Review Tuesday: "These Shallow Graves" by Jennifer Donnelly

Happy Tuesday to you all!

As you know, today is Review Tuesday, which when I say that in my mind, it's in a sonorous voice and it echoes. Yes, I am short a few. :-)

Today I bring you my review of Jennifer Donnelly's These Shallow Graves. Have I ever mentioned my absolute and undying love for Jennifer Donnelly? I have been a major fangirl since I picked up her first novel The Tea Rose during finals weeks in college and it's a major miracle that I didn't fail because all I wanted to do was to read that novel. Donnelly has since moved on to other subjects including a dual-period novel entitled Revolution and a teen series focusing on the myths surrounding mermaids, so when I saw that she was publishing a new Victorian era novel, I was super stoked. These Shallow Graves is geared towards young adults but it still a wonderful novel that captures a lot of the grit of Gilded Age New York that was featured in her first novel.

The story follows Jo Montfort as she longs to test the glittering restrictive world of her birth. As one of New York’s elite, she has been raised to marry the perfect gentleman and have babies; but what Jo really longs for is to pursue her love of journalism. Her world is rocked when her father is discovered dead, a supposed suicide. Not believing her father capable of such a thing, Jo teams up with newspaper reporter Eddie Gallagher to uncover the dark secrets lurking just out of sight. She will risk her heart and social oblivion to discover to the truths that threaten to challenge her perfectly planned existence.

Jennifer Donnelly truly excels at historical fiction, whether it be for adults or teens. While These Shallow Graves is geared towards young adults, it will intrigue adult readers as well. At first the heart of the mystery seems easily solved, but as Jo and Eddie continue to uncover pieces to the puzzle, the real truth becomes further obscured. Descriptions of Victorian New York really give the novel its flavor while the characterizations are equally wonderful. So many female protagonists in today’s historical fiction are not in sync with the realities of their time periods. Jo Montfort is very aware of her place in society and the constraints upon her as a woman. She is constantly barraged with who she is and how she should act, which reminds the reader of how life used to be. But Jo is wonderfully smart and courageous, and though she challenges the establishment, she does it with grace and deportment.

I definitely recommend These Shallow Graves and basically anything by Donnelly so pick up a copy today.

**This review appeared the Historic Novel Review in February 2016.

Review: Inglorious Royal Marriages by Leslie Carroll

Hello all!

I recently reviewed Inglorious Royal Marriages for the Historical Novel Society. It's the latest installment in Leslie Carroll's series on the scandals of European royalty. I've enjoyed the other books penned by Carroll and Inglorious Royal Marriages  was another interesting entry to the series. The book chronicles royal relationships, both legally and not so legally binding. A portion of the marriages featured were contracted for dynastic reasons; as a result, most were notoriously unhappy. Each section is devoted to the husband and wife involved in the marriage. Some of the royals documented are Henry VI and Margaret of Anjou, Catherine of Braganza and Charles II, Anne of Austria and Louis XIII, and Marie of Romania and Ferdinand I.

The book is very readable. It doesn't get bogged down like a lot of non-fiction and is filled with fascinating stories from the medieval period all the way through to World War II. The book’s focus on some lesser-known nobles is a boon for those readers who love all the intricacies of royal life. As with her other works, Carroll sometimes goes into too much detail, particularly about the political maneuverings at the time. A little more attention to the daily lives of the subjects would have made Inglorious Royal Marriages really shine. If you enjoy reading all the juicy tidbits of Europe's most famous (and infamous) marriages, you'll not want to miss Inglorious Royal Marriages.

For more historical fiction and non-fiction reviews, check out my Goodreads account.