Series Review: The Cousins War by Philippa Gregory

Today I thought I would review all the books I've read in Philippa Gregorys "The Cousins War" series.

So far, 5 books have been published, and I think the final one is being published this autumn.

Now, I read these in the chronological order of the story, not in order of publication.

Sidenote: I love these editions, they're so pretty.

Disclaimer: I try to write all my reviews spoiler-free, but you will get the general gist of how the story progresses between the different books.

On to the reviews!

Title: The Lady of the Rivers
Published: 2008
Pages: 443

Rating: 4/5

You can get this edition here.

Summary: 

This is the story of Jaquetta, daughter of the Count of Luxembourg. She is married off to an Englishman by the name of John, Duke of Bedford, the uncle of King Henry VI in the beginning of the book, and we follow her through two marriages and all the intrigue of the English court.

Review:

I found this book intriguing and fascinating, and I found the main character, Jaquetta, to have a good voice. I felt like if I met her, I would like her. I really enjoyed the whole story, though it sometimes felt a little repetitive.

Definitely a good start to the series.

Title: The Red Queen
Published: 2010
Pages: 382
Rating: 4/5

You can get this edition here.

Summary:

In this book, we meet Margaret Beaufort. She is the child bride of Edmund Tudor and has one son with him. This is the story of a woman determined to undermine and destroy the House of York, ensuring that the House of Lancaster and her only son becomes King of England.

Review:

I found the viewpoint of Margaret to be a very interesting one. She is unmoveable in her desire to put her son on the throne. Her life is not always an easy one, but she never surrenders. She is also extremely religious, and believes herself to have a special connection with God. All of this makes her who she is: a strong but obsessed and unlikeable woman. 

I thought the fact that the character is so incredibly unlikeable is what really made this book worth reading. And I loved how she's sort of bat shit crazy already from a very young age.

Title: The White Queen

Published: 2008
Pages: 408

Rating: 4/5

You can get this edition here.

Summary:

This story is written through the perspective of Elizabeth Woodville, the firstborn daughter of Jaquetta (from the first book). Her story is the story of a woman who goes from a commoner to the Queen of England.

Review:

I found this story pretty exciting, although somewhat repetitive at times. I especially enjoyed the feuds at court and how they consume some of the characters. I did wish for a better family tree (one is provided in the beginning of the book), because a lot of characters have the same names, and it gets confusing.

This might be more of a 3.5/4, because I read all of these books back to back, and it feels more and more repetitive in both language and storylines.

Title: The Kingmaker's Daughter

Published: 2012
Pages: 417

Rating: 2/5

You can get this edition here.

Summary:

This time, we hear the story of one of the daughters of Richard "The Kingmaker" Neville. Her name is Anne, and this story centres around how she is used as a political pawn in her fathers never ending game of trying to rule England.

Review:

Now, the main problem I have with this book is that it follows the same storyline of both "The Red Queen" and "The White Queen". This resulted in me knowing almost everything that was going to happen to Anne. The first part of the book gave some new insight, but the rest was simply boring and provided me with very little excitement.

Title: The White Princess

Published: 2013
Pages: 528

Rating: 4/5

You can get this edition here.

Summary:

This story is about Elizabeth, the daughter of Elizabeth Woodville (who is the daughter of Jaquetta). The story centres around the English Court, where Elizabeth is Queen of England, married to a man she doesn't even know.

Review:

This book felt like a breath of fresh air, mostly because of the new timeline. I found the characters fascinating and I liked their development (especially in the marriage between Elizabeth and her husband). I must admit this book feels a little repetitive too though.

Overall, I like this series, but it definitely has its ups and downs. I would recommend this to anyone who really likes historical fiction. If you're unsure, read the first one and see what you think. 

I might recommend not reading them back to back though, because it's a little over the top.