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Elysium

Elysium

has 20 followers and is following 19 people

  • Turku, Finland
  • member since February 23, 2009

Reviews

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Displaying 1-10 of 15 reviews
  • Ultraviolet
    • Rated 0 stars

    did not finish

    Elysium wrote this review Monday, December 5, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • Pride of Kings
    • Rated 0 stars

    did not finish

    Elysium wrote this review Monday, November 7, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Black Death in London
    • Rated 0 stars

    DID NOT FINISH

    Elysium wrote this review Saturday, October 22, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Traitor's Wife
    • Rated 1 stars

    did not finish

    Elysium wrote this review Wednesday, August 24, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • Queen of the Lightning
    • Rated 1 stars

    did not finish

    Elysium wrote this review Sunday, April 3, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Innocent: A Novel
    • Rated 2 stars

    15 year old Anne is being taken by her foster mother to work as a servant in merchant's house. She has good knowledge of herbs and after Anne saves the merchant’s wife, her knowledge brings her to the attention of the court's doctor.The doctor brings Anne to court to help the queen giving birth to their first child. While being there she attracts the king’s eye and discovers the truth about her parents.

    Oh boy, where am I gonna start? First of all, if you’re gonna read this for historical accurancy, don’t bother.

    My first problem is with Anne. She is just too perfect. Every man falls for her, even the king who is known for his many fleeting affairs just falls in love with after few glances. Of course she can heal better than the doctors, evade the merchant’s son who loves to spend his time raping the servant girls, staying annoyingly innocent and being nice to everyone.

    In the beginning of the book the merchan’t son, Piers, has some rather gross sex scenes with this girl which I could have lived unknowing. And we also learn that Edward IV finds watching other people having sex erotic and appearantly so does Anne after peeking from the door where Hastings is with some laundress *insert eye roll here*

    And the truth about her parents? Her father is none other than Henry VI. Because he’s known to be chasing girls between praying and his bouts of madness... And it’s rather understandable that after Margaret finds out the girl is pregnant she tries to assasinate her. This whole thing was little too much on the melodramatic side for my liking.

    And after Anne finds out about her father, she rather instantly finds maturity and kind of a royal bearing. And after months of evading Edward she jumps to his bed after finding who she is. Because it’s much more logical doing adultery when you are royal bastard than a mere servant...
    And why illegitimate daughter might be such a big threat to Edward is totally beyond me.

    But I liked William Hastings. And I think that’s the first time so there was at least one thing I liked.

    Elysium wrote this review Sunday, February 13, 2011. ( reply | permalink )
    • Rated 4 stars

    The story is told by the Lovell cousins Philip (pretty sure he’s fictional) and Francis. Francis is given is wardship to Warwick and goes to Middleham. There he meets Philip after long time and for the first time sees Richard, Duke of Gloucester. There’s lot more going on but I don’t even try to tell it. Wikipedia is your friend.

    I did enjoy this but it was bit dry on points and some of the phraisings does show the book’s age. But I liked how the characters were described, especially Richard. He was neither too good or too bad. I loved how Anne Neville’s rescue was portrayed.

    It was nice to read that Francis and his wife Anna had their happy moments. They are always portrayed hating each other and while this either didn’t end happily there was some good too.

    Elysium wrote this review Thursday, December 9, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Birth of Venus
    • Rated 2 stars

    The book starts when a nun dies and leaves instructions not to touch her body. The sisters ignores them and they discover that she had a shocking tattoo on her body. Then book gies back in time when Alessandra was young girl in Florence. She loves to paint and when her family hires a young painter she becomes fascinating by him. But she gets to be married to an older man who isn’t all that he seems to be and learns something involving his brother.

    I have to say that I wanted to like this more than I did. I don’t know much about Italy and I wish I’d knew more about the things that happened in the book. I didn’t feel connected to the characters and the only one that I wanted to read about was the painter, who isn’t mentioned by name. I did some skipping in the beginning but it did get better towards the end.

    Elysium wrote this review Monday, October 18, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • Hugh and Bess
    • Rated 4 stars

    After the executions of Hugh’s father and grandfather and his own time in prison, he is trying to restore the family name and shows himself loyal to the King.

    I loved the relationship between Bess and Hugh and especially seeing Bess mature. I loved how kind, gentle and patient he is with Bess. The scene in the court when Bess comes little tipsy is just hilarious! Not all husbands would have been so understanding. Loved his sense of humor and his remarks about his family history.

    I liked how Edward III was portrayed and I wish there would have been more of him, but maybe that’s just me...

    I really enjoyed the book and wished it would have been longer!

    Elysium wrote this review Friday, October 1, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
  • The Scarlet Lion
    • Rated 5 stars

    I read The Greatest Knight earlier this year and absolutely loved it! The Scarlet Lion shows us more mature Marshal and the book also focuses more on his wife Isabelle and their children.

    After King Richard’s untimely death John gets the crown and he certainly won’t make life easy for Marshal family. William’s and Isabelle’s marriage has some rough times when John takes theit two eldest sons as hostages. I love how their marriage is portrayed and how Isabelle is more than just her husband’s possession. William truly loved her and listened her opinions.

    The ending and William’s death was so touching and I cried so hard through the last chapter. I didn’t want the book to end! Yet another awesome book by the author, you can never go wrong with Elizabeth Chadwick :)

    Elysium wrote this review Wednesday, September 29, 2010. ( reply | permalink )
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Displaying 1-10 of 15 reviews