Review of Raven Queen by Pauline Francis

I have lived the life of a princess since the day I was born. But it did not bring me what I wanted. I am still trapped. My beloved Ned speaks of love, freedom, a future. To walk with him in the forest, our raven soaring above us, is my only joy. But my father plans that I shall be betrothed to the King and I am afraid. Queens of England have a habit of dying. I have no desire to take the throne, no wish to find myself in the Tower of London. Wife, Queen - I fear it will bring me to my knees.

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Raven is the vividly descriptive tale of the few months leading up to Lady Jane Grey's death. Adding a love interest, the narration switches between Ned, a Catholic, and Jane, a Protestant. Readers get a glimpse of what Jane's life might have been like before she got caught up in the politics of her world and became a tool of her parents. Jane saves Ned after he is hanged, and finds him work. They fall in love but their love is doomed from the start.

Lady Jane Grey is a part of history, and she's always fascinated me. So I picked this book up eagerly, hoping I had found a new Historical Author to fan girl over. Sadly, it wasn't to be. I was very disappointed by this book. I never understand why or how Jane and Ned fell in love in the first place, as we're never told. I couldn't connect to the book at all. This is just part of what annoyed me. It needed more detail. The book is very quick to get through, which is probably why everything went so quickly. Another problem was the Historical accuracy. Ned's character didn't seem very realistic at all and when it got to the end of the book, everything got really silly. I can't really go into specifics due to spoilers. Back to Historical accuracy. Everyone knows Jane was executed in private but it seems that in this book she's outside.

Considering this is my first read of a book by this Author, I'm a little wary of reading any more by her but I would like to have a go at one or two.

2/5