Book Review: Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow by Juliet Grey

 

Goodreads Summary: A captivating novel of rich spectacle and royal scandal, Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow spans fifteen years in the fateful reign of Marie Antoinette, France's most legendary and notorious queen.
Paris, 1774. At the tender age of eighteen, Marie Antoinette ascends to the French throne alongside her husband, Louis XVI. But behind the extravagance of the young queen's elaborate silk gowns and dizzyingly high coiffures, she harbors deeper fears for her future and that of the Bourbon dynasty.

From the early growing pains of marriage to the joy of conceiving a child, from her passion for Swedish military attaché Axel von Fersen to the devastating Affair of the Diamond Necklace, Marie Antoinette tries to rise above the gossip and rivalries that encircle her. But as revolution blossoms in America, a much larger threat looms beyond the gilded gates of Versailles—one that could sweep away the French monarchy forever.

Goodreads Ratings: 3.83 stars with over 2,100 ratings

Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, French Revolution, Romance 

Other reviews on the series: Becoming Marie Antoinette

Goodreads Challenge: 17/36 (Wait, what? I'll explain below.)

2022 Reading Challenge: #12 Free Space, Pick any book!

Book Review:

Hello, readers! If you celebrated the Fourth of July, I hope you had a lovely and safe time. As of last night, some neighbors have still been setting fireworks off. If they keep it up, I will assume it is to celebrate my upcoming birthday. Speaking of which, Tress, the lovely co-conspirator of this challenge, will be here so we can celebrate our birthdays together. Stay tuned for bookworm shenanigans.

Okay, so if you are really detailed oriented, you may notice that previous posts for this year stated my Goodreads Challenge goal was 48 books for 2022, but it is now 36. I was eight books behind, and there is a 0 percent chance I will catch up. I'm starting my Doctorate in September (Yes, Tress. I know. I'm a Masochist.) Also, the number is arbitrary, and I don't want to stress about it. 

Anyways, on to the book Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow by Juliet Grey. I picked this up immediately after finishing Becoming Marie Antoinette. Honestly, I wish I had just stopped at the first book. I liked this second book, but after a while, I was bored and tired of reading about Marie Antoinette. I think the last 100 or so pages I just skimmed through it.

While she was still young and trying to be what everyone wanted her to be as a Queen, it was interesting, but then she just got really materialistic due to boredom. This second novel covered so much of her life, and it just felt like it boiled down to clothes, visitors, who hated her, pregnancy, and all of France blaming her for their troubles. Which, admittedly, is probably pretty historically accurate but rather dull to read in a fiction book.

If I read the third book, it probably won't be for a while. I didn't dislike Days of Splendor, Days of Sorrow by Juliet Grey. It was okay, and I'm sure that some Historical Romance fans would really enjoy it, but in my mind, it fell short of the first book in the series. I don't have much to say on this one. The middle-of-the-road books are always hard to find things to discuss. 

Book Review: Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey

 

Goodreads Summary: This enthralling confection of a novel, the first in a new trilogy, follows the transformation of a coddled Austrian archduchess into the reckless, powerful, beautiful queen Marie Antoinette.
Why must it be me? I wondered. When I am so clearly inadequate to my destiny?

Raised alongside her numerous brothers and sisters by the formidable empress of Austria, ten-year-old Maria Antonia knew that her idyllic existence would one day be sacrificed to her mother's political ambitions. What she never anticipated was that the day in question would come so soon.

Before she can journey from sunlit picnics with her sisters in Vienna to the glitter, glamour, and gossip of Versailles, Antonia must change everything about herself in order to be accepted as dauphine of France and the wife of the awkward teenage boy who will one day be Louis XVI. Yet nothing can prepare her for the ingenuity and influence it will take to become Queen.

Filled with smart history, treacherous rivalries, lavish clothes, and sparkling jewels Becoming Marie Antoinette will utterly captivate fiction and history lovers alike.

Goodreads Rating: 3.80 stars with over 5,900 ratings

Genre Listing: Historical Fiction, Romance, French Revolution

Goodreads Challenge: 16/48 (May or may not decrease my end-of-year goal. We'll see.)

2022 Reading Challenge: #29 Read a book that's been on your TBR for over a year (Find the entire challenge here)

Book Review:

Hello, Readers! I hope everyone is doing well and recovering from it being Monday. I have not recovered from Monday and am debating going to bed around 7pm. I am very sleepy. I'm still not really out of the reading slump I've been in. It is taking me a while to finish books, even if I'm interested in them. Hopefully, I will get out of this rut soon. I discovered that my new house balcony is a delightful place to read. I will definitely be out there a lot this summer. 

Picture of balcony

Anyway, on to the book review. Becoming Marie Antoinette by Juliet Grey has been on my kindle for two to three years. I'm genuinely surprised that I didn't read it sooner. I thought it was a really interesting telling of Marie Antoinette's story. Typically I feel like stories depicting her start when she marries Louis. I was intrigued by her life as an Arch-Duchess. There was so much pressure put on her at such a young age. She was only 14 at the time of her marriage. However, that was so common back then, especially in royalty. I appreciated how Juliet Grey showed their relationship in a very awkward way. I can't imagine it was anything but uncomfortable in real life for the first few years.

I was very confused by the timeline of this book. Let me clarify and say there was nothing wrong with the timeline. I'm just dense and didn't realize it was only a fraction of Marie Antoinette's life or that this book was the first of a trilogy. Apparently, the title was not enough of a clue for me. Becoming Marie Antoinette covers the years before her being Queen. I think she was about 10 when the story starts, and it ends right before her and Luis's succession to the throne. So, now you know, so you don't have to be wondering where the rest of your book is like I did. 

I've been trying hard not to bing series to get more categories on the 2022 Reading Challenge. However, I couldn't help it once I finished this book; I bought the next in the trilogy. I am about twenty pages into the second book. It was an entertaining read, but I also felt it was well researched. I'm not sure what Marie Antoinette took liberties with, but she does provide a bibliography for her sources. It made me a happy little nerd.