The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary Queen of Scots (Young Royals, #7)

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The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary Queen of Scots (Young Royals #7)

by Carolyn Meyer (Goodreads Author)

3.67 of 5 stars 3.67 · rating details · 270 ratings · 53 reviews

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 c...more

Hardcover, 420 pages

Published June 19th 2012 by Harcourt Children's Books

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Sep 19, 2012 Elaine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mary Queen of Scots became queen at age 6 months.

Henry VIII tried to betroth her to his son Edward VI but she went to the French court to be betrothed to Francois II, son of Catherine de Medicis and Henry II. (Her uncle was pope and arranged her marriage to Henry, who at the time was second son. First son died and Henry became king)

Her grandmother was Margaret Tudor (Henry's sister)

John Knox was a former Catholic priest who turned protestant in England . When Mary Tudor became queen he fled to F...more

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Aug 12, 2012 Karen Yingling rated it 4 of 5 stars

Since Mary's father, King James V of Scotland, died when she was six days old (reportedly of a broken heart because she was a girl!), all she can remember is being queen. Her mother, who was French, decides that Mary should marry the French dauphin, Francois, and Mary is sent to France to be raised with the young heir apparent. She sees much of life in the court, and knows from a young age that political motives are more important than personal ones in her world. She is fond of Francois, and per...more Since Mary's father, King James V of Scotland, died when she was six days old (reportedly of a broken heart because she was a girl!), all she can remember is being queen. Her mother, who was French, decides that Mary should marry the French dauphin, Francois, and Mary is sent to France to be raised with the young heir apparent. She sees much of life in the court, and knows from a young age that political motives are more important than personal ones in her world. She is fond of Francois, and perfectly happy to marry him, although she begins to realize that not even being queen of France may help her to retain her rule of Scotland, since Elizabeth I is against her. Eventually, Mary and Francois marry, but because he is sickly, they do not have a child, and the dauphin dies while still young. Mary decides that the best thing to do is to return to Scotland and try to regain her kingdom. She enters into a disastrous marriage with Henry Stuart, whom she loves at first, but who is too fond of power and is eventually killed. She has a son by him, James. In addition to being under constant threat of attack by England, Mary is also struggling to keep the protestant John Knox from asserting too much influence on the Scottish people and having her removed. She is forced into marriage with the older Lord Bothwell, hoping that he could help her retain the throne, but even his help could not keep her from being imprisoned by those who wanted her fourteen-month-old son to take the throne, and eventually beheaded.
Strengths: Even at 420 pages, the rich historical details and event filled life of this ill-fated queen kept me reading. It's hard to explain how good Meyer's Young Royals books are-- they are filled with historical facts and events, but these are all set against how the young girl feels about them, so they are very interesting as well. Mary certainly had quite a frenetic life!
Weaknesses: Being true to the historical setting and events, there is a fair amount of violence in this, as well as mentions of sex. Nothing graphic, but there is a lot of talk about Mary being a virgin even after being married to Francois for a while, and her third husband forces himself upon her to convince her to marry him. Still, Meyer does an excellent job at couching her language in vague terms; my favorite being "I knew at last the transports of love." (page 290) Sixth graders might have some questions; older students will guess whats going on, but I might give this a skip for elementary school.
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Jun 29, 2012 Beka P rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I would have given this book 3 stars because I don`t like the story; but chose to give it 4 because Carolyn Meyer is an Amazing writer! Imagine all the work she put into this historical fiction book. She had to dig up alot of facts and dirt on this Queen of Scots.
Positives The author put everything together to perfection, and loved the historical epilogue.
Negatives sad sad sad sad!

Young Mary must leave her home of Scotland to go to France, where she will be raised with her husband to be, the...more

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Jun 13, 2012 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Wild Queen is the first book of Carolyn's that I have read. One of the things I like in Historical Fiction, is that they have at least some accuracy to the actual events that they portray. I honestly don't know a whole lot about Mary, Queen of Scots so when it came to knowing how accurate this book is, I had to piece together little bits of information that I did know. I do feel like Carolyn put a ton of research into this book, as a lot of the major events of Mary's life within the book fel...more The Wild Queen is the first book of Carolyn's that I have read. One of the things I like in Historical Fiction, is that they have at least some accuracy to the actual events that they portray. I honestly don't know a whole lot about Mary, Queen of Scots so when it came to knowing how accurate this book is, I had to piece together little bits of information that I did know. I do feel like Carolyn put a ton of research into this book, as a lot of the major events of Mary's life within the book felt really accurate to the true events.

I only really know about some of the major events that took part in Mary's life, as that is something most people will learn at some point throughout school. So reading this book was really a interesting experience. It was really quite impressive how detailed this book really is. I can't begin to imagine the amount of research went into this book to truly make it feel as if you were stepping into this time period, and in the middle of all the turmoil that took place.

It's really difficult for me to talk much about the characters in the book, simply because a lot of them are based on real people. I'm not positive how many of the characters were fictional, I am sure there were a few.. As I always like to say when dealing with Historical Fiction, I want the characters to feel real, I want everything about them to come as close as possible to matching that of the time period, and person they are suppose to portray.

Mary's story is really tragic, she has such a difficult life and goes through so much up until the very end. As mentioned in the epilogue, there is a lot that isn't known about Mary, especially regarding some of the more tragic events that take place in this book. But I really do feel like Carolyn did an amazing job, taking Mary's story and making it work in a YA Historical Fiction format.

Having said that, I am going to have to check out the rest of Carolyn's Young Royals series, if The Wild Queen is any indication of the attention to detail that Carolyn puts into her book, I can only imagine how good the rest of them will be. If you're a fan of Historical Fiction, I highly recommend that you read this book. It's one of the richer Historical Fiction books out there, as I imagine the rest of her series is also.

This review isn't nearly as in-depth as I'd like it to be, it's just so difficult to balance fact and fiction in a book like this especially when you don't have a lot of knowledge regarding the true events. I just wanted to speak about the book as a whole, and just try to focus more on broad points and not a lot of the finer details. I do feel like this is an amazing book though, I have always been a history buff, so the fact that I was actually able to learn some things while reading this book really interested me. It's great when authors take such great interest in what they are writing when it comes to this genre, and that directly benefits the readers.(less)

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Apr 28, 2012 Amanda rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-releases

Apparently, there's this big world of Carolyn Meyer YA-style historical novels that I've never really known about. I guess I should, considering that I enjoy historical fiction and some YA novels so much, but for some reason I never really knew about these books, and after looking at Meyer's rather long line of bio-historicals surrounding women in history, it seems that this began as a more child-oriented approach but, with the popularity of Philippa Gregory and other historical fiction, it grew...more Apparently, there's this big world of Carolyn Meyer YA-style historical novels that I've never really known about. I guess I should, considering that I enjoy historical fiction and some YA novels so much, but for some reason I never really knew about these books, and after looking at Meyer's rather long line of bio-historicals surrounding women in history, it seems that this began as a more child-oriented approach but, with the popularity of Philippa Gregory and other historical fiction, it grew into YA historical fiction -or, something like that.

Thus, The Wild Queen was my first introduction to Carolyn Meyer. The Wild Queen chronicles the life of Mary, Queen of Scots who, interestingly, seems to only get scene time (or, book time) in relationship with her nearly 20-year imprisonment by Queen Elizabeth I. In fact, I'd say that I knew every little about Mary's earlier years before picking up this book.

At the age of five, Mary was left as the only surviving heir to the Scottish throne. Fearing for her life (and to secure an advantageous marriage to the Dauphin), Mary is sent off to France. Though she later marries the Dauphin, he unexpectedly dies, and Mary is left to pick up the pieces of her life -and the complex politics that comes with her inheritance. Using little but her own strength and power, Mary must secure her way to the Scottish throne among turmoil, religion and political intrigue -along with her distant claim to the throne of England and uncertain friendship with her cousin Queen Elizabeth I.

I wasn't really expecting much from this book, but I was very pleasantly surprised. The writing here is very solid, straightforward and incredibly quick and easy to read. And the research is surprisingly solid and accurate, but yet with enough unique intrigue to keep readers interested (even if they already know Mary's story). I was especially impressed with how Meyer handled the politics and how she portrayed a strong female character triumphing over -and being a victim of -these politics. Honestly, this almost read as an adult historical fiction novel because it became so sophisticated and strong (worthy of The Other Boleyn Girl crowd).

Yet, what kept it distinctly YA is how Meyer glossed over some of the more horrible (and adult) happenings in Mary's life. I was glad, at least, that she didn't completely leave them out (as they are an important part of Mary's story), but glossed over enough to keep it fairly clean (compared to the adult novels in the genre). After having read so many of those adult novels, I actually found this to be very refreshing and much more readable. Most importantly, Mary's story isn't about romance, it's about a strong young royal trying to survive the wild world that she's been born into.

The Wild Queen isn't an innovative book, but an incredibly solid entry into the YA historical fiction genre. I'd recommend it for history nerds (such as myself) who like their stories a little bit cleaner. Very polished, very clean and very entertaining. I'll have to pick up some of Meyer's other novels now.(less)

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Jun 07, 2012 Leeanna rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: arcs, for-review

I’ve read quite a few of Carolyn Meyer’s books and I’ve enjoyed them all. I know that when I pick up one of her books, it’s going to be a book I like. Her books remind me a lot of the Dear America and Royal Diaries series (remember those? Meyer wrote two installments for the Royal Diaries series), but with a lot more information and story telling. “The Wild Queen” is no exception. The book is well-researched.

The book is “written” by Mary on the eve of her execution. She skims over the latter ye...more

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Nov 26, 2012 K.C. Rivers rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical, young-adult

Mixed feelings about this one, though I mostly liked it. I felt it started out a lot stronger than it ended. There was more detail, more emotion, and much more "show." By the end, it felt like I was being told a list of facts about the character. While still interesting to a point, I wanted more of a story than a history lesson. The author could have expanded on certain relationships more, and left out a few of the details of the parties/masques or surroundings that frequented the storyline.

Mar...more

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May 25, 2012 Stephanie Tracy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: tudor-book-challenge-2012

I had never read a novel about Mary, Queen of Scots before, but this one was surprisingly informative and interesting. Although I do not know very much about her, the image I've always had of her is the older Mary, plotting to kill her cousin Queen Elizabeth I. However, there is a lot that she went through during her relatively short life. Her marriages were unhappy, she lost virtually everyone who was close to her, and she learned to trust no one, although she had been the rightful Queen of Sco...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Diana (Bever) Barber rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is what historical fiction is about. I prefer YA historical fiction more often than the adult counterparts, due to the glossing over of adult-themed details (they're present, just not on display, so to speak). I read Mary Queen of Scots by Antonia Fraser which mostly dealt with Mary as an adult. This version was enjoyable for filling in more of the missing pieces of her mother's family's background and her young life as a ward of the French court, all through "Marie's" eyes. However, I foun...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Melissa Lorenzo rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this one, but not as much as I like "The Bad Queen" and I think it is because of the way she ended the story. In "The Bad Queen" we take up the rest of the story by having Marie's daughter, Marie Therese, pick up the narrative. We get to see a bit of a wider view on what was going on in the time leading up to Marie Antoinette's execution. In this one, there is no one to narrate (I think Mary Benton's POV would have worked) the wider view of events that lead to the execution of Mary.

I'll...more

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Dec 14, 2012 Quincy rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Historical Fiction

Shelves: read-in-2012

The story of Mary, Queen of Scots was something I heard about but didn’t know the whole story. So when I found the book The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary Queen of Scots by Carolyn Meyer, I jumped at the chance to learn more about her. I’m glad I did because this was a page turner for me and I couldn’t put it down.

The Story starts out sad when finding out that she was a girl, Mary’s father dies. Mary becomes Queen of Scotland as a result of her father’s death when she is only a couple...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Mara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: tbr-2013-challenge, a-z-challenge, books-to-buy, 2013-reads, historical-fiction

Cover Blurb: Yes or No? No. While I love the dress (I have a thing for pretty dresses) and the castle in the background, the cover is leering at me.

Characters: Mary isn’t the most sympathetic character. She’s rather spoiled and makes all of the wrong decisions - and all because she wants the English throne. The only time I felt sorry for her was the fact that practically everyone she thought she could trust used her, and she was never taught to be wary of those who surround her. The rest of the...more

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Mar 30, 2013 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've long been a fan of Carolyn Meyer, having read all her "Young Royals" novels, and I must say this is one of her best. "The Wild Queen" is a magnificent, epic story based on the harrowing, and in many ways mysterious, reign of 16th-century Scottish queen, Mary Stuart. Although the story spans some forty-five years, it is a fast-paced, enjoyable read, rich in historical detail, vivid descriptions, and well-drawn characterizations.

After a pampered childhood at the French court, in preparation f...more

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Jun 14, 2012 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, arc, for-review, historical-fiction, love-the-cover, review, series-finished, ya-romance, young-adult

*A copy was provided by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for review purposes*

Rating: 3.5 out of 5

It’s been a long time since I’ve read any truly historical fiction, and I’ve never reviewed a book from this genre, so I’m kind of excited this was the book that re-introduced me to the genre. And what made it even cooler was that it was set in Scotland, and that’s where I used to live.

Okay, so I’ll rant about how I used to live in Scotland after the review but now I’m just going to write my thoughts. While...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Aislynn (Stitch Read Cook) added it

Shelves: read-in-2011, hard-copy-from-publisher, ya, historical-fiction, arc-s-to-review

A young woman who wants nothing more then love and security in her life, she makes some wrong choices and ends up paying with her life. The story of Mary Queen of Scots is well known, as well as her demise at the hands of Elizabeth of England.

At the age of just five years old, Mary is packed up and shuttled off to her future in-laws in France. Alone in a strange country she attempts to fit in with the French court and become friends with her fiance, the Dauphine of France.

Unfortunately for Mary...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Meg - A Bookish Affair rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, europe, historical-fiction, fiction, ya-children

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 bo...more 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.
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Oct 24, 2012 Carissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reviews, teen-books-read-2012

first reviewed here: http://belovedgraceful-carissasbooksh...

Title: The Wild Queen: The Days and Nights of Mary Queen of Scots

Author: Carolyn Meyer

Series: Young Royals

Chapters: 50 plus Epilogue

Pages: 420

Genre: Teen Historical Fiction

Rating: 4stars

Even though history tells us how Mary Queen Scot’s tell ends it is nice to read a fictional account that doesn’t completely paint her as the villain. I enjoyed The Wild Queen just like I did other Young Royals by Carolyn Meyer. However I have to give...more

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Feb 27, 2013 Faye rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: drama, historical, awesome-heroine-character, for-school, moving, real-life, romantic-ish

This was a fantastically written book! I think I might have given it 4 stars, but I had to read it for a school report and when I'm forced to read things it tends to take me longer then it should. ;)
Anyway, this book recounts Mary queen of scots story from when she was a little girl all the way to her death. there were many details in the book; it was as useful as a biography could have been, but much more interesting, since it was a novel written by an amazing author. Perfect for my report! :D...more

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Sep 09, 2012 Joanne♥~Bookworm Extraordinaire rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction-ya, 2012-publication

I loved this book. The book chronicles Mary Queen of Scots life from when she was five years old up to her execution. I liked Mary a lot even though sometimes she was arrogant, especially about her claim to the English throne. I felt bad for her when everything went to hell after her second husband Henry was killed. I really liked James Hepburn in the beginning but after he becomes so full of himself and kidnaps and rapes Mary, I began to hate him and thought he should die. I really disliked Mar...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

I thought this book was very enjoyable. I didn't know much about the history of Scotland until I read this book and it inspired me to do more research in my own--and I found that a lot of it I had read from this book. This book is full of exciting twists and turns and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys reading historical fiction.

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Feb 04, 2013 Madame Butterfly rated it 3 of 5 stars

This book was ,sadly, a definite let down. I loved the rest of this series and I waited and waited for this one but it was a bitter disappointment.

The best word to discribe this book is: dull. Very,very dull. Especially the first bit of the story. It just went on and on. There was no spark as with the others books just dull lifeless nothing. This book could have been much shorter let me tell ya!

I didn't really enjoy Mary as a character either. She was rather spoiled and selfish but I suppose tha...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Jess rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, teen

I rather enjoyed the first part of The Wild Queen, but once Mary returned to Scotland after the death of her first husband it felt like the story was just a stream of facts. I still enjoyed reading those, but would have liked to seen more development of the story.

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Mar 14, 2013 Sara rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

It was good in that I hadn't read much about Mary of Scots so it gave me some good insight but it wasn't very well advanced in the history or writing. Considering it was meant for a younger age then I am that's probably why.

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Dec 29, 2012 AtlanticAngel rated it 4 of 5 stars

His book took a while to get into. I have little knowledge of Scotland and its monarchies, so after I figured out who the characters were and what role they played in Mary's life, this book became more enjoyable. I'd reccomend it for people who like learning about the Kings and Queens who ruled in the past.

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Aug 08, 2012 Maree rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is about Mary Queen of Scots. I always enjoy books by Carolyn Meyer because it is interesting seeing the stories of these famous queens told from their own perspective.

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Jul 22, 2012 Anne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, author-carolyn-meyer, borrowed-from-library, british-historical-fiction, favorite-authors, july-2012, mary-queen-of-scots

One of the best books in the Young Royals series by Carolyn Meyer!! More lengthy than previous books, pagss fly by as one becomes engrossed in the life of Mary, Queen of Scots. Highly recommended!

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Feb 26, 2013 Maggie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really well written and engaging. Knocked one star off because I think some of the earlier parts are too self aware and more is shown than a kid would know. But I really liked it.

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Sep 17, 2012 Russell rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: owned-books

I haven't read any of Carolyn Meyer's other books, but I really enjoyed this one. Mary is one of my favorite people in the history of England, France and Scotland and I'm sure all the dates in the book are real and accurate. Carolyn must have done a lot of research for book and this is what makes it very interesting from Queen Mary's birth to her sad ending. Of course, historical novels are my favorite, so I may be a little prejudiced.

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Jul 30, 2012 Kimberley Little rated it 5 of 5 stars

A marvelous piece of historical fiction about one of my favorite queens, Mary Queen of Scots.

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Oct 01, 2012 Rebecca Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars

Great Y.A. historical fiction. Fast read and you learn something too!

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About Carolyn Meyer

Carolyn Meyer is as versatile a writer as you will find. Along with historical fiction and realistic novels for young adults she has written nonfiction for young adults and books for younger readers on topics as diverse as the Amish, the Irish, Japanese, Yup'ik Eskimos, a rock band, rock tumbling, bread baking, and coconuts. And ten of her books have been chosen as Best Books for Young Adults by t...more

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