JoAnn Spears (1)

I just loved the premise, a time-traveling chicklit about the six wives of Henry VIII, and I could not wait to read it, but then… it turns out that I didn’t actually like the novel all that much.

The protagonist, Dolly, a Tudor history scholar, is about to marry six-times-divorced Harry. She’s on her hen night with her girl friends, female relations and all of the ex-wives, when she whacks her head and finds herself meeting the girl friends, female relations and wives of Henry VIII. Each woman has to tell Dolly a story about her life, and at the conclusion of the stories, Dolly will be back her real world, to apply her new knowledge to her regular life.

Dolly, spent a lot of time saying she was an academic and a scholar, while making weirdly childish rhymes. It was odd, even before the time-traveling bit.

Overall, I was thoroughly shocked to find Tudor fiction that I did not enjoy! Although I was excited to read a fun Tudor riff, and I was on board with all the time-traveling and magic, this turned out too zany for me.

Read my full review… (meer)

This book is definitely not going to be a book for everyone - but for the right person, you are going to love it!

This is a spoof book, a humorous take on the six wives of Henry VIII. You definitely need to be at least somewhat familiar with the Tudor era in order to really enjoy the book. Spears does a great job of explaining who the characters are as she goes along, so if you need a bit of a nudge for some of the minor characters, she'll help you with that. It's meant to be very funny; alas, I didn't find most of the jokes all that funny (the constant rhyming especially drove me crazy; I'm not a two year old), but I still loved the book. It was so, so refreshing to see a lighthearted look at what was actually a controversial time in our history, and it was just so much FUN to imagine all of the wives chattering about gossiping to one another.

So definitely a must read for a Tudor fan with a sense of humor - even if you are like me, and you don't enjoy all of the jokes or puns, you can still really enjoy the book for what else it offers you.… (meer)

Though not as enjoyable as the first book, Seven Will Out is a lighthearted romp through the later Tudor period, as seen through the eyes of the Tudor women, long after they are dead. The book is filled with puns (many of which were already used in the first book) and jokes. Just like the first book, most of the puns weren't all that funny to me, and unfortunately, most of the jokes were just a little too silly for me.

That being said, one can't help but enjoy Spear's book. It's meant to be fun, poking fun of the seriousness of the Tudor period and the people (like me) who are obsessed with it. You can't take Seven Will Out seriously, and the things that Spear's thinks of for her characters make the book worth reading, and if she ever comes out with a third, you'll bet I'll read that one too! It's great fun to see the ladies let down their hair and just have fun (see, after reading her book i can't help but come up with bad lines, too!)… (meer)