Or that she brings up A Clockwork Orange once and Marlena makes some remark about how no one had ever heard of that book, when even if you hadn't known it was a book, you've probably heard of the movie. And, frankly, a movie like that would have been right up that crowd's alley. So maybe it wasn't more so my dislike of Cat as it was the author's portrayal of Cat by using other characters, if that makes any sense at all.

So that's basically all I have to say about Marlena. I suppose that people who love to read books about intense, even romantic friendships between teenage girls will love this book, but to me, it's just another entry to an already bloated contemporary subgenre. 

6 out of 10

If you liked this book, you may also like:

History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund

The Burning Girl by Claire Messud

Suicide Notes From Beautiful Girls by Lynn Weingarten

November 2017 Wrap-Up

Sorry about how long it took this Wrap-Up to come out. I've been busy lately. Anyway, here's what I read in November, which was also a stupidly busy month for me.

Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner 7.5-8/10 (400 pg)
My Review: Goodbye Days by Jeff Zentner
  I only read two YA books this month, and to be honest, I didn't miss it. I went to the library the other day and found myself staring listlessly at the YA section, halfheartedly stopping to pull a book out and flip through it before putting it back and leaving. I probably won't stop reading YA entirely, and I'll still follow some of my favorite authors, like Markus Zusak and Neal Shusterman, but I don't think I'll really look for it. So what does this have to do with Goodbye Days? Well, because this may be my last YA contemporary for some time. Which is really interesting to think about. My decision has nothing to do with this book, I liked it just fine. Anyway, it's about a boy who lost all three of his best friends in a texting-caused car accident. It's about love and loss and all those immortal themes books enjoy rehashing over and over again. It was okay.

Little Deaths by Emma Flint 2/10 (307 pg)
My Review: Little Deaths by Emma Flint
  Not since Missing has there been an easier least favorite book of the month. I could not stand it one little bit. It was like Silent Child without the soap-opera drama that made Silent Child worth reading. I'm sure feminists will love this novel, about a mother accused of murdering her children in the 1960s- based on a true story-, but I did not at all. This will make it fairly high in my worst books of 2017 list, I can feel it.

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda 5.5/10 (337 pg)
My Review: The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda
  I think I've read this story before. In fact, I probably have, and yet I still can't remember this book at all. I think it was about a reporter-turned-teacher whose roommate goes missing? And it turns out said roommate lives a strange double life? Something like that. Whatever. I'd advise you to pass on this one, unless you like psychological thrillers that really don't deserve that title after all. 

The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne 5.5-6/10 (580 pg)
My Review: The Heart's Invisible Furies by John Boyne
  This was the month for long ass books, and this was the longest of the long, weighing in at a whopping 580 pages! Being that it follows basically the entirety of a man's life, I kind of expected that it would be a long, often slow novel. It was okay, not something that I would ever wilingly read again, and I left the book feeling underwhelmed by it. 

Brain Rules by John Medina 8.5/10 (304 pg)
  The main reason why I didn't write a full review for this is because, well, I know nothing about the brain and Medina is a neurologist so this book could be filled with nothing but psychobabble nonsense and I wouldn't know the difference. Regardless, I thought that Medina had a very easy to understand writing style and I liked his little stories. Overall, Brain Rules gets a thumbs up from me. I bet he's honored.

Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens 7/10 (404 pg)
My Review: Never Let You Go by Chevy Stevens
  I keep wanting to call this book Never Let Me Go. Also, I keep accidentally typing Chevy Chase instead of Chevy Stevens. Which is really funny when you think about it. Anyway, this is a really easy to read thriller with enough twists and turns to keep you sufficiently entertained. For those curious, it's about a woman who leaves her abusive husband with her young daughter. Years later, she begins to believe her ex husband, who has recently been let out of jail, is stalking her. The mystery then goes from there, and if you like generic but, again, easy to read mysteries I'd recommend picking this one up.

A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline 7.5/10 (304 pg)
My Review: A Piece of the World by Christina Baker Kline
  Normally, I'd stay away from books like this, historical fiction novels about real people, but I was intrigued enough by this one that I decided to read it anyway. This is about the woman in Wyeth's most famous painting, Christina's World, which also happens to be one of my favorite paintings, even if I wouldn't count Wyeth as one of my favorite painters. This was a solid book, and one I'd recommend to fans of Kristin Hannah and other women's lit historical fiction writers.

Retribution by Jilliane Hoffman 8-8.5/10 (484 pg)*
My Review: Retribution by Jilliane Hoffman
  Jilliane Hoffman's not the best writer I've ever encountered but damn if her books aren't fun to read. This is the first book in her CJ Townsend series, about a female prosecutor in Florida. In this first installment, our main character is introduced as being a survivor of a horrific rape. Years later, she must take down her own rapist before he hurts other women. Reading it is as easy as watching a Law and Order: SVU episode- more serious than a soap opera, but less serious than an ID Channel episode. It's a dark, twisted police procedural, and that's the kind of stuff I love.

Never Let Me Go by Kazou Ishiguro 8.5-9/10 (reread) (288 pg)
  Yet another reread from last year! I wanted to read this book again because I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be human lately, mostly because of the stories about the first robot citizen of the world (is robot still PC, or does she prefer the term artificial intelligence? These are questions that keep me up at night). Stories like that bring out the internal Luddite in me. One of the things that have always stuck with me about this story, and something that seemed even more poignant in the wake of the robot citizen thing, is the idea that emotion and especially love is what makes someone human. It's a very literary idea, and one that is simple, but something that I love. I'd be curious to see a think-piece done on Never Let Me Go in the context of the AI revolution, but now is not the time and place for it.

Shallow Graves by Maureen Boyle 8/10 (312 pg)*
My Review: Shallow Graves by Maureen Boyle
  My nonfiction book of the month! This is a well-written crime nonfiction novel about a New Bedford MA serial killer, targeting girls with heroin addictions from this small Portuguese-American fishing community. It was short and well-written, though does have kind of an unsatisfactory ending. This should be an easy read for any crime buffs out there.

The Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck 9/10 (reread) (208 pg)
My Review: The Teacher's Funeral by Richard Peck
  My reread of this was inspired by the fact that I found a copy of it at Goodwill for $1. This was one of my favorite childhood stories by one of my favorite childhood novelists, and because of that I don't think I can give this one of my usual unbiased reviews. Nostalgia glasses, maybe, but I'd still give this to any 10 or 11 year old interested in history, especially 20th century history.

Brazen by Katherine Longshore 5/10 (524 pg)
My Review: Brazen by Katherine Longshore
  Praise the Lord Jesus Hallelujah! I finally finished the Royal Circle series! This is probably the best one of the bunch, which admittedly ain't saying much given that all the other books got 4.5s from me. It's a little depressing that Longshore didn't really appear to grow as a writer much at all over the course of the series. As a whole, I wouldn't really recommend any of these Tudor England YA novels, but I suppose that this one is perfectly passable. 

Defending Jacob by William Landley 4.5/10 (422 pg)*
My Review: Defending Jacob by William Landley
  If someone is a huge Jodi Picoult fan, then I'm sure they'll love this book, given that it's a legal thriller/family drama about a father who is trying to defend his son who is accused of murder. Despite the fact I didn't actively hate this novel, I despised the narrator as being a stereotypical pig-headed man who refuses to see what's right in front of his eyes, though I admit that if I was ever in Jacob's position, I'd probably want a dad like that, even if he was just doing it for himself. The twist at the end was good, so good I wish it wasn't a twist, but other than that I didn't really like it all that much.

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski 8.5/10 (286 pg)*
  Charles Bukowski is one of my favorite poets, with both Nirvana and The Crunch (the one from Love Is A Dog From Hell) being two of my favorite poems ever. Yet I have never read one of his novels. I figured his books would be raunchy as all hell, and, needless to say, I'm not a raunchy kind of person. And yet, I found myself strangely enjoying Ham on Rye. There's something about it that drew me in, that same grittiness that was what originally drew me to Bukowski's work. This is not the kind of book one should read if he wants something happy. This is the kind of book for someone who wants to read about a miserable, bitter man who has lost all faith in humanity. Which is a kind of character I've been able to relate with lately. Without getting into specifics, 2017 has been a particularly bad year for me, and this is the kind of book I assume one's enjoyment of it will depend on how much one can get behind the main character. I didn't agree with him on everything, but with enough that I ended up really liking this book. Though I admit, some of it may have to do with my soft spot for the Buk.

The Secret History by Donna Tartt 9-9.5/10 (559 pg)
My Review: The Secret History by Donna Tartt
  This month, it seems that both the current toppers of my favorite and least favorite books of the year were challenged. Missing by Little Days, and, most surprisingly, Marina by The Secret History, a book I wasn't even expecting to like- though that low standard probably made me enjoy it even more. This book, about a cultish group of friends in college, was just made up of everything I love- character studies, Fitzgerald-esque writing, old fashioned touches- and held my attention almost the entire time reading. I just loved it in a way I hadn't loved a book in quite some time.

Page total: 5,719
Average rating: 7/10 (rounded up by not much)
Genre breakdown: 6 mystery-thrillers
                 5 historical fiction
                 2 nonfiction (1 science, 1 true crime)
                 1 contemporary
                 1 science fiction
Of those 12 were adult, 2 were YA, and 1 was children's

I'm happy with November, mostly because of how much I got to read even if it was such a hectic month for me. I also read a lot of books that I actually enjoyed, including a book that may make the top of my end of the year favorites- who knows? My first December reviews will go up soon!

*e-books

The Secret History by Donna Tartt Review

WARNING: THERE MAY BE SPOILERS BELOW

“I suppose at one time in my life I might have had any number of stories, but now there is no other. This is the only story I will ever be able to tell.”- The Secret History, Donna Tartt

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last - inexorably - into evil.

Yes, I'm aware that this book was published in the 90s and I don't usually write full reviews for books not published in the 21st century because, well, I don't see how my thoughts about Bukowski's Ham and Rye (but you can look forward to that in my wrap-up) or Capote's Answered Prayers would really bring anything new to the table. But with this book I feel compelled to write a full review.

I thought I would hate this book. And I'm sure if you saw my tastes in books you'd probably think the same thing. It's long, kinda pretension, and there is a laundry list of flaws with the characters- they're cold, selfish, unfeeling, and cannot deal with reality. 

And yet I loved every goddamn page of this book. 

The writing is Fitzgerald-esque. The characters, with their suits and cigarettes and problems with hard liquor are old-fashioned in a way that endears me. In fact, the book feels like it should take place in the Edwardian times or the Roaring Twenties instead of the late 80s early 90s, and for once I was not annoyed by the fact that the book doesn't seem to know when it wants to take place. Instead, I liked it- the strange old-fashionedness of the twins, Francis, Henry, and to a lesser extent Bunny only served to set them apart from all the other characters, show how different they are from Judy and Cloke.

The biggest sign as to how much I liked this novel is that I was not once bored by it. I mean, when it's a 500+ page novel and the murder happens with 300 pages of story left to get to, this basically means that The Secret History will go down as one of my favorite books ever. The last time a long book managed to capture my attention until the end, it was A Gentleman in Moscow which I read last September. I understand that some people were extremely bored in the second half, but I was loving it. I was intrigued by all the characters and I didn't really want it to end. I didn't want to get out of the world that these characters inhabited. 400 pages into it, I was still laughing and grinning when something was reveled and swooning at Tartt's writing and overall just completely and utterly enjoying myself.

Seriously, I don't think I've enjoyed reading a book quite this much since, well, Marina back in March. I mean, sure, I've loved books since then, like Graffiti Moon or Norwegian Wood, but this was different. I think I actually fell in love with this book. I have this kind of annoying and very girlish habit of putting my hand above my heart when I love something (or when I'm surprised- I swear sometimes I'm one fainting couch away from being a Victorian lady) and that hand was almost permanently attached to my chest the entire time I was reading this book.

Do I have a favorite character? How can I choose between the twins, Francis, Bunny, or even Richard- who's a Nick Caraway narrator if there ever was one. By the end of the novel, even cokehead Judy had a special place in my heart.

The only thing I didn't really like about the book was the ending, but other than that, I adored the book. This is not the kind of book I'd freely recommend out, since, like in the case of Cara Hoffman's Running, it's meant for a very specific audience. I don't have any particular desire to read The Goldfinch now, but The Secret History will likely become one of my favorite books ever.

9-9.5 out of 10

End of the Year Book Tag- 2017

I did the Mid Year Freakout Book Survey so I thought I mind as well do Ariel Bissett's End of the Year Book Tag because I like doing annual things like that. I don't know how well I'll be able to answer some of these questions because I'm a very fly by the seat of my pants reader, but hey, let's try it anyway.

Are there any books you started this year that you need to finish?
Only one I can think of is Donna Tartt's The Secret History, which I am in the process of reading. I don't really start reading books and then put them down with the intention of getting back to them in a few months- usually, if it's 2 weeks later and I still have no desire to keep reading, I'll just officially declare it a DNF. 

Oh wait! I just thought of one! The Basic Eight! I was annoyed by it so I put it down in, like, September, but I think I just need to give it some more time.

Do you have an autumnal book to transition into the end of the year?
An autumnal book? While I do do seasonal reading to some extent, autumn's also been the I read what I want month. I do kind of have a transition book into winter though- The Revolution of Marina M.

Is there a new release you're still waiting for?
Nope. While there are books that were published in 2017 that I want to get to- The Night Ocean, The Keeper of Lost Things, and Paris in the Present Tense spring to mind- that's about it.

What are three books you want to read before the end of the year?
The Revolution of Marina M is my number 1 priority. Other than that book, it would be nice to get to The Night Ocean and Paris in the Present Tense, along with The Keeper of Lost Things- okay, that's four books, but I'd like to finish up the 2017 releases I want to read before 2018 hits. 

Is there a book you think could still shock you and become your favourite book of the year?
Don't want to say anything for sure, since I'm still only 100 or so pages into The Secret History, but I think it has serious potential to usurp Marina and take the top spot on my Favorites list- don't want to jinx it, though. Also, The Night Ocean and Paris in the Present Tense seem right up my alley so maybe them too. We'll see!

Have you already started making reading plans for 2018?
I have actually! Well, kinda. I've got my anticipated reads shelf on Goodreads stocked up  with 2018 books. Of those, I'd definitely looking forward to The Maze at Windermere (Jan 9th) and The Heart Is a Burial Ground (Mar 8th) the most.

The Royal Circle Series by Katherine Longshore- Series Thoughts

The Royal Circle series is collection of companion novels each about a different girl in the Tudor age- a YA version of Phillipa Gregory's work if you will. Each main character is a real person- if fact, everyone's a real historical figure with the biggest connection between the each book being that they all follow Howards- Catherine Howard in the first book (though her rather dull servant girl Kitty narrates), Anne Boleyn in the second book, and Mary Fitzroy nee Howard in the third.

This series is very overwrought, and I can see why it's mostly out of print in America- though maybe not in the UK? I see a lot of British reviewers of this series on Goodreads. Really, the only book of this series that's all you need to read to get a feel of Katherine Longshore's writing is Gilt, as neither her characters nor her writing really progress the way you'd expect it to. Her character are all interchangeable and her writing is this bizarre mix of Old English and modern slang. 

Do I have a favorite character? Nope. I mean, in real life I'm kind of partial to Anne Boleyn, but in this series she wasn't really Anne Boleyn so I didn't really care about her.

What about favorite book? I suppose I like both Tarnish and Brazen better than Gilt at any rate, but I can't really pick a favorite. I guess I'll go with Brazen since it was the best written and most political of all her books.

I have kind of a nostalgic attachment to Gilt, though. It was, after all, the second book I reviewed on this blog and that means something to me. All in all though, I doubt I'll recommend these books to anyone, unless a person I know really loved The Luxe and is all about the Tudors. I will probably never reread any of these books. 

Gilt: 4.5-5 out of 10
Tarnish: 5 out of 10
Brazen: 5 out of 10

Overall Series Rating: 5 out of 10