“I’m certain it is nothing more than beginner’s luck.”
Rosemund
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Crown of Rosemund was an underwhelming read. The main protagonists never grew past their first impressions, while the villain was a stereotypical tyrant. Glaring historical inaccuracies sealed this book’s fate for me.
Rosemund is a spoiled young princess when we first meet her, and she never grows up even with the hardships she endures. Even towards the end of the book, she is headstrong, arrogant, and unwilling to listen to others’ advice when it goes counter to what she wants. Part of this can be placed on Jacob’s shoulders as he focuses on combat training rather than strategy or being a good ruler. He was a frustrating character because he would talk about what needed to be done, then go back to combat training rather than work toward the end goal. It is sheer luck that wins the day instead of strategy or planning.
Sir Drake doesn’t help matters as he runs around as the quintessential villain that needs to be overthrown who only the corrupt and hard-hearted would follow. There is nothing remotely interesting about his character. Honestly, it was surprising that he didn’t find Jacob and Rosemund, given that they continually put themselves at risk by referring to each other as Jacob and Princess after taking on new identities as disguises.
A bland story is bad enough, but there are jarring historical inaccuracies that kept pushing me out of the story. Some of it is nitpicky, like the fact that fifteenth-century castles did not have drawing rooms. But the author completely ignores that the only Bible in 1499 was in Latin, so no priest would be quoting it in the vernacular. Also, the Reformation and Henry VIII’s blow-up with the Catholic Church hadn’t occurred yet to weaken the Church’s control of marriages. I don’t expect fiction novels to be 100% historically accurate, but glaring issues like this just make a lousy book worse.
The premise was appealing, but the book wasn’t able to follow suit. It’s a pity, but The Crown of Rosemund does not gleam for this historical fiction fan.
This book releases on April 1st.
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