A review by redheadreading
Rival Queens: The Betrayal of Mary Queen of Scots by Kate Williams

informative slow-paced

3.5

Very much focused on Mary with just a bit of Elizabeth sprinkled throughout and highly sympathetic to the Queen of Scots. There's a lot of examination of the ways Mary is mistreated by men (particularly with Bothwell), great detail on the specifics of her trial and a look at the different moments Mary misstepped and could have been more successful if she played things differently. 
 I think my favourite moments were those where the text does focus on the relationship between the two queens, specifically how Mary's perceived "failures" as a queen reflect back on Elizabeth and Elizabeth's very justified fear of what opening the door to putting a monarch on trial and executing them means for her own claim to queenship. 
 This pairs well with Blood, Fire, Gold by Estelle Peranque which looks at the relationship between Elizabeth and Catherine De Medici. Mary plays a smaller role in this one but I've found it interesting to think about that triangular relationship!