Genre: Historical Fiction/Murder Mystery Rating (1-5): 4 Characters:4 Plot:5 The Second Duchess was a great, suspenseful read, that transported you back in time to Renaissance Italy. Barbara of Austria is the second duchess to Alfonso d'Este, and finds herself asking questions about the mysterious death of the first duchess of Ferrara, Lucrezia De' Medici. Her curiosity leads her about the city of Ferrara, asking questions to those close to the first duchesses' death, much to the duke's disliking. Barbara wonders if the duke's disliking to her digging in the past is because of his dislike of her personally, or because he was someone involved in Lucrezia's murder. As she continues to investigate, Barbara's life slowly becomes more and more in danger, and feels like she isn't getting any closer to finding answers. In my opinion, the best part of this book was the plot. It was extremely well written, and the story as a whole was very mysterious. It's told from the point of view of Barbara, but as well as from Lucrezia De' Medici, as she observes the events transpire as a ghost. This added a unique viewpoint to the story, because you're getting to hear two sides to the story. Barbara can only guess what may have happened while the first duchess is alive, but the parts narrated by Lucrezia give you insight to what actually happened. To begin with, this book was a little bit slower for me, and thus took me a little bit longer to get through. But once I got to the halfway point, I was flying through it because of the twists and turns the novel was taking. A lot of shocking reveals, and the character development was great! The one thing I did not like about The Second Duchess, was the overabundance of characters. I understand that when writing a murder mystery, it's good to have a multitude of characters, that way it's not too obvious who the actual culprit is. However, the amount of characters in this book just made it confusing. So many different names were involved, that majority of the time I had to look back to remember the particular character's place in court. I'm just torn about how I feel about this, because I understand that sometimes it's necessary dependent upon the type of novel you are writing, but at the same time, too much is just too much. If it hadn't been for this, I probably would have given the novel a 5 star rating. WOULD I RECOMMEND I gave this book a 4 star rating, so obviously it is one that I recommend, especially if you are a lover of historical fiction! If you decide to read this one, be sure to read the author's note at the end. It is full of information on the people the characters were based off of, and was very interesting! To read more about The Second Duchess, head on over to Goodreads. Happy Reading!
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AuthorHi, I'm Genny! You can always find me with a book in my hand. Dystopian, Fantasy, and Historical Fiction are among my favorite genres. I hope you enjoy the reviews I provide and can help you pick out your next book! Archives
October 2020
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