This story takes place in 1520 in England. Anne the main character is considered out of all her family one of the ugliest maidens in the family. She later is accompanied by her older sister, Mary, and Anne finds out that her sister is the mistress of King Henry VIII of England. Anne jealous of her sister promised herself that she would become the second wife of King Henry. So when King Henry finally gets over Annes sister, Anne decides to take matters into her own hands and tries to get the king to love her. So while basically "dating" the king, Anne persuades the king to ignore everyone even the Roman Catholic Church and remarries to the one and only Anne Boleyn. So now as the story evolves to everyone hating her and calling her a witch. So now since Anne got her way, her sister marries a man who died from a terrible sickness and remarries to another man and find out she's pregnant. Well Mary did the worst thing she can possibly do and told Anne. Anne told the court and banished Mary. Mary was never talked about in the story again. So Anne does not give King Henry a boy after their three years of marriage and this new family, the Seymours, plot to make the King fall in love with their daughter, Jane. But Jane does not give up her virginity but leave hints of marriage. So in the end Anne is accused of adultery by the King and his daughter, Mary, and is later executed. I would recommend this to teenagers and young adults because it has a really great story line and it's not your average fairy tale love story. It actually shows you that men and women still do this and really have no remorse for it. I feel it gives you a glimpse at what life was back in that time era and kind of gives you a glimpse of reality. I feel that this book had a lot of twist and turns and I was actually very fond of the book. It gave me a sense of the old world and how woman and men used to be treated back in the old days. Always as a child I loved Kings and Queens wanting to see how their reign was like so to get to see how it was like for someone to become a queen as Anne did really shocked me knowing how far people used to go.
I’ve always liked the story of Anne Boleyn, the woman whose ambition propelled her up to the greatest heights. Unfortunately, the higher you rise, the farther you have to fall. And, oh, did Anne Boleyn fall to the lowest of the low.Doomed Queen Anne is the story of her rise and fall, told in journal form on the eve of her execution as she recounts the events that lead up to it. It begins at her unhappy childhood and comes around full circle, which always adds a tinge of sadness to the narrative. Carolyn Meyer is a masterful writer of historical fiction and sticks to the facts while telling this excellent story. She shows that the women history has assigned bad reputations to weren’t really all that bad and were perfectly human, meaning they had flaws just like us.I believe the best example of this is when she writes about Anne’s childhood as the ill-favoured daughter, overshadowed by her beautiful, dazzling older sister, Mary. She was told she was ugly, but learned how to hide her flaws while emphasizing her better traits. This well developed backstory is what makes her a memorable character that most readers will be able to sympathize with.The plot of Doomed Queen Anne is reasonably well paced and the entire novel is historically accurate, as far as I can tell. Carolyn Meyer is a very gifted writer and uses her talent to draw readers in to the backstabbing court of the Tudors and move the plot along to its inevitable, tragic conclusion. I would recommend this book for people 12+ because there are brief scenes of sexuality, but nothing more than what you would encounter at most movies aimed at tweens.I give this book 4.5/5 stars, rounded up to 5 stars for Goodreads rating purposes.
What do You think about Doomed Queen Anne (2004)?
Personally, I adored this book. I found it in a used book shop about a year and a half ago, and I was hooked as soon as I started to read it. I am a huge history buff, but when I picked this up I had no idea who Anne Boleyn was, and when I showed it to my mom she said I should defiantly read this book if it is about her. I must tell you, I couldn't put it down, and it remains as one of my most favorite books. From then on, I have kept my eyes open for every other book in the series which I mostly have, except for he first book-which I am still looking for. I defiantly recommend reading this book. After I read this, Anne Boleyn has become my most favorite queen in English hostory.
—Valerie
I found myself picking up Meyer's young adult novel due not only to my library's limited English-language resources and literature, but to a personal interest in the Tudor family, a curiosity as to how Anne Boleyn was presented, and a nostalgia for one of Meyer's other young adult novels in the series, "Mary, Bloody Mary", which I read as a young teen. "Doomed Queen Anne" deserves four stars for its lush descriptions of decadent wealth and political machinations in Tudor England, as well as for its depiction of Anne's romantic as well as politically ruthless side. However, it fails to earn the fifth for its sometimes-ponderous pace, and lacks something of the freshness of "Mary, Bloody Mary".
—Emily I
I will ALWAYS love this book. It's what started it all for me. I went on to read all sorts of novels about Anne Boleyn; I came to love her and recognize her as my idol. My idol, my hero.Anyway, it is a young adult book, so of course it can't be littered with sex scenes and giant words and such, but it was very historically accurate. It got dates and years right to my knowledge; it was a thrilling overview and when I read it in the seventh grade I wasn't able to put it down.I would recommend it as the first book for ANYONE that thinks they'll be interested in reading about her/starting in Tudor era novels, etc.<3
—Kylie
