Review: The Wild Queen by Carolyn Meyer

Title: The Wild Queen
Author: Carolyn Meyer
Format: Hardcover
Publisher: Harcourt
Publish Date: June 19, 2012
Source: Library

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You're a Historical Fiction fan.
• You're a Young Adult fiction fan.

What's the Story?:

From Goodreads.com: "Mary Stuart was just five years old when she was sent to France to be raised alongside her future husband. But when the frail young king dies, eighteen-year-old Mary is stripped of her title as Queen of France and set adrift in the harsh world, alone. Determined to reign over what is rightfully hers, Mary returns to Scotland. Hopingthat a husband will help her secure the coveted English throne, she marries again, but the love and security she longs for elude her. Instead, the fiery young queen finds herself embroiled in a murder scandal that could cost her the crown. And her attempts to bargain with her formidable “sister queen,” Elizabeth I of England, could cost her her very life."

My Two Cents:

Carolyn Meyer has written a series of historical fiction books for young adult readers focused on some famous royals. It's called the Young Royals series and I wish that I would have known about these books when I was a little bit closer to Young Adult age because I would have eaten them up (although, I must point out I still ate up this book now as a not-so-young adult so win-win, I guess). Even though the books are geared for young adult readers, I think that these would be great cross-over books for those who are looking to step into the realm of Young Adult fiction or more specifically Young Adult Historical Fiction.

Poor Mary, Queen of Scots, she had sort of a tragic life, no? This story covers from the time that she was very young (around 5 years old) until her death. At a very young age, she was sent from Scotland to France to be groomed to be the consort for the future King of France. It's always crazy to me how willing parents were back in the day to send their kids away or to be away from their kids if it meant either getting them or their children ahead in life. I really felt for Mary because of this. She; however, seems to take it all in stride. I really like the character of Mary. She often seemed to be sort of wise beyond her years, especially when it came to figuring out how to play the game of royalty. She seems to know inherently from a young age that she has to be willing to play the game in order to get ahead, even if it leads to heartache as a couple of her marriages do.

Oh, and Mary's mother-in-law is Catherine D'Medici. This book had the most subdued picture of Catherine D'Medici ever. She's nice. She lets her husband run around with his mistress in plain sight, who seems to have a more dominant role than the Queen herself. This book just showed Catherine in a totally different light than I had seen her before.

This is a good story told from the perspective of Mary Queen of Scots. Historical fiction lovers and Young Adult fiction lovers will find common ground in this book.