Book Review: Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius

Hey my lovelies, its the second Friday of 2016 and that means a new review! This one is of cause Anne & Henry by Dawn Ius, Anne and Henry is a modern retelling of the classic tragedy that was the English Monarchs Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. 

Title: Anne & Henry
Author: Dawn Ius
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Pub. Date: September 1st 2015
Date Read: Wednesday 30th December 2015
Pages: 304
Rating: 4/5 stars
Goodreads Summary:In this wonderfully creative retelling of the infamous—and torrid—love affair between Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII, history collides with the present when a sizzling romance ignites in a modern-day high school.

Henry Tudor’s life has been mapped out since the day he was born: student body president, valedictorian, Harvard Law School, and a stunning political career just like his father’s. But ever since the death of his brother, the pressure for Henry to be perfect has doubled. And now he’s trapped: forbidden from pursuing a life as an artist or dating any girl who isn’t Tudor-approved. Then Anne Boleyn crashes into his life. Wild, brash, and outspoken, Anne is everything Henry isn’t allowed to be—or want. But soon Anne is all he can think about. His mother, his friends, and even his girlfriend warn him away, but his desire for Anne consumes him. Henry is willing to do anything to be with her, but once they’re together, will their romance destroy them both? Inspired by the true story of Anne Boleyn and King Henry VIII, Anne & Henry beautifully reimagines the intensity, love, and betrayal between one of the most infamous couples of all time.

When I first found this novel the first thing I thought of was 'Does Anne get beheaded?' and from then on I knew that the book couldn't have a happy ending, however that did not stop me from reading on. As pretty much everyone knows of the tragedy that was the original story of the English King and Queen.

To start of the writing in this was spectacular and one of the main reasons why I read this series, with the exception of Anne's character. Anne was a fantastic narrator, which really showed the cunningness and confidence of who we imagine Anne Boleyn was. The start of her being ostracized from everyone because of her background to her decent into despair over her slowly losing Henry's favor.

This would have been a five star novel, if it wasn't for the book being narrated by two people, Anne and Henry. Henry was one of the most selfish, whiniest narrators I have ever read. In this interpretation Henry is the president of the his schools council, is rich, is a aspiring politician and dating the 'mother approved' Catherine. 

Previously to the novel his father and older brother have died, leaving him to inherit the title of being the head of the family, and has also inherited his dead older brothers girlfriend (which everyone thinks is completely normal).  Henry soon becomes enraptured with Anne and starts straying from his girlfriend to spend time with Anne. Henry's girlfriend Catherine and his other friends dislike this, and starts plotting to set Anne up. This slowly escalates from humiliation to the eventual downfall of Anne. In the course of this there is a lot of slut shaming used, however my views on it, was that it was necessary in order for us to continue to be on Anne's side through out the novel, because as much as its nice to think about a world where no one comments on anyone else, but that is just not the world we live in (However I am against slut shaming personally). 

So do not let the reviews on Goodreads scare you away from this novel, as long as you can get past the slut shaming, the irritability of Henry and the other characters, which is why it was only rated 4 stars from me. Honestly though, I do wish that Dawn Ius would write a short story of the way that Henry did eventually fall and show his regret, as in the novel he did prefer to completely ignore his wrong doings and blame it all on Anne. Which is of cause similar to King Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn. 

However, due to the writing style I will be checking out any books that Dawn Ius writes in the future.  

Thank you for reading my lovelies, this is it for this week my lovelies, if you would like to see more of what I am currently reading you can check me out on Goodreads, Instagram and Twitter. 

Previous Book Review: The Witch Hunter by Virginia Boecker

Next Book Review: The It Girl by Cecily Von Ziegesar

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