Synopsis: When Kitty Tylney's best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII's heart and brings Kitty to court, she's thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat's shadow, Kitty's now caught between two men--the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat's meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head. (From Goodreads)I freaking love the Tudor court. It's just so screwed up. You can't turn corners without stumbling into secrets, or blackmail, or accidentally tripping and getting your head chopped off. It also has this really great dichotomy of purity and pleasure going on. You have to be pure on the face of things, but everyone is just so slutty. Entertainment also has a high value, and you know if you're bored - then you're being punished. With all the secrets, lies, transgressions, and plots, it's impossible to be innocent. Just so awesome.
And Katherine Longshore takes all the things that make the Tudor court great and depicts it perfectly through a girl who struggles to remain innocent and good. Kitty is almost frustrating, because she generally refuses to give into pure pressure. Which, okay, is generally a good thing, but ultimately it puts her in a pretty impossible situation. Loyalty seems hard to come by, and Kitty is nothing but completely loyal. She's just loyal to the wrong person - Catherine Howard.
Seriously, I hate Catherine. I just want to lock her in a closet and stick some duct tape (what's the 16th century version of duct tape?) over her mouth. She drives me up a freaking wall. But it's in an I-love-to-hate-her kind of way. Because at the same time, she's sort of the embodiment of the Tudor court itself. She's take what you want, do what you please, worry about consequences later, and don't care about who you drag down with you. Mostly, I think I hate Catherine because I liked Kitty so much.
But onto the sluttiness. Okay, they aren't really slutty, but they do talk about sexy times a lot. And while Kitty is as innocent as you can get at court, she still sees her fair share of action. There's William, who is so swoony - I'm thinking whats-his-face from Shakespeare in Love kind of swoony. Just look at the paperback cover. That about sums it up. Yup. Their relationship was incredibly frustrating, though, because Kitty chose Catherine over and over. Yet it makes complete sense that it's nearly impossible for love to thrive in this world.
Whether you like historical fantasies or not, I think this book is definitely worth reading. Katherine Longshore casts a masterful web of secrets and deceit and it's impossible not to get tangled up in it.
