Tuesday, June 23, 2009

The Last Queen by C.W. Gortner

The Last Queen is a novel of historical fiction based on the life of Juana of Castile. It begins with Juana's childhood and leads into her struggle to become queen of Spain. Juana faces heartbreak, love and betrayal among the pages of this story and the reader cannot help but root for her. Throughout the story she faces all hardships with strength and courage as she works to become the rightful queen of Spain and to protect her beloved country.

What an amazing read this was! I've begun to read more historical fiction this year than ever before and this trumps everything I have picked up so far. I was instantly attached to Juana's character and couldn't help but hope for the best. The pages of this book were filled with suspense and I found myself reading it long after I should have put it down. But Juana was such a strong main character and she faced such evil at times. And the ending blew me away...I didn't see it coming whatsoever. I cannot say that I'm a history buff and so I didn't have a clue where the ending was going. It was so sad but so perfect in the end. Suffice it say that I LOVED this book! One of the better historical fiction reads that I've picked up so far and I'll be looking for more by this author.

My Rating/Recommendations: 5 out of 5 and highly recommended!
Challenges: New Author Challenge, 100+ Book Challenge

**Woohoo, I finally reviewed a book. It has been weeks...literally. I'll catch up eventually but I'm going to work on getting review books posted first.

14 comments:

  1. Good historical fiction makes us enjoy history, even if we aren't really history buffs. This one does sound good. Thanks for your review.

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  2. Seeing how I LOVE historical fiction and you gave this a 5/5 plus the cover is gorgeous..I'm going to add this to my must read stack!!

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  3. Wasn't it a great book? So glad you enjoyed it. I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next!

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  4. This one does sound very good.
    I always enjoy good historical fiction.
    http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/

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  5. Boo! Why did I think I left a comment here this morning!

    I've heard of this one, but wow--you loved it!? I've been looking for a good historical fiction book for the summer and my sister loves them, so I definitely need to check this one out.

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  6. Wonderful review Sam! I'll be reading this one soon and am looking forward to it.

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  7. I really loved this one too! I'm so glad you enjoyed it.

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  8. Suko- That is nicely said! It does make un enjoy history a bit more and I would definitely read more on this subject.

    Staci- I believe that you'll really enjoy this one. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.

    Iliana- It was a great book. I'll be reading more from this author as well.

    Naida- I am finding that I really enjoy historical fiction.

    Trish- LOL! I have been SO bad about leaving comments lately. I'll get back in the swing of things soon though :)

    Teddy Rose- I will be looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it when you finish.

    Amy- I enjoyed your review of this book. I'm glad that we both liked it so much :)

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  9. This sounds like a GREAT book! I'm definitely adding it to my TBR list. I usually don't read historical fiction but this book sounds too good to pass up.

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  10. This book does look really good. I should read it one of these days. Congrats on writing a review! I know the feeling. :)

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  11. Vasilly- It was definitely a worthwhile read for me and such a page turner!

    Kailana- This is completely off topic but has anyone else had problems viewing your blog? I can't seem to get it to pull up besides the background.

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  12. Glad you enjoyed this one so much Sam. I have it on my shelf waiting for me.

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  13. I realize I'm a bit late to the game on this one but glad to hear this was a good read! I adore historical fiction--I loved The Constant Princess so it'll be fun to read about Catherine's sister Juana.

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  14. Dar- I bet when you get to it that you will really enjoy it.

    Rosemary- I hope you enjoy this book once you read it...I will be most certainly reading more from this author :)

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Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment. I appreciate each and every one of them :)