Book Club November Review: Six Wilds Crowns by Holly Race

I came across this book whilst at an event for A Fate Forged in Fire by Hazel McBride, where Holly Race was the interviewer. I was drawn in by the pretty sprayed edges and the author's discussion of the book which had me expecting strong female characters, court politics and a fresh take on the story of Henry VIII. The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory is one of my favourite reads, inspiring a fascination of the Tudor court and Henry VIII in me so I was very excited to choose this for our November book club read.

Six Wild Crowns is the story of Boleyn, who is fortunate enough to find herself marrying the most powerful man in Elben, King Henry. Only after they are wed does Boleyn realise there are dark secrets underlying the magic in Elben which is supposedly keeping them all safe, and the cost which is unwittingly being paid. Along the way she befriends Seymour, who fails spectacularly at the job she was sent to do of spying and instead becomes a trusted friend and ally to Boleyn as she untangles the dark web that is the lies of the Elben court.

Our Ratings

Kay: ⭑⭑⭑

CY: ⭑⭑

**There is quite a huge spoiler for the ending of the book in the review which follows, so if you're wanting to read this book stop here and come back once you've read it**

Our Comments

• On Theme: One of the strong themes running through this book was sisterhood and this is something that I really liked about it. Although they don't start out that way, Seymour and Boleyn become friends and allies, with a sapphic yearning from Seymour that is hard to miss. It was nice to see a portrayal of strong female characters, in which they choose to support and uplift each other rather than subscribing to being rivals, despite this being encouraged by King Henry and the patriarchy of Elben. This gave the book a heart-warming feel which left me wanting more. And it was nice to see the main relationships in the book being friendship rather than a romantic relationship, especially after all of the romantasy we have read since we first discovered Fourth Wing. The exception to this is Boleyn's sister, who clearly needs some lessons on loyalty as she betrayed her sister for a man that wasn't even a 10. I felt the inclusion of this made the book all the more realistic and relatable, as the unfortunate reality is that not all women lift each other up and there are those that would act as Mary did. I also really liked the combination of fantasy and historical fiction, I felt like for me this blended two genres that fascinate me and I loved the novel take on a story that's well known.

• On Characters: This is where CY and I differed quite a bit in our opinions. She felt that she had no attachment to the characters, and she just couldn't get past the fact that this novel was based on Henry VIII. Once she saw a painting of him there was no coming back from that for her: let's just say, she didn't exactly view him as the heartthrob he's portrayed to be. However, she did quite like the sapphic yearning between Boleyn and Seymour (this girl is just too horny). On the other hand, I cared quite a bit about Boleyn and Seymour and, whilst I didn't care for Henry, I still found him to be an intriguing character. I was invested in what happened and I did feel quite a bit of sadness when Boleyn died at the end, even though I should have known what was coming.

• On Magic System: We both found this to be a confusing element of the book, with CY feeling that the magic system was quite underdeveloped. King Henry is described as being glittery with magic and Boleyn can feel his power when having sex with him. Whilst that paints a nice picture and the spice was appreciated, it doesn't really give any indication of how the magic works, what Henry can do with it, and how it is useful. Other than some vague idea of the magic being used to protect Elben, I really had no better clue of what the magic system was by the time I finished the book than I did when starting it. Unfortunately, this book did show me that a fantasy can't be build only on plot and nice ideas. The magic system is an integral part of the genre and it just didn't come through here at all, so this part left us both quite disappointed. Also the dragons were just an ornamental feature that didn't really have any purpose, which for such a cool creature didn't do them justice. However, I did envision them being quite cute and when they were first introduced I found it a pretty original depiction of dragons.

• On Plot: Whilst I found her 2* rating outrageous, CY justified it with her criticisms of the pacing of this book. She found it quite boring, predictable and felt that not much happened in the book. Whilst I didn't hate it quite as much as she did, I do agree that the pacing wasn't great and there could have been a lot more happening in the book. I couldn't help but feel that this didn't need to be a trilogy and that whatever is going to happen in the next books could have been condensed into this book, which would have made it a lot more of an interesting read. That said, I am excited to see where she takes it next and will be following along to see what becomes of the queens of Elben. CY swears she won't be continuing a series that she rated a 2*, but maybe I'll just have to choose Six Savage Thrones as a book club read so she's forced to give it another chance. Or maybe not, if I value my life.

Would We Recommend It:

Kay - I'm not going to lie I just love this period of history and I found this to be a novel take that kept me intrigued. I would recommend it for those who love both fantasy and historical fiction and want to see a familiar story done very differently.

CY - If you look up the portraits of Henry VIII, you would know whether I would recommend it or not. 

Book Club Questions:

• What were your thoughts on the relationship between Boleyn and Seymour?

• How did the ending make you feel, and what do you think will follow in the next book? Do you think there's a chance that Boleyn survived the fall?

• Did Henry make you swoon or gag, and did the real-life history impact your perception of these characters?

• What were the main themes of this book for you and how did they make you feel?