The Red Queen – Philippa Gregory

The Red Queen

As some of you will remember after I finished The White Queen by Philippa Gregory (which I've since discovered was the 1^st book in a new 3 part series) - I immediately loved it. At the time I'm sure there were more than a couple of people sick of hearing about it. If you want to read the review I posted please click this link to read the full review. 
     The Red Queen is the 2^nd in Philippa Gregory's 3 part series and like the first I will not be the one to ruin it for you! It's so easy to say the wrong thing or mention something you didn't mean to when you write a review and that could quite easily ruin book, spoil the plot lines or tip someone of as to who the killer is or if the butler really did do it, so I try not to whenever possible, especially when it's a new book that not a lot of people have had the chance to read yet.
     When I wrote the review of The White Queen I said "There is no way I'm giving any of this books plot or story away! It is brilliant full stop" and I stand by that still, to the point that I wouldn't spoil this one either more so because it's the 2^nd part of a trilogy. Previously in the review I wrote for The White Queen, I said "This book follows the Princes in the tower and is a fantastic murder mystery and one that has genuinely gone unsolved for hundreds of years." And while I have said again I'm not going to be the one person who spoils it for everyone.
     I also said "Don't literally judge this book by the cover. I wouldn't have thought a murder mystery set the thick end of 600 years ago would have been my kinda thing, I couldn't have been more wrong" And again the same couldn't be truer this time around. 
     If I were being 100% honest I'm like most people and as evolved as we all like to think we are, I do judge books by their cover, we all do! Because of that I probably wouldn't have picked up the 1^st of these books up as I strolled through the book isle in Asda, Tesco, Whsmiths or Waterstones (although I buy alot of books online I enjoy the feel of the paper and the smell of the ink even if I do go home and buy them online) As I said in the other review I would have been missing out, big time! 
     I can't help but think in the years to come that the BBC or another production company should go all out to make these 3 books into costume dramas (even if the 3^rd may not have yet been written lol) while they wouldn't use me to direct or produce it they really should, after devouring both of the books so far I have it all set out –although because of the quality of Philippa Gregory's writing style we could all be getting the same mental images as we read the books. I will say though that the images I get in my mind while I was reading it have more than matched up to Pride and Prejudice, Bleak House or Little Dorrit 

The White Queen

     I did say in the review I posted about The White Queen "I wouldn't recommend sitting down and reading it in 2 or 3 sittings as much as you may want to make it last, think of it like a fine wine or 30 year old single malt treat yourself." I really should follow my own advice, I did try not to read it in one or two sittings, I even tried to limit myself to 20 pages but that soon became 50 pages which became 75 then 100 and I think we all know how that ends. If you're anything like me you get hopelessly lost in a books story; you forget how long you can sit with your head firmly wedged between the pages. 
     The bottom line is The Red Queen is an excellent book, its engaging and engrossing and to me while I think its maybe not quiet the match for The White Queen, as very few books are - you will likely love this book, if you haven't read the 1^st book in the series that OK, it's more than strong enough to stand alone; and if I were pushed to give the 2 books a score out of 10, I'd give The White Queen 9 out of 10 and I'd give The Red Queen 8 out of 10 the only reason I haven't given it the same score as the first one is because the 2^nd time around I knew what to expect and how the writing style works, how the ebb and flow of the story goes where as the 1^st was a bolt from the blue and completely unexpected and was one of the top 10 books of last year (the full list is available by following this link) 

     The white Queen, written by Philippa Gregory, is published by Simon and Schuster UK. It is available as to order from both Amazon.co.uk and Play.com its also available on both CD and ebook 
     The Red Queen, is also written by Philippa Gregory, and is again published by Simon and Schuster UK. It is available as a pre order from both Amazon.co.uk and Play.com and is also available in a digital ebook format.

The Red Queen will be released on 19^th of August 2010