A Review for Gilt (The Royal Circle #1) by Katherine Longshore

Posted by Donna
Release Date: February 28th, 2013

Finished Date: February 1st, 2013

Publishers: Simon & Schuster
Source: For Review 

Format: Paperback

Pages: 416
Buy: Amazon UK / Amazon US / The Book Depo

In the court of King Henry VIII, nothing is free--
and love comes at the highest price of all. 

When Kitty Tylney's best friend, Catherine Howard, worms her way into King Henry VIII's heart and brings Kitty to court, she's thrust into a world filled with fabulous gowns, sparkling jewels, and elegant parties. No longer stuck in Cat's shadow, Kitty's now caught between two men--the object of her affection and the object of her desire. But court is also full of secrets, lies, and sordid affairs, and as Kitty witnesses Cat's meteoric rise and fall as queen, she must figure out how to keep being a good friend when the price of telling the truth could literally be her head.

The Review: I've read a few historical books over the past few years but they've always been historical paranormal, so going into Gilt - which is a historical contemporary story, was a bit different for me. I was worried I wouldn't like it because I've never been big on history - in all honestly, I found it boring in school. I've heard of Henry VIII and his six wives and I've probably even studied them in school (not that I can remember now) I've never really took the time to find out their stories and how they died. But now Gilt was quite a fascinating read and one that I found very compelled to finish. 

I really enjoyed Gilt. With the story following Catherine Howard's best friend Kitty, I wasn't sure what to expect. But I'll tell you I certainly got a lot more than I expected. It's full of joy, hope and love but that's only the good side, the bad side is full of hidden secrets, sorrow and death. It's a hard time to live in because a women's job is to get married and bare children, but Catherine knows she wants more than that, so when she captures the heart of King Henry, she brings Kitty into the fold too - which becomes highly dangerous for Kitty. Because of her friendship to Catherine, kitty feels a deep loyalty to her so she tries to cover up Catherine's affairs but it really puts Kitty in more trouble. 

Henry VIII came across as a scary man. He's a King and there's something about him that makes you want to hide in a corner. I really didn't like him and even after finishing Gilt, admittedly I was goggling just what exactly happened to Henry and his other wife's. I've definitely came away from Gilt feeling like I've learnt about a huge part of history and honestly, I'm intrigued to find out more. 

While I enjoyed Gilt, I did have a few problems with it. I felt the story slowed down a bit towards the middle. I really couldn't see what was going to happen next and felt as though at least 50 pages of the story didn't need to be there and then the ending. Oh I really would have liked more closure on Kitty's story. The ending was left wide open and I was dying to know what happened between her and William. 

All in all, Gilt is an eye-opening and enjoyable read - one that I'd highly recommend to anyone who is looking for something a bit different from their normal read.