Rachel Laycock Laycock itibaren Măgina 515207, Rumunjska
This one was hard to rate. I'd give 4 stars for readability--it was hard to put down, richly detailed, riveting...the author spent 15 years researching the subject, and the attention to detail with all of the various political aspects was dizzying. However, my insult at some of the changes she made would knock this down to a two--I have decided that I need to read an actual biography now to sort out fact from fiction. Points also deducted for the drippy romance overlaid on the already fascinating story. Wasn't she interesting enough? Sure, I understand needing something to move along the plot: it is a novel, and I get that. But it was really pretty purple at times. Plus there were a few details that I thought were stupid--was I really supposed to believe that after seven children and at age 45, her stomach was firm and flat and her face unlined? Yeah sure. But! The fact remains that I couldn't put it down, annoyed or not, and it has also inspired me to learn more about female royalty. So it gets three stars.