Title: The Dead Queen’s Club
Series: Standalone
Author’s Name: Hannah Capin
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Genre: YA
Page Count: 464 Pages
ISBN: 133554223X (ISBN13: 9781335542236)
Author or Book Website: https://www.hannahcapin.com/home
Link to Amazon purchase page: The Dead Queens Club
Link to Goodreads: The Dead Queens Club
Release Date: N/A
How I Got the Book: Review Copy
Summary of the Book:
Mean Girls meets The Tudors in Hannah Capin’s The Dead Queens Club, a clever contemporary YA retelling of Henry VIII and his wives (or, in this case, his high school girlfriends). Told from the perspective of Annie Marck (“Cleves”), a 17-year-old aspiring journalist from Cleveland who meets Henry at summer camp, The Dead Queens Club is a fun, snarky read that provides great historical detail in an accessible way for teens while giving the infamous tale of Henry VIII its own unique spin.
What do a future ambassador, an overly ambitious Francophile, a hospital-volunteering Girl Scout, the new girl from Cleveland, the junior cheer captain, and the vice president of the debate club have in common? It sounds like the ridiculously long lead-up to an astoundingly absurd punchline, right? Except it’s not. Well, unless my life is the joke, which is kind of starting to look like a possibility given how beyond soap opera it’s been since I moved to Lancaster. But anyway, here’s your answer: we’ve all had the questionable privilege of going out with Lancaster High School’s de facto king. Otherwise known as my best friend. Otherwise known as the reason I’ve already helped steal a car, a jet ski, and one hundred spray-painted water bottles when it’s not even Christmas break yet. Otherwise known as Henry. Jersey number 8.
Meet Cleves. Girlfriend number four and the narrator of The Dead Queens Club, a young adult retelling of Henry VIII and his six wives. Cleves is the only girlfriend to come out of her relationship with Henry unscathed—but most breakups are messy, right? And sometimes tragic accidents happen…twice…
My Personal Review: I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. This was a crazy and over the top YA retelling of Henry VIII. The story is told from Cleveland’s point of view and sometimes she could be a bit much too handle. There were times the story was just funny and other times when it got a little dark and strange. There were a few times that I kept wondering what was going to happen and who was behind all of this. The little bit of mystery added to the dynamic of the whole tale. I would considering reading more by this author.
My Rating of the Book: 4 Stars
From the Book Reviewer's Desk 