Review: Tarnish by Katherine Longshore

Tarnish

By: Katherine Longshore

Pub. Date: June 18, 2013

Publisher: Viking Juvenile

Pages: 416

Source: Netgalley

I received this galley in exchange for an honest review.

Anne Boleyn is the odd girl out. Newly arrived to the court of King Henry VIII, everything about her seems wrong, from her clothes to her manners to her witty but sharp tongue. So when the dashing poet Thomas Wyatt offers to coach her on how to shine at court--and to convince the whole court they're lovers--she accepts. Before long, Anne's popularity has soared, and even the charismatic and irresistible king takes notice. More than popularity, Anne wants a voice--but she also wants love. What began as a game becomes high stakes as Anne finds herself forced to make an impossible choice between her heart's desire and the chance to make history.

I am obsessed with anything that has to do with the Tudors, especially when Anne Boleyn is involved. Usually when you are reading fiction about Anne and Henry it's starts at the beginning of the end-a little bit before Henry switches religions and divorces Catherine of Aragon and begins his relationship with Anne. Tarnish starts many years before that and features a young Anne when she arrives back in England. I loved reading about a young and insecure Anne and watching her transform into the confident Anne we know of today.

In Tarnish, Anne is trying to figure out her away around Court without causing any trouble. After spending most of her life in France where things are completely different, she dresses funny and acts differently then the English. She definitely doesn't act like a proper English women and this is what I loved about Anne. She wanted to belong and fit in, but she wasn't willing to sacrifice who she was to get that acceptance. I also love that she would tell Henry off. She was one of the only young females at Court who refused to be his mistress. She had too much self respect for that, which made Henry respect her. Her life might have ended in a horrible way, but I think girls can learn a lot from her in that respect.

I always enjoy reading about how life was like at Court. It was rich and beautiful but also ridiculously stupid. I could never imagine living like that, but life was so different in the 1500's and it is so interesting to read about it. The setting in Tarnish was so wonderfully done and I felt like I was transported back to 1520's English Court.

I haven't read Gilt yet, but I definitely will be reading it soon! Katherine Longshore is hugely talented in her way of taking real life histories and turning those events into YA novels!