Queen Margot (The Last Valois, #1) by Alexandre Dumas

Queen Margot (The Last Valois, #1) Reviews

• 
  Manny

  
  If you're one of those people who lick their finger before turning over the page, I strongly recommend that you don't read this book. Particularly if you're on the paranoid side.
  
• 
  Jesús De la Jara

  Empecé con muchas expectativas a leer "La Reina Margot" y creo que las colmó ampliamente.
  La historia narra uno de los temas más recordados en Francia, las Guerras de Religión entre protestantes y católicos.
  Reina en Francia Carlos IX quien a su vez es manipulado por su corte, principalmente por su temible madre Catalina de Médicis, quien es la que realmente gobierna; están con él sus ambiciosos hermanos Enrique, Duque de Anjou y Francisco, duque de Alencon. Por otro lado tenemos a los hugonotes o protestantes, cuyo líder natural es Enrique de Navarra, secundado por un almirante, un caballero De Mouy y el valiente conde Bonifacio de la Mole.
  Margarita, quien da título a la obra, es la esposa de Enrique de Navarra, casada con él por orden de su madre Catalina de Médicis con la intención de reconciliar a dos facciones de Francia. Ambos no se aman y cada uno tiene su propio amante como se verá en la novela, pero como en la historia real, se apoyan para acceder algún día al trono de Francia.
  Es una novela que aunque pocas veces se hace tediosa por la gran cantidad de páginas tiene un argumento extraordinario, opacado en mi parecer en parte por la semejanza y poca profundidad de sus personajes (como es común en Dumas) y por la gran cantidad de licencias históricas que se permite aquí como nunca. Esto de aquí para mí, que me gusta tanto la historia, fue un pequeño conflicto. Si yo no hubiese sabido nada de los personajes reales no hubiese dudado en ponerle las 5 estrellas, como fue en el caso de los Tres Mosqueteros, cuyos personajes son irreales, pero sabiendo que casi todos existieron y ver muchas veces la realidad deformada es como un desengaño, pero vamos, si la historia que cuenta fuera de personajes todos imaginados pues realmente me ha encantado.
  Aunque muchas cosas en forma y fondo creo comparte con "Los tres mosqueteros" se puede destacar algunos asuntos que me gustaron como la profundidad de las relaciones amorosas (aunque nuevamente la descripción romántica es muy pero muy débil), los increíbles juegos de la corte francesa (que aunque en "Los tres Mosqueteros" también es un conjunto de engaños bien urdidos pero aquí considero es aún más diabólicos los planes) y la enorme cantidad de personajes que maneja esta historia.
  Se puede decir que en esta novela hay de todo, amores, odios, traiciones, presagios, desengaños y un largo etcétera. Me sorprendió sí la cantidad de oráculos y presagios a lo largo de la obra (me gusta mucho eso a pesar que yo soy el más escéptico de los escépticos en cuanto a esas cuestiones, porque encuentro más patéticos los desenlaces o más "heroicos" como en el mismo "Rojo y Negro") y también la crueldad en algunos episodios que hacen tanto contraste con la amistad sincera y hasta inocente de La Mole y su amigo Aníbal de Coconnas (o Coconasso).
  Insisto con lo mismo, que si me quitasen la idea que la historia verdadera fue diferente o que los personajes hayan existido pondría probablemente más arriba esta obra, pero de todas maneras creo (no estoy muy seguro) que es mejor que "Los tres Mosqueteros", de lo que no dudo ni un poco es que recomiendo altamente esta novela, puede aburrir por momentos pero la trama es soberbia.
• 
  Madeline

  SO much better than I expected it to be. The book is long, but the story moves at such a fast pace and so much happens that you don't even notice. All the characters are fascinating, and my personal favorite was Catherine d'Medici, who wins the award for Worst Mother-in-Law Ever. I swear, she spends all her time trying to poison just about everybody in the book. She kills one person with poisoned gloves, then fills somebody's lamp with poisoned oil so the vapors smother them, and then she poisons the pages of a book. It's evil and amazing.
  The only reason this book doesn't get five stars is simple: NO SEX! (yes, I am trashy. Get over it.)
  Dumas has no problem describing the St. Bartholomew's Massacre, the gross symptoms of Catherine's poisons, and lengthy torture sessions, but he refuses to tell us anything about what goes on in the secret house where Margot and her friend meet their boyfriends. These people were going at it like coked-up rabbits for the entire book, but based on Dumas's descriptions, the farthest anyone ever got was a kiss on the forehead.
  
  Luckily, there happens to be a French movie based on the book, and although it takes serious liberties with Dumas's plot, it's rated R, and for a very good reason. Read
  Queen Margot, then see the movie version if, like me, you have a dirty mind and a weakness for smut.
• 
  Simona B

  "Vedremo se della regina Margot sarà tanto facile fare una monaca."
  
  "We shall see if they can make Queen Margot into a nun so easily."
  
  Betrayals. Broken hearts. Conspiracies. A marriage sealed by ambition instead of love. Queens with too big a heart and queens with no heart at all. True sentiments that require to be muffled and false ones who aim to look deeper than they are. Poison, swords and blood. Hunting parties where those who chase the game are game themselves. Ambushes in the dark. (Not so) secret lovers. Sacrifice, freedom, improbable alliances. A friendship that laughs in the face of Death.
  
  Dumas is a master storyteller. But since this is all I'm able to write, I'm clearly not a master reviewer. I apologize--but I have reason to hope that you will forgive me once you pick up La reine Margot (Queen Margot in the English translation) and read it: you'll be too engrossed in the story to take heed of the inadequacy of my words.
• 
  Kelly

  By turns highly unlikely and highly hilarious, Dumas' La Reine Margot is a wildly uneven, careening tale that knows perfectly well what it is and wants your gasps, sighs, and unbidden, unstoppable, "Oh no he didn't!"s. Or perhaps I should say "Oh no she didn't!" as the most shocking, ridiculously amazingly evil and awful moments are reserved for the truly unbelievable Satan of the piece, Catherine de Medici. She spends most of the book figuring out new ways to poison, arrest and assassinate anyone she doesn't like, or who pisses her off just by living- or even just anyone she can use for a momentary whim. She kills people with poison on gloves, in smoke from a lamp, with lip balm on their mistress' lips, with arsenic soaked treatises on sports, and oh yes, with poisoned apples. She sends people to murder others in their beds, has people tortured so she can cut off their heads and use it for auguring, and opens trap doors to send people plunging to their deaths in the dungeons. There's really no mildly irritating Catherine de Medici. She will kill you for wearing clashing socks. Oh sure, there's some sort of prophecy regarding Henry of Navarre about there, but I'm pretty sure that's not the point. Not sure if Dumas is indulging in some xenophobia there, but I wouldn't be surprised. She's referred to as "the Florentine," as much as she's referred to by name. No Frenchman could ever be so evil....! And yet. The majority of the Frenchmen in the book suck, too. (It should also be noted that Dumas took a whole lot of liberties with history, particularly with the characters and relationship of Henry and Marguerite. Catherine is as evil as legend would paint her, though she never quite lived up to that in reality. Lots of little other details, but all in the name of story.) The back of the book tells me one of the massacring, Catholics is supposed to be the hero- I don't get that. Except maybe if making out with his dead best friend's severed head is supposed to redeem him. (Oh yeah, that happened.) I think I liked about two people all through the book. Well, and the loving to hate Catherine too. There was that.
  
  In the end it became a bit of an unexpected slog to get through because I kept losing interest in the paper thin characters and the repeated terrible ideas that passed for plots, and the often motivation-less changes of loyalty. But then there would be a great scene or one of Catherine's amazing assassination attempts, and I'd be drawn back in. I just wish the interludes between these had been remotely as interesting. I'd have ripped through this in hours.
• 
  Roman Clodia

  This is probably my favourite Dumas novel but there's something about this translation that doesn't feel quite right. I suspect it's Dumas rather than the translator: there's an elusive tone and register to his prose which just doesn't translate into English in any seamless fashion.
  
  That apart, this is a brilliant story: set in 1572, it concerns itself with the French wars of religion, especially the St Bartholomew's Eve massacre when Catholics slaughted Huguenots (Protestants) on the streets of Paris. The poisonous (literally) Catherine de Medici is set against the luminous Marguerite (called Margot by her brothers), and Dumas creates a story that pulses with drama. This is especially good on the claustrophobia of the Louvre where conversations are always elliptical and opaque, where secret lovers breath messages to each other in Latin, and where truth and integrity are always at a premium.
  
  Like other Dumas novels (e.g. The Three Musketeer series) you do need to understand the historical background, and while the notes in this Oxford edition do an admirable job of filling that in you should be wary of the editor slipping in frequent 'spoilers', for example contrasting the historical career of a character with his/her role in Dumas' novel.
  
  If you can, I would strongly recommend reading this in the original French which has a certain something that the English doesn't capture.
• 
  Kuszma

  Mikoron a Louvre-ban éjfélt üt az óra, sötét árnyék lopakszik be az alenconi herceg, Ferenc szobájába.
  - Ah, anyám! Hát Ön az? - kiált fel Ferenc, meglátván Medici Katalint, ezt a nőstény kobrát – Minek köszönhetem látogatását e késői órán?
  - Ó, csak a szokásos, kedves fiam. Jöttem titkos cselszövésekről sutyorogni, meg mérgezett kesztyűkről, amelyekkel ellenségeinket tesszük el láb alól, álnok szívünk szavára hallgatva. Ahogy mindig.
  - Tartom szerencsémnek. Akkor hát vágjunk bele.
  - Rendben. Szóval... sutyor, sutyor, cselszövevény, sutyor, sutyor, mérgezett kesztyű.
  Ám ebben a pillanatban Katalin elhallgat.
  - Ferenc. Mi ez a nesz? Csak nem hallgatnak ki minket? Tudja, a Louvre-ban a falnak is füle van!
  A budoárhoz lép, és feltépi az ajtót.
  - Nocsak, nocsak! Margit, egyetlen lányom! Hát maga mit keres itt?
  - Nyilván eltévedtem. Alvajáró vagyok. Na pá.
  A gyönyörű és okos hercegnő ezzel kilibben a szobából, csábító parfümillatot hagyva maga után.
  - Na, hol is hagytam abba? - morfondírozik Katalin.
  - A sutyornál, anyám.
  - Ja, igen, sutyor, sutyor. De hoppá! Megint zajt hallok!
  Odaugrik a függönyhöz, félrehúzza.
  - Navarrai Henrik! Minő meglepetés! Tán csak nem alvajáró Ön is?
  - Ja, nem. Én itt lakom. Az ablakpárkányon. De mindegy, épp indultam is - és kiballag a lakosztályból.
  - Nem lehet így rendesen cselt szőni... - méltatlankodik az anyakirályné – Mi jöhet még? A Mezőkövesd futballcsapatának teljes kerete a falikárpit mögött?
  - Jól van na, mit kell ezen kiakadni? - mondta a Mezőkövesd futballcsapatának teljes kerete, és kimászott a falikárpit mögül.
  - Ebből nekem elegem van – siránkozott Katalin – Az ember nyugodtan még össze se esküdhet ebben a mai világban! Te jó ég, hát még horkolást is hallok! Ferenc, Önnek valaki alszik az ágyában!
  - Emiatt tényleg ne fájjon a feje, anyám. Ő csak Dumas úr.
  - Nem kéne neki jegyzetelnie? Hisz végtére is könyvet fog írni ebből az egészből!
  - Ó, Dumas úr nem az a jegyzetelős fajta, anyám. Amúgy se nagyon érdeklik a történelmi tények. Majd kitalálja őket saját magának, ha felébred.
• 
  Razvan Banciu

  As usual in such writings, there is a strong mixture between historical reality and fiction, melted toghether with a lot of skills. And also as usual in Dumas's novels, he succeeds in inducing empathy towards his characters, Margot in this case, so you're feeling for them and become absorbed by the story.
• 
  Misfit

  It’s 1572 and in an effort to ease tensions between the Catholics and the Huguenots Henry III King of Navarre is married to Marguerite de Valois (Margot). Shortly after the marriage the Huguenots are slaughtered at the order of Charles IX and his mother Catherine de Medicis on Saint Bartholomew’s Day. Catherine is also bent on destroying Henry as her astrologer has foretold that her three sons will die and Henry of Navarre will rule France through the Bourbon line. Margot's dashing lover La Mole and his compatriot Coconnas are our two heroes and their fates weave in and out of the lives of the French Court.
  
  Outside of that, this is really too difficult of a storyline to describe unless I wanted to write a book report and give it all away, and you know I don’t do that. In typical Dumas fashion and flair La Reine Margot overflows with treachery, intrigue, hidden staircases and doors, poison, murder plots, gallant heroes and best of all – Catherine de Medici is the most deliciously over the top villainess I have come across in a long time. What fun! Despite a very difficult start trying to grasp the political complexities and characters, by the halfway mark I was rocking along and had a hard time keeping my nose out of it.
  
  While I loved it to bits, just be warned if you are new to Dumas this is probably not the book for you - the first few chapters will frustrate you so much you'll never want to try him again. I'd try The Count of Monte Cristo or The Three Musketeers first. The Oxford Classics addition has a very helpful forward and character notes in the back - but be careful reading too much or you'll pick up a nasty spoiler or two.
• 
  Anna

  I watched the 1994 film version of 'La Reine Margot' years before I discovered it was based on a book by Dumas. The film is incredibly gothic, melodramatic, and gory, so I loved it. Naturally I had to read the novel too. As it turns out, the book is even more overwrought and violent, with the addition of wit. I found it a wonderful romp, absolutely full of non-stop intrigue. The pace is fantastic, as befits a novel originally published as a popular serial that had to keep readers hooked from installment to installment. Characters are constantly hiding in cupboards from the Queen Mother, escaping into secret passages, getting into sword fights, narrowly escaping being poisoned, swearing deadly revenge, swearing eternal love, falsely pledging allegiance, plotting against the King, plotting against the Crown Prince, hunting dangerous boar, shooting at enemies, disguising themselves, climbing out of windows, hiding secret messages, being stabbed, and being imprisoned. Meanwhile, the St Bartholomew's Day massacre and subsequent unrest! Now and again someone sits down to eat an omelette, although most meals are interrupted by at least one dramatic event. Once I worked out which of the three Henrys was which and stopped constantly reading the endnotes, I was joyfully carried along by the momentum of events. There is such a vivid excitement and propulsive tension to the story, despite the eventual outcome not being in doubt.
  
  Dumas adeptly juggles the machinations of Catherine de Medicis, Henry of Navarre, his magnificent wife Margot, her best friend, the Duke d'Anjou, the Duke de Guise, and the Duke d'Alençon. Many of their plots involve de la Mole and Coconnas, a pair of handsome young men who always choose the most melodramatic and excessive course of action in any situation. They meet coincidentally, become friends, realise they are on opposite sides of France's bitter religious divide, attempt to kill each other, both nearly die, recover, try to kill each other again, both nearly die again, recover together, and swear eternal friendship. The comparisons with Orestes and Pylades are many, not only in the narration but also in Coconnas's letter resigning from the service of a Crown Prince because his friendship with de la Mole is more important. It is difficult not be delighted by these two, indeed by every character, despite nearly all of them having a strong penchant for murder. While this Renaissance Pylades and Orestes are little more than thugs, they have such style and panache that I cared about them anyway. I was sad when Coconnas chose to be executed with de la Mole, rather than taking the chance to escape with his ladylove. The pair die holding hands, which reminded me of Enjolras and Grantaire in
  Les Misérables. Then Margot retrieves de la Mole's severed head from the executioner, an action apparently attested by historical record.
  
  The endnotes helpfully explain where Dumas played fast and loose with historical events. He constantly compresses timescales, re-attributes actions to keep the cast of main characters manageable, and gleefully invents and embroiders upon people's motives. Margot is of course at the heart of the book, a fascinatingly subtle and clever woman. In many ways the central conflict is between her and the Queen Mother, both working through men. Margot has a clear agreement with her husband to act as allies while finding love elsewhere. Catherine de Medicis plans carefully and ruthlessly for her sons, although her cruel methods eventually backfire in horrifying fashion. The king of France is childish and capricious, so power revolves around him while he has limited awareness of and control over events. This is particularly obvious when his mother strong-arms him into signing an arrest warrant. The king's brothers aren't a great deal better at plotting; clearly none of the sons inherited their mother's strategic mind. By contrast, Henry of Navarre and Margot de Valois are both blessed with a cool head and quick thinking. Both traits are essential in order to survive the Louvre in the 1570s, evidently. When de la Mole and Coconnas are compared with their respective ladyloves, it is clearly the women who do the thinking while the men look decorative and get into lots of fights.
  
  I had a great time reading 'La Reine Margot' and found the endnotes helpful for historical context, albeit to be read in batches rather than every time one appears. The introduction provides some very interesting background to the novel's composition. Dumas apparently wrote it in three months, while working on four or five other projects. That really puts my three month PhD thesis draft in the shade. I also learned from the introduction that the 1997 Oxford World Classics edition I read is based on an 1846 translation, which edited the text! The Victorian translator removed some historical digressions that they felt would not interest a British audience. As I adored the chapters in
  Les Misérables on argot, Waterloo, and the history of the Parisian sewer system, I respectfully disagree with this choice. I wonder if there's a more comprehensive English translation to be found? If I had the patience and a French dictionary, I could try reading the original. 'La Reine Margot' was such an appealingly escapist reading experience that I'll keep the possibility in mind, despite my usual disinclination to reread. Now I want to rewatch the film, for comparison and because I love the visuals and music. Truly, there is nothing to match the capital-R Romantic melodrama of mid-19th century French fiction.
• 
  Camille

  Est-ce que c'est une mode, lorsqu'on est un personnage féminin de la littérature du XIXème, de se promener dans des calèches avec des têtes décapitées sur les genoux ? Je me le demande.
  
  Je ne vais pas noter ça, parce que ce serait injuste. Je suis visiblement passée à côté de ce livre, ou alors ce n'est pas du tout ma tasse de thé. Mais c'était ma pire lecture de l'année. Un mois et demi à le finir, j'ai persévéré, mais je ne sais pas pourquoi.
  
  Si j'étais enthousiaste, aux premières pages, à l'idée de me manger un bon, gros, gras roman historique classique et franchouillard, avec au programme des duels de cape et d'épée, de l'amour, des gens qui se cachent derrière des tapisseries, des poupées de cire, des parfums empoisonnés, des livres empoisonnés, et pourquoi pas des gâteaux au yaourt empoisonnés, j'en avais ma claque au bout de cent pages, tellement on m'avait déjà gavée de duels de cape et d'épée, d'amour, de gens qui se cachent derrière des tapisseries, de poupées de cire, de parfums empoisonnés, de livres empoisonnés, et quasiment de gâteaux au yaourt empoisonnés. Encore, je n'ai pas parlé d'étalons fougueux.
  
  Je n'ai jamais vu l'adaptation cinématographique, j'ai toujours voulu attendre de lire le livre d'abord. Je m'attendais à de belles fresques, épiques, des descriptions en justesse des principaux acteurs de la Saint Barthélémy. Il y avait une poignée de personnages historiques peints à gros traits, tout blancs ou tout noirs, qui s'avancent tous maladroitement vers leur destin.
  Finalement, seule la description de l'amitié entre la Mole et (mais comment il s'appelle ce type, j'ai déjà oublié) m'a touchée.
  
  Flop.
• 
  Bettie

  
  Bettie's Books
• 
  Ann-Marie "Cookie M."

  This audio version of the classic unabridged novel by Alexandre Dumas and read by Simon Vance was much easier to comprehend than the written translation I attempted years ago. As this is not one of the French master's more well known stories, and given that Dumas took liberties with history a bit in telling the tale, I needed all the help I could get.
  I'm glad I did, though. Now I can fake my way around a classical literature discussion by bringing up a novel no one else has read.
• 
  gio

  Buddy read with Cari! :3
  
  3.5
  
  First: I love Dumas. It's not just one book, even though it's clear to me that The Count of Montecristo is my favourite, but the author. And it rarely happens with classics to me, because I usually read one author's most famous work and then stop. Even if I loved it. I don't know why to be honest, it just happens: Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby, Oscar Wilde and The Picture of Dorian Gray. I loved those books, but I haven't picked up anything else by these authors and truthfully, I don't plan to, not in the near future.
  
  With Dumas it's different. I read The Count of Montecristo first and then picked up The three musketeers, Twenty years later, The Black Tulip and even Robin Hood. I had planned to read Queen Margot too, and bought it almost two years ago (either for Christmas or my 18th birthday, can't remember now), but then lost the will to. It might be because of my disappointment with The Viscount of Bragelonne, who knows.
  
  That said, now that I've read it...I've got mixed feelings. I loved the first half, for all its scheming, but the second half fell a bit flat, especially towards the end. To be honest I had thought that the book would have ended with Henry IV on the throne, but it doesn't, and because of that it felt unfinished to me. Like the storyline, its arc, wasn't complete.
  
  The first half of the book was wonderful. I liked that Margot and Caterina were the two main characters of this show. The were like puppeteers, pulling at the others' strings in order to accomplish their goals. And I'm a sucker for politics and conspiracies (especially when poison is involved), so there was no way I wouldn't have enjoyed the first part. Plus I loved that the male characters were pawns in their schemes.
  
  The second half of the book lost its charm a bit in my opinion. It wasn't bad, not at all, but it was a bit dispersive and chaotic, in terms of plot and characters. The story worked more when it was focused on a few characters, but here we saw less and less of Margot and Caterina themselves. It wasn't as compelling as the first 300 pages were. The ending didn't satisfy me either, probably because I expected the book to end with Henry IV on the throne, but it didn't. In my head that was the ending.
  
  In spite of this Queen Margot is a solid book. It's nowhere near the best Dumas (read The Count of Montecristo first, always) but it's still a good book. I'd recommend it to people who have already read something by Dumas, but I'd say that it's not the right book to start reading Dumas.
  
  
• 
  Renee M

  My favorite Dumas. This book has everything. History, Adventure, Intrigue, Romance, Religion, Battles, Poison, Incest, Pathos, Humor... EVERYTHING!
  Catherine D'Medici is the scariest, creepiest, most terrifying villainess. But she is absolutely fabulous to read.
  
  Reread 2017- Still an amazing story. I can't believe that in the age of George RR Martin, this novel hasn't awakened more interest. There's just so much blood and intrigue!
• 
  Jill Mackin

  A hidden gem of Dumas.
• 
  Anna

  Everything I need to know about French history, I learned from Dumas :)
• 
  Cher

  1.5 stars - I didn't like it.
  
  Being a huge fan of Dumas’
  The Count of Monte Cristo, made this one all the more disappointing as it suffers horribly in comparison. It’s hard to imagine that he wrote them only one year apart as the writing style is drastically different. I found this one to be a slog with forgettable characters that never fully grasped the reader’s attention. My trusted reviewer friends make this one sound so promising but at 300 pages in, I’m crying “Uncle”.
  
  -------------------------------------------
  Favorite Quote: Women are never so strong as after their defeat.
  
  First Sentence: On Monday the 18th of August 1572, there was a grand fate at the Louvre.
• 
  Aila Sako

  Dumas asnjehere nuk zhgenjen. Nje histori e cila me zhvendosi ne periudhen ku sundonin mbreterit ne France dhe aristokracia ishte ne kulmin e saj. Ngjarjet jane te ngjeshura me histori dhe inteigat jane nga me te shumellojshmet. Romanca nuk mund te mungonte ne nje liber si ky. Me shijoj pa fund ky liber dhe j'ua sygjeroj te gjitheve 😉
• 
  Alex

  Thinking as an adolescent, this book deserves 5 stars. Thinking like I do right now, this book gets from me only 2 stars. Nice romantic story but endless dialogues and somewhere between pages 190 and 195 I decided I cannot continue reading it. At first I was captivated by the story, but as I said, the tiresome dialogues were too much.
  
• 
  Daniella Houghton

  Apparently, Queen Margot was originally published serially in several newspapers and magazines of the day, and I imagine that it was basically the 19th century French equivalent of a soap opera. It certainly reads like one. But guess how many fucks I give? None! Not a single fuck.
  
  Don't get me wrong--I'm really not the kind of girl who enjoys that sort of thing. Space operas, yes. Soap operas and generally similar things? Not so much. But come on, how can I not love this book? Courtly intrigues! Dastardly plots! Clandestine love affairs! Poisonings and assassinations and duels, oh my! Queen Margot is a fast-paced, high-spirited, romping adventure revolving around the 16th century French court.
  
  Let's not kid ourselves, though. Obviously dear Alexandre took liberties with history and blurred the line between fact and fiction. But again, the number of fucks I give is holding steady at zero. After all, I didn't snatch this book off the shelf at the library because I thought it would be a comprehensive and historically accurate account of the life and times of Marguerite de Valois. If that was what I wanted, I'm sure there's no shortage of texts available to me. But no, I chose this book because it combines so many of my favorite things: history, batshit royals, intrigue, daring heroics, and swashbuckling adventure. (Oh, and a pretty epic
  bromance, but I didn't know that until later. Bonus!*) I figured it would keep me entertained during the long hours at the hideously boring and uneventful job I was working at the time, and I was not disappointed.
  
  So, here's the thing: if you like historical fiction, you'll probably like this book. And if you like The Three Musketeers and other similar type stories, then you'll probably especially like this book. Just don't go into it expecting it to be anything other than what it is. Queen Margot is a fun, ridiculous, over-the-top adventure story that doesn't take itself too seriously, and if you can appreciate it as such, then you will, I hope, enjoy reading it as much as I did.
  
  
  
  *Your mileage may vary. As another reviewer points out, there is a pretty squicktastic moment toward the end.
• 
  Michael Finocchiaro

  I read this one hoping to find another series as engaging as the d'Artagnon romances but even if I enjoyed this story, its characters did not engage my imagination as much d'Artagnon, Porthos, Athos, and Aramis (or Dantès from Monte Cristo). This story is the beginning of a cycle based on the life of Henry IV. Margot who starts out as a haughty bitch eventually mellows out and gets a bit more real - that is essentially the plot. It is interesting and in that Dumas cliff-hanger way exciting but most of it was ghost-written and I found it overall a weaker novel than the other ones I mentioned. I guess it is more for the hardcore Dumas fan than for the neophyte.
• 
  George

  An easy to read, plot driven, historical fiction story with killings, poisonings and a number of sword fights, set in France in 1572, during the reign of Charles IX. Whilst the novel is titled La Reine Margot, the story is mainly about the ruthlessness of Catherine de Medici, Margot’s mother. It is the time of the religious wars, the French protestants (the Huguenots), versus the French catholics. Catherine de Medici is a strong devout catholic who goes all out to ensure the French have a catholic king.
  
  The action is plentiful but I felt the characters were a little wooden. Overall an entertaining read with surprise plot twists towards the end of the novel.
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  Jennifer Nelson

  This is an example of why some books are considered classics. It could have been written at any time, there is nothing to date it or make it seem plodding and musty. Wraps you up in the story.
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  Linh Ân

  Rất hay. Tình tiết nhanh và thú vị, lôi cuốn. Ngoài ra sách cũng mang đến hiểu biết về lịch sử giá trị. Là một ng theo đạo Tin Lành, sách khiến mình suy ngẫm nhiều về cuộc chiến tâm linh/ tôn giáo khốc liệt ở mọi thời đại. Tuy nhiên Chúa luôn là Đấng cai trị tối cao, và những mưu toan của con người không thể nào vượt qua bàn tay Thiên Chúa.
  
  Khoảnh khắc xúc động nhất là khi vua Charles thốt lên câu nói: “Lạy Chúa! Xin hãy quên con đã từng là vua, vì con đến với Người không quyền trượng, không vương miện.”
• 
  Ana Badagadze

  ხომ არსებობს წიგნები, ბავშვობაში წასაკითხი, ყმაწვილობაში, ისე რომ მოგწონს, იმაზე კარგი და სერიოზული ნაწარმოები არც არაფერი რომ გგონია. ასე მიყვარდა მე დედოფალი მარგო, ქალი რომ იყო, თავის სიყვარულის გამო, მერე მოგვიანებით იზაბელ აჯანის სახემ რომ ჩაანაცვლა ჩემს წარმოდგენაში და ისტორიის სიყვარულის გამოც. ხოდა ვკითხულობდი ამ წიგნს ყოველ წელს და იმ ბავშვობის სიყვარულის გამო იქნება ჩემი favorite-ბის თაროზე, თორემ ახლა ვერც და არც წავიკითხავ ალბათ და ვერც და აღარც მომეწონება ისე, როგორც სხვა ნაწარმოებები მომწონს, მოგვიანებით წაკითხული და ვერ დასავიწყებელი, ხუთვარსკვლავიანები. ეს დამავიწყდა, მაგრამ მისი სიყვარული არ, არც ის პარიზი რომ შემაყვარა, რაღაცნაირად. ზოგი ადამიანივით დამავიწყდა, ცხოვრებაში რომ მოდიან, მერე მიდიან და მარტო ცოდნას ტოვებენ, რომ რაღაცას ნიშნავდნენ ოდესღაც ჩვენთვის. ეს ადამიანებიც, წიგნებიც, ფილმებიც საბოლოოდ ქმნის იმას რაც ვართ, ოღონდ ჩვენ ვერც ვხვდებით ხშირად როგორ და კონკრეტულად რას ცვლიან. მგონი სხვაგან წავედი...
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  Natalie Rose

  Hands-down, my favorite book of all time. Hot sex, political intrigue, beautiful language, battles surrounding religion- and all within the context of true history. It just doesn't get better! I just read it for the fourth time....sigh.
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  Emmapeel

  Pensate di avere un rapporto lacerato e conflittuale con la vostra soffocante famiglia? Rivalutatela, poteva capitarvi questa.