Rating: 
Summary: A story about friendship...
Review: This book was chosen to be on the Interscholastic Reading Compeitition high school list for my area this year. So, basically, I picked up the book out of the sake for the competition.
But once I entered the first scene, a rain-soaked street in Rheims, I was pulled in by Ms. Yolen's superb writing. A girl with wit and oftentimes harsh honesty was something rare and special in the Tudor era, and so is this book today. Admist the violence and turmoil during Queen Mary's reign is a story about the friendship that forms between two women, a queen and a fool. I loved this book, and I hope you will too.
Rating:
Summary: A story about friendship...
Review: This book was chosen to be on the Interscholastic Reading Compeitition high school list for my area this year. So, basically, I picked up the book out of the sake for the competition.
But once I entered the first scene, a rain-soaked street in Rheims, I was pulled in by Ms. Yolen's superb writing. A girl with wit and oftentimes harsh honesty was something rare and special in the Tudor era, and so is this book today. Admist the violence and turmoil during Queen Mary's reign is a story about the friendship that forms between two women, a queen and a fool. I loved this book, and I hope you will too.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: This book was quite good, but quite lengthy. It seemed to go on longer than it needed to or started to soon, or maybe it just had to many details. Though it was very enticing, it was not a first pick. I have read other books by Yolen and have found she cannot find just the right length. Her books are good, but not quite right.
Rating:
Summary: Along with Harry Potter on the Self
Review: This book was the BEST! It had great description from the eyes of Nicola Ambruzzi. She was in Troupe Brufort when they preformed for the King and Queen. Nicola captured the eye and heart of Mary with her charm and wit. The story went through the life of Nicola as the Queens Own Fool. The story showed a great plot, tinged with romance and a great dollop of adventure. Nicola grows into a young woman as the book develops, helping her Queen through bad marriges, 1 divorce, a baby, and 2 lost twins. This is definatley one lf the best books I've ever read and that is a big statement since I'm the schools "Bookworm". THIS IS A DEFINATE READ!
Rating:
Summary: Generally Good
Review: THis is a very exciting and interesting I would reccomend this to any historical novel fan. Nicola is a fantastic character though I find it hard to imagine that the Queen would hire her like she did. In real life I doubt Mary would even imagine going near a common fool- never mind buy her. But thats why its a novel. I also think they showed Queen Mary as being very strong and clever-but she was meant to be very weak in personality and pretty dumb. If you are an expert on Mary don't read this. But if know very little about her do!
Rating:
Summary: A Review
Review: This is one of the best books that i have read.while the story focuses on Mary queen of scots it also tells Nicola Ambruzzi's story.Nicola and Italian orphan finds her Uncle the lead fo Troupe Brufort. Nicola dances in Troupe Brufort and when Troupe Brufort arrives and entertain for Mary and her husband francis Mary is fascinated by Nicola partly because she made Francis laugh gives Nicola's uncle money so Mary can keep Nicola as her own fool. Though part of the story is fictional it tells the struggle of Mary Queen of scots leaving france,ruling scotland, and then escaping from scotland to save her own life. I think this book is a wonderful tale of Mary Queen of scots full of surprises happy and sad parts. I recommend this book to people who are interested in the Stuarts though Mary wasn't in the dyansty and to people who are interested in Mary Queen of Scots herself.
Rating:
Summary: Queen Own Fool
Review: While not extroadinary, this book definitely stands out as a good, solid story for anyone interested in this time period. It might help if you've studied it a bit as well; while I consider myself a fairly informed history buff, this particular point in history was not one I'd studied in the past, so some of it went over my head a bit. Still, I enjoyed the main and supporting characters immensely, and the plot was full of exactly the sort of court intrigue I love.
Nicola, an orphan living with a group of street performers headed by her often abusive uncle, never expected to be anything but what she is. Thus she is quite surprised when the young queen Mary is so charmed by her antics that she immediately frees her from her uncle, in exchange for her becoming her own personal fool. Though it tends to move a bit slowly at times, in the end the reward is worth it. Like I said, this book is truly good, recommendable to anyone twelve on up.
Rating:
Summary: Good bit of historical fiction...
Review: While not extroadinary, this book definitely stands out as a good, solid story for anyone interested in this time period. It might help if you've studied it a bit as well; while I consider myself a fairly informed history buff, this particular point in history was not one I'd studied in the past, so some of it went over my head a bit. Still, I enjoyed the main and supporting characters immensely, and the plot was full of exactly the sort of court intrigue I love.
Nicola, an orphan living with a group of street performers headed by her often abusive uncle, never expected to be anything but what she is. Thus she is quite surprised when the young queen Mary is so charmed by her antics that she immediately frees her from her uncle, in exchange for her becoming her own personal fool. Though it tends to move a bit slowly at times, in the end the reward is worth it. Like I said, this book is truly good, recommendable to anyone twelve on up.
Rating: 
Summary: Historical travesty
Review: Why is it that works of history aimed at children(both fiction and non-fiction) are nearly always so incredibly historically inaccurate? "The Queen's Own Fool" is one of the worst of this type that I have read. The history (especially the parts dealing with Mary's marriages to Darnley and Bothwell) have no connection to the truth whatsoever. Yolen's depiction of Bothwell, in particular, comes off like something from a bad comic book. I would have thought that even the most casual historians would have gotten past this old stereotype of him as a scheming villain who had to force Mary into marrying him. (What a joke!) By all means, children should learn history (especially the history of someone as fascinating as Mary Queen of Scots) but this is hardly the way to do it! If that wasn't bad enough, the book is very poorly written--it has little value even as literature. What else can I say? I would have given this book no stars at all if I could have!
Rating:
Summary: A Can Not Miss
Review: Wonderful! Great! Super! There are so many words to describe this book. Nicola, a peasant is performing in front of the queen. The queen loves her act and asks Nicola to stay with her and become her fool, a respectabel position. Nicola remains loyal to the queen through marriage, death, marriage, divorce, and through just about anything you can imagine. From the 5th page to the last it captivates you. Do not miss this!
|
