Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Mary, Bloody Mary (Young Royals #1)

by Carolyn Meyer (Goodreads Author)

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 3,601 ratings · 272 reviews

The story of Mary Tudor's childhood is a classic fairy tale: A princess who is to inherit the throne of England is separated from her mother; abused by an evil stepmother who has enchanted her father; stripped of her title; and forced to care for her baby stepsister, who inherits Mary's rights to the throne. Believe it or not, it's all true. Told in the voice of the young...more

Paperback, 227 pages

Published April 1st 2001 by Graphia (first published August 2nd 1999)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

More…

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray

The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

Teen Historical Fiction

43rd out of 549 books — 1,448 voters

The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory

The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir

The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory

Best Books About Tudor England

53rd out of 353 books — 923 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Sep 28, 2011 Erin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historic-fiction-1500s

Find the enhanced version of this and other reviews at: http://flashlightcommentary.blogspot....

I wage a personal war against the stereotypes that plague stepfamilies. I grew up in one and am now a stepmother in my own right. Still, I am big enough to accept that ‘wicked’ is sometimes an all too accurate description. One such example is the case of Mary Tudor and her stepmonster, Anne Boleyn.

Mary was born the beloved daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Queen Catherine. Their only survivin...more Find the enhanced version of this and other reviews at: http://flashlightcommentary.blogspot....

I wage a personal war against the stereotypes that plague stepfamilies. I grew up in one and am now a stepmother in my own right. Still, I am big enough to accept that ‘wicked’ is sometimes an all too accurate description. One such example is the case of Mary Tudor and her stepmonster, Anne Boleyn.

Mary was born the beloved daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife, Queen Catherine. Their only surviving child, she wanted for nothing. She lived a blissful existence, the cherished heir to the throne, until the arrival of Anne Boleyn. Mary's father was not known for his fidelity but Anne was unlike any of Henry's previous mistresses. Ambitious and cunning, Anne's seduction of England's king set in motion a chain of events that would alter the course of the entire nation. Henry's daughter Mary would be one of Anne's most tragic victims.

As Anne's star rose, Mary's fell. She lost her mother, her father, her title, her inheritance and eventually, even her legitimacy was thrown to the wind. She was forced into the service of her infant sister, Anne’s daughter Elizabeth, and came under fire for her Catholic faith. Had Mary been a few years older she may have been spared this fate, protected by an alliance to foreign kingdom. A few years younger and she may have been restored to favor before she was considered a spinster. Fate, unfortunately, is a fickle mistress.

My only criticism of Meyer's work is that it focuses less on Mary than it does the impact Anne had on her life. While an important aspect, I was disappointed to never get a sense of who Mary actually was.

Mary, Bloody Mary is a solid if somewhat concise introduction to the early life of Henry's oldest daughter, picking up shortly before Anne's arrival and concluding just after her execution. While not the whole story, I admire Meyer's decision to omit the more graphic events of Mary's tenure as Queen from the narrative in consideration of the target audience. That being said I am firmly against the censure of history and greatly appreciated the appearance of these details in the historic notes.

Recommended to adolescent readers of Tudor fiction.(less)

5 likes · like · see review

Oct 02, 2011 Saniya(Will Herondale is mine) rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed

I, who hates history like Tom hates Jerry, actually enjoyed this book.

I hate the style of writing, the names of kings and I guess, EVERYTHING, in 'History' type books. But I think this book was the only exception.
Not that I got fooled by the cover, name and plot of the book..... Okay, I admit, I just read this book because of those things, but it was really an interesting book to read and like.

And OMG! The Tudor TV show was like, really good! =D The characters in this book are the same as shown...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 03, 2008 Jess rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, juv, lis565

Chapter book - historical fiction
Young Reader's Choice Award Winner, Intermediate Division
For middle school & up

Mary, first daughter of Henry VIII, tells her story, from age ten to twenty, as she observes from afar her mother's removal from the throne and the rise and fall of Anne Boleyn.

Meyer accomplishes two impressive tasks in this book, giving the reader an insight into the formation of Mary's character and managing to encapsulate a tumultuous period of Tudor history for young teens. Thr...more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 11, 2009 Amy rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: best-books-for-young-adults

As a fictional account of historical events, I chose this book for my Realistic Best Books assignment. This is the fictional story of a real person, Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII, king of England in the 1500s. It starts when she is about 10 years old and is betrothed to yet another future ruler in Europe. It follows her life as her father, the king, discards her mother because she has failed to produce a male heir to the throne and makes Mary a bastard. An action her mother fights for the r...more As a fictional account of historical events, I chose this book for my Realistic Best Books assignment. This is the fictional story of a real person, Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII, king of England in the 1500s. It starts when she is about 10 years old and is betrothed to yet another future ruler in Europe. It follows her life as her father, the king, discards her mother because she has failed to produce a male heir to the throne and makes Mary a bastard. An action her mother fights for the rest of her life because she is determined to make Mary queen. Mary is isolated from her as her father marries another woman, whom Mary is sure wants her dead. This is likely true since Mary’s father has more than bent the rules of the church to declare Mary’s mother and his marriage invalid. Finally after being stripped of her title and living in fear, she is ordered to become the servant of her new half-sibling born to her father and Queen Anne, his new wife. This is to further demean her, but allows her to get in contact with her former nursemaid who is serving as her new half-sister’s nursemaid. Her former nursemaid and other former members of her court manage to help her stay alive until Queen Anne is beheaded by the king due to her inability to produce a male heir. In the meantime, Mary’s mother dies and her father remarries again and declares Queen Anne’s daughter a bastard as well. Mary signs an oath to her father that she has been resisting and reconciles herself to living as a cast off. This secures her life and she continues to live with her now bastard half-sister, Elizabeth. However, the historical note at the end of the book reveals that Mary does become queen after her father and half-brother’s death and reigns in a similar manner to her father, ordering hundreds of people to their deaths.

This would appeal to teens that like historical fiction or are fascinated with the reigns of horror that were common in the English monarchy. It does not contain an overly graphic description of the beheadings, but it gives enough detail to hold their interest. It also shows how obsessed and crazed the king became over something which he had no control and some teens may find that appealing.

This book deals with Equality and Social Justice as the society at the time tries to outline what is and is not acceptable in the face of needing a male heir. It also deals with Self-esteem as Mary tries to think of herself as queen, despite being caught in her the crossfire of her father’s actions to secure a male heir.

The characters are believable, although some teens may have a hard time identifying with a ruler so fixated on something that we know through modern science he could not control. Also, how someone could become so paranoid that they order hundreds of people to be beheaded, may be a little hard to believe. However, since these parts of the book are based in history and really happened, they come off quit well. I think the king’s character is a little underdeveloped as what leads him to become so cruel is never really addressed.

I would promote this book to teens by asking if they have ever wanted something or someone so much, they would stop at nothing to get it. Then, discussing how people get fixated on a celebrity and become a stalker and drawing a parallel between that unrealistic expectation and the unrealistic expectation of producing an heir to the throne. I also might make reference to the popular movie, The Other Boleyn Sister, because it has common characters with this book and tell the same tale, but from a different character’s perspective.

4Q, 2P, S(less)

like · see review

May 14, 2013 Elizabeth Andrews rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is my first book review ever, so please bear with me if it isn't very good.

At first, I was really enjoying "Mary, Bloody Mary." I thought the emotional aspect of it was very good. But the further I got into the story, probably about halfway through, it kind of lost something. There just wasn't anymore character development, and the storyline started to move waaaaaaay too fast. Several years of Mary's life were covered in the span of a couple sentences. I sort of lost any emotional connectio...more

like · see review

Jan 20, 2013 Violet rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, reviewed

“Consorts both in throne and grave, here rest we two sisters, Elizabeth and Mary, in the hope of one resurrection.” This is the epitaph that lies over the tomb of two powerful queens of England: Mary Tudor and her sister, Elizabeth I. In this brilliant historical fiction novel, Mary, Bloody Mary, Carolyn Meyer explores the lives of these two sisters using an autobiographical narrative style.

In Mary, Bloody Mary, we see Mary develop from a sensitive young girl into a bitter woman due to the circ...more

like · see review

Dec 26, 2011 Samantha rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I was a very young girl in grade school, I was in the library scanning my fingers across the titles as I walked down aisle after aisle of bookshelves. I stopped at this title, because I knew Bloody Mary as that game you played at slumber parties where everyone goes into the bathroom, shuts the door, and chants Bloody Mary in hopes of getting scared. Little did I know that Bloody Mary was the nickname of Princess Mary Tudor, and as I read the book, I had yet to realize that the Princess was...more

3 likes · like · see review

May 12, 2011 Qui rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: NOT 9-11 year old girls.

Recommended to Qui by: Your mom.

Shelves: 2011

Well, because of blogger I was able to finish this book in almost no time at all. I'm quite proud of myself.
On to the review!

"As a baby, Mary was adored by her father, who carried her around on his shoulder and displayed her for the court to admire. But as his marriage with her mother, Catherine of Aragon, waned for lack of a male heir, Henry began an affair with the beautiful Anne Boleyn. Mary was convinced that Anne was a witch. Didn't everyone know she had a sixth finger? And wasn't it Anne...more

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 28, 2009 Susan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult

This is an informative, interesting and pretty fast bit of historical fiction about Mary Tudor's childhood, up to the point of the early days of her father's marriage to Jane Seymour. What it does well is paint the horror show of doubt, neglect, and danger that the princess faced while her father made himself notorious. We see her father evolve (or deteriorate, more like) much more so than Mary, however. Instead, a meaty piece of her story is dumped on the reader after the fact, in a rushed summ...more

like · see review

Jan 29, 2013 Rachel Swords rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: tudors

My biggest complaint about this book is that the title is very misleading. I suppose the author chose "Mary, Bloody Mary" to let readers know just which Mary she was writing about, but that's not the focus of the story. This is about Mary Tudor's childhood/struggle in going from a princess to a bastard. Surely a better title could have been given!

That said, this book is meant for younger readers, and it is very well written. The story is entirely told from the point of view of Mary Tudor, and th...more

like · see review

Apr 07, 2013 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult

Every year I approach my sixth grade classroom and wonder how I am going to tactfully instruct my students about Henry VIII, his wives, and the church. It is necessary for me to leave out some of the details, which make it difficult to get my main point across, which is why people in England were being punished for their religious beliefs. When I saw Mary, Bloody Mary, at a book fair recently, I was curious to see how Caroline Meyer would approach this subject.

Mary, Bloody Mary, is the story ab...more Every year I approach my sixth grade classroom and wonder how I am going to tactfully instruct my students about Henry VIII, his wives, and the church. It is necessary for me to leave out some of the details, which make it difficult to get my main point across, which is why people in England were being punished for their religious beliefs. When I saw Mary, Bloody Mary, at a book fair recently, I was curious to see how Caroline Meyer would approach this subject.

Mary, Bloody Mary, is the story about Mary Tudor, the first child of Henry VIII and her long journey from being Princess Mary, Princess of Wales, to Mary Tudor, the illegitimate daughter of a King. The novel does not go into the ranges of Jane Seymour’s relationship with King Henry and stops at Mary being 20 years old, years before she took the throne. It primarily revolves around how Mary’s hatred and character was instilled in her as a child and leaves the reader with pity for her.

The story focuses on how Mary makes enemies, ranging from large players like Anne Boleyn, to nobles such as Lord Northumberland, and smaller characters like Nellie her servant colleague while caring for Princess Elizabeth. I love that her mere existence, or just plain staying alive, is the only thing she outwardly does to create most of her enemies… in her early years that is.

For a young adult reader, Mary pulls on heartstrings. She was once a princess, who becomes a nursemaid to change diapers and never allowed to see her mother again. It portrays the injustice of how Mary’s childhood and good standing was ripped from her, all because Anne Boleyn bewitched her father. Towards the end, even I was beginning to feel pity for the poor girl.

At the end of the book is a historical note that actually explains all six wives, King Edward, and Lady Jane Grey. It also quickly brushes over the atrocities that occurred during her reign on the throne and how she earned the nickname, Bloody Mary.

As an educator, I would recommend this for students to read. However, students should not venture off into this work without a little bit of useful background knowledge. For example, they will need to know that actual meaning of the term, bastard, because it is used frequently throughout the book. It would also be useful to explain why it was very important for women to bring assets to a marriage at the time to illustrate the detriment of being considered a bastard child actually was.
(less)

like · see review

Feb 10, 2009 Erin rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: not young girls.

Recommended to Erin by: Found it on a shelf at the Library.

This almost received only a 1 star from me. Why the exception? I love historical fiction. I was very interested in learning more about Mary, the oldest surviving daughter of King Henry VIII. I had seen Carolyn Meyer's books on the shelf at the library and was curious. I picked this one up as well as her book on Princess Elizabeth, half sister to Mary.

I was very disappointed with the overuse of the word bas____. Yes, after King Henry divorced his loyal and faithful wife, Catherine of Aragon, Mar...more

2 likes · like · see review

Aug 13, 2008 Sarah rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: abandoned

I made it about 100 pages into this one, and then had to put it down. It reads like a 5th grade biography report, when the students have to dress as the person they research and tell you about "their" lives. It was all, "I'm Mary and I did this and then I thought that and this was good and Anne was a witch and then I learned Latin and then! Then I had the sweating illness!"

And then I, Sarah Gransee, put the book down and started something else.

5 likes · like · see review

Apr 27, 2009 Emily rated it 5 of 5 stars

I was shocked by some of the events that occurred in this book. There is so much I would like to write up about it that I think I’ll forget much of it.
I’ll start by saying that I was not able to set this book down. I enjoyed it. But it also reinforced my opinion that being royalty would truly stink. Although watching The Queen while reading this helped fuel this argument even more.
While reading this books I was wrapped up in a bunch of emotions for the characters: complete hatred at Anne Boleyn...more

2 likes · like · see review

Nov 13, 2012 Chris Gager rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Might as well keep the Tudor ball rolling. Picked this up somewhere and it fits right in. Shouldn't take as long as "Wolf Hall"" though. It might be a Y/A book.

Done after a marathon reading session. This book is a first person narration covering Mary's late childhood and teenage years. Pretty weird and stressful for her to go from apple of Daddy's eye to outcast and fearing for her life from Anne Boleyn. The book ends with AB's death and an easing of Mary's troubles with a look forward to troubl...more

like · see review

Sep 29, 2012 Christie rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mothers-daughters, england, historical-fiction, royalty, tudor-reading-challenge-2012, young-adult, 16th-century

First sentence: "Anne was a witch; I never doubted it."

Most people know, or think they know, Bloody Mary. The queen of England who killed all the Protestants. But, once, she was a young girl. As a child, she was doted on by her mother and father, being their only living child. Then Anne Boleyn came into the picture, promising to give Mary's father, Henry VIII, the son Mary's mother had not. Mary suddenly finds herself a bastard and shunned from court. She is separated from her mother and made to...more First sentence: "Anne was a witch; I never doubted it."

Most people know, or think they know, Bloody Mary. The queen of England who killed all the Protestants. But, once, she was a young girl. As a child, she was doted on by her mother and father, being their only living child. Then Anne Boleyn came into the picture, promising to give Mary's father, Henry VIII, the son Mary's mother had not. Mary suddenly finds herself a bastard and shunned from court. She is separated from her mother and made to wait on her half-sister, Elizabeth, like a common servant. Her pampered life as princess no longer exists, and she has to beg for the king to even send her money for new clothes. It is a lot for a teenage girl to handle.

This book was ok. It was a good fictional take on Mary Tudor's early life. It did a good job of showing how far she fell after Anne Boleyn's rise to power. It is a very heartbreaking story and it makes you very sympathetic to Mary's plight. However, these are the only good things about this book.

This book is pretty abysmal when it comes to historical accuracy. Names were changed (Francis Weston becomes Francis Peacham for some reason) and people were in places that the historical record indicates they never were or were, in fact, somewhere totally different at the time. (view spoiler) The way the passage of time was recorded was ridiculous. I don't mind if you are going to jump 2 or 3 years in the future, but separate it with a chapter or give dates or something don't just make it part of the narrative. Sometimes years passed in one sentence (and then I was 16. A few months after my 18th birthday...). It made for a very frustrating read.

If you like reading about the Tudors, you might like this book. It gives a different perspective than most Tudor books do. However, if you are looking for something historically accurate and well-written, you might want to look elsewhere. (less)

2 likes · like · see review

May 02, 2011 Lynn rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: teens, history buffs,

Shelves: kid-s-books, history-books

Wonderful teen book on the young life of Mary Tudor or Mary I. I was so absorbed in the book, I read it in a day. Mary, the first child of Henry VIII, lives a charmed childhood until her father decides that he will not have a male child with her mother, Catherine of Aragon. He becomes convinced that Anne Boleyn is the woman who will get that done. He fights for years for a divorce, rejecting his first wife and calling his daughter a bastard. Mary goes from being Princess of Wales to being a serv...more

1 like · like · see review

Jan 31, 2011 Tami Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-1-10

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who desires a great adventure of desseption and intrigue. This book reveals insight to history and always gives you a reason to want more. I do warn that this book may contain some vivid images of violence.

Mary is around the age of ten when this story begins and works up till she is in her early twenties. Mary is the daughter of King Henry and the only legitimate heir to the throne of England, that is until Henry reveals that he intends to make Anne B...more

like · see review

Jan 12, 2012 Ifmarybooks rated it 4 of 5 stars

Don't know if I already mentionned this on my blog but i'm kind of an history geek and I just love british civilization so i'm always excited to read a book based on history. I want to read more historical book in 2012 by the way (I'm going to sign up for a challenge this year if I can) ! I'm fascined by the Tudors dinasty. I got these two books for christmas as well as a book about the Tudors in general and the dvds about the tv show that I rewatching during my christmas break so I was really i...more Don't know if I already mentionned this on my blog but i'm kind of an history geek and I just love british civilization so i'm always excited to read a book based on history. I want to read more historical book in 2012 by the way (I'm going to sign up for a challenge this year if I can) ! I'm fascined by the Tudors dinasty. I got these two books for christmas as well as a book about the Tudors in general and the dvds about the tv show that I rewatching during my christmas break so I was really in a "Tudors mood" when I was reading these two books. Well at first I was a little disappointed when I discovered that these two books were focusing on Mary and Elizabeth's childhood but thiking about it afterward it was a really good and new thing ! Mary and Elizabeth's childhood were not easy. Mary was humiliated by Anne Boleyn her father's new wife especially after Henry divorced Mary's mother Catherine of Aragon and seperated the two of them. With Mary Bloody Mary we can try to understand why she became the infamous figure of Bloody Mary and the severe and cruel actions when she took when she was queen and that was really interesting. I've always loved Mary I I don't know why... I know that she did horrible things when she was queen in the name of the catholic faith but I has always been drawn by her. Beware Princess Elizabeth was an awesome book as well. It was even better than the first one I think. In this book we get to see what happenned after Henry XVIII died, the short reign of her brother Edward and the dreadful reign of her sister Mary. It was also interesting to see how Mary treated her when she was on the throne and how Elizabeth grown into a woman who was going to be one of the most famous and loved queen in the history of England.
These two books are also very good because they contain a lot of historical facts. Carolyn Meyer indeed knows this period very well and I learned many things while reading them.
I wanted also to read this book because I've always been fascinated by the story of these two half-sisters and I was happy to learn more about it. Fun fact : My name is Marie and my little sister name is Elisa from Elizabeth ;). So I recommend these books to everyone who want to know more about Mary and Elizabeth Tudors.
I really liked these two first book in the young royal series. I think i'm going to read more books by Carolyn Meyer this year I especially can't wait to read her book about Mary the Scots which is going to be released this year.
(less)

like · see review

Jun 12, 2010 AlixJamie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

like · see review

Nov 01, 2009 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A historical fiction first person point of view by Mary. The daughter of King Henry the VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon.

Mary spent most of her young life in the shadow of Anne Bolyn. Anne was an enemy in Mary's eyes. Because of the King's divorce from Catherine Mary was stripped of her title as princess and forced to act as servant to Henry and Anne's daughter Elizabeth.

In the book young Mary wathes the growing tyrany of her father, struggling to make sense of his growing penchant f...more

like · see review

Jan 26, 2010 K. rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: older teens/interested in English history

Shelves: kids-young-adult

Interesting read, this series focuses mostly on the childhood/youth of Mary.

Who knows if it's accurate (I'm not enough acquainted with the period to know for sure).

Light, but somewhat disturbing. Why? For all intents and purposes it looks like it would be suitable for a younger reader, say 10+ and is labeled as young adult--I would love to see it labeled as OLDER young adult as I am not ready to introduce themes of rape and incest and adultery to very young "adults."

Not having a child older t...more

like · see review

Dec 17, 2012 Whyakin Himin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mary,Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer is about King Henry VII daughter's childhood. Starting when she is around 8 or 9 and ending when she is 18, about 10 years later. During this time she is basically banished from court while her mother fights her father's new mistress. The King marries his mistress, Anne Boleyn, and tries to divorce his legal wife, Mary's mother. Queen Anne gives birth to a daughter and orders Mary to become her servant,in charge of changing the Princess's napkins, which are like...more

like · see review

Feb 15, 2013 Kristina rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: homeschool-titles

What's THERE is just fine. I was as sympathetic with Mary, the young girl and the young woman, as I expected to be reading a story from her perspective. But the story only carries so far, and there's really nothing that enlightens the reader about the transformation from Mary, the victim, to Bloody Mary - I think there's not enough of her religious perspective to make her position plain and clear as an adult, when she is empowered with the opportunity to take her stand.

As purely a child's read...more

like · see review

May 12, 2012 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars

As a teacher and writer of historical fiction, I am always thrilled to find well-researched novels for young readers that are both educational and entertaining. "Mary, Bloody Mary" is such a book, and I enthusiastically recommend it for all lovers of history. Even the title can't fail to captivate, as it did me!

Meyer does not glamorize the lives of royal families, but rather shows in vivid detail the realities of those lives. The horror and heartbreak that accompanied Princess Mary nearly every...more

like · see review

May 27, 2011 Susan added it

Finished this today. This YA novel covers Mary's childhood through the death of her nemesis, Anne Boleyn. Toward the end, I thought that the characterizations were too black-or-white, and the novel felt rushed. I also was irritated that one of the men accused with Anne Boleyn, Francis Weston, was turned into the fictional "Francis Peacham," apparently just to give Mary a personal interest in his fate. Nor did I really see the point in giving the Duke of Norfolk a daughter named Susan, who seemed...more

like · see review

Apr 16, 2008 Emma rated it 3 of 5 stars

I liked this book, but it had some very sad things in it. History isn't always happy, and this book involved five people being beheaded.

1 like · like · see review

Feb 06, 2013 Melissa Mueller rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book mostly because I have not read a lot from the persepctive of Mary Tudor. Mary comes across as a dedicateded daughter, sensitive young woman, and a victim of cirumstance. This novel gives a good sense of the passage of time and the sequence of events. I wish it gave a better impression of who her father was and how he was affected by the time. Of course this is fromt the persepctive of Mary and if it does one thing it shows that Mary really didn't spend much time with her fath...more

like · see review

Sep 20, 2010 Cathy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: teens-reallife, teens-older-teens, teens-historical

I agree with the others that its really not appropriate for elementary aged kids. I think that 7th graders could definitely handle anything in this.

It was quite interesting, although trying to keep track of everyone sometimes became confusing. At a couple of points I wanted to write everyone's names down with their role in forwarding the plot.

Everything was so violent and bloody. Even children weren't exempt from the violence or abuse. The children were treated like property that could be trade...more

like · see review

Feb 01, 2009 Jamea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Excellent book!
I could not put this book down.I took it wherever I went,; to the dentist, the supermarket.. it was the most engrossing novel I've read when I was about 13 or 11(lol I can't remember). It drew me more into the love of history than i already was.

I recommend it to those kids who don't really find history interesting, and those who themselves love history.
Also I checked out Doomed Queen Anne afterward, and enjoyed it just the same.As well as "Patience Princess Catherine" right after...more

like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Goodreads Librari...: 9780152164560 Mary, Bloody Mary	2	18	Feb 03, 2013 08:02pm
The Young Adult H...: Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer - September Group Read	8	16	Sep 25, 2012 05:15pm
umm...	2	30	Apr 04, 2008 01:30pm

combine
Other Editions (11)

More editions...

Genres

Historical Fiction

348 users

Young Adult

125 users

European Literature > British Literature

16 users

Childrens

15 users

Young Adult > Teen

13 users

Young Adult > Young Adult Historical Fiction

9 users

Academic > School

8 users

Literature > 16th Century

5 users

Childrens > Middle Grade

4 users

Historical Fiction > Medieval

3 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

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

More about Carolyn Meyer...

Books by Carolyn Meyer

Anastasia: The Last Grand Duchess, Russia, 1914

Beware, Princess Elizabeth (Young Royals, #2)

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Mary, Bloody Mary

10 trivia questions

More quizzes & trivia...

title link	preview: Mary, Bloody Mary
avg rating	preview: Mary, Bloody Mary Goodreads rating: 3.74 (3601 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/759555.Mary_Bloody_Mary?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1297108407l/759555.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/759555.Mary_Bloody_Mary?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Mary, Bloody Mary by Carolyn Meyer[/url]

Mary, Bloody Mary (Young Royals #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website