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Feb 01, 2012

Alyssa rated it:

In theory, Kalogridis could have gone somewhere decent with this book. There aren't enough well-written historical fiction pieces about this family and their circle (or, there aren't any), and her prose isn't too horrible (alright, I lied, it's pretty horrendous except for some parts). But, alright, let's start with something small. Something like, say, the fact that Kalogridis spells her protagonist's name wrong. Sure, Sancha has been accepted, but I've always been a preferentialist of the Ital More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 20, 2008

Nicole rated it:

The story of The Borgia Bride by Jeanne Kalogridis is packed with historical facts but does not become bogged down in the breadth of details, the story flowing naturally from season to season through the life of Sancha of Aragon.

The young Sancha has a rebellious nature and is in a battle of wills with her father Alfonso II of Naples, although she completely loyal to her brother Alfonso. Retaliating against Sancha for her behaviour, her father contracts a marriage for her to the Bor More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 16, 2010

Jennifer rated it:

I've been debating whether I should give this book 3 or 4 stars and I've decided on 4 because I really can't think of anything that I didn't enjoy about it. I loved the writing style and the characters, or in the case of many in this novel, loved to hate them.

This is my first time reading about the Borgias and I can't wait to get my hands on more about them. I thought the Tudors were corrupt!

What really amazed me was the afterward in this novel claiming that most of wha More...

5 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 10, 2007

Kristin rated it:

One of my hobbies as a history student throughout high school and college was learning the sordid details of the corrupt ruling families of Europe. The Borgias of Italy were the epitome of fucked up, and I nearly peed myself when I saw the title of this novel at the bookstore. I enjoy historical fiction novels not only for the characters in them, but also because they're delightfully smutty and twisted. Kalogridis did not let me down with this book at all! There's graphic sex, murder, and incest More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Sep 13, 2011

Brie rated it:

The Borgia Bride was a quick read for me despite it 500 plus pages. The story starts out a little slow, as the backdrop and foundation of the story are set, but then quickly picks up pace some 20 pages in. It is told from Sancha's first person perspective and works well because it still leaves an air of mystery around the Borgia's since the motivation and mind frame of the Borgia's is not ever truly known and they remain cloaked in question. Though The Borgia Bride is historical fiction, it is b More...

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Jun 26, 2011

Caroline rated it:

The history fanatic in me looks at The Borgia Bride and thinks, "Oh, God, people are actually being led to believe that this is historical fact. The reader is more than happy to join in with a "Oh, and the rest of it's bad, too."

Like Philippa Gregory before her, Jeanne Kalogridis has the potential to write something interesting. The prose is nothing spectacular--it suffers from many historical fiction woes, such as trite dialogue and flowery, borderline-ridiculous de More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Sep 05, 2010

Stacie rated it:

This was the first book I've read by Ms. Kalogridis and I have to say, it was EXACTLY the type of entertainment I was looking for! Exciting, suspenseful, thought-provoking. I knew little about the Borgia family before this book. After reading Tudor books almost exclusively for the past couple of years, I am thrilled to find another historical family as interesting, shocking and colorful as the Tudors - perhaps even more so! The Borgias' story is quite the historical soap opera!

In th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 14, 2010

Marie Z. rated it:

I had had this book on my shelf for a bit and decided it was time to read it. I'm glad I did. This novel follows the life of a Bride to the powerful Borgia family. Ms. Kalogridis' summary of the book states:

"...THE BORGIA BRIDE is a sumptuous historical novel of passion, betrayal, scheming and incest, set in the Vatican during the 15th century, one of the most exciting, violent and also sensual times of European history. The plot and characters are based on actual historic More...

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Jun 05, 2011

Dark rated it:

Review:
First off, I’d like to say that this review was a lot longer, but I trimmed it down ;-) I’ve been very interested in the Borgia family for the past few years, and they’re one of the most fascinating parts of European Renaissance history.
Okay, okay, I admit it. I’m in withdrawal after the first season of Showtime’s The Borgias ended a few weeks ago. I love Neil Jordan’s vision of Renaissance Italy, of what went on in Pope Alexander VI’s household, and, of course, the actor who More...

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Apr 28, 2011

Suzanne rated it:

Enh. I'm getting ready for a trip to Italy and I love reading historical fiction before I travel to a country (reading Wolf Hall while staying down the road from Lambeth Palace, divine). My mom recommended this one (and several others by Jeanne Kalogridis), but I did not find it as entertaining as I had hoped. Those Borgias were bloody violent, which the Tudors were as well, but somehow Kalogridis is not as good at developing the character of the narrator as, say, Phillipa Gregory, which makes i More...

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Dec 30, 2010

Christina rated it:

The summary on the back of the book implies that Sancha of Aragon (the narrator and main character) will be spending the entirety of the novel with the Borgias in Rome, but that is quite to the contrary. In fact, she doesn't even meet the infamous Pope Alexander VI, Caesar and Lucrezia until about 150+ pages into the book. Nevertheless, I found it a particularly excellent book.

Jeanne Kalogridis captures the Borgia clan in a way that leaves you walking away wondering, were they all re More...

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Nov 04, 2009

Purplycookie rated it:

Against the backdrop of 15th-century Italian feuds, debauchery and Vatican corruption, "The Borgia Bride" chronicles the story of the ravishing and iron-willed Sancha de Aragon, princess of Naples. Illegitimate daughter to the cold-hearted Duke of Calabria (briefly king of Naples), she is used to establish ties to the feared and influential House of Borgia when her father betroths her to the younger scion, Jofre.

Much to the dismay of her beloved younger brother Alfonso, Sa More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Sep 23, 2009

Alta rated it:

This is one of those books that's hard to ignore once you get into it. It calls to you to finish.

It's not a story that will leave you feeling wonderful. It is not a love conquers all type of story, I wish it was. I'm kind of partial to happy endings and love so strong mad men become sane, and disaster is diverted.

It was morbidly fascinating, like a train wreck. You're pretty sure you don't want to know what comes next, but you're compelled by sheer curiosity to look, More...

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Oct 13, 2010

Jessica rated it:

I had read a few reviews of this book before I started it. And even seeing mention how scandalous the Borgia family was, I don't think I believed that that would in fact turn out to be the case. BOY! Was I ever wrong! Even with all of that going on it was still a very interesting novel. Very hard to put down, kind of like a train wreck you can't help but look at? It was very much like that.

I picked this book up, having read another one of Ms. Kalogridis' books before. And I admit to b More...

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Jul 22, 2011

Meagan rated it:

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Sep 25, 2009

Tara rated it:

I do not like this book, or I should say I enjoyed this book fine until the Romans entered the picture. I am seeing a pattern in all books I read with Romans in them. What a vile, disgusting lot. The first half of the book is Sancha and her childhood home, cruel father, a war fought with the french, an unwanted marriage to the Pope's son, and then she goes to Rome. In Rome, she discovers the Pope is having inappropriate relations with every woman that crosses his path, including his daughter. Af More...

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Nov 25, 2008

Carrie rated it:

A friend of mine introduced me to the wonders of historical fiction, so I picked this book up. It's based on fact - the evils and corruption of Pope Alexander and his family, and what happened to them. The details are what was invented for the book. It's especially interesting if you enjoy history involving royalty and/or the Catholic church. It's about a royal girl, who is married off to the son to a Pope, and must go live with them. The longer she's there, the more she learns about how corrupt More...

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Aug 13, 2010

Abby Lyn rated it:

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0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 04, 2011

Nanci rated it:

The brutality of this time in history makes current events sometimes seem tame. The Borgias had no scruples when it came to advancing their ambitions. They sacrificed everything decent: faith, morals, life, in their quest for immortality. If history teaches us anything it is that those kinds of sacrifices come back to haunt at the last possible moment of life. Death is certainly frightening for most people but the terror that faced the Borgia clan had to make those last moments of terror bey More...

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Feb 05, 2012

Elizabeth rated it:

If you like scandal, this book is for you. Although this is filled with the highest of taboos, this book manages to maintain beautiful character development and a full, deep plot - it escapes the typical downward spiral to Gossip Girl style (which, although a guilty pleasure of mine, does not count as any kind of serious literature). A very interesting interpretation of the historical events surrounding the mysterious deaths and scandals of the Borgias. Very well written, full of intrigue - his More...

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May 28, 2011

Brynne rated it:

Ok, I admit it. I'm a sucker for Italy. And this just fueled the fire. I knew nothing about the Borgia family before I began reading so take that into consideration, though. Truth be told, anyone who reads (or hears) about the Borgia family for the first time is bound to be caught with their mouth open. But...there's much more to this book than its shock appeal. It was an all around great read. Well written, interesting, with fierce love, ugly betrayal, and lavish living in one of the most beaut More...

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Oct 07, 2011

Gaile rated it:

Jeanne Kalogridis does a good job of writing about good and evil. Sancha Of Aragon is married reluctantly into the Borgia family. Later her brother marries Lucrezia Borgia. This book is full of blood, murder, struggles of conscience and divided loyalties under the regime of Pope Alexander VI, The Borgia pope who openly acknowledged his children. Told from the POV of Sancha, Ms Kalodigris takes the history of that period and actual happenings into a suspenseful plot with Sancha at the center of i More...

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Sep 22, 2011

Darlene rated it:

A perfect wife - who can find her?
She is beyond the price of pearls.
Her husbands heart has confidence in her,
from he will derive little profit.
Advantage and not hurt she brings him,
all the days in her life.

The Borgia family is one of the most fascinating parts of the European Renaissance History. This book can be described as the original mafia, filled with sex, lies, good and evil "What failed at lunch will succeed by supper!", in few words a More...

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Nov 24, 2011

Andrea rated it:

I've never read anything about the Borgia's so I found it super interesting. It was insane how nasty they all were, I had no idea they were that bad!! I thought the media just portrayed them that way, not they were actually like it.

I only gave it three stars though because I didn't really get into it. I don't know if it was just because I had so much school work, or if it was the book itself. But, it was pretty close to four stars, because I really enjoyed the ending, so really more More...

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Feb 23, 2011

Lacey rated it:

I picked up this book at a library booksale because I thought it was about Lucrezia Borgia, and I became interested in her after Gregory Maguire cast her as the Evil Queen in "Mirror Mirror." Alas, this book was instead about Sancha of Aragon, who married into the Borgia family, and I didn't get to see Lucrezia until about halfway into the book. And, admittedly, that is also where things started to get interesting -- although this book is filled with enough sexual scandal to be mildly More...

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Nov 22, 2010

Denise rated it:

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Sep 14, 2011

Sherri rated it:

I was shocked at the extent of coruption that existed/exists in some organized religions. The fact that such evil is commited in the name of God is replusive.
I can't imagine what it would be like to have every part of your personal life open even down to the most private of times between a husband and wife, and to have no one that you can trust to share your thoughts or fears with. Being part of a royal/ruling family must have been a very lonely existance devoid of any real human relation More...

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Jun 07, 2011

Audrey rated it:

Philippa Gregory endorses The Borgia Bride on the cover and I think it's pretty safe to say that if you're a fan of Ms. Gregory, you'd probably like The Borgia Bride, written by Jeanne Kalogridis. It actually reminds me a lot of The Other Boleyn Girl, actually. The Borgia Bride hits all of the notes you want from a good, satisfying and solid historical fiction novel based on a rich and powerful family, in this case, the Renaissance-era Borgias. There's scandal, intrigue, politics, romance, murde More...

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Apr 08, 2011

gia rated it:

There is a leap of faith a reader must swallow in order to fully enjoy Kalogridis' The Borgia Bride: that its heroine, Sancha of Aragon, falls madly, passionately in love with Cesare Borgia at first glance, with little but the character's self-fulfilling prophecy to go on for it.

If you're willing to take this, the book is quite good, managing to keep the lead character flawed without making her a villainess nor over-justifying the actions assigned to her in the novel. Some characters More...

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Oct 14, 2010

Robin rated it:

I really enjoyed this more than "Devil's Queen" by the same author. Although it took a lot of liberties with the facts and supported the wildest rumors, it was a great work of fiction and very interesting to see the Borgia family from Sancha's point of view. My only criticism of the novel is that Sancha was a very similar character to Catherine de Medici in "Devil's Queen", which suggests the author doesn't know how to write a different type of main character.

My on More...

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