Victoria

by Daisy Goodwin

[Whitney @ First Impressions Reviews]

I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.Outside of Emily Blunt's performance of Queen Victoria she is a monarch I know very little about.  Daisy Goodwin has created a tapestry in sharing this young Victoria's early reign. At first, her ascent to the throne read like something out of a Tudor novel with constant conniving and scheming to reach the top and win the prize of whispering into Victoria's ear.

Victoria's mother and uncle Leopold got under my skin with their whining and deceiving ways. I wanted to send them to the high tower for their constant attempts at interference. Although, this is what made them a good antagonist.

Lord Melbourne was an interesting character, I felt safe when he was on the page, he was a kind soul who truly had Victoria's best interests at heart and can see why she was crushing on him. However, he was almost old enough to be her grandfather, and he was certainly no Sean Connery! while a first crush is always a bit crushing, I was glad to see her move on to someone her own age, even if it was her cousin.

I was happy that the entire book did not revolve around Albert and Victoria's courtship as that would have been tedious. It is the little nuances of a person that make a first date memorable and I feel that is what Daisy Goodwin accomplished in telling Queen Victoria's and in turn Albert's story.

As a whole, Victoria was beautifully constructed and while the focus of everyone else was Victoria's love life I liked being able to see beyond that and view the unique person Queen Victoria was.

This review was originally posted on First Impressions Reviews