Across the Room: Interesting. A bit too flowery, for my taste, but overall, it kept my attention.
Vitals:
Temperature: normothermic. It had a great balance of the gritty truth of the era, as well as some feel-good and whimsical moments.
Heart Rate: normal rate. Regular rhythm. It had a good balance of fast and slow, though there were some points that felt like it was a little bit too slow. Overall, however, nothing abnormal.
Blood Pressure: slightly hypertensive at times. The plot was really easy to follow, especially since I'm relatively familiar with the rise and fall of Queen Anne Boleyn.
Respirations: I want to say normal rate, however, it's pretty irregular. I have a really hard time getting to know other characters outside of the narrator when a story is written in first person.
Oxygenation: Well-oxygenated. While flowery, the prose set the stage to the beautiful landscape of England.
Work of Breathing: very mild difficulty. There were moments when I had a harder time with staying immersed, but these didn't affect my overall enjoyment of this story.
Histories:
Family: Historical Fiction
Medical: I didn't notice much, other than the lack of development on most of the characters. Mary and George were well-described, but I had a hard time connecting with this version of Anne Boleyn. Also, there were a lot of run-on sentences (like, 30+ words in one sentence!)
Psychiatric: The relationships in this story were chaotic, and not just because of King Henry VIII's chaotic "love" life
Socio-economic: Marketed as adult. Definitely reads adult.
Head to Toe Assessment:
Head and face: I snagged it because I might have a girl-crush on Natalie Portman...but I also enjoyed the cover of other versions.
Neck: It was interesting. I was quite intrigued with how long Mary's affair with Henry was and that her children were likely his.
Chest: I think the intrigue of the prose vs. the history really got me interested
Abdomen and Flanks: I had a really hard time getting through the middle of this. I actually skipped several chapters, and managed to keep up without feeling lost at all.
Perineum: I just didn't really connect with the narrator, nor did I connect with Anne. I would have rather read something that was written from George's point of view, to be honest.
Extremities: Nothing came as a surprise, but it was still fun. I was on the edge of my seat as the action finally came to a head.
Backside: The ending felt a little dragged out. The flowery prose, at this point, was a little much.
Prognosis: Good. Solid 4 stars on Goodreads. There were some instances that were such a bore, I skipped them. Overall, however, this was a fun read.
Again, here is my formula of the "Triage" review process, for those who are unfamiliar:
https://www.khnelson.com/post/coming-soon-to-a-blog-near-you
As always,
Stay safe. Stay sane. Keep healthy. Keep smiling. Much love!
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