Victoria Rebels by Carolyn Meyer
Familial struggles. Political intrigue. A young woman on the throne of England.
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Historical Fiction | Young Adult Fiction
Victoria Rebels by Carolyn Meyer
Description
Queen Victoria of England left a legacy, having the second-longest reign of a British monarch in history. As a young woman on the throne, she navigated a journey of political intrigue, familial struggles, and what would become an enduring romance.
My Thoughts
Admittedly, much of my interest in Queen Victoria's younger years revolves around one of my all-time favorite movies, The Young Victoria, and the three seasons of the British television drama Victoria, the first two seasons of which I'll have to rewatch sometime.
This is the second Queen Victoria novel I've tried, and the first one I've finished.
Some (New?) Nuggets for Me
The book covers a span from Victoria's childhood to her early motherhood—a train of years and events but not much of a central, deeper conflict to follow from the beginning and to resolve by the end. Hence, unsurprisingly, it's a cursory read, and it rushes even more in the last chapter to form a kind of conclusion.
Still, the book has some nuggets of information I didn't know (or remember?) pertaining to Victoria's history. The novel doesn't have a style or depth of character development that would make me like or root for any of the characters, but I remained interested enough in the overall events to keep reading.
Not-So-Mellow Drama
Speaking of the style, aside from being a fairly cursory sketch of Victoria's young years, the read is also pretty full of melodrama. There are plenty of instances where ladies "burst into tears" and such, and in general, there's an overabundance of exclamation points, underlined words here, and other words in ALL CAPS there, with repetitious superlatives to boot. At times, the story is a rollercoaster of dramatic highs and lows.
However, I've seen entries from Victoria's actual diaries before. She did indeed have a dramatic way of expressing or describing this or that, with so much underlining and whatnot. And she did live during a different era of writing and literature than I do, of course.
More from This Author?
Normally, I'd be quick to set aside a novel where the writing is so over the top. But, figuring that this case is likely the author's attempt to reflect the real-life Victoria's writing style through this first-person narrative, I chose to stick with it.
Because the style may differ in Meyer's other novels, my historical-fiction-loving self plans on trying at least one more by this author sometime.
Content Note
This novel includes a short scene of trophy hunting.
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