I can't rate this because I DNF'd it. Maybe I'll try it again someday, but 70 pages in and I'm pretty bored...maybe Philippa Gregory just isn't my style.

I'm loving this series and how this book makes me doubt what happened in the other books.

The fourth instalment of the fascinating and intriguing The Cousin's War series, written by historian Philippa Gregory.

If you don't know, The Cousin's War series is 15 books (intertwined with the Plantagenet and Tudor novels) based around the most prominent women of the royal courts of the 15th and 16th centuries. These women were duchesses, queens, queen mothers and even mistresses of kings of England around those times. This particular book revolves around Anne Neville, who eventually becomes Richard III's wife.

I did find this one a little middle of the road for the greater part and not as exciting nor entertaining as the previous three but that is not to say it wasn't a fabulous book, and in fact the final 50 or so pages did make up for it in the end.

Anne's loyalty to Richard is to be respected even though she seemed very superstitious and a little obsessed with her darkest enemy, Elizabeth Woodville.

Although, as with most historical fiction this was based on assumption I did find it very credible, something I expected no less of from Ms. Gregory, who is one of my favourite authors. Her bibliography at the back of the book just shows the lengths she has gone to to write this and even though there does not seem to be much to find on Anne Neville, I think Ms Gregory has done exceptional in writing such a superb book and I am very much looking forward to the fifth chapter, [b:The White Princess|45011218|The White Princess (The Cousins' War, #5)|Philippa Gregory|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1554847148l/45011218._SY75_.jpg|17305270], which seems to fill us in a little more on the princes in the tower. Can't wait!

I liked this book as much as I did the White Queen and the Red Queen, which isn't saying much. I think these 3 books would have been better if they were told in sync. Seeing each perspective was interesting because it changed the villain depending on the pov. The problem was it would have been smoother if each POV was told as the same juncture of the storylines. The rehashing of the same incidents would have given the reader a more rounded view of what was happening. When I read each book, I liked how it was written and told but I felt like I had to force myself to get through a story I have already read, over and over again.

I really wanted to like this because I love Richard III and Anne Neville, but this book was very lacklustre.
First off, PG says in her author’s note that Elizabeth Woodville is her favourite - something which I found painfully obvious in the book. She may be a “witch” but she is so beautiful that Anne can’t help but love and feel sorry for her. She clearly should have stuck to pro-Woodville novels because it’s clear that she doesn’t really care about Anne (or Richard for that matter).
The characters were flat, the plot line dragged, and I struggled to find a single likeable character in the entire novel. So much of this was completely fictional or based on rumours that either have no evidence to support it or have been proven false. And yet, with so much of the plot line factionalized, why was it so boring? Even the witchcraft was boring - probably because it was so repetitive. I also felt that she could have spent more time on Anne as queen and made it interesting… but no.
The reason why this is two stars is because I actually did like some of the scenes and there were things that were historically accurate (like Anne married Richard, had a son, became queen, etc). Overall, I’m just disappointed because I was expecting better.