A different read for me, but I still enjoyed it. Brazen is historical fiction, a story revolving around the life of Mary FitzRoy, the Duchess of Richmond and Somerset. The story is about her, the people around her, and the situations she comes across at court. It was a tad bit confusing to follow along at first, what with various characters sharing the same names, and complicated family trees...but it was all written in such a way that it wasn't too overbearing. And it only showed that Longshore had done her best to stay true to the real people of the time and their relationships with each other. What I liked about the story was the unexpected turns and twists that take place at court. Every other chapter, I was like "oh no! what's going to happen now?" and I was on the edge of my seat, wanting to know what would happen next. Mary, her friends, her family, her royalties, and her husband are all characters that are thoroughly explored. We get to see a good lot of each of them and we get to learn what kind of individuals they are. The book spans only about three years, so there's not room for too much character growth, but still we get to see Mary blossom from a thirteen year old to a sixteen year old, and the way she thinks, her beliefs, her values, all develop and enhance and make her a stronger, braver, more passionate young woman throughout the course of the novel. The scared, obedient little girl we meet at the beginning of the novel is definitely not the one we leave in the end. And that was something I really loved about the story. I think Longshore wrote this historical fiction piece quite beautifully. She remained true to as many facts as she'd known about these people, yet she explored their inner thoughts and emotions in ways that made them seem even more so realistic. She brought to life people that we'd only read about in textbooks. It was quite an enjoyable read. And I'm looking forward to reading the companion novels as well. (: I just wrote a really great review about this book and it got deleted. Freaking goodreads.ANYWAY, I love this book. Tudor history is something I can never get enough of. First of all, I have to say I feel really bad for Anne Boleyn. History portrays her as this vile, evil, witchlike woman that only cared about achieving her dream of being Queen of England. When in reality she was just a woman who may or may not have fell in love with a man who happened to be King. Granted that King was an asshole but that's just my opinion. I even remember way back in my 8th grade history class my teacher taught us about the wives of Henry VIII. He was very focused on Anne Boleyn and described how horrible a person she was. This novel portrays her differently and I am so glad.Ok now that that is off my chest, on with the story! The book is told in the perspective of Mary Howard. Queen Anne is her cousin and Mary is one of her ladies who serves her. However, when she turns fourteen she is married off to Henry VIII's bastard son, Fitz. He is also fourteen and is the best friend of Mary's brother, Hal. So they are married but not allowed to live together or consummate their marriage until they are of appropriate age as decided by the king. Mary and Fitz hardly see each other and when they do it's for a very short time. However, they do love each other. Call it insta-love or call it fate but I think it works.Throughout the book some of the main focus is put on life in the Tudor court. The flirtation, the backstabbing, and of course the drama behind Henry's mistresses. To me it's so interesting learning about this. UGH I JUST LOVE IT.I totally recommend this book to anyone that likes British history or history in general. While it is partly a love story aspect to it the main thing to take away from the book is imagining how life used be back when the Tudors were in power.
What do You think about Brazen (2014)?
I enjoyed reading some parts of the book, but I got very confused about what was happening
—BeautifulFreak
Really enjoyed this one! Think I may have to read others by this author.
—Caroline
