Queen Charlotte by Julia Quinn & Shonda Rhimes

Book Review Jun 11, 2023

My review

4/5 stars

If you aren't aware of Queen Charlotte, have you been living under a rock?!

I, like many others, have binge-watched the series on Netflix. I loved it. And, of course, it felt wrong not to read the novelisation, given that I've read the rest of the series.

There was a slightly different tone to this book, which in some ways should be expected as its' set at a different point in the timeline, but I think a lot of it was because I was reading a book that was based on a TV script rather than the other way round. It somehow felt more surface-level than the rest of the Bridgerton series, even though the TV show felt well explored and meaningful.

As with the rest of the series, my favourite character continues to be Lady Danbury. I particularly enjoyed exploring her earlier years, and the story of how she became such a prominent part of society. Her strength and savvy are admirable and beautifully written. She is the stand-out of this book for me.

The romance between George and Charlotte was sweet, and their characters were well-developed together and apart. They felt compatible but the friction between them was also very believable. The exploration that mental health can take on a relationship was excellently handled, even with the time period considerations, and was used as a way of displaying the strength of their connection.

The one thing I found tricky to reconcile with this book comes from having watched the series first. The series flitted back and forward between the known Bridgerton timeline and the characters earlier years. The former of these two was absent for most of the book, and so some of the depth of the story was missing from the novelisation. Knowing this as I read through felt backwards to me and made the reading experience ever so slightly jarring. I understand that it was necessary for cohesion on the pages, but it took away from some of my enjoyment of the book.

Book blurb

'We are one crown. His weight is mine, and mine is his . . .'

In 1761, on a sunny day in September, a King and Queen met for the very first time. They were married within hours. Born a German Princess, Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz was beautiful, headstrong, and fiercely intelligent . . . not precisely the attributes the British Court had been seeking in a spouse for the young King George III. But her fire and independence were exactly what she needed, because George had secrets . . . secrets with the potential to shake the very foundations of the monarchy.

Thrust into her new role as a royal, Charlotte must learn to navigate the intricate politics of the court . . . all the while guarding her heart, because she is falling in love with the King, even as he pushes her away. Above all she must learn to rule, and to understand that she has been given the power to remake society. She must fight - for herself, for her husband, and for all her new subjects who look to her for guidance and grace. For she will never be just Charlotte again. She must instead fulfil her destiny . . . as Queen.