Hey everyone, I am going to be away for one week, thus missing the week after Color of Magic. I will not be able to post Color of Magic, but I am going to take a week's break because I will be in quite a remote place. please continue to post suggestions for books, as I will be looking when I get home. Thanks for understanding and have a good summer!

First read! The White Princess by Philippa Gregory

The White Princess follows the story of Elizabeth of York and the defeat of the York house by Henry Tudor. When Henry Tudor picks up the crown of England from the fallen body of Richard III (Elizabeth's lover) on the battlefield of Bosworth field, he knows he must marry Elizabeth to unite the two houses. While Elizabeth is still in love and in mourning for King Richard, Henry Tudor is quite taken with her York beauty.

Once married and with three children, King Henry and Queen Elizabeth (so crowned) receive word that there is a pretender who claims to be Richard, Duke of York wanting to claim his rightful place on the throne. Being Elizabeth's little brother and the only heir to the throne, if this heir should prove himself to be Duke of York, King Henry will have to abdicate and allow the Duke of York to take the throne. 

Battles, rebellion, fury and a mysterious place known only as The Tower, where Elizabeth's little brothers Edmund and Richard were imprisoned and never came out, are all part of this exciting historical work of fiction. Gregory is the author of numerous history novels such as The White Queen, The Red Queen, The Kingmaker's Daughter and The Lady Of Two Rivers. 

I particularly enjoyed the twisted plot where something would be very important in the beginning of the book and then a reference to this was made halfway throughout the book, as not many authors do that anymore. I would not recommend this book to anyone under 13 due to the (sometimes) one or two sex scenes, the confusion that surrounds the names and how important a male heir is, and most of all,  the plot isn't handed to you on a silver platter, I had to go digging for it, sometimes flipping back to the last chapter to remind myself of what they were talking about. 

It's a very rich book, filled with historical information, but I'm wondering if Gregory was a bit too enthusiastic in her history novel, maybe filling it up a bit too much with historical facts. I found it quite hard to follow at times, wondering where this problem arose, or why this character was in this one place, when they were in another in just the last chapter. 

I enjoyed reading it, as it was a very solid book, and it was the type of book that I relish reading. No book is perfect, which is why I have provided negative and positive input for it, but feel free to make your own opinion of the book in the comments.

Next week: The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett

Links:

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/White-Princess-Cousins-War/dp/145162610X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1435510908&sr=8-1&keywords=the+white+princess+philippa+gregory

Ebay: http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.XThe+White+Princess+philippa+gregory.TRS0&_nkw=The+White+Princess+philippa+gregory&_sacat=0

Welcome to Gem's book blog!

Hey, everyone, I'm Gem, a self-admitted bookworm who needs somewhere and someone to talk about books I read, so why not the bookworm community? Here's how it goes: every sunday you guys give me a book to read, and if I don't get anything good, I'll pick. I read the book, give a review and provide a link to it where you can buy it. If you're consistent in comments, books, and good opinions, you can eventually review as well! I think that my first book will be The White Princess by Philippa Gregory, just to start off. As this is my first blog, please feel free to give me constructive criticism or maybe just helpful suggestions about how to be a better blogger. Hope you enjoy!

*The opinions reflected in this blog are solely my own, i'm not getting compensation for this in any way*