The White Queen (↓)

I FINALLY finished a book. It took me so long, mostly because I didn't find the book all that interesting and I really had to push myself to finish it. This novel was: The White Queen by Phillipa Gregory. I usually like Phillipa Gregory novels, but honestly, this one just wasn't that great. I found it difficult to keep the characters straight, especially the men, because of them were named Edward, or Richard. But also, I just didn't find that the story drew me in like the Tudor books she wrote. It was well written, and I still learned a lot from it, but the whole time I was trying to figure out how the Tudor line evolved from that line. I should've just looked it up, but I didn't haha. The low rating is because honestly, I found it boring, and I really had to force myself to finish it. I can't believe it took me exactly a month to read it!

This story follows Elizabeth Woodville. A young woman who goes to the York claim to the throne Edward, to ask for money from her dead husband's estate. They instantly fall in love, and marry in secret. From there on, it follows Elizabeth and her family's climb through the ranks and gaining power, while watching King Edward struggle to remain on the throne, until his younger brother de-thrones him, and takes over. Her oldest son, the heir to the throne, is lost in the Tower of London (and still to this day, no one knows what happened to him!), and the story ends with the return of her second/youngest son returning to her from his 'hiding spot' in France. There's another book in this storyline called The Red Queen which I also have, so I don't know if I will read that next or just wait and read it later. I'm thinking I might take a break only because this novel left such a bad taste in my mouth.

One thing I did find interesting was the fact that Elizabeth believed that she was the descendant of a water fairy and had magical powers. She believed that she blew up a storm that ruined battles, and she helped win over King Edward's love. I found it fascinating that back then (and probably now) people could easily be called witches only because of coincidences of weather or events and another person chanting incantations. It's no wonder people feared witches, especially when back then, no one understood weather (hell, even now, people don't understand the weather, hahaha).

Anyway, I'm not sure what I will be reading next, but until then, Happy Reading!